LevelOne GSW-2692 manual Simple Network Management Protocol, Setting Community Access Strings

Simple Network Management Protocol 3

Simple Network Management Protocol

Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) is a communication protocol designed specifically for managing devices on a network. Equipment commonly managed with SNMP includes switches, routers and host computers. SNMP is typically used to configure these devices for proper operation in a network environment, as well as to monitor them to evaluate performance or detect potential problems.

The switch includes an onboard SNMP agent that continuously monitors the status of its hardware, as well as the traffic passing through its ports. A network management station can access this information using software such as HP OpenView. Access rights to the onboard agent are controlled by community strings. To communicate with the switch, the management station must first submit a valid community string for authentication. The options for configuring community strings, trap functions, and restricting access to clients with specified IP addresses are described in the following sections.

Setting Community Access Strings

You may configure up to five community strings authorized for management access. All community strings used for IP Trap Managers should be listed in this table. For security reasons, you should consider removing the default strings.

Command Attributes

•SNMP Community Capability – Indicates that the switch supports up to five community strings.

•Community String – A community string that acts like a password and permits access to the SNMP protocol.

Default strings: “public” (read-only access), “private” (read/write access)

Range: 1-32 characters, case sensitive

•Access Mode

-Read-Only– Specifies read-only access. Authorized management stations are only able to retrieve MIB objects.

-Read/Write – Specifies read-write access. Authorized management stations are able to both retrieve and modify MIB objects.

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