Working with SNMPWALK output

Lexicographic ordering in SNMP

What does the SNMPWALK command do ?

Sample outputs

$snmpwalk -v 1 -c public123 localhost .1.3.6.1
sysDescr.0 = STRING: Software: Whistler Version 5.1 Service Pack 2 (Build 2600)
sysObjectID.0 = OID: win32
sysUpTimeInstance = Timeticks: (15535) 0:02:35.35
sysContact.0 = STRING: unknown
sysName.0 = STRING: UDLDEV
sysLocation.0 = STRING: unknown
sysServices.0 = INTEGER: 72
sysORID.4 = OID: snmpMPDCompliance

The problem with the output

A lot of network administrators have to deal with raw snmpwalk outputs such as the ones shown above. This causes a lot of aggravation for the following reasons.

• Hard to visualize especially for MIB tables, because we are trying to visualize a two dimensional table using a one dimensional dump of text output.
• If the snmpwalk output contains OIDs instead of names, then we are completely lost. 
• We cannot easily navigate to the definition of each node or look at the textual convention or type of the value. 
• A graphical table is better than plain text !

Example :  Walk the HOST-RESOURCE mib disk partition table 

This is the raw output from the snmpwalk command

.1.3.6.1.2.1.25.3.7.1.1.1537.1 = INTEGER: 1
.1.3.6.1.2.1.25.3.7.1.1.1537.2 = INTEGER: 2
.1.3.6.1.2.1.25.3.7.1.1.1537.3 = INTEGER: 3
.1.3.6.1.2.1.25.3.7.1.2.1537.1 = STRING: "/dev/hdb1"
.1.3.6.1.2.1.25.3.7.1.2.1537.2 = STRING: "/dev/hdb2"
.1.3.6.1.2.1.25.3.7.1.2.1537.3 = STRING: "/dev/hdb3"
.1.3.6.1.2.1.25.3.7.1.3.1537.1 = STRING: "0x341"
.1.3.6.1.2.1.25.3.7.1.3.1537.2 = STRING: "0x342"
.1.3.6.1.2.1.25.3.7.1.3.1537.3 = STRING: "0x343"
.1.3.6.1.2.1.25.3.7.1.4.1537.1 = INTEGER: 14877060 KBytes
.1.3.6.1.2.1.25.3.7.1.4.1537.2 = INTEGER: 9920624 KBytes
.1.3.6.1.2.1.25.3.7.1.4.1537.3 = INTEGER: 0 KBytes
.1.3.6.1.2.1.25.3.7.1.5.1537.1 = INTEGER: 1
.1.3.6.1.2.1.25.3.7.1.5.1537.2 = INTEGER: 3
.1.3.6.1.2.1.25.3.7.1.5.1537.3 = INTEGER: 0

Go to the Unbrowse SNMP Page

How to convert an SNMPWALK output into a nice spreadsheet like table ?

Unbrowse SNMP makes it dramatically easier to work with output of snmpwalk commands. You send in a text file containing the snmpwalk output, and you will get a MyMib (which corresponds to the subtree extracted by the snmpwalk command) and a Spreadsheet like view of the results. This helps you boost your productivity because you no longer have to scratch your head when confronted with a large snmpwalk dump. 

Via a file import

If you have a file containing the snmpwalk output, you can select the “File > Import > From SNMPWALK dump” command. The exact steps are outlined below.

• Close all browser and walker windows
• Select File->Import->From a SNMPWALK dump.. menu item
• Select the snmpwalk dump file
• A status window appears indicating progress, you can stop at any time.
• Unresolved OIDs are MIB objects in the snmpwalk dump that are not known to Unbrowse SNMP. These unresolved OIDs are shown in the text area on the status window.
• During SNMPWALK processing:
• First a MyMIB is created containing all the objects in the snmpwalk input file. You can save it for use later.
• Next the MIB Walker view (a spreadsheet like view) is created
• Please be patient as this may take time if the input file is large. It can take upto 2 minutes to fully construct the sheet when large inputs are selected.
• You can save the MyMIB and the Walker view, or export the Walker view to HTML for easier offline analysis

Via the clipboard ( copy-paste method)

If you have the snmpwalk dump in an email, a website, or a bug report, you can just copy paste the text into a special window. To use this feature, select “File > Import > From a SNMPWALK dump in the clipboard”. Paste the text into the box and press “Import!”

Supported snmpwalk formats

Unbrowse SNMP allows you to enter the snmpwalk output in a variety of formats. These may even be intermingled in the same input file. Most popular formats of Cisco, Juniper, and Net-SNMP are supported.