Installing SNMP Under Windows XP

1. Put the Windows XP installation CD in the systems CD-ROM drive.
2. Logon as an administrator.
3. Click on the Start button.
4. Select Control Panel.
5. Double-click on Add or Remove Programs.
6. Click on Add/Remove Windows Components.
7. Select Management and Monitoring Tools.
8. Click on Next.
9. Click on Finish.
10. Close the Add or Remove Programs window.

The above process installs SNMP support. By default, the system will then accept queries on the default SNMP port, UDP port 161. A system issuing SNMP queries to the system on which you installed SNMP support can use public as the read-only community string, which is similar to a password for SNMP. Since that community string is a widely known default value, you should change it to make the system more secure. You can configure the community strings to use and other SNMP options by following the steps below.

1. Click on the Start button.
2. Select Control Panel.
3. Double-click on Administrative Tools.
4. Double-click on Services.
5. Scroll down to SNMP Service and double-click on it.

   

6. Click on the Security tab.
7. Click on the Edit button to edit the community string to be used for "Read Only" SNMP queries and change it from public to be whatever you wish and then click on OK.
8. If you want to allow changes to be made to the system via SNMP, you can add a "Read Write" community string by clicking on Add then choosing READ WRITE for "community rights" and then putting whatever you want to use for the "read write" community name, e.g. 1234ABC1234 in the "community name field. Click on the Add button when finished.
9. By default the system will accept SNMP packets from any system. For additional security, you can specify that only specific IP addresses can access the system via SNMP by selecting "Accept SNMP packets from these hosts" rather than the default of "Accept SNMP packets from any hosts". If you want to accept packets only from specific hosts, you then have to click on the Add button, and specify a host name, e.g. example.com or an IP or IPX address for a system from which SNMP packets will be accepted.

   

If you want to have the system send SNMP traps to another system in addition to responding to SNMP quries, click on the Traps tab. Type a community string in the community name field and click on the add to list button. Then click on the Add button under Trap destinations and type a host name or IP or IPX address in the SNMP Service Configuration window and then click on the Add button.

Click on the Agent tab and add a contact name and location for the system in the Contact and Location fields, if you wish to have that information accessible by SNMP. Then click on OK.

Created: Thursday, October 14, 2010