FAQ: SNMP on NetScaler Appliance

FAQ: SNMP on NetScaler Appliance

https://support.citrix.com/article/CTX122436

https://docs.citrix.com/content/dam/docs/en-us/netscaler/10/downloads/ctx132381.htm

https://docs.citrix.com/en-us/netscaler/10-1/ns-reference-con/netscaler-snmp-oid-reference.html

https://docs.citrix.com/content/dam/docs/en-us/netscaler/12/downloads/netscaler-12-snmp-oid-reference.pdf

https://developer-docs.citrix.com/projects/netscaler-snmp-oid-reference/en/12.0/

Question and Answers

This article contains frequently asked questions about the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) in the NetScaler appliance.

Q: Is the SET operation for SNMP supported on the NetScaler appliance?

A: No. By default, the NetScaler appliance does not support the SET operation for SNMP. However, if you want to enable the SET operation for SNMP on the NetScaler appliance, contact the Citrix Support team.

Q: What SNMP operations are supported when a community is GET on the NetScaler appliance?

A: When a community is GET, only the SNMP GET is supported. The SNMP GetNext or bulk operations are not supported on this community.

The following is an example for the operations supported on this community:

test# ./snmpget -c private <Host_Address>  system.sysDescr.0
SNMPv2-MIB::sysDescr.0 = STRING: NetScaler NS9.0: Build 69.5, Date: Jun 12 2009, 06:00:53
test# ./snmpgetnext -c private <Host_Address> system.sysDescr.0
Timeout: No Response from <host>

Q: What is the procedure to load a Management Base Information (MIB) file to the SNMP Manager on a NetScaler appliance?

A: The procedure to load an MIB file to the SNMP Manager depends on the type of the SNMP Manager. Use any of the following procedures to load an MIB file to the Net SNMP Manager:

To load the MIB file to a UNIX based server by copying it, complete the following procedure:

1. Copy the MIB file to the /usr/local/share/snmp/mibs/ directory.
   Note that the mibs directory location might vary between different UNIX distributions.

2. Open the snmp.conf file in a text editor, such as the vi editor.

3. Add the following entries to the file:
   mibs +IF-MIB
   mibs +NS-ROOT-MIB

4. Save and close the file.

5. Run the following command:
   net-snmp-config --snmpconfpath

To load the MIB file by running the snmp command on a UNIX based server, run the following command:

./snmpget -m ./NS-MIB-smiv2.mib -c public <Host_Address> httpTotResponses.0
NS-ROOT-MIB::httpTotResponses.0 = Counter64: 368

Q: How can you identify the object values from the trap messages on the NetScaler appliance?

A: The SNMP Manager receives the netScalerConfigChange trap message when a virtual server is enabled or disabled. The following is the MIB definition for the trap message:

netScalerConfigChange  NOTIFICATION-TYPE
            OBJECTS  { nsUserName , configurationCmd , authorizationStatus ,
   commandExecutionStatus , sysIpAddress
   }
                        "This trap is sent when the configuration on the NetScaler is changed."
            ::= { netScalerEventsV2 25 } 

The following is the sample output of the trap message:

2009-08-19 22:02:05 10.102.14.230 [UDP: [0.0.0.0]->[10.102.14.230]:3000]:
DISMAN-EVENT-MIB::sysUpTimeInstance = Timeticks: (111347565) 12 days, 21:17:55.65      
SNMPv2-MIB::snmpTrapOID.0 = OID:    NS-ROOT-MIB::netScalerConfigChange
NS-ROOT-MIB::nsUserName.0 = STRING: "nsroot"    
NS-ROOT-MIB::configurationCmd.0 = STRING: "disable lb vserver namivserver"
NS-ROOT-MIB::authorizationStatus.0 = INTEGER: authorized(1)    
NS-ROOT-MIB::commandExecutionStatus.0 = INTEGER: successful(2)      
NS-ROOT-MIB::sysIpAddress.0 = IpAddress: 10.102.14.230
2009-08-19 22:02:05 10.102.14.230 [UDP: [0.0.0.0]->[10.102.14.230]:3000]:

In the preceding sample, the authorizationStatus.0 object has the authorized(1) value. The entry in the output is highlighted in bold face for your reference.

Q: On a NetScaler appliance, is it possible to receive a trap message on the SNMP Manager by using a different port than the default port?

A: Yes. By default, the trap messages are received on port 162. You can run the following command to set another port to receive the trap messages on the SNMP Manager:

./snmptrapd -c  /root/snmptrapd.conf -P udp:<New_Port_Number>

Q: Does the NetScaler appliance support the inform messages?

A: No. The NetScaler appliance does not support the inform messages.

Q: What are the commands to configure SNMP on a NetScaler appliance?

A: You can run the following commands to configure SNMP on a NetScaler appliance:

add snmp community <Community_Name> <Access>
add snmp trap generic <Manager_Address>
add snmp trap specific <Manager_Address>

You can also run the following command to enable threshold value related alarms:

set snmp alarm <Alarm_Name> -time <Threshold_Value>

Q: What is the location of the NetScaler MIB file?

A: The NetScaler MIB files, NS-MIB-smiv1.mib and NS-MIB-smiv2.mib, are available in the /netscaler/snmp directory of the NetScaler appliance or in the Downloads section in the GUI. All Object IDs (OIDs) are available in the mib.txt and trap.txt files available in the /netscaler/snmp directory.

Additional Resources

SNMP version 3 queries are now supported on the NetScaler SDX appliance. SNMPv3 enhances the basic architecture of SNMPv1 and SNMPv2 to incorporate administration and security capabilities, such as authentication, access control, data integrity check, data origin verification, message timeliness check, and data confidentiality.

NetScaler 12 OID Reference

Question:
Can we Disable SNMP v1 because Set "add snmp community citrix All" from NetScaler Device will enable both SNMP v1 and v2.


Answer: Deactivation of the a specific snmp version is not supported.


 

Question:

Does SNMP Monitoring work for Admin Partitions ?

Answer:

Yes, SNMP Monitoring is supported in NetScaler firmware 12.0-56.x and above.
The SNMP Get and Walk functionalities are now supported on a partitioned NetScaler appliance for monitoring resource utilization details such as bandwidth, memory, or connection resources.

This was worked under the enhancement request - ENH0676597

Question:
Can we Disable SNMP v1 because Set "add snmp community citrix All" from NetScaler Device will enable both SNMP v1 and v2.


Answer: Deactivation of the a specific snmp version is not supported.

Question : Customer needs to monitor the individual interface statics via SNMP. Does NetScaler have OIDs to gather information on per interface basis?

Answer : Currently NetScaler doesn’t have SNMP OIDs to monitor the traffic per interface level. Netscaler has option for cumulative values only.
 
 An Enhancement 0695767 is raised to add this functionality to NetScaler