SNMPCONF

Section: Net-SNMP (1)
Updated: 25 Feb 2003
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NAME

snmpconf - creates and modifies SNMP configuration files

SYNOPSIS

snmpconf [OPTIONS] [fileToCreate]

Start with:: snmpconf -g basic_setup
Or even just:: snmpconf

DESCRIPTION

snmpconf is a simple Perl script that walks you through setting up a configuration file step by step. It should be fairly straight forward to use. Merely run it and answer its questions.

In its default mode of operation, it prompts the user with menus showing sections of the various configuration files it knows about. When the user selects a section, a sub-menu is shown listing of the descriptions of the tokens that can be created in that section. When a description is selected, the user is prompted with questions that construct the configuration line in question.

Finally, when the user quits the program any configuration files that have been edited by the user are saved to the local directory, fully commented.

A particularly useful option is the -g switch, which walks a user through a specific set of configuration questions. Run:

: snmpconf -g basic_setup

for an example.

OPTIONS

-f

Force overwriting existing files in the current directory without prompting the user if this is a desired thing to do.

-i

When finished, install the files into the location where the global system commands expect to find them.

-p

When finished, install the files into the users home directory's .snmp subdirectory (where the applications will also search for configuration files).

-I DIRECTORY

When finished, install the files into the directory DIRECTORY.

-a

Don't ask any questions. Simply read in the various known configuration files and write them back out again. This has the effect of "auto-commenting" the configuration files for you. See the NEAT TRICKS section below.

-rall|none

Read in either all or none of the found configuration files. Normally snmpconf prompts you for which files you wish to read in. Reading in these configuration files will merge these files with the results of the questions that it asks of you.

-R FILE,...

Read in a specific list of configuration files.

-g GROUPNAME

Groups of configuration entries can be created that can be used to walk a user through a series of questions to create an initial configuration file. There are no menus to navigate, just a list of questions. Run:

: snmpconf -g basic_setup

for a good example.

-G

List all the known groups.

-c CONFIGDIR

snmpconf uses a directory of configuration information to learn about the files and questions that it should be asking. This option tells snmpconf to use a different location for configuring itself.

-q

Run slightly more quietly. Since this is an interactive program, I don't recommend this option since it only removes information from the output that is designed to help you.

-d

Turn on lots of debugging output.

-D

Add even more debugging output in the form of Perl variable dumps.

NEAT TRICKS

snmpconf -g basic_setup: Have I mentioned this command enough yet? It's designed to walk someone through an initial setup for the snmpd(8) daemon. Really, you should try it.
snmpconf -R /usr/local/snmp/snmpd.conf -a -f snmpd.conf: Automatically reads in an snmpd.conf file (for example) and adds comments to them describing what each token does. Try it. It's cool.

NOTES

snmpconf is actually a very generic utility that could be easily configured to help construct just about any kind of configuration file. Its default configuration set of files are SNMP based.