SYSTEM attributes

Use the SYSTEM attribute group to provide a variety of "identification" details associated with your managed system. Such details include the administratively-assigned name, a description, contact information, a services value, and the system location. The Management Information Base (MIB-II) detailed in RFC1213, for use with network management protocols in TCP/IP-based internets, establishes and defines the attributes of this group.

The SYSTEM attributes are available for the SNMP Data Provider.


Agent Name Identifies the SNMP host name relating to a particular sample of data. A valid entry is an alphanumeric text string, with a maximum length of 64 characters.

sysContact The textual identification of the contact person for this managed node together with information on how to contact this person. A valid entry is an alphanumeric text string, with a maximum length of 256 characters.

sysDescr A textual description of the entity. This value should include the full name and version identification of the system's hardware type, software operating-system, and networking software. It is mandatory that this only contain printable ASCII characters. A valid entry is an alphanumeric text string, with a maximum length of 256 characters.

sysLocation The physical location of this node. A valid entry is an alphanumeric text string, with a maximum length of 256 characters.

sysName An administratively-assigned name for this managed node. By convention this is the node's fully qualified domain name. A valid entry is an alphanumeric text string, with a maximum length of 256 characters.

sysObjectID The vendor's authoritative identification of the network management subsystem contained in the entity. This value is allocated within the SMI enterprises subtree (1.3.6.1.4.1) and provides an easy and unambiguous means for determining `what kind of box' is being managed. For example, if vendor `Vendor, Inc.' is assigned the subtree 1.3.6.1.4.1.4242, it might assign the identifier 1.3.6.1.4.1.4242.1.1 to its `Fred Router'. A valid entry is an alphanumeric text string, with a maximum length of 1024 characters.

sysServices A value which indicates the set of services that this entity primarily offers. The value is a sum. This sum initially takes the value zero. For each layer (L) in the range 1 through 7 that this node performs transactions for, 2 raised to (L - 1) is added to the sum. For example, a node that performs primarily routing functions has a value of 4 (2^(3-1)). In contrast, a node that is a host offering application services has a value of 72 (2^(4-1) + 2^(7-1)). Note that in the context of the Internet suite of protocols, values should be calculated accordingly:

Layer and Functionality

1 physical (e.g., repeaters)

2 datalink/subnetwork (e.g., bridges)

3 internet (e.g., IP gateways)

4 end-to-end (e.g., IP hosts)

7 applications (e.g., mail relays)

For systems including OSI protocols, layers 5 and 6 can also be counted. A valid entry is an integer of up to two digits.

sysUpTime The time, specified in hundredths of a second, since the network management portion of the system was last re-initialized. A valid entry is an integer of up to four digits.