Manual Chapter : Monitoring Third-Party Servers with SNMP

Applies To:

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BIG-IP DNS

  • 12.1.5, 12.1.4, 12.1.3, 12.1.2, 12.1.1, 12.1.0
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 that DNS can use 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.
    Important: 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.
    Important: 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 one of the following.
    Option Description
    Inside the Data Center By default, a server selects the Prober pool from within the existing data center.
    Outside the Data Center A server selects the Prober pool from outside the existing data center.
    Inherit from Data Center A server inherits the Prober pool assigned to the data center in which the server resides.
  8. From the Prober Fallback list, select one of the following.
    Option Description
    Any available By default, selects any available Prober pool.
    Inside the Data Center A server selects the Prober pool from within the existing data center.
    Outside the Data Center A server selects the Prober pool from outside the existing data center.
    Inherit from Data Center A server inherits the Prober pool assigned to the data center in which the server resides.
    None No Prober pool is used. Prober Fallback is disabled.
  9. In the Health Monitors area, assign an SNMP monitor to the server by moving it from the Available list to the Selected list.
  10. From the Virtual Server Discovery list, select Disabled.
  11. In the Virtual Server List area, if you selected Disabled from the Virtual Server Discovery list, 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.
  12. Click Create.
    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.