As part of creating or modifying a discovery pattern, you can use the SNMP query operation to execute SNMP queries on CIs that support the SNMP protocol, typically, load balancers.

Before you begin

Role required: pd_admin

Navigate to the relevant pattern step:

  1. On the pattern form, select the relevant identification section for Discovery.

    Alternatively, select the relevant identification or connection section for Service Mapping.

  2. Select the relevant pattern step or click Add a step button to add a step.

Basic knowledge of programming is desirable.

Procedure

  1. Select SNMP query from the Operation list.
  2. To browse to the SNMP OID that you want to query using the debug mode:
    1. Activate pattern Debug mode.
    2. Click Browse and select the management information base (MIB) in the list or perform a search based on MIB values.
    3. Select either a single scalar value or multiple columns in the MIB tree.
      Multiple columns must be in the same table.
    4. (Optional) Click Get Data to display the data in the SNMP Browser form.
    5. Click OK.
  3. To manually specify the SNMP OIDs for the query:
    • If the result of the SNMP query is a single string, choose Scalar and fill in the fields:
      Table 1. Scalar fields
      Field Descriptions
      SNMP OID The SNMP OID to query.
      Variable Name of the scalar variable to hold the query result.
    • If the result of the SNMP query is a table, choose Table, click the plus icon, and fill in the fields:
      Table 2. Table fields
      FieldDescriptions
      Table name Replace _Table_Name_ with the name of the Variables table.
      Table OID Replace _Table_OID_ with the SNMP OID to query.
      New column name Replace _new-column-name_ with the column name.
      New OID Replace _new_OID_ with the SNMP OID to query.
  4. Select Use Cache to save the operation results in cache on the MID Server.
    Use cache to optimize discovery and avoid creating unnecessary load on central shared components, such as load balancers. The base system keeps operation results in cache for an hour.
  5. Select Terminate to stop discovery if no results are found.
  6. If in Debug mode, test the step by clicking Test and checking that the operation brings the result you expected.

Example

The following configuration is an example of the SNMP query operation.
This operation is used inThis item
Hierarchy Network > Load Balancer
CI Type Load Balancer Service [cmdb_ci_lb_service]
Pattern F5 BigIP LTM
Section Identification for all entry point types
Step number and Name 1. Get Name (BIG IP LB)

The F5 BigIP LTM pattern uses the SNMP Query operation to extract the product name of the load balancer.


SNMP Query operation

What to do next

cmdb-key-value
Discovery also collects cloud tags that are specific to each virtual machine (VM) and saves them to the Key Value [cmdb_key_value] table.