SNMP protocol

You can use SNMP to collect monitoring data for equipment that does not support installing Zabbix agents. In this case, instead of the Zabbix agent, a special software entity called an SNMP agent is installed. It continuously monitors the equipment, gathering basic information about status, performance indicators, and configuration. The gathered information is then transferred to the SNMP manager, which is a centralized system that processes the received monitoring data. In Kaspersky SD-WAN, the Zabbix proxy server acts as the SNMP manager.

The SNMP protocol operates at the TCP/IP application layer (the seventh layer of the OSI model). The SNMP manager and SNMP agents exchange requests and notifications. In both cases these are standard messages. The difference lies in the direction in which the message is sent, as well as its function.

When the SNMP manager sends a message to the SNMP agent, it is used to obtain monitoring data and is called a request. By default, SNMP agents receive requests from the SNMP manager on port 161. However, the manager can send requests through any available port. The response arrives on the same port from which the request was sent.

On the other hand, if the SNMP agent sends a message to the SNMP manager, it is used to provide monitoring data and is called a notification. By default, the SNMP manager receives notifications from SNMP agents on port 162. However, agents can send notifications through any available port. Two types of notifications exist:

When using the TLS or DTLS protocol, traps arrive on port 10162 of the SNMP manager, and information requests arrive on port 10161.

In the case of SNMP, all basic protocol data units (PDUs) have the same structure (see figure below). The IP header and UDP header are used for encapsulation and are not actually part of the protocol data unit.

The diagram shows the 7 parts of the protocol data unit: IP and UDP headers, version, password (community), PDU type, request ID, error status and index, and associated variables.

SNMP Protocol Data Unit diagram

In this section

Configuring the connection of the SNMP manager to SNMP agents

Creating a trap

Editing a trap

Deleting a trap

Page top