SNMP device collector
Collects data from any SNMP device and uses the gosnmp package.
It supports:
- all SNMP versions: SNMPv1, SNMPv2c and SNMPv3.
- any number of SNMP devices.
- each SNMP device can be used to collect data for any number of charts.
- each chart may have any number of dimensions.
- each SNMP device may have a different update frequency.
- each SNMP device will accept one or more batches to report values (you can set
max_request_size
per SNMP server, to control the size of batches).
Configuration
Edit the go.d/snmp.conf
configuration file using edit-config
from the
Netdata config directory, which is
typically at /etc/netdata
.
cd /etc/netdata # Replace this path with your Netdata config directory
sudo ./edit-config go.d/snmp.conf
The configuration file is a list of data collection jobs. Jobs allow you to collect values from multiple sources, each source will have its own set of charts.
Generally the format is:
jobs:
- name: name1
... # other configuration parameters
- name: name2
... # other configuration parameters
- name: name3
... # other configuration parameters
Job configuration parameters
Parameter | Default value | Description |
---|---|---|
name | - | the data collection job name |
update_every | 10 | the update frequency for each target, in seconds |
hostname | 127.0.0.1 | the target ipv4 address |
community | public | SNMPv1/2 community string |
options.version | 2 | SNMP version |
options.port | 161 | the target port |
options.retries | 1 | the number of retries to attempt |
options.timeout | 10 | the timeout for one SNMP request/response |
options.max_request_size | 60 | the maximum number of oids allowed in one one SNMP request |
user.name | - | the SNMPv3 user name |
user.level | - | the security level of SNMPv3 messages |
user.auth_proto | - | the authentication protocol for SNMPv3 messages |
user.auth_key | - | the authentication protocol pass phrase |
user.priv_proto | - | the privacy protocol for SNMPv3 messages |
user.priv_key | - | the privacy protocol pass phrase |
charts | [] | the list of charts |
charts.id | - | is used to uniquely identify the chart |
charts.title | Untilted chart | the text above the chart |
charts.units | num | the label of the vertical axis of the chart |
charts.family | charts.id | the name of the dashboard submenu under which each chart will be displayed |
charts.type | line | the chart type (one of line, area or stacked) |
charts.priority | 70000 | the priority of the chart as rendered on the web page |
charts.multiply_range | [] | is used when you need to define many charts using incremental OIDs |
charts.dimensions | [] | the list of chart dimensions |
charts.dimensions.oid | - | the OID path to the metric you want to collect |
charts.dimensions.name | - | the name of the dimension as it will appear at the legend of the chart |
charts.dimensions.algorithm | absolute | the dimension algorithm (one of absolute, incremental) |
charts.dimensions.multiplier | 1 | the value to multiply the collected value, applied to convert it properly to units |
charts.dimensions.divisor | 1 | the value to divide the collected value, applied to convert it properly to units |
Example: Using SNMPv1/2
In this example:
- the SNMP device is
192.0.2.1
. - the SNMP version is
2
. - the SNMP community is
public
. - we will update the values every 10 seconds.
- we define 2 charts
bandwidth_port1
andbandwidth_port2
, each having 2 dimensions:in
andout
.
SNMPv1: just set
options.version
to 1.
If you have multiple devices see how to simplify the configuration.
jobs:
- name: switch
update_every: 10
hostname: "192.0.2.1"
community: public
options:
version: 2
charts:
- id: "bandwidth_port1"
title: "Switch Bandwidth for port 1"
units: "kilobits/s"
type: "area"
family: "ports"
dimensions:
- name: "in"
oid: "1.3.6.1.2.1.2.2.1.10.1"
algorithm: "incremental"
multiplier: 8
divisor: 1000
- name: "out"
oid: "1.3.6.1.2.1.2.2.1.16.1"
multiplier: -8
divisor: 1000
- id: "bandwidth_port2"
title: "Switch Bandwidth for port 2"
units: "kilobits/s"
type: "area"
family: "ports"
dimensions:
- name: "in"
oid: "1.3.6.1.2.1.2.2.1.10.2"
algorithm: "incremental"
multiplier: 8
divisor: 1000
- name: "out"
oid: "1.3.6.1.2.1.2.2.1.16.2"
multiplier: -8
divisor: 1000
Note that in this example, the algorithm chosen is incremental
, because the collected values show the total number of bytes transferred,
which we need to transform into kbps. To chart gauges (e.g. temperature), use absolute
instead.
Example: Using SNMPv3
To use SNMPv3:
- use
user
instead ofcommunity
. - set
options.version
to 3.
The rest of the configuration is the same as in the SNMPv1/2 example.
If you have multiple devices see how to simplify the configuration.
jobs:
- name: switch
update_every: 10
hostname: "192.0.2.1"
options:
version: 3
user:
name: "username"
level: "authPriv"
auth_proto: "sha256"
auth_key: "auth_protocol_passphrase"
priv_proto: "aes256"
priv_key: "priv_protocol_passphrase"
SNMPv3 message authentication and privacy configuration options
The security of an SNMPv3 message as per RFC 3414 (user.level
):
String value | Int value | Description |
---|---|---|
none | 1 | no message authentication or encryption |
authNoPriv | 2 | message authentication and no encryption |
authPriv | 3 | message authentication and encryption |
The digest algorithm for SNMPv3 messages that require authentication (user.auth_proto
):
String value | Int value | Description |
---|---|---|
none | 1 | no message authentication |
md5 | 2 | MD5 message authentication (HMAC-MD5-96) |
sha | 3 | SHA message authentication (HMAC-SHA-96) |
sha224 | 4 | SHA message authentication (HMAC-SHA-224) |
sha256 | 5 | SHA message authentication (HMAC-SHA-256) |
sha384 | 6 | SHA message authentication (HMAC-SHA-384) |
sha512 | 7 | SHA message authentication (HMAC-SHA-512) |
The encryption algorithm for SNMPv3 messages that require privacy (user.priv_proto
):
String value | Int value | Description |
---|---|---|
none | 1 | no message encryption |
des | 2 | ES encryption (CBC-DES) |
aes | 3 | 128-bit AES encryption (CFB-AES-128) |
aes192 | 4 | 192-bit AES encryption (CFB-AES-192) with "Blumenthal" key localization |
aes256 | 5 | 256-bit AES encryption (CFB-AES-256) with "Blumenthal" key localization |
aes192c | 6 | 192-bit AES encryption (CFB-AES-192) with "Reeder" key localization |
aes256c | 7 | 256-bit AES encryption (CFB-AES-256) with "Reeder" key localization |
Example: Using charts.multiply_range
option
If you need to define many charts using incremental OIDs, you can use the charts.multiply_range
option.
This is like the SNMPv1/2 example, but the option will multiply the current chart from 1 to 24
inclusive, producing 24 charts in total for the 24 ports of the switch 192.0.2.1
.
Each of the 24 new charts will have its id (1-24) appended at:
- its chart unique
id
, i.e.bandwidth_port_1
tobandwidth_port_24
. - its title, i.e.
Switch Bandwidth for port 1
toSwitch Bandwidth for port 24
. - its
oid
(for all dimensions), i.e. dimension in will be1.3.6.1.2.1.2.2.1.10.1
to1.3.6.1.2.1.2.2.1.10.24
. - its
priority
will be incremented for each chart so that the charts will appear on the dashboard in this order.
If you have multiple devices see how to simplify the configuration.
jobs:
- name: switch
update_every: 10
hostname: "192.0.2.1"
community: public
options:
version: 2
charts:
- id: "bandwidth_port"
title: "Switch Bandwidth for port"
units: "kilobits/s"
type: "area"
family: "ports"
multiply_range: [1, 24]
dimensions:
- name: "in"
oid: "1.3.6.1.2.1.2.2.1.10"
algorithm: "incremental"
multiplier: 8
divisor: 1000
- name: "out"
oid: "1.3.6.1.2.1.2.2.1.16"
multiplier: -8
divisor: 1000
Multiple devices with a common configuration
YAML supports anchors. The &
defines and names an anchor, and
the *
uses it. <<: *anchor
means, inject the anchor, then extend. We can use anchors to share the common
configuration for multiple devices.
The following example:
- adds an
anchor
to the first job. - injects (copies) the first job configuration to the second and updates
name
andhostname
parameters. - injects (copies) the first job configuration to the third and updates
name
andhostname
parameters.
jobs:
- &anchor
name: switch
update_every: 10
hostname: "192.0.2.1"
community: public
options:
version: 2
charts:
- id: "bandwidth_port1"
title: "Switch Bandwidth for port 1"
units: "kilobits/s"
type: "area"
family: "ports"
dimensions:
- name: "in"
oid: "1.3.6.1.2.1.2.2.1.10.1"
algorithm: "incremental"
multiplier: 8
divisor: 1000
- name: "out"
oid: "1.3.6.1.2.1.2.2.1.16.1"
multiplier: -8
divisor: 1000
- <<: *anchor
name: switch2
hostname: "192.0.2.2"
- <<: *anchor
name: switch3
hostname: "192.0.2.3"
Data collection speed
Keep in mind that many SNMP switches and routers are very slow. They may not be able to report values per second.
go.d.plugin
reports the time it took for the SNMP device to respond when executed in the debug
mode.
Also, if many SNMP clients are used on the same SNMP device at the same time, values may be skipped. This is a problem
of the SNMP device, not this collector. In this case, consider reducing the frequency of data collection (
increasing update_every
).
Finding OIDs
Use snmpwalk
, like this:
snmpwalk -t 20 -O fn -v 2c -c public 192.0.2.1
-t 20
is the timeout in seconds.-O fn
will display full OIDs in numeric format.-v 2c
is the SNMP version.-c public
is the SNMP community.192.0.2.1
is the SNMP device.
Troubleshooting
To troubleshoot issues with the snmp
collector, run the go.d.plugin
with the debug option enabled. The output should
give you clues as to why the collector isn't working.
Navigate to the
plugins.d
directory, usually at/usr/libexec/netdata/plugins.d/
. If that's not the case on your system, opennetdata.conf
and look for theplugins
setting under[directories]
.cd /usr/libexec/netdata/plugins.d/
Switch to the
netdata
user.sudo -u netdata -s
Run the
go.d.plugin
to debug the collector:./go.d.plugin -d -m snmp
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