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 #FilterOID "IF-MIB::ifOperStatus"
30 #FilterValues "1", "2"
31 Values "IF-MIB::ifInOctets" "IF-MIB::ifOutOctets"
34 <Host "some.switch.mydomain.org">
37 Community "community_string"
43 <Host "some.server.mydomain.org">
44 Address "192.168.0.42"
46 Community "another_string"
47 Collect "std_traffic" "hr_users"
49 <Host "secure.router.mydomain.org">
50 Address "192.168.0.7:165"
52 SecurityLevel "authPriv"
55 AuthPassphrase "setec_astronomy"
57 PrivacyPassphrase "too_many_secrets"
60 <Host "some.ups.mydomain.org">
61 Address "tcp:192.168.0.3"
63 Community "more_communities"
64 Collect "powerplus_voltge_input"
73 The C<snmp plugin> queries other hosts using SNMP, the simple network
74 management protocol, and translates the value it receives to collectd's
75 internal format and dispatches them. Depending on the write plugins you have
76 loaded they may be written to disk or submitted to another instance or
77 whatever you configured.
79 Because querying a host via SNMP may produce a timeout multiple threads are
80 used to query hosts in parallel. Depending on the number of hosts between one
81 and ten threads are used.
85 Since the aim of the C<snmp plugin> is to provide a generic interface to SNMP,
86 its configuration is not trivial and may take some time.
88 Since the C<Net-SNMP> library is used you can use all the environment variables
89 that are interpreted by that package. See L<snmpcmd(1)> for more details.
91 There are two types of blocks that can be contained in the
92 C<E<lt>PluginE<nbsp>snmpE<gt>> block: B<Data> and B<Host>:
94 =head2 The B<Data> block
96 The B<Data> block defines a list of values or a table of values that are to be
97 queried. The following options can be set:
101 =item B<Type> I<type>
103 collectd's type that is to be used, e.E<nbsp>g. "if_octets" for interface
104 traffic or "users" for a user count. The types are read from the B<TypesDB>
105 (see L<collectd.conf(5)>), so you may want to check for which types are
106 defined. See L<types.db(5)> for a description of the format of this file.
108 =item B<Table> I<true|false>
110 Define if this is a single list of values or a table of values. The difference
113 When B<Table> is set to B<false>, the OIDs given to B<Values> (see below) are
114 queried using the C<GET> SNMP command (see L<snmpget(1)>) and transmitted to
115 collectd. B<One> value list is dispatched and, eventually, one file will be
118 When B<Table> is set to B<true>, the OIDs given to B<Values>, B<TypeInstanceOID>,
119 B<PluginInstanceOID>, B<HostOID> and B<FilterOID> (see below) are queried using
120 the C<GETNEXT> SNMP command until the subtree is left. After all
121 the lists (think: all columns of the table) have been read B<several> values
122 sets will be dispatches and, eventually, several files will be written. If you
123 configure a B<Type> (see above) which needs more than one data source (for
124 example C<if_octets> which needs C<rx> and C<tx>) you will need to specify more
125 than one (two, in the example case) OIDs with the B<Values> option. This has
126 nothing to do with the B<Table> setting.
128 For example, if you want to query the number of users on a system, you can use
129 C<HOST-RESOURCES-MIB::hrSystemNumUsers.0>. This is one value and belongs to one
130 value list, therefore B<Table> must be set to B<false>. Please note that, in
131 this case, you have to include the sequence number (zero in this case) in the
134 Counter example: If you want to query the interface table provided by the
135 C<IF-MIB>, e.E<nbsp>g. the bytes transmitted. There are potentially many
136 interfaces, so you will want to set B<Table> to B<true>. Because the
137 C<if_octets> type needs two values, received and transmitted bytes, you need to
138 specify two OIDs in the B<Values> setting, in this case likely
139 C<IF-MIB::ifHCInOctets> and C<IF-MIB::ifHCOutOctets>. But, this is because of
140 the B<Type> setting, not the B<Table> setting.
142 Since the semantic of B<Instance> and B<Values> depends on this setting you
143 need to set it before setting them. Doing vice versa will result in undefined
146 =item B<Plugin> I<Plugin>
148 Use I<Plugin> as the plugin name of the values that are dispatched.
151 =item B<PluginInstance> I<Instance>
153 Sets the plugin-instance of the values that are dispatched to I<Instance> value.
155 When B<Table> is set to I<true> and B<PluginInstanceOID> is set then this option
158 Defaults to an empty string.
160 =item B<TypeInstance> I<Instance>
162 Sets the type-instance of the values that are dispatched to I<Instance> value.
164 When B<Table> is set to I<true> and B<TypeInstanceOID> is set then this option
167 Defaults to an empty string.
169 =item B<TypeInstanceOID> I<OID>
171 =item B<PluginInstanceOID> I<OID>
173 =item B<HostOID> I<OID>
175 If B<Table> is set to I<true>, I<OID> is interpreted as an SNMP-prefix that will
176 return a list of values. Those values are then used as the actual type-instance,
177 plugin-instance or host of dispatched metrics. An example would be the
178 C<IF-MIB::ifDescr> subtree. L<variables(5)> from the SNMP distribution describes
179 the format of OIDs. When option is set to empty string, then "SUBID" will be used
182 Prefix may be set for values with use of appropriate B<TypeInstancePrefix>,
183 B<PluginInstancePrefix> and B<HostPrefix> options.
185 When B<Table> is set to I<false> these options has no effect.
187 Defaults: When no one of these options is configured explicitly,
188 B<TypeInstanceOID> defaults to an empty string.
190 =item B<TypeInstancePrefix>
192 =item B<PluginInstancePrefix>
196 These options are intented to be used together with B<TypeInstanceOID>,
197 B<PluginInstanceOID> and B<HostOID> respectively.
199 If set, I<String> is preprended to values received by querying the agent.
201 When B<Table> is set to I<false> these options has no effect.
203 The C<UPS-MIB> is an example where you need this setting: It has voltages of
204 the inlets, outlets and the battery of an UPS. However, it doesn't provide a
205 descriptive column for these voltages. In this case having 1, 2,E<nbsp>... as
206 instances is not enough, because the inlet voltages and outlet voltages may
207 both have the subids 1, 2,E<nbsp>... You can use this setting to distinguish
208 between the different voltages.
210 =item B<Instance> I<Instance>
212 Attention: this option exists for backwards compatibility only and will be
213 removed in next major release. Please use B<TypeInstance> / B<TypeInstanceOID>
216 The meaning of this setting depends on whether B<Table> is set to I<true> or
219 If B<Table> is set to I<true>, option behaves as B<TypeInstanceOID>.
220 If B<Table> is set to I<false>, option behaves as B<TypeInstance>.
222 Note what B<Table> option must be set before setting B<Instance>.
224 =item B<InstancePrefix> I<String>
226 Attention: this option exists for backwards compatibility only and will be
227 removed in next major release. Please use B<TypeInstancePrefix> instead.
229 =item B<Values> I<OID> [I<OID> ...]
231 Configures the values to be queried from the SNMP host. The meaning slightly
232 changes with the B<Table> setting. L<variables(5)> from the SNMP distribution
233 describes the format of OIDs.
235 If B<Table> is set to I<true>, each I<OID> must be the prefix of all the
236 values to query, e.E<nbsp>g. C<IF-MIB::ifInOctets> for all the counters of
237 incoming traffic. This subtree is walked (using C<GETNEXT>) until a value from
238 outside the subtree is returned.
240 If B<Table> is set to I<false>, each I<OID> must be the OID of exactly one
241 value, e.E<nbsp>g. C<IF-MIB::ifInOctets.3> for the third counter of incoming
244 =item B<Scale> I<Value>
246 The gauge-values returned by the SNMP-agent are multiplied by I<Value>. This
247 is useful when values are transferred as a fixed point real number. For example,
248 thermometers may transfer B<243> but actually mean B<24.3>, so you can specify
249 a scale value of B<0.1> to correct this. The default value is, of course,
252 This value is not applied to counter-values.
254 =item B<Shift> I<Value>
256 I<Value> is added to gauge-values returned by the SNMP-agent after they have
257 been multiplied by any B<Scale> value. If, for example, a thermometer returns
258 degrees Kelvin you could specify a shift of B<273.15> here to store values in
259 degrees Celsius. The default value is, of course, B<0.0>.
261 This value is not applied to counter-values.
263 =item B<Ignore> I<Value> [, I<Value> ...]
265 The ignore values allows one to ignore Instances based on their name and the
266 patterns specified by the various values you've entered. The match is a
267 glob-type shell matching.
269 =item B<InvertMatch> I<true|false(default)>
271 The invertmatch value should be use in combination of the Ignore option.
272 It changes the behaviour of the Ignore option, from a blacklist behaviour
273 when InvertMatch is set to false, to a whitelist when specified to true.
275 =item B<FilterOID> I<OID>
277 =item B<FilterValues> I<Value> [, I<Value> ...]
279 =item B<FilterIgnoreSelected> I<true|false(default)>
281 When B<Table> is set to I<true>, these options allow to configure filtering
284 The B<FilterOID> declares I<OID> to fill table column with values.
285 The B<FilterValues> declares values list to do match. Whether table row will be
286 collected or ignored depends on the B<FilterIgnoreSelected> setting.
287 As with other plugins that use the daemon's ignorelist functionality, a string
288 that starts and ends with a slash is interpreted as a regular expression.
290 If no selection is configured at all, B<all> table rows are selected.
292 When B<Table> is set to I<false> then these options has no effect.
294 See B<Table> and F</"IGNORELISTS"> for details.
298 =head2 The Host block
300 The B<Host> block defines which hosts to query, which SNMP community and
301 version to use and which of the defined B<Data> to query.
303 The argument passed to the B<Host> block is used as the hostname in the data
308 =item B<Address> I<IP-Address>|I<Hostname>
310 Set the address to connect to. Address may include transport specifier and/or
313 =item B<Version> B<1>|B<2>|B<3>
315 Set the SNMP version to use. When giving B<2> version C<2c> is actually used.
317 =item B<Community> I<Community>
319 Pass I<Community> to the host. (Ignored for SNMPv3).
321 =item B<Username> I<Username>
323 Sets the I<Username> to use for SNMPv3 security.
325 =item B<SecurityLevel> I<authPriv>|I<authNoPriv>|I<noAuthNoPriv>
327 Selects the security level for SNMPv3 security.
329 =item B<Context> I<Context>
331 Sets the I<Context> for SNMPv3 security.
333 =item B<AuthProtocol> I<MD5>|I<SHA>
335 Selects the authentication protocol for SNMPv3 security.
337 =item B<AuthPassphrase> I<Passphrase>
339 Sets the authentication passphrase for SNMPv3 security.
341 =item B<PrivacyProtocol> I<AES>|I<DES>
343 Selects the privacy (encryption) protocol for SNMPv3 security.
345 =item B<PrivacyPassphrase> I<Passphrase>
347 Sets the privacy (encryption) passphrase for SNMPv3 security.
349 =item B<Collect> I<Data> [I<Data> ...]
351 Defines which values to collect. I<Data> refers to one of the B<Data> block
352 above. Since the config file is read top-down you need to define the data
353 before using it here.
355 =item B<Interval> I<Seconds>
357 Collect data from this host every I<Seconds> seconds. This option is meant for
358 devices with not much CPU power, e.E<nbsp>g. network equipment such as
359 switches, embedded devices, rack monitoring systems and so on. Since the
360 B<Step> of generated RRD files depends on this setting it's wise to select a
361 reasonable value once and never change it.
363 =item B<Timeout> I<Seconds>
365 How long to wait for a response. The C<Net-SNMP> library default is 1 second.
367 =item B<Retries> I<Integer>
369 The number of times that a query should be retried after the Timeout expires.
370 The C<Net-SNMP> library default is 5.
385 Florian Forster E<lt>octo@collectd.orgE<gt>
386 Michael Pilat E<lt>mike@mikepilat.comE<gt>