Cisco SNMP agent

IBM Spectrum® Control uses SNMP queries to discover information about the SAN. Management Information Base (MIB) information is collected from the switches and directors by the SNMP agent. Switches and directors can be added as SNMP agents and contacted from the IBM Spectrum Control Device server by SNMP.

SNMP agent functions

The SNMP agent performs the following functions:
  • Gathers information about the fabric by querying the switch or director.
  • Gathers virtual SAN information for Cisco switches.
  • Gathers zoning information and provides zone control support for Cisco switches.
Important note: Topology information is only gathered for the switch added as an SNMP agent. The agent cannot gather the topology information for any connected switches unless they are also defined as SNMP agents. If you are performing discovery on a fabric with several switches, you must install an SNMP agent for each switch in the fabric to discover the whole fabric.
Limitations:
  • Information about fabric node devices such as servers and storage devices is limited. Most devices are unknown with a type of "Other" and are identified by their WWN.
  • There must be a TCP/IP connection between the switch and the IBM Spectrum Control Device server.
  • To enable events from the switch to the Device server, the switch must be configured to send SNMP traps to the Device server.

Determining why an SNMP agent shows a state of "not contacted"

Complete the following tasks to determine why an SNMP agent shows a state of "not contacted":

  • Check that the IP address or host name is entered correctly in the switch properties page.
  • Ensure that the Fibre Alliance FC Management MIB is enabled on the switch. IBM Spectrum Control uses the SNMP protocol to send queries across the IP network to management information bases (MIBs) supported on the switch.IBM Spectrum Control uses the Fibre Alliance FC Management MIB and the Fibre Channel FE MIB.
  • Ensure that the server IP address is included in any SNMP Access Control List that exists on the switch.
  • The switch must be configured to receive SNMP queries and respond using SNMP. SNMPv3 is the preferred version. Some switches are configured to use earlier versions of SNMP by default, and should be configured to use SNMPv3 if possible.