2.5. SNMP
2.5.1. Management with SNMP
Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) is a standardized protocol for management of
network devices. An SNMP compliant client can connect to a network device which supports the
SNMP protocol to perform management tasks. NetDefendOS supports access by SNMP clients
using the following versions of the SNMP protocol:
• Version 1.
• Version 2c.
• Version 3.
However, only query operations are permitted by clients for security reasons. Specifically,
NetDefendOS supports the following SNMP request operations:
• The GET REQUEST operation.
• The GET NEXT REQUEST operation.
• The GET BULK REQUEST operation (SNMP Version 2c and 3 only).
Setting up SNMP Access in NetDefendOS
To allow access by an SNMP client, an SNMP Management object must be created in the
NetDefendOS configuration. This has the following object properties:
• Protocol - Select Version 1 and 2c (the default) or select Version 3.
• Interface - The NetDefendOS interface on which SNMP requests will arrive.
• Network - The IP address or network from which SNMP requests will come.
The other object properties are for security and depend on the SNMP protocol choice. These are
explained next.
SNMP Security Options
The following are the security options, depending on which protocol is selected:
• Versions 1 and 2c
Authentication for SNMP Versions 1 and 2c uses the Community String property. The
Community String is equivalent to a password and should be difficult to guess. It should be
constructed in the same way as any other password, using combinations of upper and lower
case letters along with digits.
SNMP versions 1 and 2c do not provide any option for encryption and traffic is sent as plain
text. For this reason, SNMP version 3 is often a better choice. If SNMP version 1 or version 2c
must be used, it is possible to send the SNMP connection through a VPN tunnel that is
established between the client computer and the NetDefend Firewall.
Chapter 2: Management and Maintenance
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