SNMPSET(1)

📦
version 5.9.5.2 · 5 versions
, in alpine 3.23, alpine 3.24, arch rolling, fedora 44, nixos 26.05, nixpkgs unstable, ubuntu stonking

💖 SNMPSET(1) 💖

okay so bestie, welcome to SNMPSET from the Net-SNMP fam — this is the one that writes, not just reads. buckle up 🎀

✨ NAME ✨

snmpset — talks to a network entity using SNMP SET requests 🫶

🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

snmpset [COMMON OPTIONS] AGENT OID TYPE VALUE [OID TYPE VALUE]...

🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

so snmpset is an SNMP application that uses the SNMP SET request to actually set information on a network entity. like, you're not just peeking anymore, you're changing stuff. main character energy fr 💅

you gotta give it one or more object identifiers (OIDs) as arguments on the command line — that's non-negotiable. and every single object identifier has to come with a type and a value to be set, like a little trio walking in together. each variable name is written in the format that's spelled out in variables(5).

the TYPE is one single character, and here's the whole squad 👑:

  • i — INTEGER
  • u — UNSIGNED
  • s — STRING
  • x — HEX STRING
  • d — DECIMAL STRING
  • n — NULLOBJ
  • o — OBJID
  • t — TIMETICKS
  • a — IPADDRESS
  • b — BITS

most of these will use the obvious corresponding ASN.1 type, no surprises. but listen — s, x, d and b are all different ways of specifying an OCTET STRING value, and the u unsigned type is also what handles Gauge32 values. iykyk 😌

now, if you have the proper MIB file loaded, you can, in most cases, replace the type with an = sign instead. for an object of type OCTET STRING it'll assume a string, just like the s type notation does. for other types it'll do "The Right Thing". iconic behavior honestly.

for example:

snmpset -c private -v 1 test-hub system.sysContact.0 s
dpz@noc.rutgers.edu ip.ipforwarding.0 = 2

this will set the variables sysContact.0 and ipForwarding.0:

system.sysContact.0 = STRING: "dpz@noc.rutgers.edu"
ip.ipForwarding.0 = INTEGER: not-forwarding(2)

and if the network entity has an error processing the request packet, an error packet will be returned and a message will be shown — which helps you pinpoint exactly in what way the request was malformed. not me getting a lil error message to tell me what i did wrong 😭 so helpful tho.

💅 OPTIONS 💅

snmpset takes the common options described in the snmpcmd(1) manual page. go read that one, bestie, it's the shared lore ✨

⚠️ heads up: snmpset REQUIRES an argument specifying the agent to query, and at least one set of OID/type/value arguments, exactly as described in there. no agent, no set. periodt.

🌈 SEE ALSO 🌈

and that's the whole thing, babe 🧚 from Net-SNMP, version V5.9.5.2, dated 19 Jun 2003 — yeah she's an elder but she still ate 💖 go set some OIDs, you got this 👑🦋

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