Manual Chapter : Monitoring Third-Party Servers with SNMP

Applies To:

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BIG-IP LTM

  • 15.1.9, 15.1.8, 15.1.7, 15.1.6, 15.1.5, 15.1.4, 15.1.3, 15.1.2, 15.1.1, 15.1.0, 15.0.1, 15.0.0, 14.1.5, 14.1.4, 14.1.3, 14.1.2, 14.1.0, 14.0.1, 14.0.0

BIG-IP DNS

  • 15.1.9, 15.1.8, 15.1.7, 15.1.6, 15.1.5, 15.1.4, 15.1.3, 15.1.2, 15.1.1, 15.1.0, 15.0.1, 15.0.0, 14.1.5, 14.1.4, 14.1.3, 14.1.2, 14.1.0, 14.0.1, 14.0.0
Manual Chapter

Monitoring Third-Party Servers with SNMP

Overview: SNMP monitoring of third-party servers

You can configure BIG-IP® DNS, formerly Global Traffic Manager (GTM), to acquire information about the health of a third-party server using SNMP. The server must be running an SNMP agent.

Task summary

To configure BIG-IP DNS to acquire information about the health of a third-party server using SNMP, perform the following tasks.

Creating an SNMP monitor

Create an SNMP monitor to monitor a third-party server running SNMP.
  1. On the Main tab, click
    DNS
    GSLB
    Monitors
    .
    The Monitor List screen opens.
  2. Click
    Create
    .
    The New Monitor screen opens.
  3. Type a name for the monitor.
    Monitor names are limited to 63 characters.
  4. From the
    Type
    list, select
    SNMP
    .
  5. Click
    Finished
    .

Defining a third-party host server that is running SNMP

Ensure that the third-party host server is running SNMP. During this procedure, you assign a virtual server to the server; therefore, determine the IP address that you want to assign to the virtual server.
On the BIG-IP DNS, define a third-party host server that is the ultimate destination of DNS queries.
  1. On the Main tab, click
    DNS
    GSLB
    Servers
    .
    The Server List screen opens.
  2. Click
    Create
    .
    The New Server screen opens.
  3. In the
    Name
    field, type a name for the server.
    Server names are limited to 63 characters.
  4. From the
    Product
    list, select a third-party host server or select
    Generic Host
    .
    The server type determines the metrics that the system can collect from the server.
  5. In the Address List area, add the IP addresses of the server.
    1. Type an external (public) IP address in the
      Address
      field, and then click
      Add
      .
    2. If you use NAT, type an internal (private) IP address in the
      Translation
      field, and then click
      Add
      .
    You can add more than one IP address, depending on how the server interacts with the rest of your network.
  6. From the
    Data Center
    list, select the data center where the server resides.
  7. From the
    Prober Preference
    list, select the preferred type of prober(s).
    Inherit From Data Center
    By default, a server inherits the prober preference selection assigned to the data center in which the server resides.
    Inside Data Center
    A server selects the probers from inside the data center where the server resides.
    Outside Data Center
    A server selects the probers from outside the data center where the server resides.
    Specific Prober Pool
    Select one of the Prober pools from the drop-down list. When assigning the Prober pool at the server level.
    Note
    :
    Prober pools are not used by the bigip monitor.
  8. From the
    Prober Fallback
    list, select the type of prober(s) to be used if insufficient numbers of the preferred type are available.
    Inherit From Data Center
    By default, a server inherits the prober fallback selection assigned to the data center in which the server resides.
    Any Available
    For selecting any available prober.
    Inside Data Center
    A server selects probers from inside the data center where the server resides.
    Outside Data Center
    A server selects probers from outside the data center where the server resides.
    None
    No fallback probers are selected. Prober fallback is disabled.
    Specific Prober Pool
    Select one of the Probers from the drop-down list. When you want to assign a Prober pool at the server level.
  9. From the
    State
    list, select
    Enabled
    .
  10. In the Health Monitors area, assign an SNMP monitor to the server by moving it from the
    Available
    list to the
    Selected
    list.
  11. From the
    Availability Requirements
    list, select one of the following and enter any required values.
    All Health Monitors
    By default, specifies that all of the selected health monitors must be successful before the server is considered up (available).
    At Least
    The minimum number of selected health monitors that must be successful before the server is considered up.
    Require
    The minimum number of successful probes required from the total number of probers requested.
  12. From the
    Virtual Server Discovery
    list, select
    Disabled
    .
  13. In the Virtual Server List area, create a virtual server to represent (in a pool) the host server that you are creating.
    1. In the
      Name
      field, type a name for the virtual server.
    2. In the
      Address
      field, type the IP address of the host server.
    3. From the
      Service Port
      list, select
      SNMP
      .
    4. Click
      Add
      .
  14. Click
    Finished
    .
    The Server List screen opens displaying the new server in the list.

Implementation result

BIG-IP® DNS can now use the SNMP monitor to verify the availability of and to collect statistics about the generic host.