SNMP MIB and OID - what are expectations for OOB auto-maintenance vs manual?

[Bob D]

[Quebec]

I've determined that we have Cisco network switches on our network that do not have their SNMP OIDs in the OID table to allow for classification/discovery.  I know how to add OIDs, but shouldn't Cisco OIDs be included OOB?  How often is my instance updated with new MIB libraries?  I can't find documentation on how this is maintained.   I can find some documentation that indicates these should be in my instance by default, but also find other KBs with instructions for how to download MIBs from Cisco web site and load them to my instance.   I could use help understanding what should happen by default/oob and what I should expect to maintain manually, especially for common network gear manufacturers like Cisco.

thank you   - Bob

[doug_schulze · Accepted solution]

Bob, I feel you on this one. When I started deploying discovery we had 433 OIDs in the table and it became standard to have to add these as I came across 'new' network devices. Thankfully were at over 8k now (OOB) and growing near every store release.

The challenge with these is that there is no single repository (that I know of) of all the valid, unique SNMP SysOIDs in one place. You have to go manufacturer to manufacturer, validate the OID, ensure that it will match a class of device that most everyone can agree on based on its task then add it to being OOB.

Agree that sure, Cisco big name on the block, why aren't they all there? But think about how many models across all their lines they produce, each with their own sysOID? What about other major vendors in this space? All told it's an incredible number and classing all those devices with an easy update would be a dream, but there are going to be times that we gotta extend our own discovery to help meet our local needs. This is one of them.

The good news is that our friend @patrickdecarlo provided this great tool to help us match these things up and hope it can help. Also if you are finding things that were overlooked then be sure to submit them on the idea portal.

[Bob D]

@doug.schulze Thank you. Helpful, as usual.