Set up SNMP data monitoring

We recommend using a Docker container to deploy the agent for SNMP monitoring. To use it, you need:

• Docker installed in a Linux host
• Ability to launch new containers via command line
• Network access as defined in the network prerequisites

If you're using Linux to install the agent as a service, you need:

• SSH access to the host
• Access to install/remove applications and services
• Network access as defined in the network prerequisites
• One of these supported operating systems:
  • CentOS 7
  • CentOS 8
  • Debian 12 (Bookworm)
  • Debian 11 (Bullseye)
  • Debian 10 (Buster)
  • RedHat Enterprise Linux 9
  • Ubuntu 20.04 (Focal LTS)
  • Ubuntu 22.04 (Jammy LTS)
  • Ubuntu 23.04 (Lunar)

Target devices must be configured to accept SNMP polling from the agent's host IP address. Some samples of basic SNMP configurations can be found here (this is not an all-inclusive list):

• Cisco
  • IOS
  • NX-OS
• Juniper
  • Junos OS
• Palo Alto
  • PAN-OS

Check the network security prerequisites for SNMP.

1. Go to one.newrelic.com > All capabilities > Add more data.
2. Scroll down until you see Network and click SNMP.
3. Follow the steps outlined in the guided installation process. You can use Docker or Linux.

4. Investigate your network performance data in the New Relic network performance monitoring UI.

Before reading about installing the SNMP agent manually, consider using our guided install process to avoid errors:

If you follow this manual installation process, support may be unable to assist you if issues arise. If you still wish to proceed, do the following:

1. On a Linux host with Docker installed, download the ktranslate image by running one of the following:

   • Docker Hub
     bash

     Copy

     $
     docker pull kentik/ktranslate:v2

   • Quay.io
     bash

     Copy

     $
     docker pull quay.io/kentik/ktranslate:v2

2. Copy the snmp-base.yaml file to the local $HOME directory of your Docker user, and discard the container by running

   bash

   Copy

   $
   cd .
   $
   id=$(docker create kentik/ktranslate:v2)
   $
   docker cp $id:/etc/ktranslate/snmp-base.yaml .
   $
   docker rm -v $id

3. Edit the snmp-base.yaml file and define the discovery.cidrs and discovery.default_communities attributes to appropriate values for your network.

   Tip

   We recommend to set discovery.add_mibs: true to automate the addition of all discovered MIBs into the global.mibs_enabled attribute. Additionally, it is recommended to set discovery.check_all_ips: true to avoid discovery issues on devices with tightened security postures. If you intend to collect SNMP traps we also recommend changing the default value of listener: 127.0.0.1:1620 to listener: 0.0.0.0:1620

4. Run ktranslate to poll target devices and listen for incoming SNMP Traps by running:

   bash

   Copy

   $
   docker run -d --name ktranslate-snmp --restart unless-stopped --pull=always -p 162:1620/udp \
   >
   -v `pwd`/snmp-base.yaml:/snmp-base.yaml \
   >
   # Replace with your license key
   >
   -e NEW_RELIC_API_KEY=$YOUR_NR_LICENSE_KEY \
   >
   kentik/ktranslate:v2 \
   >
     -snmp /snmp-base.yaml \
   >
     # Replace with your account ID
   >
     -nr_account_id=$YOUR_NR_ACCOUNT_ID \
   >
     # If your organization is located in Europe, add the following flag:
   $
     # -nr_region=EU \
   $
     # If you want to use FedRAMP, add the following flag to use the FedRAMP authorized endpoints:
   $
     # -nr_region=GOV \
   $
     -metrics=jchf \
   >
     -tee_logs=true \
   >
     # Use this field to create a unique value for `tags.container_service` inside of New Relic
   >
     -service_name=$UNIQUE_NAME \
   >
     # These settings initiate an immediate discovery job and schedule it to run every 180 minutes
   >
     -snmp_discovery_on_start: true \
   >
     -snmp_discovery_min=180 \
   >
     nr1.snmp

   Tip

   It is not necessary to run a dedicated agent for trap collection as all SNMP polling agents will run a passive listener. By default the container will listen on the host's port 162 (UDP); but you can change the published port mapping in the docker run command - -p 162:1620/udp.

5. Investigate your network performance data in the New Relic network performance monitoring UI.