Answers: Basic SNMP Config 1

Can you configure SNMP version 2C without looking up the commands? Can you secure it with what effectively acts like passwords? You know the drill: go try the original lab exercise first, and then come back here to check your answer.

Answers

Figure 1: Two Routers with IP Addresses

Example 3: R1 Config

snmp-server community CFG rw
snmp-server community VIEW ro
snmp-server location Cincinnati
snmp-server contact Chris

Example 4: R2 Config

snmp-server community CFG rw
snmp-server community VIEW ro
snmp-server location Raleigh
snmp-server contact Sean

Commentary

Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) has been around for a long time and is typically used as a way to monitor the devices in a network. SNMP Agents are built into the networking equipment and can be configured to alert a central Network Management System (NMS) when specific events occur (i.e. interfaces go up or down). It can also be used to perform a number of different management tasks including backing up and restoring device configurations; enable or disable interfaces; and reloading devices. In the past this has traditionally been avoided as the most deployed of SNMP versions (version 2c) was not considered secure and could lead to significant network breaches. With the wider scale deployment of the newer Version 3 these features may see greater use as both encryption and authentication are now fully supported.

For this lab you were tasked with configuring some basic SNMP parameters including the configuration of both the read-only and read-write community string, the configuration of the devices locations and the device point of contact. Interestingly, any of the commands in the answer actually enables the SNMP agent, that is, the SNMP server, which listens for and then responds to SNMP requests. In effect, each of the snmp-server commands in the configuration enables the SNMP agent AND also configures some SNMP setting.

The original instructions purposefully avoided using some key terms, like “community”, just to give you the chance to exercise your memory a little more. The snmp-server community command of course sets the community strings, which act like passwords: one for read/write (RW), which includes the configuration, and one for read-only (RO).

The last two commands on each router set the more obvious values of a location of the device and a contact name.