SNMP

Ananth BS
Technical Manager, Cisco Networking Academy
April 2016

Agenda
What is SNMP?
Why do we need SNMP?
What is SMI,MIB and SNMP?
What are the different messages?
SNMPv1 and V2C and security issues
Configuring SNMPv3

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Cisco Confidential

What is SNMP?
Simple Network Management Protocol
Not that simple
NMS =Network Management Server

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Cisco Confidential

NMS wants to know if all

the interfaces are up
Router

RESPON
SE

NMS
APPLICATION

NMS wants to know if all

the interfaces are up
RESPON
SE

Switch
Server

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Cisco Confidential

Why do we need SNMP?

NMS needs to know way interact with variety of devices
The devices will respond in their language of own
This model is very difficult to implement

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Cisco Confidential

NMS should know how

to interact with router
Router

RESPON
SE

NMS
APPLICATION

NMS should know how

to interact with Switch
RESPON
SE

Switch
Server

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Cisco Confidential

Different Model or Informational Model

All the devices will create variables which contain respective values
These variables are standardized
For example hostname = R1
The NMS will ask the devices to give the value of respective variables
The devices will give the value
So NMS need not worry about interacting with multiple devices
This model is called Informational Model

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Cisco Confidential

NMS =Give me the

value of the variable
Router

RESPON
SE

NMS
APPLICATION

Give me the value of the

variable
RESPON
SE

Switch
Server

2016 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

Cisco Confidential

What is SMI,MIB and SNMP?

The variables are stored in a well defined structure called
Management Information Base of MIB
The variables are defined using SMI or
Structure of Management Information
The NMS is called as SNMP server
The SNMP software in devices is called as SNMP agent
The communication between SNMP server and SNMP agent to exchange value of MIB is
called as SNMP

2016 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

Cisco Confidential

Give me the value of

MIB via SNMP Request
message

SNMP
AGENT

Router

SNMP
AGENT

SNMP R
ESPONS
E

NMS
APPLICATION
/SNMP Server

Give me the value of MIB

via SNMP Request Message
SNMP R
ESPONS
E

Switch
Server

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10

Lets browse the MIB

Remember these MIBs are defined using SMI
The protocol used to exchange these values is SNMP
OID=Object Identifier
Lets visit Cisco SNMP Object Navigator

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11

SNMP GetRequest Message

SNMP server polls the stations to check everything is fine
The message is called GetRequest
There are other messages called GetNextRequest and GetBulkRequest

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Give me the value of

MIB via SNMP Request
message

SNMP
AGENT

Router

SNMP
AGENT

SNMP R
ESPONS
E

NMS
APPLICATION
/SNMP Server

Give me the value of MIB

via SNMP Request Message
SNMP R
ESPONS
E

Switch
Server

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Cisco Confidential

13

SNMP
AGENT

GetRequest Message
NMS
APPLICATION
/SNMP Server

Router

SNMP
AGENT

GetRequest Message

Switch
Server

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SNMP Response Message

Response from the agent to the Request message from the SNMP-Agent

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SNMP
AGENT

GetRequest Message

Router
Respon
se
SNMP
AGENT

NMS
APPLICATION
/SNMP Server

GetRequest Message

Respon
se

Switch
Server

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16

SNMP Set Message

Request messages are Read only
If the SNMP-Server wants to write or change something on the agents then the set
message is used
The agents responds with a response whether the set or write operation was successful or
not

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SNMP
AGENT

Set Message

Router
Respon
se
SNMP
AGENT

NMS
APPLICATION
/SNMP Server

Set Message

Respon
se

Switch
Server

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18

SNMP Trap
Traps are used by agents to convey unsolicited information to the SNMP-Server
Traps are not acknowledged

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SNMP
AGENT

Trap Message
NMS
APPLICATION
/SNMP Server

Router

SNMP
AGENT

Trap Message

Switch
Server

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20

SNMP Inform
Informs are used by agents to convey unsolicited information to the SNMP-Server
Informs are acknowledged
Used in SNMP-Server to SNMP-Server Communication

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21

SNMP
AGENT

Inform Message

Router

SNMP
AGENT

ACKNO
WLEDG
E

MENT

NMS
APPLICATION
/SNMP Server

Inform Message

ACKNO
W

LEDGE

MENT

Switch
Server

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22

SNMPv1 and SNMPV2C

SNMPV1 and SNMPV2C use community string as a security measure
Anyone with the community string can get information using SNMP
Community String sent in cleartext with no Encryption
Access lists can be used to limit which servers can access the devices

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23

SNMPv3
Designed with Security in mind
3 Types
NoAuthNoPriv = No Authentication or Encryption same as V1 or V2c
AuthNoPriv = Authentication but no Encryption
AuthPriv = Authentication + Encryption

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24

Thank you.