SNMPv3

The Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) is an internet standard protocol used to manage components on an IP network. Its main use is to monitor components in the network for messages that indicate that components require administrative attention. SNMP can be used for system and performance monitoring.

For more information about monitoring, refer to the OneSpan Authentication Server Administrator Guide, Section "Performance monitoring" and "System monitoring".

SNMP typically uses administrative machines which are referred to as managers. They monitor a group of software components (machines, other devices) on a computer network. An agent, which is a piece of software, typically collects all relevant information locally for these software components and reports events back to the applicable Manager via SNMP.

Configuring an SNMPv3 agent on Windows

Net-SNMP is shipped with OneSpan Authentication Server, and you can install and configure it in the course of the server installation. During the installation process, you need to create an initial SNMPv3 user in the Configuration Wizard and to provide the following settings:

• IP address
• The port to use for SNMPv3 requests
• A security name
• The two configurations that determine which authentication protocols (MD5 or SHA) and privacy protocols (AES or DES) to use. When enabling and configuring the authentication and privacy type, a passphrase (Authentication/Privacy Secret) will be needed. For more information about passphrases, see Password guidelines.

When you configure SNMP targets, make sure to set either the Authentication type only or both Authentication and Privacy type for a complete trap configuration in the OneSpan Authentication Server Configuration Utility, i.e. you cannot set a privacy type without setting an authentication type.

Only the following combinations for SNMP communication are valid:

• Without authentication and privacy (both set to None).
• With authentication, but without privacy.
• With authentication and privacy.

We do not recommend to select MD5 for the authentication type, or DES for the privacy type as these protocols are supported in OneSpan Authentication Server for compatibility purposes only.

Configuring an SNMPv3 agent on Linux

On Linux environments, you need to install the Net-SNMP version that comes with your Linux distribution. Specify the relevant settings in the configuration file for the Net-SNMP agent, and configure SNMP user access privileges. For more information and instructions, refer to the OneSpan Authentication Server Installation Guide for Linux.