Overview

The SNMP Inventory Event Monitor scans the network devices you select and collects or refreshes inventory data for each of them using the SNMP protocol. Inventory data includes the number of CPU cores, their frequencies, lists of partitions, network interfaces, installed RAM, install applications, installed packages, and more. The data collected can vary from device to device as not all units provide complete inventory data via SNMP. The inventory data collected is made available on the Inventory tab of each of your network devices and in the inventory reports.

The event monitor works automatically by connecting to your network devices using the credentials that you select and gathering inventory data so it has very few required settings.

Use Cases

• Automatically collecting SNMP inventory data
• Populating the inventory tab for SNMP devices

Monitoring Options

This event monitor provides the following options:

SNMP Version

Select the SNMP version that will be used to collect the inventory data. The best version to use will depend on how your network devices have been configured. Most devices support SNMPv1 but some may require SNMPv2 or SNMPv3.

Community

Enter the SNMP community string that will be used to connect. The community string is equivalent to a password. The default community string for read-only access is "public" so use this value if you are unsure of the community string your devices are configured to use. The community string is only required for SNMPv1 and SNMPv2c connections. SNMPv3 uses different authentication parameters.

Port Number

The standard port number for SNMP requests is 161. If your devices have been configured to use a different port you can specify it here.

Timeout

The timeout tells the event monitor how long to wait for a response. The default value is best for almost all situations but you can increase or decrease it if you choose.

Retries

Since SNMP runs on UDP, packet delivery and response are not guaranteed. For this reason, it is good practice to tell the event monitor to retry one or more times if it does not receive a response.

Username (SNMPv3 Only)

Specify the user name that will be used when connecting to the network device. This is a required value for the SNMPv3 protocol.

Context (SNMPv3 Only)

In rare cases, a context string is required to establish the SNMPv3 connection. If required by your devices, enter it here. This value is optional.

Security Level (SNMPv3 Only)

SNMPv3 connections can support both authentication and privacy. Authentication means that a valid passphrase must be supplied or the SNMP unit will not accept the connection. Privacy means that the connection to the SNMP device must be encrypted otherwise the device will not accept it. Both are optional. If your devices do not require either, select noAuthNoPriv. If your devices require authentication but not privacy, select authNoPriv. If your devices require both authentication and privacy, select authPriv.

Auth. Protocol Level (SNMPv3 Only)

If authNoPriv or authPriv is selected for the security level, you must specify the authentication protocol for the connection. Supported values are MD5, SHA, SHA-224, SHA-256, SHA-384, and SHA-512. Consult the documentation and configuration of your network devices to determine which protocol they support.

Auth. Passphrase (SNMPv3 Only)

Enter the authentication passphrase that your SNMP devices have been configured to accept. This value is required when authNoPriv or authPriv is selected for the security level.

Privacy Protocol (SNMPv3 Only)

If authPriv is selected for the security level, the privacy protocol must be selected. The supported values are DES and AES.

Priv. Passphrase (SNMPv3 Only)

Enter the privacy passphrase that your SNMP devices have been configured to accept. This value is required when authPriv is selected for the security level.

Don't warn if the device cannot be contacted

Select this option to tell the event monitor not to warn if it can't contact a selected network device. It's usually a good idea to enable this option because your monitoring configuration will likely have another event monitor to warn if systems are down. If a system is down, its inventory data can be refreshed on the next run.

Authentication and Security

For SNMPv1 and SNMPv2c, a community string for the device being monitored is required. For SNMPv3, a username and other SNMPv3 parameters are required.

Protocols

Data Points

This event monitor does not generate any data points.

Sample Output

Tutorial

To view the tutorial for this event monitor, click here.