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Cisco ME 3400 Ethernet Access Switch Software Configuration Guide
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Configuring SNMP
This chapter describes how to configure the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) on the
Cisco ME 3400 Ethernet Access switch.
Note For complete syntax and usage information for the commands used in this chapter, see the switch
command reference for this release and the Cisco IOS Commands Master List, Release 12.2 at this URL:
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/sw/iosswrel/ps1835/products_product_indices_list.html
For commands for MIB bulk statistics data collection and process MIB configuration, see the Cisco IOS
Commands Master List, Release 12.4, at this URL:
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps6350/products_product_indices_list.html
This chapter consists of these sections:
• Understanding SNMP, page 29-1
• Configuring SNMP, page 29-6
• Displaying SNMP Status, page 29-22

Understanding SNMP

SNMP is an application-layer protocol that provides a message format for communication between
managers and agents. The SNMP system consists of an SNMP manager, an SNMP agent, and a MIB.
The SNMP manager can be part of a network management system (NMS) such as CiscoWorks. The agent
and MIB reside on the switch. To configure SNMP on the switch, you define the relationship between
the manager and the agent.
The SNMP agent contains MIB variables whose values the SNMP manager can request or change. A
manager can get a value from an agent or store a value into the agent. The agent gathers data from the
MIB, the repository for information about device parameters and network data. The agent can also
respond to a manager’s requests to get or set data.
An agent can send unsolicited traps to the manager. Traps are messages alerting the SNMP manager to
a condition on the network. Traps can mean improper user authentication, restarts, link status (up or
down), MAC address tracking, closing of a TCP connection, loss of connection to a neighbor, or other
significant events.
Although the switch does not support the Cisco Data Collection MIB, starting with Cisco IOS Release
12.2(37)SE, you can use the command-line interface to periodically transfer selected MIB data to
specified NMS stations. Starting with this release, you can also configure a Cisco Process MIB CPU
threshold table.