SNMP Configuration

Host Integrator Servers can be configured to use Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) to distribute status information. The SNMP system uses a Network Management Station (NMS) of your choice to gather information about agents on your network. Host Integrator acts as an SNMP agent.

SNMP uses two communication methods:

• SNMP GET, which services Network Management Station requests to UDP port 161, by default.
  
  Note: Some UNIX systems use port 161 as the default for SNMP. If the Verastream configuration uses the same port, no data will be returned. You may not notice the port conflict until you request statistics. Change the Host Integrator SNMP port number to something other than 161 to address the problem.
  
  
• SNMP TRAP, which asynchronously sends an event to configured Network Management Stations listening on UDP port 162.
  
  

Host Integrator supports the use of both of these methods.

Using SNMP GETs

A GET is initiated when the NMS asks a Host Integrator Server (the agent), for information about its status. The NMS gathers information from agents using a Management Information Base (MIB), which specifies the structure and format of the information that is passed between the NMS and an agent. The NMS can use this information to track the general health of a Host Integrator Server and chart performance trends over time.

Using SNMP TRAPs

When the Host Integrator Server is configured to use traps, it sends a message (trap) to all configured management stations whenever certain events or error conditions occur. The trap contains little information (the event ID). Its purpose is to trigger the NMS so that it can perform an SNMP GET for more information, if desired, from the originating server.

Working with the Host Integrator MIB

The host integrator MIB file, vhi.mib, describes the types of information the Host Integrator makes available via SNMP to a Network Management Station. It is installed by default to the VHI\lib\java\ folder when you install the server. In most cases, you should copy the MIB on to an NMS workstation and load it into your NMS application of choice. The format of vhi.mib follows a standard defined by the IETF RFC 1155, which can be viewed on the IETF web site.

The information provided in the Host Integrator MIB can be divided into three broad categories:

• Statistics on the usage of configured models and the performance of their respective host application.
  
  
• Statistics on the usage and load of configured session pools.
  
  
• Statistics on the occurrences of errors and other events within the Host Integrator Server.
  
  

For a list of specific data items provided within the above categories that are available via SNMP, see the contents of the vhi.mib file installed with the product.

Configuring Host Integrator SNMP Features

To configure SNMP, click SNMP Properties in the navigation tree.

To select the log messages that are monitored by SNMP, click Log Messages in the navigation tree, and then click a category of messages. By default, all messages at error severity generate traps and are monitored in the SNMP MIB.