5 collectd-snmp - Documentation of collectd's C<snmp plugin>
12 <Data "powerplus_voltge_input">
15 Instance "input_line1"
17 Values "SNMPv2-SMI::enterprises.6050.5.4.1.1.2.1"
24 Values "HOST-RESOURCES-MIB::hrSystemNumUsers.0"
29 Instance "IF-MIB::ifDescr"
30 Values "IF-MIB::ifInOctets" "IF-MIB::ifOutOctets"
33 <Host "some.switch.mydomain.org">
36 Community "community_string"
42 <Host "some.server.mydomain.org">
43 Address "192.168.0.42"
45 Community "another_string"
46 Collect "std_traffic" "hr_users"
48 <Host "secure.router.mydomain.org">
49 Address "192.168.0.7:165"
51 SecurityLevel "authPriv"
54 AuthPassphrase "setec_astronomy"
56 PrivacyPassphrase "too_many_secrets"
59 <Host "some.ups.mydomain.org">
60 Address "tcp:192.168.0.3"
62 Community "more_communities"
63 Collect "powerplus_voltge_input"
72 The C<snmp plugin> queries other hosts using SNMP, the simple network
73 management protocol, and translates the value it receives to collectd's
74 internal format and dispatches them. Depending on the write plugins you have
75 loaded they may be written to disk or submitted to another instance or
76 whatever you configured.
78 Because querying a host via SNMP may produce a timeout multiple threads are
79 used to query hosts in parallel. Depending on the number of hosts between one
80 and ten threads are used.
84 Since the aim of the C<snmp plugin> is to provide a generic interface to SNMP,
85 its configuration is not trivial and may take some time.
87 Since the C<Net-SNMP> library is used you can use all the environment variables
88 that are interpreted by that package. See L<snmpcmd(1)> for more details.
90 There are two types of blocks that can be contained in the
91 C<E<lt>PluginE<nbsp>snmpE<gt>> block: B<Data> and B<Host>:
93 =head2 The B<Data> block
95 The B<Data> block defines a list of values or a table of values that are to be
96 queried. The following options can be set:
100 =item B<Type> I<type>
102 collectd's type that is to be used, e.E<nbsp>g. "if_octets" for interface
103 traffic or "users" for a user count. The types are read from the B<TypesDB>
104 (see L<collectd.conf(5)>), so you may want to check for which types are
105 defined. See L<types.db(5)> for a description of the format of this file.
107 =item B<Table> I<true|false>
109 Define if this is a single list of values or a table of values. The difference
112 When B<Table> is set to B<false>, the OIDs given to B<Values> (see below) are
113 queried using the C<GET> SNMP command (see L<snmpget(1)>) and transmitted to
114 collectd. B<One> value list is dispatched and, eventually, one file will be
117 When B<Table> is set to B<true>, the OIDs given to B<Values> (see below) are
118 queried using the C<GETNEXT> SNMP command until the subtree is left. After all
119 the lists (think: all columns of the table) have been read B<several> values
120 sets will be dispatches and, eventually, several files will be written. If you
121 configure a B<Type> (see above) which needs more than one data source (for
122 example C<if_octets> which needs C<rx> and C<tx>) you will need to specify more
123 than one (two, in the example case) OIDs with the B<Values> option. This has
124 nothing to do with the B<Table> setting.
126 For example, if you want to query the number of users on a system, you can use
127 C<HOST-RESOURCES-MIB::hrSystemNumUsers.0>. This is one value and belongs to one
128 value list, therefore B<Table> must be set to B<false>. Please note that, in
129 this case, you have to include the sequence number (zero in this case) in the
132 Counter example: If you want to query the interface table provided by the
133 C<IF-MIB>, e.E<nbsp>g. the bytes transmitted. There are potentially many
134 interfaces, so you will want to set B<Table> to B<true>. Because the
135 C<if_octets> type needs two values, received and transmitted bytes, you need to
136 specify two OIDs in the B<Values> setting, in this case likely
137 C<IF-MIB::ifHCInOctets> and C<IF-MIB::ifHCOutOctets>. But, this is because of
138 the B<Type> setting, not the B<Table> setting.
140 Since the semantic of B<Instance> and B<Values> depends on this setting you
141 need to set it before setting them. Doing vice verse will result in undefined
144 =item B<Plugin> I<Plugin>
146 Use I<Plugin> as the plugin name of the values that are dispatched.
149 =item B<Instance> I<Instance>
151 Sets the type-instance of the values that are dispatched. The meaning of this
152 setting depends on whether B<Table> is set to I<true> or I<false>:
154 If B<Table> is set to I<true>, I<Instance> is interpreted as an SNMP-prefix
155 that will return a list of values. Those values are then used as the actual
156 type-instance. An example would be the C<IF-MIB::ifDescr> subtree.
157 L<variables(5)> from the SNMP distribution describes the format of OIDs.
159 If B<Table> is set to I<true> and B<Instance> is omitted, then "SUBID" will be
160 used as the instance.
162 If B<Table> is set to I<false> the actual string configured for I<Instance> is
163 copied into the value-list. In this case I<Instance> may be empty, i.E<nbsp>e.
166 =item B<InstancePrefix> I<String>
168 If B<Table> is set to I<true>, you may feel the need to add something to the
169 instance of the files. If set, I<String> is prepended to the instance as
170 determined by querying the agent. When B<Table> is set to I<false> this option
173 The C<UPS-MIB> is an example where you need this setting: It has voltages of
174 the inlets, outlets and the battery of an UPS. However, it doesn't provide a
175 descriptive column for these voltages. In this case having 1, 2,E<nbsp>... as
176 instances is not enough, because the inlet voltages and outlet voltages may
177 both have the subids 1, 2,E<nbsp>... You can use this setting to distinguish
178 between the different voltages.
180 =item B<Values> I<OID> [I<OID> ...]
182 Configures the values to be queried from the SNMP host. The meaning slightly
183 changes with the B<Table> setting. L<variables(5)> from the SNMP distribution
184 describes the format of OIDs.
186 If B<Table> is set to I<true>, each I<OID> must be the prefix of all the
187 values to query, e.E<nbsp>g. C<IF-MIB::ifInOctets> for all the counters of
188 incoming traffic. This subtree is walked (using C<GETNEXT>) until a value from
189 outside the subtree is returned.
191 If B<Table> is set to I<false>, each I<OID> must be the OID of exactly one
192 value, e.E<nbsp>g. C<IF-MIB::ifInOctets.3> for the third counter of incoming
195 =item B<Scale> I<Value>
197 The gauge-values returned by the SNMP-agent are multiplied by I<Value>. This
198 is useful when values are transferred as a fixed point real number. For example,
199 thermometers may transfer B<243> but actually mean B<24.3>, so you can specify
200 a scale value of B<0.1> to correct this. The default value is, of course,
203 This value is not applied to counter-values.
205 =item B<Shift> I<Value>
207 I<Value> is added to gauge-values returned by the SNMP-agent after they have
208 been multiplied by any B<Scale> value. If, for example, a thermometer returns
209 degrees Kelvin you could specify a shift of B<273.15> here to store values in
210 degrees Celsius. The default value is, of course, B<0.0>.
212 This value is not applied to counter-values.
214 =item B<Ignore> I<Value> [, I<Value> ...]
216 The ignore values allows one to ignore Instances based on their name and the
217 patterns specified by the various values you've entered. The match is a
218 glob-type shell matching.
220 =item B<InvertMatch> I<true|false(default)>
222 The invertmatch value should be use in combination of the Ignore option.
223 It changes the behaviour of the Ignore option, from a blacklist behaviour
224 when InvertMatch is set to false, to a whitelist when specified to true.
228 =head2 The Host block
230 The B<Host> block defines which hosts to query, which SNMP community and
231 version to use and which of the defined B<Data> to query.
233 The argument passed to the B<Host> block is used as the hostname in the data
238 =item B<Address> I<IP-Address>|I<Hostname>
240 Set the address to connect to. Address may include transport specifier and/or
243 =item B<Version> B<1>|B<2>|B<3>
245 Set the SNMP version to use. When giving B<2> version C<2c> is actually used.
247 =item B<Community> I<Community>
249 Pass I<Community> to the host. (Ignored for SNMPv3).
251 =item B<Username> I<Username>
253 Sets the I<Username> to use for SNMPv3 security.
255 =item B<SecurityLevel> I<authPriv>|I<authNoPriv>|I<noAuthNoPriv>
257 Selects the security level for SNMPv3 security.
259 =item B<Context> I<Context>
261 Sets the I<Context> for SNMPv3 security.
263 =item B<AuthProtocol> I<MD5>|I<SHA>
265 Selects the authentication protocol for SNMPv3 security.
267 =item B<AuthPassphrase> I<Passphrase>
269 Sets the authentication passphrase for SNMPv3 security.
271 =item B<PrivacyProtocol> I<AES>|I<DES>
273 Selects the privacy (encryption) protocol for SNMPv3 security.
275 =item B<PrivacyPassphrase> I<Passphrase>
277 Sets the privacy (encryption) passphrase for SNMPv3 security.
279 =item B<Collect> I<Data> [I<Data> ...]
281 Defines which values to collect. I<Data> refers to one of the B<Data> block
282 above. Since the config file is read top-down you need to define the data
283 before using it here.
285 =item B<Interval> I<Seconds>
287 Collect data from this host every I<Seconds> seconds. This option is meant for
288 devices with not much CPU power, e.E<nbsp>g. network equipment such as
289 switches, embedded devices, rack monitoring systems and so on. Since the
290 B<Step> of generated RRD files depends on this setting it's wise to select a
291 reasonable value once and never change it.
293 =item B<Timeout> I<Seconds>
295 How long to wait for a response. The C<Net-SNMP> library default is 1 second.
297 =item B<Retries> I<Integer>
299 The number of times that a query should be retried after the Timeout expires.
300 The C<Net-SNMP> library default is 5.
315 Florian Forster E<lt>octo@collectd.orgE<gt>
316 Michael Pilat E<lt>mike@mikepilat.comE<gt>