SNMP discovery

In order for system type, OS type, and OS version to be automatically determined when a node is put under management, the managed node must meet following requirements:

• All managed nodes
  • An SNMP service/daemon must be running on the managed node.
  • At least the management server must have access permissions to the SNMP object "system" on the managed node.

    Some operating systems (for example, Sun Solaris) allow limiting access to the "system" SNMP object (for example, localhost only), which can prevent the management server from determining the information. Consult the SNMP manuals for information about a specific operating system.

• Windows managed nodes
  • Must have at least READ ONLY access to the community name "public".
  • The option "Accept SNMP packets from any host" must be enabled.
• Linux managed nodes

  Because the SNMP daemon does not give you the exact distribution version of the Linux OS, HPOM performs an additional check using a telnet protocol. After HPOM determines (through the SNMP daemon) that the system is a Linux OS, it performs a telnet emulation to obtain information from the telnet welcome string.

  You can easily change the telnet welcome string on a Linux system so that if the Configure Nodes dialog box reports that the OS version of a Linux system could not be determined, you do not need to supply it manually.

If the system type, OS type, and OS version cannot be determined automatically, you can specify it manually.

Change the SNMP community name

By default, the management server uses the "public" community name to connect to SNMP on a target node and get the system type, OS type, and OS version information. If this community name is changed to something other than "public" on nodes that are to be managed, the management server needs to be informed about this community name in the following way:

1. Start Notepad.
2. Write this line to the empty Notepad document:

   SNMPCommunityName=<your_community_name>

   Replace <your_community_name> with the community name that you are using. For example, to use "private" as the community name, specify SNMPCommunityName=Private.

3. Choose File Save As. In the Save As dialog box, navigate to the %OvShareDir%\conf\DNSDisc directory and save the file as follows:

   File name: dnsdscr.ini

   Save as types: Text documents (*.txt)

   Encoding: ANSI

To revert to using the "public" community name, do one of the following:

• Change the above line in the dnsdscr.ini file to:

  SNMPCommunityName=public

• Delete the file dnsdscr.ini from the %OvShareDir%\conf\DNSDisc directory

Manage intelligent devices

Using SNMP, you can manage intelligent SNMP devices such as printers, routers, and computers with unsupported operating systems and manage them from HPOM.

Related Topics:

• Discover managed nodes
• Manage intelligent devices