General Page
This page will detail what SNMP device certifications are, how to request them, and what is needed to begin the process.
Device Certifications are a set of SNMP definitions that SevOne uses to parse incoming device data. They populate the Object Types and Device Types portion of the product. This capability provides customers with the flexibility to quickly be monitoring any new SNMP enabled devices that are added to the network.
The terminologies and acronyms that will be used in Device Certifications are listed below:
- DevCert - short for Device Certification
- SNMP - Simple Network Monitoring Protocol
- OID - Object IDentifier - a series of static punctuated numbers that correspond to a specific MIB, an object tree, or an indicator (ex: .1.3.6.1.2.1.1.1 always translates to sysDescr)
- MIB - Management Information Base - text files used to translate OIDs from their numeric forms to their human readable names
- walks/snmpwalks - the output of what the SNMP agent of a device is capable of sending to SevOne. This is a series of OIDs that can be entered into a text file
- SPK - a compressed file that contains a DevCert ready to be installed in a SevOne environment
New technology and the multitude of device manufacturers prevent any MIB database from being comprehensive. SevOne offers Device Certification as an accelerated path to capturing newly acquired hardware or new a service enabled on a hardware monitored via SNMP. Customers with a current SevOne support agreement have access to this service at no charge.
Device Certifications are:
Never changed via upgrade. It is rare that new objects are added or modified when upgrading to a new version.
Replicated across cluster. After importing the SPK to the cluster master, they are replicated to all the other peers in that cluster.
Are static from basebuild. What you start with is what you have. If you need additional monitoring, you will have to request more DevCerts.
Imported via SPKs or entered in manually through the GUI via the Object Types page. SPK files are no longer needed once the Certification has been imported into the cluster, and can safely be deleted if preferred.
Replicated across cluster. After importing the SPK to the cluster master, they are replicated to all the other peers in that cluster.
Are static from basebuild. What you start with is what you have. If you need additional monitoring, you will have to request more DevCerts.
Imported via SPKs or entered in manually through the GUI via the Object Types page. SPK files are no longer needed once the Certification has been imported into the cluster, and can safely be deleted if preferred.
Device certifications are NOT:
MIBs - these can be requested from the vendor and do not actually add monitoring capability to SevOne. Their purpose is purely cosmetic.
For Traps - Traps are a separate portion of the product used to monitor events rather than persistent polling data. These can be configured in the Event Editor.
Malforming data - they merely parse data as it is coming in. They do not change the actual data. They also do not stop or affect any other functionalities of the product.
The poller itself - this is an ongoing process that merely utilizes DevCerts, but does not update monitoring options on its own.
For Traps - Traps are a separate portion of the product used to monitor events rather than persistent polling data. These can be configured in the Event Editor.
Malforming data - they merely parse data as it is coming in. They do not change the actual data. They also do not stop or affect any other functionalities of the product.
The poller itself - this is an ongoing process that merely utilizes DevCerts, but does not update monitoring options on its own.
We dissuade customers from creating or modifying their own DevCerts as doing so improperly can potentially cause irreversible permanent historical data loss across the entire cluster. Instead, we encourage everyone to safely make use of our Device Certification service as we have a dedicated DevCert team that offers a quick turnaround time. One can open a DevCert request just the same as opening a Support case at the below link:
https://www.ibm.com/mysupport
A Device Certification is a complex task, and requires a bit of information to create. Below is a list of the three things the Certification team needs to get started:
- A full enumerated SNMP walk of a Device that has all of the OIDs you'd like to monitor. (snmpwalk -M /usr/local/snmp/mibs -v 2c -c '<READ STRING>' '<DEVICE IP>:161' '-One' '.1.3.6.1' > <FILENAME>.walk)
- A list of the exact OIDs that are needed for monitoring.
- The MIB(s) from the manufacturer that describe all of the OIDs you would like monitored.
Once we have all three items, your 10 day SLA will begin. The DevCert team guarantees to have your Certification back to you within that time frame, provided they have everything that's needed. The only exception to needing all three items is if the metrics you are looking for have already been certified in the past. If that's the case, then the DevCert team needs to know exactly what's needed, and can export that definition from an existing repository of every Certification ever made in SevOne.
To install a certification in your cluster, download the provided SPK file and upload it to your cluster master with winSCP. Then, ssh in and run:
SevOne-import --file FILE.obj.spk
SevOne-import --file FILE.obj.spk
The SPK can be imported into any public directory on the cluster master, and the command must be run from that directory. The file is only needed at the time of import. After importing, it may be necessary to associate any new objects to their respective device type. To do so, please perform the below steps:
Go to Administration -> Monitoring Configuration -> Device Types
Select the respective Device Type from the left side of the screen
Find the Object Types tab in the middle of the screen and click Associate
Type in the Device Type name and check off any new child object types
Save
At this point, rediscovering any relevant devices should cause the new objects to discover.
Select the respective Device Type from the left side of the screen
Find the Object Types tab in the middle of the screen and click Associate
Type in the Device Type name and check off any new child object types
Save
At this point, rediscovering any relevant devices should cause the new objects to discover.
To peruse the contents of an SPK, all that's needed is to unzip the file. Once that is done, the definition for any new objects and indicators can be seen in contents/Core/ObjectTypes.json/
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Modified date:
01 October 2025
UID
ibm17172509