SNMP for network management

The Network Management facility provides comprehensive management of system networks through the use of Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP), enabling network hosts to exchange management information.

SNMP is an internetworking protocol designed for use with TCP/IP-based internets.

When the AIX® operating system is installed, the SNMPv3 non-encrypted version is installed by default and is started at system boot time. If you have your own communities, traps, and SMUX entries configured in your /etc/snmpd.conf file, you will need to migrate those manually to the /etc/snmpdv3.conf file. For information on migrating the communities, see Migrating from SNMPv1 to SNMPv3.

You might also want to consult the information in SNMP Overview for Programmers in Communications Programming Concepts.

SNMP network management is based on the familiar client/server model that is widely used in TCP/IP-based network applications. Each host that is to be managed runs a process called an agent. The agent is a server process that maintains the Management Information Base (MIB) database for the host. Hosts that are involved in network management decision-making can run a process called a manager. A manager is a client application that generates requests for MIB information and processes responses. In addition, a manager can send requests to agent servers to modify MIB information.

SNMP in AIX provides support for the following RFCs: