Overview of Module Deployment

With the System Management Agent, you have the following choices for deploying a module:

• Load the module dynamically.

  When you load a module dynamically, the module is included within the SNMP agent without the need to recompile and relink the agent binary. This method is the only supported way to load a module into the System Management Agent. You cannot recompile the agent.

  Details of the module to load are specified in the configuration file. At runtime, the agent reads the configuration file. The agent locates the module files that are listed in the configuration file. The agent then merges the modules into the agent process image.

• Implement the module as an AgentX subagent.

  When you use a subagent, the module is embedded in an external application. The external application contains code to set up the application to run as an AgentX subagent. The SNMP agent's configuration file specifies that the agent is the AgentX master agent. When the external application starts, the module's OIDs are registered with the SNMP agent. The subagent application and the agent use the AgentX protocol to communicate.

These deployment methods have advantages and disadvantages, which are discussed in Choosing Dynamic Modules or Subagents. However, the way that you develop your module and the content of your module have no bearing on how you deploy your module. You can use the same module, without modification, with either deployment method.