SNMP4NW
(Implementing SNMP on NetWare 3.1x/4.xx/5.xx)

Last Updated: 01Jun1999

Theory of Operation     Accessable Statistics     NetWare 3.1x/4.xx    NetWare 5
NLMs and Companion MIBS    James Drew's NetWare NLM Extension to MRTG

Theory Of Operation

SNMP in a NetWare environment behaves just like anywhere else.  A Management Station queries (SNMP GET) a network element, and may take action by modifying the element's performance (using an SNMP SET).  That element may send an alert (SNMP TRAP) to the Management station if appropriately configured.  See the diagram below for a graphical representation.

To being with, you must have TCP/IP and SNMP installed on the NetWare Server.  On a NetWare 5 server, once SNMP is installed, you need do nothing more short of configuring the community (start INETCFG by typing "load inetcfg" at the NetWare SAerver console).  You can choose separate read and write communities if you wish!

On a NetWare 3.x and 4.X server you need to load Ethernet_II and IP and bind them to the network adapter, then load SNMP, and configure it with the appropriate community as well.

It has been FOREVER since I messed with that, so I cannot put in the details.   Stay tuned though, as soon as I can remember or as soon as I do it again, I WILL add the details!!  Until then, you will have to RTFM (read the flippin' manual).

Performance counters accessable after SNMP Installation

Several of the more "meaningful" statistics you will be able to monitor after installing SNMP on your NetWare server are listed below:

CPU % Usage - Shows how busy the CPU is.

File Systsem Reads and Writes - Shows how busy the system is (a good overall indicator of server load).

Volume Space Available - Shows how much disk space is available on each NetWare (mounted) volume.

Allocated Memory Pool - Description to be added soon.

Allocated Memory Pool - Description to be added soon.

Cache Buffers - A block of memory that temporarily stores files that are frequently used.

Cache Moveable Memory - Description to be added soon.

Cache Non-Moveable Memory - Description to be added soon.

Code and Data Memory Used - Description to be added soon.

You can use a MIB browser to pick the statistic you want to track!  (I suggest getif.  Get it here!)

Installing SNMP on NetWare 3.1x/4

Now, you must load the appropriate NLMs in the NetWare server.  These NLMs allow an appropriately configured NMS (Network Management Station) to access the server statistics.  This loading can be done manually, or by running an NCF file at the server console.

• I have created an zip file called snmp4nw.zip.  Using pkunzip, unzip the file to a floppy.  You can do that by downloading the PKZIP Shareware 32 bit DOS program (below), or if you have EasyZip or WinZip, just extract it to a floppy.  If you use the command line version, type the following command:
  "pkzip25 -extract -directories -recurse snmp4nw.zip a:\" at a command prompt .  Omit the " ".

Get SNMP4NW.ZIP here.

Get PK250C32.EXE (shareware PKZIP/PKUNZIP, etc.) here.

Get Power Archiver 2000 (EXCELLENT and FREE) - looks/feels just like WinZip! here.

• Once unzipped, you will see that the floppy only has 2 directories (NLMS and MIBS).  The NLMS directory contains files that need to be loaded on your NetWare server.  The MIBS directory contains all the MIBS you will need to compile into your NMS.

Special NetWare 5 instructions

Insert your SNMP4NW Install disk into the floppy of your NetWare server, and at the server console, type "a:\nlms\nma2".  Omit the " ".  If you want, copy the NLMs into the SYS:SYSTEM directory (the one with all the NLMs) and edit NMA2.NCF to load them from there (remove the path to a:\nlms).

You should see the NLMS loading  now.  Once they have loaded (successfully we hope), you are able to access NetWare server information remotely using SNMP.  Cool huh? 

At present I DO NOT have the NWTRAP.NLM included in this support.  It will be added shortly (once I have tested it and can accurately document it)!

Also, with NetWare 5, once you install TCP/IP and SNMP, HOSTMIB.NLM loads automatically.

See the Testing your implementation page to see if you got it working!

Please note: At present there is NO SNMP TRAP MONITORING CAPABILITY DISCUSSED HERE.  It will be added once I have tested it and can accurately document it!  Read on for more information about the NLMs used in this Web.

Installing SNMP on NetWare 5

With NetWare 5, once you have installed TCP/IP and said that you want SNMP support, you do not need to load any additional NLMS.  You must,  however know the OID number in order to get the statistic.  Therefore, download SNMP4NW.ZIP, and copy the MIBs into your network management station (NMS).  These MIBS allow an appropriately configured NMS (Network Management Station) to access the server statistics.

NLMS and Companion MIBS

The following NLMs and companion MIBS are available as a part of NetWare 3, 4 and 5, and are what are used to access the NetWare server statistics discussed on this Web.

The following NLMs are included with the Network Management Agents (NMA) and are part of a separate (you pay for it!) package that supports versions 3, 4 and 5 of NetWare:

James Drew's NetWare NLM Extension to MRTG

Here's something that sounds cool!  This guy (James Drew) has written an NLM (no easy feat!) that in conjunction with a PERL script,  allows MRTG to gather a bunch of NetWare server information.  I sent him an email asking if I could include it on this site, and with his kind permission. here it is!  It has been tested under NetWare 3.12, 4.11 and recently, version 5.0  You have to have TCP/IP installed on your server in order to use it, but once properly configured, you can collect information such as:

This may be a good alternative to installing the NetWare Management Agents!

Download the NLM extension here or here (if you can't reach James' Web Site (which is here).

I have not had the chance to test this yet, but I will be building my own NetWare server (at home), so I can play with a bit more freedom.  Once it is built, I will test this out.  Meantime, you are on your own to install and run this program.

Subscribe to Network Computing Magazine?  You may recognize his name as he is a contributing editor, and has penned several articles for them.  You can find out more about James by checking out his web site!