The SNMP - QA Monitor is used to retrieve and analyze data from SNMP enabled network devices, services and applications. The SNMP - QA Monitor retrieves a Numeric or Textual value from an SNMP agent and then tests the value against the rules you define.

Common uses of the SNMP - QA Monitor include:

• Identifying ICMP flood attacks
• Trapping spikes in network traffic
• Identifying packet failures
• Ensuring a minimum level of network availability
• Monitoring environmental conditions in server rooms and cabinets
• Identifying hardware problems in advance of costly failures

To locate OIDs for your applications and equipment:

1. Use the ipMonitor SNMP - QA Monitor Wizard to query the SNMP-enabled device and retrieve SNMP data.
2. Use ipMonitor's database of precompiled MIBs that can be browsed or queried (located in the Tools drop-down menu). MIB Information is provided for common Windows and hardware applications.
3. To expand the default MIB database, use the Custom Database Builder available on the ipMonitor Support Portal to select MIBs from ipMonitor's MIB Repository and perform automated MIB compilations. You can then add the newly-created Custom MIB Database to your ipMonitor installation.

Note: The Custom Database Builder is only available to Licensed ipMonitor customers. For detailed instructions on compiling and importing a MIB database, refer to the tutorial entitled Add a Custom MIB Database to your ipMonitor Installation, located on the Support Portal.

4. Use ipMonitor's SNMP Assistant, available from the ipMonitor Support Portal, to scan and collect information from your SNMP-enabled network devices and applications. This "scan" process allows you to discover whether a specific device supports an object defined by a particular MIB, as well as the type of information it will return.
5. Contact your vendor directly to acquire MIBs for your various applications and equipment.

For information on configuring an SNMP - QA Monitor using the least amount of initial input, refer to the SNMP - QA Monitor Wizard.

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The Test Parameters dialog box is used to specify the location of the SNMP agent you want to monitor, and any parameters required to connect to it.

IP Address / Domain Name
Specify the location of the SNMP agent you want to monitor. Both IP Address and Domain Name are valid entries.

Examples of valid Domain Names are: www.xyzcompany.com and xyzcompany.com
An example of a valid IP address is: 10.20.30.11

Note: Entering an IP address will eliminate any variables introduced by performing a lookup on the DNS server.

UDP Port

Specify the Port Number that the target SNMP agent responds on. By default, the standard Port Number used for SNMP communication (Port 161) is already entered.

OID
The Object Identifier that identifies the path to the value ipMonitor will retrieve for analysis. ipMonitor sends a standard Get Protocol Data Unit (SNMP Get command) asking the SNMP agent to send back the value for this particular MIB instance or unique OID string.

Get Info
Click the Get Info button to query ipMonitor's built-in SNMP database for details about the OID you enter. Type Information is ideal for determining what type analysis can be performed in the Analysis of Test Results section.

To OID
Click the To OID button to convert the readable label of the OID path into its standard numerical notation. For example, clicking the To OID button will convert svPrintQNumber.0 to 1.3.6.1.4.1.77.1.2.28.0

Community
SNMP Community strings act like passwords for SNMP information. When ipMonitor issues a SNMP Get-Next command to the SNMP Agent at this IP address, it sends out the SNMP Community string. If the Community string is correct, the SNMP Agent processes the request and returns results for analysis.

SNMP default communities are:

• Private (Read / Write)
• Public (Read Only)

Some SNMP Agents are configured to use non-default Community strings. This is typically done to improve SNMP security, often in conjunction with a non-standard SNMP Port.

SNMP Version
Select the SNMP version used by the device to be monitored. Both ipMonitor and the target device must use the same SNMP Version. Available options are: SNMP Version 1 and SNMP Version 2.

Use the difference between the last and current value
This setting instructs ipMonitor to perform a "Delta" comparison.

When this option is enabled, the previous value will be subtracted from the most recent value. This difference will be used to perform test analysis.

The Delta comparison is often used to isolate the number of events that have occurred over a given time period. It is ideal for applications such as monitoring spikes in traffic and IP packet failures.

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The type of data supported by the selected OID will determine the possible methods of analysis.

You can click the Get Info button in the preceding Test Parameters section to query ipMonitor's built-in SNMP database in order to view the Information Type and Possible Value Ranges associated with the OID. This will help determine the type analysis that can be performed on test results.

Analyze the Result as Numeric Data
This option instructs the Monitor to retrieve a numeric value. Supported numeric tests:

• <      Less than
• >      Greater than
• <=    Less than or equal to
• >=    Greater than or equal to
• ==    Equal to
• !=     Not equal to

The AND... button and the OR... button can be used to increase the flexibility of the test. For example, test to see:

• If a value is greater than 30,000
• AND less than 40,000
• OR not equal to 0

Analyze the Result as Textual Data

This option instructs the Monitor to retrieve a string value. Several comparison types are available, including Regular Expression and string matches:

• RegEx match - Enter a Regular Expression to match
• RegEx non-match - Enter a Regular Expression not to match
• Substring search - Search for a case sensitive substring
• ==   Equal to
• !=    Not equal to

Note: ipMonitor includes a RegEx Wizard to help create Regular Expressions.

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When the Monitor is in an Up state, test results are reported as shown in the example below:

rtt - Round-Trip Time. This value indicates the time it took the test packet to reach the monitored resource and return a response to ipMonitor. Round-trip time is measured in milliseconds (ms).

value - The numeric and textual value returned by the Monitor's Data OID.

When the Monitor is in a Warn, Down, or Lost state, the Last Result field indicates the problem encountered. Different Monitor types generate specific Error Codes in accordance with the technical capabilities of the Monitor. Refer to the Error Codes section of this document for details.

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The SNMP - QA Monitor is able to evaluate the following SNMP data-type values:

• INTEGER (up to 64-bit)
• OCTET STRING
• OBJECT IDENTIFIER
• IPADDRESS
• GAUGE
• TIMETICKS
• NULL

For information on settings common to all Monitor types, such as Identification, Timing, Notification Control and Recovery Parameters, refer to General Monitor Settings.

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The following error codes are generated by the SNMP - QA Monitor. Error codes are displayed in Real-time and Historical Reports. They can also be added to Alerts using Tokens.

Message	Details
Configuration information for this item is missing some required fields	A required element for Monitor connectivity or testing was not supplied to ipMonitor.
Unable to connect to the remote device	The specified address to the connection-based Service is unavailable.
Could not obtain an IP address for the remote device	The supplied address was not a valid IP address OR the Server Domain Name could not be translated into an IP address. The Server Domain Name may refer to a local machine name, or to a fully qualified domain name.
The supplied OID could not be resolved to a full OID for encoding	ipMonitor was not able to properly encode the OID provided. This is normally caused by a typo in the Monitor configuration.
The remote device sent more data than expected	The server sent more data than expected for this protocol. This is usually due to an error in the software being monitored.
The remote device timed out before sending a response	The resource being monitored did not respond within the maximum allowable time.
The response from the remote device does not adhere to protocol specification	The resource is either not adhering to the protocol standard or ipMonitor does not understand a proprietary change in the protocol.
The remote device failed to respond	The server did not provide any response before disconnecting.
The response from the remote device was incomprehensible	The resource being monitored responded with invalid data.
The remote device provided an empty list of values	No data was returned from the remote server.
The device returned the query in an incompatible format	The data returned to ipMonitor was malformed or in a format not adhering to specifications.
The remote device rejected the request due to a client error	The server was unable to process the request because of a client-side error.
The returned query did not meet the specified parameters	The data returned did not match the expected result set as defined in the Monitor configuration.
The remote device timed out before sending a response	The resource being monitored did not respond within the maximum allowable time.

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