How to Check SNMP on VMware 4.0

SNMP provides status details and alerts about network devices.

VMware ESX 4, part of VMware’s line of enterprise virtual machine products, includes a simple network management protocol agent. If you’ve allowed the SNMP agent in the ESX firewall, enabled the SNMP agent on your system and provided it with the system details it requires, the SNMP agent sends SNMP messages to another device on your network. The other device receives these SNMP messages, known as SNMP traps, and uses them to monitor the status of your VMware ESX system and other devices on your network.

Instructions

1. Access the VMware ESX 4 console by logging in with your username and password at the physical machine or by using the VMware Remote CLI or vSphere CLI programs.

2. Type “esxcfg-firewall -e snmpd” into the console and press “Enter” to confirm the SNMP agent is allowed in the VMware ESX firewall.

3. Type “vicfg-snmp --show” and press “Enter” to check if SNMP is enabled or not. A status message appears in the console, informing you whether SNMP is enabled or disabled.

4. Type “vicfg-snmp.pl --server [host] --username [user] --password [password] --show” at the console, replacing “[host]” with the host name of your VMware ESX server, “[user]” with the username and “[password]” with the password, then press “Enter.” This command confirms your settings; use the same command with “--enable” instead of “--show” to set the specified settings.

5. Type “vicfg-snmp.pl --server [host] --username [user] --password [password] --test” at the console, filling in your server’s details, and press “Enter” to send a test SNMP trap to your configured destination.

References

• VMware: Configuring SNMP Traps for ESX/ESXi 3.5, 4.x, and 5.0
• VMware: Working With Firewall Rules in ESX 4.x