SimpleNMS SNMP Browser-Manager-Tester

Version 2.08 : 27 September 2007

Pete Wilson   www.pwilson.net

1. SimpleNMS Overview

SimpleNMS is a Win32 SNMP-manager application that packages classic command-line tools -- snmpget, snmpgetnext, snmpset, snmpwalk, and similar -- in a windowed GUI. It aims to exercise SNMP v1 and v2c agents and coincidentally to offer a very simple, straightforward SNMP manager and browser.

The program is free for you to use but you can't distribute it.

2. Why Another Free Manager?

I wrote this tool to test agents I develop because I got tired of

• "smart" free or commercial managers that take time to install and have hard-to-disable features -- like automatic retries -- that just get in the way of low-level, fine-grained agent testing;
• command-line tools like snmpwalk and snmpget that are way too cumbersome for my everyday use.

SimpleNMS is a snap to set up, easy to use, and dumb.

3. Components

SimpleNMS has three components:

1. the manager itself, called SimpleNMS.exe;
2. an XML configuration file, called SimpleNMSConfig.xml; and
3. this user guide, called SimpleNMSUserGuide.html.

4. Quick Start

1. Download SimpleNMS.exe and SimpleNMSConfig.xml, making sure both end up in the same directory. Or download SimpleNMS.zip which has both files plus this user guide.
2. Run SimpleNMS.exe. SimpleNMSConfig.xml sets up a few managed nodes start off with: 127.0.0.1 and a couple of nodes on the 192.168.0.x subnet.
3. Start managing those nodes.
4. Edit SimpleNMSConfig.xml to add some real nodes. Restart the program and manage them.

5. Configuration: SimpleNMSConfig.xml

"Configuration" means telling SimpleNMS a few things about each of the nodes you want to manage. Those things appear in the config file bracketed by the element names <managed-node> ... </managed-node> like this:

    <managed-node>
      <version>2</version>                  <!-- version 2c -->
      <ip>127.0.0.1</ip>
      <hostname>localhost</hostname>
      <rdwrCommunity>public</rdwrCommunity>
      <initOID>1.3.6.1.4.1.311</initOID>    <!-- MS enterprise -->
      <retry-count>3</retry-count>          <!-- 3 retries -->
      <retry-interval>5</retry-interval>    <!-- 5-sec interval -->
    </managed-node>

You can override any of the config settings at run time in SimpleNMS.

"version" is 1 or 2, meaning SNMPv1 or SNMPv2c. SNMPv3 isn't there yet.

"ip" is the IP address of the managed node.

"hostname" is the name of the managed node.

One of "ip" or "hostname" has to be present. Either can be absent and the program will try to figure out what it should be.

"rdwrCommunity" is the community name you want to use in each Request-PDU.

"initOID" tells SimpleNMS the initial OID for requests to this node.

6. SimpleNMS Operation

When the program starts, you see a display something like this:

The IPaddr, Community, and OID fields are filled from the first <managed-node> block in the config file; and the radio buttons v1/v2c are also set from that block.

When you pull down the IPaddr listbox, you see the other configured nodes, of which you can select one:

And when you select a different one, the appropriate fields take their configured values for that managed node.

Or you can enter a new, not-yet-configured IP address or hostname.

If you want a different community name, you can pull down that listbox:

and select the community name you like. Or you can type a new name into the Community field.

Below the managed-node info are the OID and value setups for the current object. You can change the OID; and and you can edit the values in the "Value" and "hex" edit boxes.

The program shows managed-node responses in the listbox at the bottom of the dialog. Double-click a response to move it to the current-object OID/value fields where you can edit them:

In the right of the dialog are action buttons, all self-explanatory. "Ping" means ICMP ping. When you press a button, the program acts on the managed node you've selected, using the OID/value pair you've set up.

The "timer" checkbox turns on/off a display of request-to-response times. "Clr" and "Spc" help manage the results display.

7. Known Deficiencies

1. No v3
2. Only knows about numeric OIDs
3. Menus aren't hooked up

Bug reports and feature requests are very welcome. Send to Pete Wilson. I'll maintain this tool and make it available for as long as it's useful.

8. Background of This Code

The first version of SimpleNMS was distributed in 1997 with the book, now out of print, Windows NT SNMP. SimpleNMS Version 2 extends the original program to use the WinSNMP API, rather than the MS Management API; to work with SNMPv2c as well as SNMPv1; and to offer a few more functions.