16.2.6 Managing the SNMP Adaptors

Non-SNMP managers can also control the SNMP agent through the MBean of the SNMP adaptors. Like the other communications MBeans, the port and other attributes can be modified when the SNMP adaptor is stopped. You can also get information about its state, and stop or restart it to control when it is online. These administrative attributes and operations are defined in the CommunicatorServerMBean interface.

The SNMPv1v/2 adaptor server implements the SnmpAdaptorServerMBean interface to define its operating information. The SNMPv3 adaptor server implements a similar interface called SnmpV3AdaptorServerMBean. The SNMP protocols define certain variables that SNMP agents must expose about their current state. For example, the SNMP adaptor provides methods for getSnmpInPkts and getSnmpOutBadValues. Non-SNMP managers can read these variables as attributes of the SNMP adaptor MBean.

The SNMP adaptors also expose other operating information that is unavailable to SNMP managers. For example, the ActiveClientCount and ServedClientCount read-only attributes report on SNMP manager connections to this agent. The read-write BufferSize attribute enables you to change the size of the message buffer, but only when the adaptor is not online. The adaptor MBean also exposes operations for sending traps or implementing your own security (see 19.2.1 Enabling User-Based Access Control).

To Run the SNMPv1/v2 Agent Example

1. After building the example as described in 16.1 MIB Development Process, start the simple SNMPv1/v2 agent with the following command:

   $ java -classpath classpath:. Agent nbTraps

   Set nbTraps to zero.

   You should see some initialization messages, including our notification listener giving information about the two table entries that are created. Access this agent's HTML adaptor by pointing a web browser to the following URL: http://localhost:8082/.

2. Through the HTML adaptor, you can see the MBeans representing the MIB:

   • The class=RFC1213_MIB MBean in the snmp domain is the MBean representing the MIB; it contains a name and information about the SNMP adaptor to which the MIB is bound

   • The RFC1213_MIB domain contains the MBeans for each group; both name=Snmp and name=System contain variables with values provided by our customizations

   • The RFC1213_MIB/ifTable domain contains the entries of the Interfaces table

   • The trapGenerator domain contains the class that sends traps periodically, as part of our sample MIB implementation

3. In any of these MBeans, you can write new values into the text fields of exposed attributes and click the Apply button.

   This sets the corresponding SNMP variable, and thereafter, SNMP managers see the new value. This is an example of managing a MIB through a protocol other than SNMP.

4. Press Control C when you have finished viewing the agent.