Recording with variation modules#

Some valuable simulation information may also be collected in the process of recording snapshots off the live SNMP Agent. Examples include changes in the set of OIDs in time, changes in numeric values, request processing times and so on. To facilitate capturing such information, some of the stock variation modules support snapshots recording mode.

To invoke a variation module while recording SNMP Agent with the snmpsim-record-commands tool, pass its name via the –variation-module command-line option. Additional variation module parameters could also be passed through the –variation-module-options switch.

The following standard modules support the recording feature:

The numeric module produces a non-decreasing sequence of integers over time
The sql module reads/writes var-binds from/to a SQL database
The redis module reads/writes var-binds from/to a no-SQL key-value store
The delay module delays SNMP response by specified or random time
The multiplex module uses a time series of .snmprec files picking one at a time.

Numeric module#

The numeric module can be used for capturing initial values of Managed Objects and calculating a coefficient to a linear function in attempt to approximate live values changes in time. In case value change law is not linear, custom approximation function should be used instead.

The numeric module supports the following comma-separated key:value options whilst running in recording mode:

taglist - a dash-separated list of .snmprec tags indicating SNMP value types to apply numeric module to.

Valid tags are:
- 2 - Integer
- 65 - Counter32
- 66 - Gauge32
- 67 - TimeTicks
- 70 - Counter64
Default is empty list.
iterations - number of recording cycles to run over the same portion of SNMP agent MIB. There’s no point in values beyond 2 for purposes of modelling approximation function. Default is 1.
period - Agent walk period in seconds. Default is 10 seconds.
addon - a single .snmprec record scope key=value parameter for the numeric module to be used whilst running in variation mode. Multiple add-on parameters can be used. Default is empty.

Examples#

In the examples the snmpsim-record-commands tool will be used.

$ snmpsim-record-commands --agent-udpv4-endpoint=demo.pysnmp.com \
  --start-oid=1.3.6.1.2.1.2 --stop-oid=1.3.6.1.2.1.3 \
  --variation-module=numeric \
  --variation-module-options=taglist:65,iterations:2,period:15 \
Scanning "/usr/local/share/snmpsim/variation" directory for variation
modules...numeric module loaded
SNMP version 2c
Community name: public
Querying UDP/IPv4 agent at demo.pysnmp.com:161
Initializing variation module:
    numeric...OK
numeric: waiting 0.77 sec(s), 111 OIDs dumped, 1 iterations remaining...
...
1.3.6.1.2.1.2.2.1.6.4|4x|008d120f4fa4
1.3.6.1.2.1.2.2.1.7.1|2|1
1.3.6.1.2.1.2.2.1.9.2|67|0
1.3.6.1.2.1.2.2.1.10.1|65:numeric|rate=3374,initial=641734,increasing=1
1.3.6.1.2.1.2.2.1.10.2|65:numeric|rate=0,initial=0,increasing=1
1.3.6.1.2.1.2.2.1.10.4|65:numeric|rate=1159,initial=32954879,increasing=1
1.3.6.1.2.1.2.2.1.11.1|65:numeric|rate=86,initial=12238,increasing=1
1.3.6.1.2.1.2.2.1.21.1|66|0
...
Shutting down variation modules:
    numeric...OK
OIDs dumped: 224, elapsed: 15.53 sec, rate: 20.00 OIDs/sec

In the above example we have run two iterations against a subset of Managed Objects at an Agent requesting numeric module to configure itself into generated .snmprec data for Counter32-typed objects (ID 65).

Produced .snmprec file could be used for simulation as-is or edited by hand to change variation module behaviour on on a per-OID basis.

Delay module#

The delay module can be used for capturing request processing time when recording SNMP agent.

Examples#

$ snmpsim-record-commands --agent-udpv4-endpoint=demo.pysnmp.com \
  --start-oid=1.3.6.1.2.1.2 --stop-oid=1.3.6.1.2.1.3 \
  --variation-module=delay
Scanning "/usr/local/share/snmpsim/variation" directory for variation
modules...delay module loaded
SNMP version 2c
Community name: public
Querying UDP/IPv4 agent at demo.pysnmp.com:161
Initializing variation module:
    delay...OK
1.3.6.1.2.1.2.1.0|2:delay|value=5,wait=8
1.3.6.1.2.1.2.2.1.1.1|2:delay|value=1,wait=32
1.3.6.1.2.1.2.2.1.6.4|4x:delay|hexvalue=008d120f4fa4,wait=20
...
Shutting down variation modules:
    delay...OK
OIDs dumped: 224, elapsed: 15.53 sec, rate: 20.00 OIDs/sec

Produced .snmprec file could be used for Simulation as-is or edited by hand to change delay variation.

Multiplex module#

The multiplex module can record a series of snapshots at specified period of time. Recorded .snmprec snapshots could then be used for simulation by multiplex module.

The multiplex module supports the following comma-separated key:value options whilst running in recording mode:

dir - directory for produced .snmprec files
recordtype - simulation data file type to produce (e.g. snmprec, snmprec.bz2). Default is snmprec.
iterations - number of recording cycles to run over the same portion of SNMP agent MIB. There’s no point in values beyond 2 for purposes of modelling approximation function. Default is 1.
period - Agent walk period in seconds. Default is 10 seconds.
addon - a single .snmprec record scope key=value parameter for the multiplex module to be used whilst running in variation mode. Multiple add-on parameters can be used. Default is empty.

Examples#

$ snmpsim-record-commands --agent-udpv4-endpoint=demo.pysnmp.com \
  --start-oid=1.3.6.1.2.1.2 --stop-oid=1.3.6.1.2.1.3 \
  --output-file=data/multiplex.snmprec \
  --variation-module=multiplex \
  --variation-module-options=dir:data/multiplex,iterations:5,period:15
Scanning "/usr/local/share/snmpsim/variation" directory for variation modules...multiplex module loaded
SNMP version 2c
Community name: public
Querying UDP/IPv4 agent at demo.pysnmp.com:161
Initializing variation module:
    multiplex...OK
multiplex: writing into data/multiplex/00000.snmprec file...
multiplex: waiting 14.78 sec(s), 45 OIDs dumped, 5 iterations remaining...
...
multiplex: writing into data/multiplex/00005.snmprec file...
Shutting down variation modules:
    multiplex...OK
OIDs dumped: 276, elapsed: 75.76 sec, rate: 3.64 OIDs/sec

Besides individual .snmprec snapshots, the “main” .snmprec file will also be written:

$ cat data/multiplex.snmprec
1.3.6.1.2.1.2|:multiplex|period=15.00,dir=data/multiplex

where the multiplex module is configured for specific OID subtree (actually, specified in –start-oid).

Although multiplex-generated .snmprec files can also be addressed directly by Simulator, to benefit from the time series nature of the collected data, it’s better to simulate based on the “main” .snmprec file and the multiplex variation module.

SQL module#

The sql module can record a snapshot of SNMP agent’s set of Managed Objects and store it in a SQL database. Recorded snapshots could then be used for simulation by the sql module running in variation mode.

Module configuration parameters described on the simulation page are also applicable to the recording.

Examples#

Running with SQLite DB backend:

$ snmpsim-record-commands --agent-udpv4-endpoint=demo.pysnmp.com
  --start-oid=1.3.6.1.2.1.2 --stop-oid=1.3.6.1.2.1.3
  --output-file=data/sql.snmprec
  --variation-module=sql
  --variation-module-options=dbtype:sqlite3,database:/tmp/snmpsim.db,dbtable:snmprec
Scanning "/usr/local/share/snmpsim/variation" directory for variation modules... sql module loaded
SNMP version 2c
Community name: public
Querying UDP/IPv4 agent at demo.pysnmp.com:161
Initializing variation module:
    sql...OK
Shutting down variation modules:
    sql...OK
OIDs dumped: 45, elapsed: 0.21 sec, rate: 213.00 OIDs/sec

By this point you’d get the data/sql.snmprec file where sql module is configured for OID subtree (taken from –start-oid parameter):

$ cat data/sql.snmprec
1.3.6.1.2.1.2.2|:sql|snmprec

and SQLite database /tmp/snmpsim.db having SQL table “snmprec” with the following contents:

$ sqlite3 /tmp/snmpsim.db
SQLite version 3.7.5
sqlite> .schema snmprec
CREATE TABLE snmprec (oid text, tag text, value text, maxaccess text);
sqlite> select * from snmprec limit 1;
         1.         3.         6.         1.         2.         1.
2.         2.         1.         1.         1|2|1|read-write

Note

The OID is formatted in a way that each sub-oid is left-padded with up to 8 spaces (must be 10 chars in total) to make the ordering work properly with standard SQL sorting.

The following snmpsim-record-commands call push snapshots into MySQL database using native MySQL’s Connector/Python driver:

$ snmpsim-record-commands --agent-udpv4-endpoint=demo.pysnmp.com \
  --output-file=data/sql.snmprec \
  --variation-module=sql \
  --variation-module-options=dbtype:mysql.connector,host:127.0.0.1, \
port:3306,user:snmpsim,password:snmpsim,database:snmpsim

The above code assumes that you have the MySQL Connector/Python driver installed on the recording machine and a MySQL server running at 127.0.0.1 with MySQL user/password snmpsim/snmpsim having sufficient permissions for creating new tables.

Another variation of MySQL server installation setup on a UNIX system employs UNIX domain socket for client-server communication. In that case the following command-line for snmpsim-record-commands might work:

$ snmpsim-record-commands --agent-udpv4-endpoint=demo.pysnmp.com \
  --output-file=data/sql.snmprec \
  --variation-module=sql
  --variation-module-options=dbtype:mysql.connector,unix_socket: \
  /var/run/mysql/mysql.sock,user:snmpsim,password:snmpsim,database:snmpsim

Alternatively, the MySQL for Python package could be used for SNMP Simulator’s MySQL connection:

$ snmpsim-record-commands --agent-udpv4-endpoint=demo.pysnmp.com \
  --output-file=data/sql.snmprec \
  --variation-module=sql \
  --variation-module-options=dbtype:MySQLdb,host:127.0.0.1,port:3306, \
user:snmpsim,passwd:snmpsim,db:snmpsim

Similar call but with the PostgreSQL DB as a backend data store:

$ snmpsim-record-commands --agent-udpv4-endpoint=demo.pysnmp.com \
  --output-file=data/sql.snmprec \
  --variation-module=sql \
  --variation-module-options=dbtype:psycopg2,database:snmpsim,user:snmpsim, \
password:snmpsim,dbtable:snmprec

With the example above, the assumption is that you have the Psycopg module installed, PostgreSQL server running locally (accessed through default UNIX domain socket), DB user/password are snmpsim/snmpsim and this user has sufficient permissions to create new database tables (snmprec table will be created).

When sql variation module is invoked in simulaiton context, it can read, create and modify individual rows in the SQL database we just created. You could also modify the contents of such SQL tables, create SQL triggers to react to certain changes elsewhere.

Redis module#

The redis module can record one or more snapshots of SNMP agent’s set of Managed Objects and store it in Redis key-value store. Recorded snapshots could then be replayed by redis module running in variation mode.

Redis database schema and module configuration parameters explained on the variation page is also applicable to the recording mode.

The redis module supports the following comma-separated key:value options whilst running in recording mode:

host - Redis hostname or IP address.
port - Redis TCP port the server is listening on.
unix_socket - UNIX domain socket Redis server is listening on.
db - Redis database number.
password - Redis database admission password.
key-spaces-id - key spaces ID to use for recording a single or a series of snapshots
iterations - number of recording cycles to run over the same portion of SNMP agent MIB. There’s no point in values beyond 2 for purposes of modelling approximation function. Default is 1.
period - Agent walk period in seconds. Default is 10 seconds.
evalsha - Redis server side Lua script to use for storing oid-value pairs in Redis. If this option is not given, bare Redis SET commands will be used instead.

Examples#

Make the redis module for recording five snapshots of a demo SNMP Agent:

$ snmpsim-record-commands --agent-udpv4-endpoint=demo.pysnmp.com \
  --start-oid=1.3.6.1.2.1.2 --stop-oid=1.3.6.1.2.1.3 \
  --output-file=data/redis.snmprec \
  --variation-module=redis \
  --variation-module-options=host:127.0.0.1,port:6379,db:0,key-spaces-id:1111, \
  iterations:5,period:30
Scanning "variation" directory for variation modules...
Variation module "redis" loaded
SNMP version 2c, Community name: public
Querying UDP/IPv4 agent at 195.218.195.228:161
Initializing variation module...
redis: using key-spaces-id 1111
Variation module "redis" initialization OK
Sending initial GETNEXT request....
redis: done with key-space 0000001116
redis: 4 iterations remaining
85 OIDs dumped, waiting 30.00 sec(s)...
redis: done with key-space 0000001115
redis: 3 iterations remaining
171 OIDs dumped, waiting 30.00 sec(s)...
redis: done with key-space 0000001114
redis: 2 iterations remaining
257 OIDs dumped, waiting 30.00 sec(s)...
redis: done with key-space 0000001113
redis: 1 iterations remaining
343 OIDs dumped, waiting 30.00 sec(s)...
redis: done with key-space 0000001112
redis: 0 iterations remaining
Shutting down variation module redis...
Variation module redis shutdown OK
OIDs dumped: 603, elapsed: 329.22 sec, rate: 0.00 OIDs/sec

By this point you’d get the data/redis.snmprec file where redis module is configured for OID subtree (taken from the –start-oid parameter):

$ cat data/redis.snmprec
1.3.6|:redis|period=30.00,key-spaces-id=1111

When redis variation module is invoked in the variation context, it can read, create and modify individual OID-value pairs in Redis database we’ve just created.