FC_RTSet - set snmp agent fields to arbitrary values / Use snmp to control devices.

Submitted by admin on Sat, 08/21/2010 - 17:41

FC_RTSet is a tool that uses the snmp set-request command to write data to devices supporting snmp. FC_RTSet allows you to build simple input forms through XML based config files. Building these forms is simple and straightforward but requires basic snmp related knowledge and experience.

The IP address or DNS name of the device (remote host) can be hard-coded into the XML config file but FC_RTSet also takes a text file containing a list of devices (and other snmp related data) as input. This way FC_RTSet can be used to write snmp data to thousands of devices with just one simple click, making it possible to i.e. adjust the threshold values of thousands of snmp enabled sensors in large factories and bringing weeks of work back to a couple of minutes!

FC_RTSet supports SNMPv1, SNMPv2 and SNMPv3 and runs on all Windows versions from Windows XP onwards.

FC_RTSet explained

Free version versus commercial version

The free version is limited to supporting the mib-2 OIDs (all OIDs under 1.3.6.1.2.1). The licensed/commercial version does not have any limitation!

Commandline

FC_RTSet can be started from the commandline or through a shortcut on the desktop. The name and location of the config xml file can be specified using the /xml commandline switch as in:

C:\RTSet\FC_RTSet.exe /xml "C:\RTSet\SetConfig.xml"

Base config file for FC_RTSet

The config xml file has the following format

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<fccomp>
   <comptype>rtset</comptype>
   <programtitle></programtitle>
   <maxlegendlength></maxlegendlength>
   <left></left>
   <top></top>
   <allowemptyfieldvalues></allowemptyfieldvalues>
   <hosttablefilename></hosttablefilename>
   <hoststable>
      <hostentry>
         <host></host>
         <community></community>
         <snmpport></snmpport>
         <snmpversion></snmpversion>
      </hostentry>
   </hoststable>
   <shooter>
      <shootertargettable>
         <shootertargetentry>
            <oid></oid>
            <instance></instance>
            <preset></preset>
         </shootertargetentry>
      </shootertargettable>
   </shooter>
   <oidtable>
      <oidentry>
         <oid></oid>
         <oiddescr></oiddescr>
         <format></format>
         <oidtype></oidtype>
      </oidentry>
   </oidtable>
   <vendorspecific>
      <vlogofile></vlogofile>
      <vappname></vappname>
      <vappversion></vappversion>
   </vendorspecific>
</fccomp>

The XML tags explained in detail! - The tag reference table.

The reference table for the xml tag descriptions used in the FineConnection components can be found here.

Examples

Attention! Attention! If you copy and paste the xml examples shown below don't forget to modify the "host dependent" fields in order to poll devices in your own network environment. Also, be aware that not all hosts support snmp nor have it enabled by default!

Example 1.

This example builds a simple form that can be used to set the sysContact, sysName and sysLocation fields of a host. The value of sysContact and sysLocation is preset. The host to write the data to is hard-coded into the xml file. The <allowemptyfieldvalues> tag is set to false, meaning that spaces as fieldvalues are not allowed (if <allowemptyfieldvalues> is set to true, FC_RTSet writes an empty field which is the same as wiping out).

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<fccomp>
   <comptype>rtset</comptype>
   <programtitle>Set sysContact, sysName and sysLocation</programtitle>
   <maxlegendlength>30</maxlegendlength>
   <left></left>
   <top></top>
   <allowemptyfieldvalues>false</allowemptyfieldvalues>
   <hosttablefilename></hosttablefilename>
   <hoststable>
      <hostentry>
         <host>192.168.2.1</host>
         <community>public</community>
         <snmpport>161</snmpport>
         <snmpversion>1</snmpversion>
      </hostentry>
   </hoststable>
   <shooter>
      <shootertargettable>
         <shootertargetentry>
            <oid>1.3.6.1.2.1.1.4</oid>
            <instance>.0</instance>
            <preset>FineConnection admin</preset>
         </shootertargetentry>
         <shootertargetentry>
            <oid>1.3.6.1.2.1.1.5</oid>
            <instance>.0</instance>
            <preset></preset>
         </shootertargetentry>
         <shootertargetentry>
            <oid>1.3.6.1.2.1.1.6</oid>
            <instance>.0</instance>
            <preset>FineConnection computer room</preset>
         </shootertargetentry>
      </shootertargettable>
   </shooter>
   <oidtable>
      <oidentry>
         <oid>1.3.6.1.2.1.1.4</oid>
         <oiddescr>sysContact</oiddescr>
         <format></format>
         <oidtype>OctetString</oidtype>
      </oidentry>
      <oidentry>
         <oid>1.3.6.1.2.1.1.5</oid>
         <oiddescr>sysName</oiddescr>
         <format></format>
         <oidtype>OctetString</oidtype>
      </oidentry>
      <oidentry>
         <oid>1.3.6.1.2.1.1.6</oid>
         <oiddescr>sysLocation</oiddescr>
         <format></format>
         <oidtype>OctetString</oidtype>
      </oidentry>
   </oidtable>
   <vendorspecific>
      <vlogofile></vlogofile>
      <vappname></vappname>
      <vappversion></vappversion>
   </vendorspecific>
</fccomp>

FC_RTSet_example1

Example 2.

Example 2 does basically the same as example 1 but this time FC_RTSet operates on three devices at the same time. The three different devices are defined hard-coded in the xml file (<hoststable></hoststable> block). Only the value of sysContact is preset. The three devices all use different snmp versions and ports.

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<fccomp>
   <comptype>rtset</comptype>
   <programtitle>Set sysContact, sysName and sysLocation</programtitle>
   <maxlegendlength>30</maxlegendlength>
   <left></left>
   <top></top>
   <allowemptyfieldvalues>false</allowemptyfieldvalues>
   <hosttablefilename></hosttablefilename>
   <hoststable>
      <hostentry>
         <host>192.168.2.1</host>
         <community>public</community>
         <snmpport>161</snmpport>
         <snmpversion>1</snmpversion>
      </hostentry>
      <hostentry>
         <host>192.168.2.253</host>
         <community>private</community>
         <snmpport>161</snmpport>
         <snmpversion>1</snmpversion>
      </hostentry><hostentry>
         <host>192.168.3.247</host>
         <community>private</community>
         <snmpport>168</snmpport>
         <snmpversion>2</snmpversion>
      </hostentry>
   </hoststable>
   <shooter>
      <shootertargettable>
         <shootertargetentry>
            <oid>1.3.6.1.2.1.1.4</oid>
            <instance>.0</instance>
            <preset>FineConnection admin</preset>
         </shootertargetentry>
         <shootertargetentry>
            <oid>1.3.6.1.2.1.1.5</oid>
            <instance>.0</instance>
            <preset></preset>
         </shootertargetentry>
         <shootertargetentry>
            <oid>1.3.6.1.2.1.1.6</oid>
            <instance>.0</instance>
            <preset></preset>
         </shootertargetentry>
      </shootertargettable>
   </shooter>
   <oidtable>
      <oidentry>
         <oid>1.3.6.1.2.1.1.4</oid>
         <oiddescr>sysContact</oiddescr>
         <format></format>
         <oidtype>OctetString</oidtype>
      </oidentry>
      <oidentry>
         <oid>1.3.6.1.2.1.1.5</oid>
         <oiddescr>sysName</oiddescr>
         <format></format>
         <oidtype>OctetString</oidtype>
      </oidentry>
      <oidentry>
         <oid>1.3.6.1.2.1.1.6</oid>
         <oiddescr>sysLocation</oiddescr>
         <format></format>
         <oidtype>OctetString</oidtype>
      </oidentry>
   </oidtable>
   <vendorspecific>
      <vlogofile></vlogofile>
      <vappname></vappname>
      <vappversion></vappversion>
   </vendorspecific>
</fccomp>

FC_RTSet_example2

Example 3.

Example 3 has the same functionality as the previous example but now the three different devices are specified in a .txt file (devices.txt). The value of the <hosttablefilename></hosttablefilename> tag points to the devices.txt file location.

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<fccomp>
   <comptype>rtset</comptype>
   <programtitle>Set sysContact, sysName and sysLocation</programtitle>
   <maxlegendlength>30</maxlegendlength>
   <left></left>
   <top></top>
   <allowemptyfieldvalues>false</allowemptyfieldvalues>
   <hosttablefilename>Y:\Temp\devices.txt</hosttablefilename>
   <shooter>
      <shootertargettable>
         <shootertargetentry>
            <oid>1.3.6.1.2.1.1.4</oid>
            <instance>.0</instance>
            <preset>FineConnection admin</preset>
         </shootertargetentry>
         <shootertargetentry>
            <oid>1.3.6.1.2.1.1.5</oid>
            <instance>.0</instance>
            <preset></preset>
         </shootertargetentry>
         <shootertargetentry>
            <oid>1.3.6.1.2.1.1.6</oid>
            <instance>.0</instance>
            <preset></preset>
         </shootertargetentry>
      </shootertargettable>
   </shooter>
   <oidtable>
      <oidentry>
         <oid>1.3.6.1.2.1.1.4</oid>
         <oiddescr>sysContact</oiddescr>
         <format></format>
         <oidtype>OctetString</oidtype>
      </oidentry>
      <oidentry>
         <oid>1.3.6.1.2.1.1.5</oid>
         <oiddescr>sysName</oiddescr>
         <format></format>
         <oidtype>OctetString</oidtype>
      </oidentry>
      <oidentry>
         <oid>1.3.6.1.2.1.1.6</oid>
         <oiddescr>sysLocation</oiddescr>
         <format></format>
         <oidtype>OctetString</oidtype>
      </oidentry>
   </oidtable>
   <vendorspecific>
      <vlogofile></vlogofile>
      <vappname></vappname>
      <vappversion></vappversion>
   </vendorspecific>
</fccomp>

The devices.txt file contains the list of devices. One row per device and each row should contain the following comma separated columns: IP address or hostname, Community, SNMP version, SNMP port, Username, Password,

192.168.3.46,private,1,161,,,
192.168.3.54,private,2,161,,,
192.168.3.67,  ,3,903,user1,passwd1,

The community, snmp version and snmp port may be left blank but the comma may not be omitted! If no community is specified FC_RTSet assumes "private". It also assumes snmp version 1 and snmp port 161 if omitted. SNMP version 3 does not use the community field and in order to suppress displaying "private" the community field contains spaces.

FC_RTSet_example2

Example 4.

The following example allows you to set the operational status of a switch port. The port as well as the status can be chosen at runtime!

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<fccomp>
   <comptype>rtset</comptype>
   <programtitle>Set ifAdmin status</programtitle>
   <maxlegendlength>30</maxlegendlength>
   <left></left>
   <top></top>
   <allowemptyfieldvalues>false</allowemptyfieldvalues>
   <hosttablefilename></hosttablefilename>
   <hoststable>
      <hostentry>
         <host>192.168.2.1</host>
         <community>public</community>
         <snmpport>161</snmpport>
         <snmpversion>1</snmpversion>
      </hostentry>
   </hoststable>
   <shooter>
      <shootertargettable>
         <shootertargetentry>
            <oid>1.3.6.1.2.1.2.2.1.7</oid>
            <instance>at runtime</instance>
            <preset></preset>
         </shootertargetentry>
         <shootertargetentry>
            <oid>AL=1.3.6.1.2.1.2.2.1.2</oid>
            <instance></instance>
            <visible>false</visible>
            <formula></formula>
         </shootertargetentry>
      </shootertargettable>
   </shooter>
   <oidtable>
      <oidentry>
         <oid>1.3.6.1.2.1.2.2.1.7</oid>
         <oiddescr>ifAdminStatus</oiddescr>
         <format>mapto:1,up,2,down,3,testing,</format>
         <oidtype>Integer</oidtype>
      </oidentry>
      <oidentry>
         <oid>1.3.6.1.2.1.2.2.1.2</oid>
         <oiddescr>ifDescr</oiddescr>
         <format></format>
         <oidtype>OctetString</oidtype>
      </oidentry>
   </oidtable>
   <vendorspecific>
      <vlogofile></vlogofile>
      <vappname></vappname>
      <vappversion></vappversion>
   </vendorspecific>
</fccomp>

FC_RTSet_example4

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