The Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) monitor gathers information about the functions of an SNMP-enabled network devices by querying it to verify it returns an expected value. Depending on the specific configuration, the monitor can be considered either Up or Down depending upon the returned value.

Tip: While SNMP Active monitors are used to determine Up state, SNMP Performance monitors in WhatsUp Gold are used to gather historic performance, accounting, fault, and security metrics data useful for reports.

Provide a unique name and description for the monitor, then configure the following:

  1. First, set the Timeout and number of Retries as well as enable Use in Rescan, if desired.
  2. Click Browse to launch the SNMP MIB Browser.
  3. Enter the Name or IP Address or navigate to and select any monitored device using the Browse option ().
  4. Select a valid credential from the list or click the Library icon () to access the Credentials Library where you can create a new one.
    Note: You can also update the default Timeout and/or Number of retries using the SNMP MIB Browser controls, if desired.
  5. Select the specific Object ID and instance to be monitored from MIB Tree.
  6. Click Select to return to the monitor configuration dialog.
  7. Select from the following Condition options to finish configuring the monitor:
    • When Constant Value is selected:
    • Value. Depending on the Object ID you selected, enter the appropriate value.
    • If the value matches, then the monitor is: select Up or Down.
    • When Range of Values is selected:
    • Low Value. Depending on the Object ID you selected, enter the appropriate value.
    • High Value. Depending on the Object ID you selected, enter the appropriate value.
    • When Rate of Change is selected:
    • Rate of Change (in variable units per second). Enter the desired value.
    • Monitor state if the value is above the rate: select Up or Down.
Important: MAC addresses and IP addresses must to be written without a prepended zero. Example: 00:1e:f7:e6:48:60 would be entered as 0:1e:f7:e6:48:60 and 10.0.0.01 would be entered as 10.0.0.1. Additionally, IP v6 addresses must be written in extended format. Example: FE80:0:0:0:224:82FF:FE32:CE98 versus FE80::224:82FF:FE32:CE98.
Important: Some values are not logically compatible with every Check Type method and therefore cannot be successfully retrieved from the target device. Please refer to the following table:

Check Type

Data Type

Constant Value

Range of Values

Rate of Change

Integer / 32

X

X

X

Ulnt 32

X

X

X

Counter32

X

X

X

Counter32

N/A

N/A

See Note Below

Counter64*SNMP v2 and v3 only

X

X

X

Counter64*SNMP v2 and v3 only

N/A

N/A

See Note Below

Gauge32

X

X

X

TimeTicks

X

X

X

OID

X

X

N/A

IP Address

X

X

N/A

OctetString / Opaque

X

X

N/A

OctetString (MAC Address)

X

X

N/A
Note: For Rate of Change applicable to Counter32 and Counter64 values, the SNMP active monitor calculates the difference between two consecutive polls. When the last poll number is less than the previous poll number, it is assumed the counter wrapped around the maximum possible number and restarted counting from zero.