cannot access fsFileScanTable MIB using my mib browser
I am using sunmc 3.6 installed on a Netra-T4 station using Solaris 8. The sunmc server and agent are running on the same station. My MIB browser is MG-soft version 9. The MIBII proxy monitoring module is loaded and configured to SNMPv2c, port 161 and the IP of the station.
I am trying to access the sunMC proprietary MIBs that I found in util/cfg/, namely file-scan.mib.
I have compiled and loaded these MIBs unto the MG-soft mib browser and the leaves are visible. But when I try to walk on fsFileScanTable I keep getting an empty response, i.e. no rows in the table, although through the sunmc console i can clearly see 7 rows in the file scan table .
The mib browser does communicate with the agent regarding MIBII elements such as sysUpTime, so it seems that the problem isnt the communication setup (ip,port,community string).
Does anyone know this problem?
[895 byte] By [
michaelkz] at [2007-11-26 6:02:13]
# 1
Hi michaelkz,
> I am trying to access the sunMC proprietary MIBs that
> I found in util/cfg/, namely file-scan.mib.
> I have compiled and loaded these MIBs unto the
> MG-soft mib browser and the leaves are visible. But
> when I try to walk on fsFileScanTable I keep getting
> an empty response, i.e. no rows in the table,
You're probably using the wrong community. Many modules in SunMC can be loaded more than once: but they all use the same MIB/OIDs. How is this possible? Every module that you can load multiple times asks for an "Instance" as part of it's load parameters. That instance is appended to the community (i.e. the File Scanning module you're using is one such example) in the form of "<community>:<instance>"... that allows the SunMC Agent to tell what particular File Scanning module you're interested in even if several are loaded.
For example, the out-of-the-box read community for a SunMC Agent is "public" (unless you changed it). And the default file Scanning module SunMC loads (if you installed the Advanced Pack) uses the instance "syslog". So when you do the SNMPv1 walk/get, your community is "public:syslog" for that particular module.
Thing liks sysuptime are single-instance, so they would just use the normal community "public", which is why that part works for you.
Give it a try and let us know how it works out!
Regards,
Mike.Kirk@HalcyonInc.com
http://www.HalcyonInc.com
# 2
Thank you, this was a great help. It works now, although, I have now noticed that fsFileScanNumberOfMatches returns 0 for all entries although the sunmc console shows an entry with matches (the entry pattern name is kernel_error). All other values (regexp, state, etc...) are correct for all entries. I have tried it with other files and the problem persists.
This also raises another question for me: does the sunMC server use a different MIB than this one for requesting the file scan information?
thanks again,
Michael Katz
michaelkz@convergin.com
# 3
Hi Michael,
> Thank you, this was a great help. It works now,
> although, I have now noticed that
> fsFileScanNumberOfMatches returns 0 for all entries
> although the sunmc console shows an entry with
> matches (the entry pattern name is kernel_error).
> All other values (regexp, state, etc...) are correct
> t for all entries. I have tried it with other files
> and the problem persists.
Stupid question, but are you sure you're walking the correct Agent? (sometimes people plug in the IP of their SunMC Server, when really they wanted a different Agent, and since modules like filescan+syslog are pretty common, it appears to sort-of-work at first glance...)
> This also raises another question for me: does the
> sunMC server use a different MIB than this one for
> requesting the file scan information?
SunMC actually doesn't "import" MIBs to be used internally like other utils. It discovers modules and hints about their layout on-the-fly and decides how to display it to the user. So is it possible there's a mismatch? Yes. That being said, the MIB you used and what you see on the screen should match. Or at least you'd be the first person I've heard report that it doesn't.
Have you tried a command-line snmpwalk of that OID/module to see what comes out? (/opt/SUNWsymon/sbin/es-run snmpwalk -h HOST -p PORT OID).
Finally, can I ask what you're trying to set up? Remember, with SunMC's recent licensing changes you can use it's own internal graphing/reporting system (PRM: Performance Reporting Manager) for free on an unlimited number of systems. Of course if you want official "support" you need to put some cash on the table :)
PRM allows you to draw graphs and/or export any metrics you want in csv/tcv format (i.e. if you want to stick them in Excel or something to make your own graphs).
Regards,
Mike.Kirk@HalcyonInc.com
http://www.HalcyonInc.com
# 4
Hi Mike,
You struck a nerve with this..
<quote>
Remember, with SunMC's recent licensing changes you can use it's own internal graphing/reporting system (PRM: Performance Reporting Manager) for free on an unlimited number of systems. Of course if you want official "support" you need to put some cash on the table
</quote>
Can you expand on what you mean there? Our Sun Rep is only intent on trying to sell us expensive items and services and never informs me of anything else.
Just wait until they hear we are going to purchase a TagmaStore USP 1100 over this less than ideal Sun storage..
I would love to use extra parts of SunMC but between the cost and the never ending battle with our execs on which Enterprise Systems Management tool to use, I am going nowhere.
Regards
Stephen
# 5
> Can you expand on what you mean there? Our Sun Rep
> is only intent on trying to sell us expensive items
> and services and never informs me of anything else.
This isn't a SunMC-specific thing: it covers pretty much all Sun software under Solaris Enterprise System (which includes the "N1" stack, which is where SunMC lives):
http://www.sun.com/software/solaris/faqs/general.jsp
For SunMC this means some of the advanced features (ASM, PRM, SAM, SRM etc) that used to only come with a 60-day eval out-of-the-box now effectively have an unlimited eval period. But, if you want support, you have to buy the product license and support contract. It's been that way since late 2005.
> I would love to use extra parts of SunMC but between
> the cost and the never ending battle with our execs
> on which Enterprise Systems Management tool to use, I
> am going nowhere.
So, as long as you understand if those parts of SunMC break, that you're on your own to fix them, you can use them at no cost (similar to most open-source products you're seeing companies adopt these days).
As for what Enterprise Framework to use, I think choosing just one product would be a mistake. What SunMC does well (i.e. Sun hardware monitoring) no other framework does. In my opinion you're better off using the vendor-supplied tools where possible, and integrate their data/alarms into your higher frameworks (i.e. Tivoli, HPOV, Netcool, Unicenter etc).
From what I've seen, and I'm not speaking for my company, big products like Tivoli may be able to do a lot, but their licensing costs are punishing, and some places spend years trying to roll it out enterprise-wide and it never quite works right. I'm seeing lots of datacenter managers say: "Yes, our corporate framework is product X, but I'm going to install this other tool (like SunMC) in a more tactical fashion, and have it feed data to X, and just 'get it done' quickly/cheaply/effectively".
Now I'm really getting off-topic: this has nothing to do with MIBs :)
Regards,
Mike.Kirk@HalcyonInc.com
http://www.HalcyonInc.com
# 6
Thanks again for your time.
Unfortunately this is not a mistake. We are polling the correct agent. All values are correct except for the number of matches which is always 0.
In any case, what we are trying to do here is build a SunMC based NMS for our system, that will provide an SNMP interface to 3d party manager systems. This interface should include both MIB access to all managed information and conveyance of all managed traps.
When we first approached SunMC (2 weeks ago), it seemed straightforward to us that since the server and the agents communicate via SNMP, that this SNMP interface will be supported for all 3d party manager systems. As our understanding of SunMC grows, it becomes apparent that this is not the case.
In order to transmit SNMP traps, it seems that we must utilze the Prime Alert Event Action product. Regarding the unsupplied MIBs, such as the config_reader we do not yet see a solution.
# 7
Hi Mike,
> As our understanding of SunMC grows, it
> becomes apparent that this is not the case.
> In order to transmit SNMP traps, it seems that we
> must utilze the Prime Alert Event Action product.
> Regarding the unsupplied MIBs, such as the
> config_reader we do not yet see a solution.
So, keeping in mind I work for Halcyon, the best way to get traps out of SunMC _is_ actually by using EventAction and our Framework Adapter. You can believe me or pass me off as a crazy biased vendor :)
As for direct SNMP access to all of SunMC, it's something customers have been asking for for awhile, and Sun is listening:
http://forum.sun.com/thread.jspa?threadID=29756&tstart=0
I urge you to send Mike Barrett an email and ask for the Config Reader MIBs. He's a great guy and really does listen to customers. They're actually fairly straightforward to create yourself if you've poked around the DE, I'm just not confident if I can tell you how to do it (as a Sun partner). But I'm pretty sure linking to someone else who did the work is OK :
http://www.misplaced.net/~btoneill/sunmib.html
(mind you, those MIBs are a bit old and may not include the absolute newest Sun hardware)
Regards,
Mike.Kirk@HalcyonInc.com
http://www.HalcyonInc.com
