Configuring SNMP

You can query the SNMP agent to collect the sysgroup information and to send configured SNMP alerts to the configured host names or IP addresses.

Note: If you plan to configure Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) traps on the management module, you must install and compile the management information base (MIB) on your SNMP manager. The MIB supports SNMP traps. The MIB is included in the management-module firmware update package that you downloaded from http://www.ibm.com/systems/support/.
To configure SNMP, complete the following steps:
  1. Log in to the management module on which you want to configure SNMP. For more information, see Starting the management-module Web interface
  2. In the navigation pane, click MM Control → General Settings. In the management-module information page that opens, specify the following information:
    • Name: The name that you want to use to identify the management module. The name is included with email and SNMP alert notifications to identify the source of the alert. If more than one management module is installed in a BladeCenter unit, each management module can be given a unique name.
    • Contact: The name and phone number of the person to contact if there is a problem with the BladeCenter® unit.
    • Location: Sufficient detail to quickly locate the BladeCenter unit for maintenance or other purposes.
  3. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click Save.
  4. In the navigation pane, click MM Control → Network Protocols; then, click the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) link. A page similar to the one in the following illustration is displayed.
    Graphic illustrating the initial SNMP setup page.
  5. Select Enabled in the applicable SNMP agent fields and in the SNMP traps field to forward alerts to SNMP communities and users on your network. For you to enable an SNMP agent, the following criteria must be met:
    • System contacts must be specified on the General Settings page.
    • The system location must be specified on the General Settings page.
    • For SNMPv1, at least one community name must be specified, with an access type set for each community name:
      • Get: All hosts in the community can query MIB objects and receive traps.
      • Set: All hosts in the community can query and set MIB objects and receive traps.
      • Trap: All hosts in the community can receive traps.
    • At least one valid IP address or host name (if DNS is enabled) must be specified for each community.
    • For SNMPv3, each SNMPv3 user must be configured.
    Note: Alert recipients whose notification method is SNMP will not receive alerts unless both the SNMP agent and the SNMP traps are enabled.
  6. If you are enabling the SNMPv1 agent, complete the following steps to set up a community that defines the administrative relationship between SNMP agents and SNMP managers; otherwise, continue with step 7. You must define at least one SNMPv1 community. Each community definition consists of the following parameters:
    • Community name
    • Host name or IP address

    If either of these parameters is not correct, SNMP management access is not granted.

    Notes:
    • If an error message window opens, make the necessary adjustments to the fields that are listed in the error window; then, scroll to the bottom of the page and click Save to save the corrected information. You must configure at least one community to enable the SNMP agent.
    • You can have one wildcard IP address with 0.0.0.0 in the first position of the first community, with the access type selected as SET. This community address supports GET and SET operations from any IP address. The remaining eight community addresses enable specific IP or host addresses to specify a receiver of traps.
    1. In the Community Name field, enter a name or authentication string to specify the community.
    2. Select the Access Type for the community.
    3. In the corresponding Host Name or IP Address field, enter the host name or IP address of each community manager.
  7. Complete one of the following, based on DNS server availability:
    • If a DNS server is not available on your network, scroll to the bottom of the page and click Save.
    • If a DNS server is available on your network, scroll to the Domain Name System (DNS) section. A page similar to the one in the following illustration is displayed.
      Graphic illustrating the Domain Name System (DNS) setup page.
  8. If a DNS server (or servers) is available on your network, select Enabled in the DNS field. The DNS field specifies whether you use a DNS server on your network to translate host names into IP addresses.
  9. (Optional) If you enabled DNS, in the DNS server IP address fields, specify the IP addresses of up to three DNS servers on your network. Each IP address must contain four integers from 0 through 255, separated by periods.
  10. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click Save.
  11. If you are enabling the SNMPv3 agent, complete the following steps to configure the SNMPv3 profile for each SNMPv3 user; otherwise, continue with step 12.
    1. Click the Login Profiles link in the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) section or, in the navigation pane, click MM Control → Login Profiles.
    2. Select the user that is to be configured; then, click the Configure SNMPv3 User link at the bottom of the Login Profile page. A page similar to the one in the following illustration is displayed.
      Graphic illustrating the SNMPv3 user profile page.
    3. Specify the SNMPv3 configuration information for this user; then, click Save.
      Note: If the security settings require passwords, the SNMPv3 Authentication Protocol cannot be set to None if the user has an Access Type of Get or Set. This means that when passwords are required, a user can receive SNMP traps only when the SNMPv3 Authentication Protocol is set to None.
    4. Repeat step 11.b and step 11.c for each SNMPv3 user.
  12. In the navigation pane, click MM Control → Restart MM; then, restart the management module to activate the changes.
Parent topic: Network and security configuration