2.7.5.2 SNMPv1 and SNMPv2 Encoding

SNMP requests follow the standardized Basic Encoding Rules (BER) for translating management operations into data packets. At the communication level, an SNMP request is represented by an array of bytes in a UDP protocol packet. The SNMP components in the Java DMK provide access to the byte encoding of these packets.

Your applications can customize the encoding and decoding of SNMP requests, as follows:

• On the manager side, after the request is translated into bytes, your encoding can add signature strings and then perform encryption.

• On the agent side, the bytes can be decoded and the signature can be verified before the bytes are translated into the SNMP request.

  A decoded SNMP request contains the manager's hostname and community string, the operation, the target object, and any values to be written. Like the context checking mechanism, you can insert code to filter requests based on any of these criteria. However, inserting your own code would make the protocol proprietary.