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Conference azur::mcc

Title:DECmcc user notes file. Does not replace IPMT.
Notice:Use IPMT for problems. Newsletter location in note 6187
Moderator:TAEC::BEROUD
Created:Mon Aug 21 1989
Last Modified:Wed Jun 04 1997
Last Successful Update:Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:6497
Total number of notes:27359

5174.0. "Question regarding Novell & SNMP" by ADO75A::BOUCHER () Wed Jun 09 1993 20:09

    Greetings,
    
    I have a question for the engineers..
    
    With regards to Novell SNMP support I have put entries in this
    conference before and for the most part been bombarded with silence.  
    I have a site that is extremely keen to manage all their networks, 
    including Novell LAN's via DECmcc.  I got a hold of the MIB's from NSM
    (NXPPLUS.MIB,NW2SNMP.MIB) and after some trouble, managed to compile
    NXPPLUS.MIB.  The problem with NW2SNMP.MIB is that it does not define
    any variables (eg osName) anywhere.
    
    I have been in touch with Novell and they have basically said it is our
    problem..  Novell and DEC had early discussions re the topic and work
    was to be done by DEC, but nothing has come of it.  They claim that SUN
    and HP are working in conjunction with Novell in order to provide
    support for Novell's MIB's but DEC is quiet on the scene.
    
    It is hard to point the finger at Novell saying their MIB's are not
    standard if we are not completely without fault an conform to the
    standard to the letter, which I believe we do not.
    
    Is there any plans to get support for Novell's MIB's within DECmcc,
    given the large population of Novell LAN's, as well as the support from
    other NETMAN vendors, or is it another of the "stategic cutbacks" to
    the engineering program ?
    
    Regards,
    
    
    Reece Boucher
    Adelaide, Australia 
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5174.1MOLAR::YAHEY::BOSEThu Jun 10 1993 12:1440
>>  They claim that SUN
>>    and HP are working in conjunction with Novell in order to provide
>>    support for Novell's MIB's but DEC is quiet on the scene.

	This proves that their mibs have some limitations since a properly
	written mib should need NO special support to get it compiled.

>>    It is hard to point the finger at Novell saying their MIB's are not
>>    standard if we are not completely without fault an conform to the
>>    standard to the letter, which I believe we do not.

	The problem with us is that we expect each mib to conform to standards
	to the letter. If our mib translator was more lenient, like other
	vendors', we would have to edit and correct a lot less mibs. This is
	something that needs to be looked into.

>> The problem with NW2SNMP.MIB is that it does not define
>>    any variables (eg osName) anywhere.
 
	That exactly is the problem. There are a number of variables in the
	trap definitions which are referenced, but not defined in the mib
	(or imported). This is a major bug in their mib. HP and SUN may 
	overlook this bug, since they probably do not use this information.
	In DECmcc, the variables are used to create event arguments in the
	corresponding event definitions. We need to know the name of the trap
	variables, their datatype, and their OID. You could comment out the
	variables, in which case everything would work fine, but the trap
	variables will not be displayed.
	
	From my experience, pointing fingers at the vendor does not get
	anything accomplished since they, more often than not, are unwilling
	to back down from their positions. Working with them to get the job
	done is what we need to do. We need to find out in which mib these
	variables (eg. osName) are originally defined, combine the mibs,
	and then compile it. The Novell representative may not have this
	information, so you might have to talk to someone in engineering.
	Or if you could give me the name and phone number of a Novell contact
	in the US I could pursue this further.

	Rahul.
5174.2MOLAR::YAHEY::BOSEWed Jul 07 1993 16:2910
	Reece,
		I have tried sending you mail for the last two weeks, but
	it keeps bouncing back. Anyway, here's the update. I have requested
	Novell for a copy of all their mibs and I am expecting to receive them
	sometime this week. Since they are sending hard copies, it'll take
	some time to scan them in and compile them. BTW, can you let me
	know the name of your customer (by email, if you prefer).

	Rahul.
5174.3Does your customer have the Novell NMS SDK?MOLAR::YAHEY::BOSEThu Jul 22 1993 10:5926

        Reece,
                I seem to be running in circles trying to obtain all the
        Novell Netware mibs. I just received the  Netware Link
        Services Protocol (NLSP) specs from Novell, but they contain
        only the IPX and NLSP experimental mibs. I believe Novell
        keeps very tight control over their mibs and do not hand them
        over to outsiders easily. Here's an excerpt from the SNMP mailing
        list of what they have to say regarding making their mibs public :

"The Novell MIBs will be made freely, and generally, available in all
the usual places (venera.isi.edu, etc) once they are *released*;
ie., finalised, tested, and implemented in a shipping product.

Until such time, our vehicle for making pre-release versions available,
in a controlled manner, to interested third parties is the NMS SDK."

                I believe your customer would probably have a better
        chance of extracting the Netware mibs from Novell. Your customer
        needs to ask Novell which mib the "osname" object is imported from,
        and request a copy of that particular mib.

        Rahul.