SNMP Request Agent Configuration(4.1)

Owned by Jenni Wallin
Mar 06, 2024
4 min read

To open the SNMP Request agent configuration dialog from a workflow configuration, you can do the following:

  • right-click the agent icon and select Configuration...
  • double-click the agent icon

The configuration dialog contains the settings required to select the target UDR fields from the MIB modules defined in the SNMP Collection profile. You can perform either of the following to configure the UDR fields:

  • Configure the UDR fields to poll directly in the agent configuration by referencing an SNMP Collection profile
  • Create an OID profile and then configure the agent to reference the OID profile.
    Using an OID profile allows several agents to use the same configuration and the configuration only needs to be maintained in one place.
    You can also use different SNMP OID profiles for different workflows in the same workflow configuration. 

The network elements to be polled, must be listed in a network element CSV file. The file should be located on the EC host, where you execute the SNMP workflows.

SNMP Request Agent configuration dialog

SettingDescription
NameThis shows the selected SNMP Request agent name.
General
Profile TypeSelect which profile type you want the SNMP Request agent to use; an SNMP Collection profile or an SNMP OID profile.

SNMP Collection Profile

Select the SNMP Collection Profile.

Network Element File

Full Path

The full path to the network element file, including the directory at the EC where the Network Element File file is located, and the file name. The file should be in CSV format.

Poll/Field/Instances
(only available when SNMP Collection is selected as the profile type) 

Add the UDR types and fields to be available for polling in this section, and select the Poll check box for the ones you want to poll.

Continuous requests for the specified OIDs will be sent out.

Do not enable this if you want to send out dynamic requests from APL to the OID by using the generated structure.

Network Element File

The Network Element File holds the list of Network Elements to poll. The file should be in CSV format.  After the IP address or FQDN of your target network element you can specify a number of parameters, see below. The IP-address or FQDN of the target network element is a mandatory parameter. The rest of the parameters (see below) are optional. If you skip them the agent uses the default settings from the selected SNMP Collection Profile.

Order of parameters in Network Element File

CSV_COMMUNITY,
CSV_DESCRIPTION,
CSV_VERSION (1-SNMPv1, 2-SNMPv2c, 3-SNMPv3),
CSV_TIMEOUT,
CSV_RETRIES,
CSV_USER,
CSV_CONTEXT_NAME,
CSV_CONTEXT_ENGINE_ID,
CSV_AUTH_PROTO (1-None, 2-MD5, 3-SHA1),
CSV_AUTH_PASSWORD,
CSV_PRIV_PROTO (1-None, 2-DES, 3-AES),
CSV_PRIV_PASSWORD

The format of the Network Element File

This is an example of how a Network Elements CSV file can look like: (In this case 4 Network Elements are using IP addresses and one is defined using FQDN)

10.46.48.104,public,,2,10000,3,initial,,,3,12345678,1,12345678
10.46.48.108,public,,2,10000,3,initial,,,3,xxxxx,,
10.46.48.33
10.46.48.177,public,,2,5000,20,initial,,,3,abc123,1,12345678
Router_abc,public,,2,10000,3,initial,,,3,xxxxx,,

The network element file is checked for changes every 10 seconds. If the file is updated, the information is reloaded into executing workflows without the need to restart the workflow.

Adding UDR Fields

Click on the Add new UDR field button and the OID UDR Browser dialog appears. Select the UDR fields to poll. You can add several UDR fields. Click OK or Apply to add selected fields.

Sometimes the exact OID to request is not known in advance. For instance, the OID string can be composed from a base OID part and an instance part that is the value of a previous response message. A dynamic request can then be performed by creating an SnmpRequestUDR from APL and routing it to the SNMP collection agent.


You create an SnmpRequestUDR in APL and configure it by setting:

  • remotehost (string) - The address of the network element to request.
  • remoteport (int) - The port of the network element to request.
  • community (string) - The community string to be used in the request.
  • baseoid (string) - The base part of the OID to request.
  • instanceoid (string) - The instance part of the OID to request.
  • unresolved (boolean) - Set to true to make the request an unresolved request, which makes the response get the flattened OID - Value form.
  • tree (boolean) - Set to true to make the request a tree request, which retrieves the entire sub tree from the specified OID. Works only for unresolved requests.

The UDR is then routed to the SNMP Request agent. This triggers a request to the specified host + port using the specified OID and community string. The response is received as usual, in the flattened unresolved form or in the hierarchical UDR structure, depending on whether the unresolved flag was set in the request or not. For resolved requests, the specified OID must be in the SNMP Collection profile. The specified host + port + community must be included in the list of network elements (CSV file + profile input).

SnmpRequestUDR example: hrSWRun.zip. Download this export and import it to see an example on how dynamic, triggered requests can be used.

Using an OID Profile

If you want the OID configuration, that is UDR types and fields to be polled, to be available for several agents, create an SNMP OID profile. See SNMP OID (3.2) for further information.