SNMP Graphs

The ManageEngine MibBrowser enables real-time plotting of SNMP data in a graph. Currently two types of graph are supported - line graph and bar graph. The SNMP data to be polled should be of integer or unsigned integer data type. Typically the values that are plotted will be of type Counter, Gauge or Timeticks.

The following steps should be taken for plotting the SNMP data in the graph:

  • specify the proper agent hostname or IP address.
  • specify a valid variable - the variable needs to be an integer or unsigned integer (Counter, Gauge or Timeticks)
  • include the specific instance of the variable

After selecting the variable from the MibTree, click on the GRAPH image button or select the menu item Line Graph or Bar Graph from the View menu. This brings up an automatically updated graph showing the results of periodically polling the specified agent for the specified OID. By default polling for the graph is done every 5 seconds.

The following options can be configured for the graph:

  • Polling Interval - default value is 5 secs - editable, can be given any value.
  • Average over Interval - if selected, takes the average of the values otherwise plots the actual value.
  • X axis scale - allows to set the X axis scale, the minimum is 300 secs .
  • Show Absolute Time - if selected, shows the time in hrs:secs otherwise in seconds.
  • Max X value - allows to set the maximum time the graph can plot. The default maximum value is 3600 secs.
  • Show Polled Values - if selected, enables to see all the polled values in a particular time period. By default it is disabled.
  • Log File Name - the file name for the log file can be set here. By default the log file name is graph.txt. If the adjacent "Log Polled Values" is selected all th epolled values are logged in this file.
  • Log Polled Values - if selected, logs the polled values. By default it is disabled.

The "Stop" button can be used to stop the polling of the variable. The "Restart" button can be used to restart the polling. The "Close" button is used to close the graph window.

The MibBrowser can plot multiple graphs showing values for different variables from different hosts . Note that the graphs does not plot the absolute value but only the difference between two values.

Debugging and decoding

The MibBrowser application provides facility to view the debug output of the SNMP operations. To view the debug output the debug window has to be invoked by clicking on the debug icon or by selecting the View --> Debug menu from the menu bar.

As long as this window is opened, debugging is turned on, and debugging output is generated. When this window is closed the debugging is turned off.

The three icons in the debug window provide the following function:

  • save - save the debug information to a file
  • print - print the debug information to a file
  • decoder - decodes the debug information