The SNMP agent installed with the WebSphere InterChange Server allows an internal SNMP manager to monitor and perform limited management of InterChange Servers, collaborations, and connectors, based on a MIB (Management Information Base).
The SNMP agent allows multiple InterChange Servers in an enterprise to be managed from a single agent. Conversely, several SNMP agents can manage one InterChange Server.
This section covers the following topics:
How the SNMP agent and SNMP manager communicate
"Using the SNMP Agent Configuration Manager"
This section provides a basic overview of SNMP architecture and how the WebSphere InterChange Server SNMP agent fits into that architecture. The following topics are covered:
Management Information Base (MIB)
Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) is an application-layer protocol used to manage devices and processes. SNMP architecture consists of the following three components:
The SNMP manager executes the applications that monitor and control managed devices. SNMP managers do not communicate directly with the managed device, but rather, they communicate through the SNMP agent. An SNMP manager is not provided as part of the InterChange Server installation.
The SNMP agent is the entity that communicates directly with the device being managed. Its function is to receive requests from the SNMP manager, then communicate with the managed devices to process those requests. The SNMP agent is provided as an optional component of the WebSphere InterChange Server installation. The SNMP agent can be started manually or as a Windows service.
The system devices that can be managed using the SNMP agent are InterChange Server, collaborations, and connectors. For detailed information about what types of tasks the SNMP manager can perform on each of these managed devices, see "What SNMP manages".
The SNMP agent uses a Management Information Base (MIB) to retrieve information about a managed device. A MIB is a collection of information that is organized hierarchically, and is like an index to the managed device. An object identifier, or object ID, uniquely identifies a managed object in the MIB hierarchy. For example, in the WebSphere InterChange Server MIB, there is an object ID for the status of a connector. It is this object ID that is managed using SNMP.
Two MIB definitions are provided with the WebSphere InterChange Server product: wbi_snmpagent_v2.mib and wbi_snmpagent_v1.mib. These files are located in the <WebSphere_Business_Integration_Install_Dir>\snmp directory, where <WebSphere_Business_Integration_Install_Dir> is the directory where you installed the WebSphere InterChange Server product.
After installing and configuring the SNMP agent, import into your SNMP manager either wbi_snmpagent_v2.mib (if your SNMP manager supports SNMP version-2) or wbi_snmpagent_v1.mib (if your SNMP manager supports SNMP version-1).
For instructions on installing and configuring the SNMP agent, see the System Installation Guide for UNIX or for Windows.
For instructions on importing the MIB file to the SNMP manager, refer to the documentation provided with your SNMP management software.
Access control within SNMP version-2 is supported through SNMP community names. Community names function like passwords, allowing various users to manage system components by accessing the SNMP agent using a community name. For instructions on configuring community names, see Steps for configuring community names.
The SNMP agent and SNMP manager communicate using the Simple Network
Management Protocol. Table 5 describes the requests and notifications exchanged between
the SNMP agent and SNMP manager.
Table 5. Communication between SNMP agent and SNMP manager
Request or notification | Description |
---|---|
Get | The SNMP manager sends this request to the SNMP agent to get information about the device or one of its managed components. |
GetNext | The SNMP manager sends this request to the SNMP agent to get information about the component next to the one requested previously. This is used to iterate through a table of components. |
GetBulk | The SNMP manager sends this request to the SNMP agent to get an entire table of data. |
Set | The SNMP manager sends this request to the SNMP agent to set a configurable parameter in the managed devices. It is also used to start and stop components. |
Trap | A trap is an asynchronous notification sent by the SNMP agent to the SNMP manager when the status of a component in the managed device changes, and the SNMP manager has expressed interest in such status changes. |
The following sections list the SNMP operations that can be performed on the managed devices by the SNMP manager. For the most up-to-date operations, refer to the current MIB file, wbi_snmpagent_v2.mib (for SNMP version-2) or wbi_snmpagent_v1.mib (for SNMP version-1), located in the <WebSphere_Business_Integration_Install_Dir>\snmp directory. This section covers the following topics:
"SNMP management of InterChange Server"
"SNMP management of collaboration objects"
"SNMP management of connectors"
The SNMP manager can perform the following operations on InterChange Server through the SNMP agent:
The SNMP manager can perform the following operations on collaboration objects through the SNMP agent:
The SNMP manager can perform the following operations on connectors through the SNMP agent.
This section describes how to use the SNMP agent to monitor the InterChange Server system. Before you can use the SNMP agent, you must do the following:
This section covers the following topics:
"Steps for starting the SNMP agent"
"Steps for stopping the SNMP agent"
"Steps for reconfiguring the SNMP agent"
Perform the following steps to start the SNMP agent:
UNIX |
---|
To start, stop, or get status on the SNMP agent on UNIX, run the snmpagent_manager script. If you run the SNMP agent on a UNIX operating system and the SNMP agent is configured to the default port (1161) or to any port number less than 1024, the port must not be in use and you must be root to run the SNMP startup script. If the SNMP agent is configured to a port number greater than or equal to 1024, a non-root user can start the script. |
Perform the following steps to stop the SNMP agent:
UNIX |
---|
Use the snmpagent_manager script. |
Configuration information for the SNMP agent is stored in a configuration file named wbi_snmpagent.cfg in the <WebSphere Business Integration Install Dir>\snmp\config directory.
To change the default values, edit the file as necessary.
The values contained in the file are specified as:
ParameterName: value
Table 6 lists the parameters used for the operation of the SNMP
agent.
Table 6. SNMP agent configuration file parameters
Parameter | Description | Values | Default |
---|---|---|---|
TraceLevel | Defines the verboseness of the trace information. | 0-5 | 0 |
LogFile | Path to the log file. |
| wbi_snmpagent.log, located in the <WebSphere Business Integration Install Dir>\snmp\log directory |
AgentStateFile | Path to the file that contains the agent's state. |
| wbi_snmpagent.sts, located in the <WebSphere Business Integration Install Dir>\snmp\state directory. |
PollInterval | Not all information required by the SNMP agent is available through callbacks, and certain information needs to be obtained through periodic polling. This parameter specifies the polling interval, in seconds | 0 (no polling) and up | 30 |
Port | The port on which the SNMP agent listens for requests from SNMP managers | A valid port number | 1161 (the default SNMP port number for UNIX)
161 (the default SNMP port number for Windows) |
If you want to make changes to the SNMP configuration, the SNMP Configuration wizard provides fields for the information in Table 6.. The wizard creates (or modifies) the wbi_snmpagent.cfg file based on the values in these fields.
After changing the configuration file, shut down the SNMP agent and restart it.
The SNMP Agent Configuration Manager allows you to configure the MIB tables associated with the SNMP agent. For more information about MIB tables, see Management Information Base (MIB). These tables include the Community table, the Trap Forwarding table, and the Server Access table.
This tool is required when a third-party SNMP manager is not able to create a new MIB table entry for the SNMP agent. Most SNMP managers already have this functionality built in, but some do not. If you use an SNMP manager that does not allow you to configure MIB tables, you must use the SNMP Agent Configuration Manager to configure the MIB table associated with the SNMP agent. Even if your SNMP manager does have MIB table configuration capabilities, this tool is recommended for configuring the WebSphere InterChange Server SNMP agent.
This section covers the following topics:
Installing the SNMP Agent Configuration Manager
Steps for starting the SNMP Agent Configuration Manager
Steps for connecting to the SNMP agent
Steps for configuring community names
Steps for configuring trap forwarding entries
Steps for configuring server access entries
Steps for configuring RBAC security
When you install the SNMP agent, the installer automatically installs the SNMP Agent Configuration Manager. For instructions on installing the SNMP agent, refer to the System Installation Guide for UNIX or for Windows.
Perform the following steps to start the SNMP Agent Configuration Manager, depending on your operating system:
UNIX |
---|
Run the start_snmpconfig.bat script located in the ProductDir/bin directory. |
The SNMP Agent Configuration Manager appears.
Before you can begin editing the MIB table, you must connect to the SNMP agent. See Steps for connecting to the SNMP agent for instructions.
Perform the following steps to connect the SNMP Agent Configuration Manager to a running SNMP agent:
The Community tab lists the communities that exist for the connected SNMP agent. The table has three entries:
You add community names to the MIB table when you want to give new users permission to manage system components.
Perform the following steps to add a community name:
You edit community names when you want to change the type of access or row status of a registered community name.
Perform the following steps to edit a community name:
You remove community names when you want to completely delete them from the MIB table.
Perform the following steps to remove a community name:
A trap is an asynchronous notification sent by the SNMP agent to the SNMP manager whenever the status of a component in the managed device has changed and the SNMP manager has expressed interest in such status changes.
When a trap is sent, the SNMP Agent notifies the designated host:port specified in the Trap Forwarding Table and logs the trap name, for example, collabTrapEventsLongTime, as well as the connector application name, connector server name and connector application statur. A monitoring network manager receives the trap, which triggers a response, for example, sending email to the System Administrator.
The Trap Forwarding table has four entries:
Table 7 list the SNMP Traps that exist in InterChange Server.
Trap Type | Variables | Description | Trap ID |
---|---|---|---|
serverTrapStatus | serverName,
serverStatus | Generated when a server starts or stops | 1 |
collabTrapStatus | collabName, collabServerName, collabStatus | Generated when a collaboration starts or stops | 2 |
collabTrapEventsFailed | collabName, collabServerName, collabEventsTrgdFlwFailed | Generated when event fails on collaboration | 3 |
collabTrapEventsLongTime | collabName, collabServerName | Generated when an event takes longer than a specified time on collaboration | 4 |
connTrapAgentStatus | connName,
connServerName, connAgentStatus | Generated when a connector agent's status is changed | 5 |
connTrapStatus | connName,
connServerName, connStatus | Generated when a connector status is changed | 6 |
connTrapAppStatus | connName,
connServerName, connAppStatus | Generated when a connector application's status is changed | 7 |
Adding trap forwarding entries
You add trap forwarding entries to the MIB table when you want to register a server as the recipient of information gathered by the SNMP agent.
Perform the following steps to add a trap forwarding entry to the MIB table:
Editing trap forwarding entries
You edit trap forwarding entries when you want to change the Manager Host, Trap Port, or Row Status information of registered trap forwarding entries.
Perform the following steps to edit an existing trap forwarding entry:
Removing trap forwarding entries
You remove trap forwarding entries when you want to completely remove them from the MIB table.
Perform the following steps to remove a trap forwarding entry:
The server access entries allow you to link specific SNMP managers with specific InterChange Servers to be managed. The table has three entries:
Perform the following steps to create a new server access:
You edit the server access entries of the MIB table when you want to change the row status of the server access entries.
Perform the following steps to edit a server access entry, do the following:
Removing server access entries
You remove server access entries when you want to completely delete them from the MIB table.
Perform the following steps to remove a server access entry:
Role-based access control (RBAC) supports multiple users and enhanced security features based on roles. A role is a collection of users who share common functionality. Assigning functions into roles allows the administrator to work more effectively by reducing the burden on the administrator during the assignment of permissions.
Due to the addition of RBAC functionality, the SNMP agent now allows the input of usernames and passwords to help administer these roles. If RBAC security is enabled on InterChange Server, a user must specify a username and password to connect to the InterChange Server.
The RBAC Security table has four entries:
You add RBAC security entries to the MIB table to connect the SNMP agent to the InterChange Server when RBAC security is enabled.
Perform the following steps to add an RBAC security entry to the MIB table:
You edit RBAC security entries when you want to change the Username, Password or Row Status information of registered RBAC security entries.
Perform the following steps to edit an existing RBAC security entry:
Removing trap forwarding entries
You remove RBAC security entries when you want to completely remove them from the MIB table.
Perform the following steps to remove a RBAC security entry: