5 collectd-snmp - Documentation of collectd's C<snmp plugin>
12 <Data "powerplus_voltge_input">
15 TypeInstance "input_line1"
17 Values "SNMPv2-SMI::enterprises.6050.5.4.1.1.2.1"
23 Values "HOST-RESOURCES-MIB::hrSystemNumUsers.0"
28 TypeInstanceOID "IF-MIB::ifDescr"
29 Values "IF-MIB::ifInOctets" "IF-MIB::ifOutOctets"
32 <Host "some.switch.mydomain.org">
35 Community "community_string"
41 <Host "some.server.mydomain.org">
42 Address "192.168.0.42"
44 Community "another_string"
45 Collect "std_traffic" "hr_users"
47 <Host "secure.router.mydomain.org">
48 Address "192.168.0.7:165"
50 SecurityLevel "authPriv"
53 AuthPassphrase "setec_astronomy"
55 PrivacyPassphrase "too_many_secrets"
58 <Host "some.ups.mydomain.org">
59 Address "tcp:192.168.0.3"
61 Community "more_communities"
62 Collect "powerplus_voltge_input"
71 The C<snmp plugin> queries other hosts using SNMP, the simple network
72 management protocol, and translates the value it receives to collectd's
73 internal format and dispatches them. Depending on the write plugins you have
74 loaded they may be written to disk or submitted to another instance or
75 whatever you configured.
77 Because querying a host via SNMP may produce a timeout multiple threads are
78 used to query hosts in parallel. Depending on the number of hosts between one
79 and ten threads are used.
83 Since the aim of the C<snmp plugin> is to provide a generic interface to SNMP,
84 its configuration is not trivial and may take some time.
86 Since the C<Net-SNMP> library is used you can use all the environment variables
87 that are interpreted by that package. See L<snmpcmd(1)> for more details.
89 There are two types of blocks that can be contained in the
90 C<E<lt>PluginE<nbsp>snmpE<gt>> block: B<Data> and B<Host>:
92 =head2 The B<Data> block
94 The B<Data> block defines a list of values or a table of values that are to be
95 queried. The following options can be set:
101 collectd's type that is to be used, e.E<nbsp>g. "if_octets" for interface
102 traffic or "users" for a user count. The types are read from the B<TypesDB>
103 (see L<collectd.conf(5)>), so you may want to check for which types are
104 defined. See L<types.db(5)> for a description of the format of this file.
106 =item B<Table> I<true|false>
108 Define if this is a single list of values or a table of values. The difference
111 When B<Table> is set to B<false>, the OIDs given to B<Values> (see below) are
112 queried using the C<GET> SNMP command (see L<snmpget(1)>) and transmitted to
113 collectd. B<One> value list is dispatched and, eventually, one file will be
116 When B<Table> is set to B<true>, the OIDs given to B<Values> (see below) are
117 queried using the C<GETNEXT> SNMP command until the subtree is left. After all
118 the lists (think: all columns of the table) have been read B<several> values
119 sets will be dispatches and, eventually, several files will be written. If you
120 configure a B<Type> (see above) which needs more than one data source (for
121 example C<if_octets> which needs C<rx> and C<tx>) you will need to specify more
122 than one (two, in the example case) OIDs with the B<Values> option. This has
123 nothing to do with the B<Table> setting.
125 For example, if you want to query the number of users on a system, you can use
126 C<HOST-RESOURCES-MIB::hrSystemNumUsers.0>. This is one value and belongs to one
127 value list, therefore B<Table> must be set to B<false>. Please note that, in
128 this case, you have to include the sequence number (zero in this case) in the
131 Counter example: If you want to query the interface table provided by the
132 C<IF-MIB>, e.E<nbsp>g. the bytes transmitted. There are potentially many
133 interfaces, so you will want to set B<Table> to B<true>. Because the
134 C<if_octets> type needs two values, received and transmitted bytes, you need to
135 specify two OIDs in the B<Values> setting, in this case likely
136 C<IF-MIB::ifHCInOctets> and C<IF-MIB::ifHCOutOctets>. But, this is because of
137 the B<Type> setting, not the B<Table> setting.
139 Since the semantic of B<Instance> and B<Values> depends on this setting you
140 need to set it before setting them. Doing vice versa will result in undefined
143 =item B<Plugin> I<Plugin>
145 Use I<Plugin> as the plugin name of the values that are dispatched.
148 =item B<PluginInstance> I<Instance>
150 Sets the plugin-instance of the values that are dispatched to I<Instance> value.
152 When B<Table> is set to I<true> and B<PluginInstanceOID> is set then this option
155 Defaults to an empty string.
157 =item B<TypeInstance> I<Instance>
159 Sets the type-instance of the values that are dispatched to I<Instance> value.
161 When B<Table> is set to I<true> and B<TypeInstanceOID> is set then this option
164 Defaults to an empty string.
166 =item B<TypeInstanceOID> I<OID>
168 =item B<PluginInstanceOID> I<OID>
170 If B<Table> is set to I<true>, I<OID> is interpreted as an SNMP-prefix that will
171 return a list of values. Those values are then used as the actual type-instance
172 or plugin-instance of dispatched metrics. An example would be the
173 C<IF-MIB::ifDescr> subtree. L<variables(5)> from the SNMP distribution describes
174 the format of OIDs. When set to empty string, then "SUBID" will be used as the
177 Prefix may be set for values with use of B<InstancePrefix> option.
179 When B<Table> is set to I<false> these options has no effect.
180 Only one of these options may be used in the same B<Data> block.
184 B<TypeInstanceOID> defaults to an empty string.
186 B<PluginInstanceOID> is not configured.
188 =item B<Instance> I<Instance>
190 Attention: this option exists for backwards compatibility only and will be
191 removed in next major release. Please use B<TypeInstance> / B<TypeInstanceOID>
194 The meaning of this setting depends on whether B<Table> is set to I<true> or
197 If B<Table> is set to I<true>, option behaves as B<TypeInstanceOID>.
198 If B<Table> is set to I<false>, option behaves as B<TypeInstance>.
200 Note what B<Table> option must be set before setting B<Instance>.
202 =item B<InstancePrefix> I<String>
204 If B<Table> is set to I<true>, you may feel the need to add something to the
205 instance of the files. If set, I<String> is prepended to the instance as
206 determined by querying the agent. When B<Table> is set to I<false> this option
209 The C<UPS-MIB> is an example where you need this setting: It has voltages of
210 the inlets, outlets and the battery of an UPS. However, it doesn't provide a
211 descriptive column for these voltages. In this case having 1, 2,E<nbsp>... as
212 instances is not enough, because the inlet voltages and outlet voltages may
213 both have the subids 1, 2,E<nbsp>... You can use this setting to distinguish
214 between the different voltages.
216 =item B<Values> I<OID> [I<OID> ...]
218 Configures the values to be queried from the SNMP host. The meaning slightly
219 changes with the B<Table> setting. L<variables(5)> from the SNMP distribution
220 describes the format of OIDs.
222 If B<Table> is set to I<true>, each I<OID> must be the prefix of all the
223 values to query, e.E<nbsp>g. C<IF-MIB::ifInOctets> for all the counters of
224 incoming traffic. This subtree is walked (using C<GETNEXT>) until a value from
225 outside the subtree is returned.
227 If B<Table> is set to I<false>, each I<OID> must be the OID of exactly one
228 value, e.E<nbsp>g. C<IF-MIB::ifInOctets.3> for the third counter of incoming
231 =item B<Scale> I<Value>
233 The gauge-values returned by the SNMP-agent are multiplied by I<Value>. This
234 is useful when values are transferred as a fixed point real number. For example,
235 thermometers may transfer B<243> but actually mean B<24.3>, so you can specify
236 a scale value of B<0.1> to correct this. The default value is, of course,
239 This value is not applied to counter-values.
241 =item B<Shift> I<Value>
243 I<Value> is added to gauge-values returned by the SNMP-agent after they have
244 been multiplied by any B<Scale> value. If, for example, a thermometer returns
245 degrees Kelvin you could specify a shift of B<273.15> here to store values in
246 degrees Celsius. The default value is, of course, B<0.0>.
248 This value is not applied to counter-values.
250 =item B<Ignore> I<Value> [, I<Value> ...]
252 The ignore values allows one to ignore Instances based on their name and the
253 patterns specified by the various values you've entered. The match is a
254 glob-type shell matching.
256 =item B<InvertMatch> I<true|false(default)>
258 The invertmatch value should be use in combination of the Ignore option.
259 It changes the behaviour of the Ignore option, from a blacklist behaviour
260 when InvertMatch is set to false, to a whitelist when specified to true.
264 =head2 The Host block
266 The B<Host> block defines which hosts to query, which SNMP community and
267 version to use and which of the defined B<Data> to query.
269 The argument passed to the B<Host> block is used as the hostname in the data
274 =item B<Address> I<IP-Address>|I<Hostname>
276 Set the address to connect to. Address may include transport specifier and/or
279 =item B<Version> B<1>|B<2>|B<3>
281 Set the SNMP version to use. When giving B<2> version C<2c> is actually used.
283 =item B<Community> I<Community>
285 Pass I<Community> to the host. (Ignored for SNMPv3).
287 =item B<Username> I<Username>
289 Sets the I<Username> to use for SNMPv3 security.
291 =item B<SecurityLevel> I<authPriv>|I<authNoPriv>|I<noAuthNoPriv>
293 Selects the security level for SNMPv3 security.
295 =item B<Context> I<Context>
297 Sets the I<Context> for SNMPv3 security.
299 =item B<AuthProtocol> I<MD5>|I<SHA>
301 Selects the authentication protocol for SNMPv3 security.
303 =item B<AuthPassphrase> I<Passphrase>
305 Sets the authentication passphrase for SNMPv3 security.
307 =item B<PrivacyProtocol> I<AES>|I<DES>
309 Selects the privacy (encryption) protocol for SNMPv3 security.
311 =item B<PrivacyPassphrase> I<Passphrase>
313 Sets the privacy (encryption) passphrase for SNMPv3 security.
315 =item B<Collect> I<Data> [I<Data> ...]
317 Defines which values to collect. I<Data> refers to one of the B<Data> block
318 above. Since the config file is read top-down you need to define the data
319 before using it here.
321 =item B<Interval> I<Seconds>
323 Collect data from this host every I<Seconds> seconds. This option is meant for
324 devices with not much CPU power, e.E<nbsp>g. network equipment such as
325 switches, embedded devices, rack monitoring systems and so on. Since the
326 B<Step> of generated RRD files depends on this setting it's wise to select a
327 reasonable value once and never change it.
329 =item B<Timeout> I<Seconds>
331 How long to wait for a response. The C<Net-SNMP> library default is 1 second.
333 =item B<Retries> I<Integer>
335 The number of times that a query should be retried after the Timeout expires.
336 The C<Net-SNMP> library default is 5.
351 Florian Forster E<lt>octo@collectd.orgE<gt>
352 Michael Pilat E<lt>mike@mikepilat.comE<gt>