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Management Information Base (MIB) Interface

Management Information Base (MIB) Interface.

Management Information Base (MIB) Interface.

The database controlled by the SNMP Agent is referred to as the Management Information Base (MIB). It is a standard set of statistical and control values. SNMP allows the extension of these standard values with values specific to a particular agent through the use of private MIBs.

The definitions of MIB variables supported by a particular agent are incorporated in descriptor files, written in Abstract Syntax Notation (ASN.1) format, made available to network management client programs so that they can become aware of these MIB variables and their usage.

The MIB variables are referred to as MIB Object Identifiers (OIDs). OID names are hierarchy structured and unique. SNMP uses the OID to identify objects on each network element (device running SNMP agent) that can be managed using SNMP.

The SNMP Agent manages MIB variables that are located in the SNMP_Agent_MIB.c template file. To add the file to your project, simply right-click on the Source group, select Add New Item to Group, then click on User Code Template and scroll in the template files list until you find the SNMP Agent template. The SNMP_Agent_MIB.c file has implemented a scaled-down MIB-II Management Information Base. Only the System MIB is defined by default. The user might expand this table by adding his own MIB variables.

The user can register a callback function with a MIB variable. This function gets called, when the SNMP Manager accesses the MIB variable. This concept allows the SNMP Manager to control the SNMP Agent system. For example to change LED outputs, to write text on embedded LCD module, to read push buttons or analog inputs, etc.

MIB Entry

The SNMP MIB entry information structure NET_SNMP_MIB_INFO describes the MIB variable. The SNMP Agent uses this description to process local MIB variables. This structure is defined as follows:

typedef struct net_snmp_mib_info {
uint8_t type; // Object Type
uint8_t oid_len; // Object ID length
uint8_t oid[NET_SNMP_MIB_OID_SIZE]; // Object ID value
uint8_t var_size; // Size of a variable
void *var; // Pointer to a variable
void (*cb_func)(int32_t mode); // Write/Read event callback function

The components of NET_SNMP_MIB_INFO structure are:

MIB Table

The MIB Table table is defined as an array. The components of this array are of type NET_SNMP_MIB_INFO.

static const NET_SNMP_MIB_INFO mib_table[] = {
// ---------- System MIB -----------
// SysDescr Entry
8, {NET_SNMP_MIB_OID0(1,3), 6, 1, 2, 1, 1, 1, 0},
NET_SNMP_MIB_STR("Embedded System SNMP V1.0"),
NULL },
// SysObjectID Entry
8, {NET_SNMP_MIB_OID0(1,3), 6, 1, 2, 1, 1, 2, 0},
NET_SNMP_MIB_STR("\x2b\x06\x01\x02\x01\x01\x02\x00"),
NULL },
// SysUpTime Entry
8, {NET_SNMP_MIB_OID0(1,3), 6, 1, 2, 1, 1, 3, 0},
4, &snmp_SysUpTime,
NULL },
..
}

In the following example, we will construct a MIB variable entry LedOut. It will allow the SNMP Manager to control LEDs on an evaluation board.

The MIB variable type is Integer. An uint8_t variable is sufficient, because the LED port is 8-bit:

// LedOut Entry

The OID reference is 1.3.6.1.3.1.0. It is defined in the Experimental MIB branch of the MIB tree:

6, {NET_SNMP_MIB_OID0(1,3), 6, 1, 3, 1, 0},

The variable size and location is described with the help of NET_SNMP_MIB_INT macro:

The following macros are defined:

Macro Variable Definition
NET_SNMP_MIB_STR Octet or Byte String size and location.
NET_SNMP_MIB_INT Signed or Unsigned Integer size and location.
NET_SNMP_MIB_IP IP Address size and location.

The write_leds is specified as callback function. It gets called when the LedOut is written:

write_leds },

Finally we need the actual variable definition:

static uint8_t LedOut;

For the LedOut control we actually need the following parts of code to be defined in SNMP_Agent_MIB.c module:

static uint8_t LedOut;
static void write_leds (int32_t mode);
const NET_SNMP_MIB_INFO snmp_mib[] = {
..
// LedOut Entry
6, {NET_SNMP_MIB_OID0(1,3), 6, 1, 3, 1, 0},
write_leds },
..
}
static void write_leds (int32_t mode) {
// No action on read access.
if (mode == NET_SNMP_MIB_WRITE) {
LED_SetOut (LedOut);
}
}

String Handling

Two types of read/write strings are supported:

Type Description
OCTET_STRING An 0-terminating ascii string.
BYTE_STRING Length-encoded binary string.

The OCTET_STRING is treated as an 0-terminating ascii string, the last character in the string is a zero character. When the ascii string is written in the SET request, a 0-termination is added. The position of the zero character specifies the length of the data encoded in the GET response.

static char ascii_str[20];
..
strcpy (ascii_str, "embedded");
..
const NET_SNMP_MIB_INFO snmp_mib[] = {
..
// Ascii String Entry
6, {NET_SNMP_MIB_OID0(1,3), 6, 1, 3, 2, 0},
NET_SNMP_MIB_STR(ascii_str),
NULL },
..
}

The BYTE_STRING is treated as a length-encoded binary string. The first byte in the string is the length of the string. The contents of the string are stored from the second byte onwards. When the byte string is written in the SET request, the len is updated. The len specifies the length of the data encoded in the GET response.

static uint8_t byte_str[20];
..
bp->len = 4;
bp->data[0] = 0;
bp->data[1] = 2;
bp->data[2] = 0;
bp->data[3] = 0;
..
const NET_SNMP_MIB_INFO snmp_mib[] = {
..
// Byte String Entry
6, {NET_SNMP_MIB_OID0(1,3), 6, 1, 3, 3, 0},
NET_SNMP_MIB_STR(byte_str),
NULL },
..
}

Extended OID Encoding

The value of OID address byte must be less than 128. If it is not, an OID address must be encoded in extended format. This is because the high bit of an address byte is an address extension bit.

For example, the OID address 1.3.6.1.4.1.311.0 is encoded as:

8, {NET_SNMP_MIB_OID0(1,3), 6, 1, 4, 1, 130, 55, 0},

The address value for the highlighted numbers is calculated as:

(130-128) * 128 + 55 = 311

The OID address 1.3.6.1.4.1.31036.50.1.1.0 is encoded as:

12, {NET_SNMP_MIB_OID0(1,3), 6, 1, 4, 1, 129, 242, 60, 50, 1, 1, 0},

where the value 31036 is calculated as:

(129-128) * 128 * 128 + (242-128) * 128 + 60 = 31036