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Cisco MDS 9000 Family MIB Quick Reference

This document provides information about the Management Information Base (MIB) supported by the
Cisco MDS 9000 Family.
The Cisco MDS 9000 Family supports Cisco proprietary MIBs in addition to standard MIBs. The
standard MIBs are defined in documents called Requests for Comments (RFCs), available on the internet.
The proprietary Cisco MIBs are provided with all Cisco software releases and with CiscoWorks router
management software.

Note The exact set of MIBs supported by Cisco MDS SAN-OS may change with each release.

The Cisco MDS 9000 Family MIBs can be accessed through the following FTP site:
ftp://ftp.cisco.com/pub/mibs/supportlists/mds9000/MDS9000MIBSupportList.html
This document provides the following information:
• About MIBs, page 2
– MIBs and Network Management, page 2
– About SNMP, page 2
– Interpreting the MIB Structure, page 3
– MIB Object Identifiers, page 3
– MIB Tables, page 4
– Syntax, page 4
– Max-Access Keyword, page 5
• About Cisco MIB Files, page 5
– Cisco MIB File Directories, page 5
– Recommended MIB Loading Order, page 6
• Accessing and Downloading Cisco MIB Files, page 6
– Using FTP to Access and Download the MIB Files, page 6
– Using HTTP to Access and Download the MIB Files from CCO, page 7

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About MIBs
MIBs can be used to manage networks and devices using SNMP protocol.

MIBs and Network Management

Network management involves two types of systems: management systems (those in control), and
managed systems (systems that are observed and controlled). The most common management system is
called a network management system (NMS). Managed systems can include hosts, servers, or network
devices such as routers or intelligent repeaters.
In a managed device, specialized low-impact software modules called agents access information about
the device and report it to the NMS. This information includes values for a number of variables relating
to the managed device. For example, an agent might report the number of bytes and packets received and
transmitted by the device, or the number of broadcast messages sent and received. In the Internet
network management framework, these variables are referred to as managed objects. All managed
objects are contained in the Management Information Base (MIB), a database of the managed objects.
An NMS can control a managed device by sending a message to an agent of that managed device
requiring the device to change the value of one or more of its variables. The NMS can use the set
commands to control the device, and the get commands to monitor the device.
If an NMS is unable to get requested information from a managed device such as a Cisco router, then
either the NMS does not recognize the MIB variable, the agent does not support the MIB variable, or the
MIB that allows that specific data collection is missing. If the NMS does not recognize a specified MIB
variable, you might need to load the MIB into the NMS, usually with a MIB compiler.

About SNMP
The Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) is an application-layer protocol designed to
facilitate the exchange of management information between network devices. SNMP provides a common
framework and language for the Internet network management framework.
The SNMP system consists of three parts: SNMP manager, SNMP agent, and MIB.The SNMP manager
can be part of a network management system (NMS), and the SNMP agent can reside on a networking
device such as a switch. You can compile the Cisco MIB with your network management software. If
SNMP is configured on a device, the SNMP agent responds to MIB-related queries sent by the NMS.
As shown in Figure 1, the SNMP agent gathers data from the MIB. The agent can then send traps, or
notifications of certain events, to the SNMP manager.

Figure 1 SNMP Network

NMS get-request, get-next-request,

Network device
get-bulk, set-request

get-response, traps
SNMP Manager MIB
63186

SNMP Agent

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The SNMP manager uses information in the MIB to perform the operations described in Table 1.

Table 1 SNMP Manager Operations

Operation Description
get-request Retrieves a value from a specific variable.
get-next-request Retrieves the value following the named variable. It is often used to retrieve
variables from within the table.1
get-bulk2 Retrieves large blocks of data, such as multiple rows in a table, which would
otherwise require the transmission of many small blocks of data.
set-request Stores a value in a specific variable.
get-response Replies to the get commands sent by an NMS.
trap An unsolicited message sent by an SNMP agent to an SNMP manager indicating
that some event has occurred.
inform An unsolicited message sent by an SNMP agent to an SNMP manager indicating that some
event has occurred. Differs from a trap in that an acknowledgement is required from the
manager.

1. With this operation, an SNMP manager does not need to know the exact variable name. A sequential search is performed to find
the required variable from within the MIB.
2. The get-bulk command only works with SNMP version 2.

Interpreting the MIB Structure

The international MIB structure is logically represented by a tree hierarchy. The root of the tree is
unnamed and splits into three main branches: Consultative Committee for International Telegraph and
Telephone (CCITT), International Organization for Standardization (ISO), and joint ISO/CCITT.
The branches of the tree and their sub-branches are identified by object names which are short text
strings, and object identifiers which are integer strings. The object identifiers are numerical
representations of the object names that are used by computer software.

MIB Object Identifiers

Each MIB object is assigned an object identifier, which is the sequence of numeric labels on the nodes
along a path from the root to the object. For example, in Figure 2 the MIB variable tftpHost is indicated
by the following object identifier: iso.org.dod.internet.private.enterprise.cisco.workgroup
products.stack group.tftp group.tftpHost.variable or 1.3.6.1.4.1.9.5.1.5.1. The last value (in this case 1)
is the number specifically assigned to the MIB object tftpHost.

Figure 2 Example of an Object Identifier for a MIB Variable

iso.org.dod.internet.private.enterprise.cisco
workgroup products.stack group.tftp
group.[MIB Variable]
1.3.6.1.4.1.9.5.1.5.[MIB Variable]
S5899

tftpHost [1]

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MIB Tables
When network management protocols use names of MIB variables in messages, each name has an
appended suffix. This suffix is called an instance identifier. For simple variables, the instance identifier
“0” refers to the instance of the variable with that name. A MIB also can contain tables of related
variables.
Typically, an instance identifier might be a unique interface number or a 0. An instance identifier can
also be an IP address. For example, to find the network mask for the route with a destination address of
131.104.211.243, use the variable locRtMask (locate route mask) with an instance identifier of
131.104.211.243. The format is locRtMask.131.104.211.243.
An excerpt of the information on the VSAN table (known as vsanTable) from the associated MIB file
follows:
vsanTable OBJECT-TYPE
SYNTAX SEQUENCE OF VsanEntry
MAX-ACCESS not-accessible
STATUS current
DESCRIPTION
"A table of VSANs configured on this device."
::= { vsanConfiguration 3 }

vsanEntry OBJECT-TYPE
SYNTAX VsanEntry
MAX-ACCESS not-accessible
STATUS current
DESCRIPTION
"An entry (conceptual row) in the vsanTable."
INDEX { vsanIndex }
::= { vsanTable 1 }

VsanEntry ::= SEQUENCE {

vsanIndex VsanIndex,
vsanName SnmpAdminString,
}

In the example, the vsanTable contains two variables: vsanIndex and vsanName. (There are more values
in the real vsanTable.) The index for this table is the ID of the VSAN, or vsanIndex. With n number of
VSANs available, n rows are available in the table.

Syntax
The syntax describes the format of the information, or value, that is returned when you monitor or set
information in a device with a MIB variable.
Cisco MDS 9000 Family MIBs are defined with the SNMPv2 SMI. Some examples of SNMPv2 syntax
are:
• Counter/Counter32
A nonnegative integer that increases until it reaches some maximum value. After reaching the
maximum value, it rolls back to zero. For example, the variable locIfipInPkts counts the number of
IP protocol input packets on an interface.
• Display string
A printable ASCII string. It is typically a name or description. For example, the variable
netConfigName provides the name of the network configuration file for a device.

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• Integer
A numeric value. It can be an actual number—for example, the number of lost IP packets on an
interface. It also can be a number that represents a nonnumeric value. For example, the variable
tsLineType returns the type of terminal services line to the SNMP manager. A 2 indicates a console
line; a 3 indicates a terminal line; and so on.
• Integer32
An integer from -232 to 232-1.
• IP address
The variable hostConfigAddr indicates the IP address of the host that provided the host configuration
file for a device.
• TimeStamp
Defined in RFC 1443 as the value of the MIB-II sysUpTime object at which a specific event occurred.
• Timeticks
A nonnegative integer that counts the hundredths of a second elapsed since an event. For example,
the variable loctcpConnElapsed provides the time that a TCP connection has been established.

Max-Access Keyword
This keyword is used in MIB files to specify one of the following four states for variables: read-create,
read-write, read-only, and not-accessible.
• Not-accessible
You cannot read or write to this variable. Entry statements are typically not accessible.
• Read-create
This specifies a tabular object that can be read, modified, or created as a new row in a table.
• Read-only
This variable can be used only to monitor information.
• Read-write
You can read or modify this variable.

About Cisco MIB Files

The Cisco MIB is a set of variables that are private extensions for Cisco devices. These MIB files can be
obtained by File Transfer Protocol (FTP) from the Cisco server.

Cisco MIB File Directories

Cisco's public MIB files are organized into two directories: SNMPv1 MIBs are in the v1 directory and
SNMPv2 MIBs are in the v2 directory. Cisco MDS 9000 Family MIBs are all in the v2 directory. You
can get a description of the files by retrieving the following:
• supportlists.txt file—Describes which MIBs the Cisco MDS 9000 Family supports
• v1/README—Describes the SNMPv1 MIBs in the subdirectory
• v2/README—Describes the SNMPv2 MIBs in the subdirectory

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Recommended MIB Loading Order

Many MIBs reference definitions that are defined in other MIBs. These references are listed in the
IMPORTS section near the top of the MIB.
Some MIB compilers require that any imported MIBs be loaded first. If these MIBs are not loaded first,
the MIB compiler might indicate that an imported MIB is undefined. If this happens, check the
IMPORTS section of the MIB and ensure that all imported MIBs are loaded before attempting to reload
the original MIB.
Following is a list of MIBs from which many Cisco MIBs import definitions, listed in the recommended
loading order:
• SNMPv2-SMI.my
• SNMPv2-TC.my
• SNMPv2-MIB.my
• RFC1213-MIB.my
• IF-MIB.my
• CISCO-SMI.my
• CISCO-TC.my
• CISCO-ST-TC.my
• CISCO-VSAN-MIB.my
Loading MIBs in this order eliminates 95 percent of load-order definition problems. In general, you can
load the remaining MIBs (those not listed here) in any order.

Accessing and Downloading Cisco MIB Files

You can access the Cisco MIB files in two ways:
• By using File Transfer Protocol (FTP) to access the ftp.cisco.com server.
• By using HTTP protocol to connect to CCO at this URL:
http://www.cisco.com

Using FTP to Access and Download the MIB Files

To access the MIB files using FTP, follow these steps:

Step 1 Launch a web browser and navigate to

ftp://ftp.cisco.com/pub/mibs/supportlists/mds9000/MDS9000MIBSupportList.html.
Step 2 Select and download the desired MIB files.

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Using HTTP to Access and Download the MIB Files from CCO
To access the MIB files using a Web browser, follow these steps:

Step 1 Launch a web browser and navigate to the following URL:

http://www.cisco.com/public/sw-center/netmgmt/cmtk/mibs.shtml
Step 2 Select “MDS9000Family” under Cisco Storage Networking.
Step 3 Select and download the desired MIB files.

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This document is to be used in conjunction with the document set that supports the Cisco MDS 9000 Family.

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