PRTG receives and
analyzes your SNMP traps
PRTG lets you send, receive and analyze SNMP traps
PRTG receives thousands of SNMP traps per second
PRTG filters SNMP traps automatically
PRTG immediately notifies you in the event of critical situations
SNMP trap receiving with PRTG
Jump to the topic of your choice
- What is an SNMP trap?
- Use the following PRTG sensor to start receiving and analyzing SNMP traps
- Inspect traps with the Trap Receiver Sensor from PRTG
- How PRTG helps you analyze SNMP traps
- Tutorial: 5 easy steps for setting up SNMP trap monitoring
- Video: How the SNMP trap monitor PRTG works
- The short and sweet of it: All you need to know about SNMP traps
- 3 reader tips from our knowledge base
What is an SNMP trap?
SNMP traps are one of the oldest standards for network equipment fault notification. Being one of the oldest standard protocols, most network devices with basic management capabilities usually support SNMP traps. When a device detects an error or a change, the device will send a notification to one or more trap receivers.
SNMP traps contain information like:
- Time, source, and version of event
- Severity, agent, and event OID (ID of specific event)
- Event message/description or “Bindings”
Some trap examples are:
- Someone activates a network port by plugging in a computer
- An internet connection goes down on a router
- Loss of power on an UPS
- An open case in a server
- A dead drive in a NAS/SAN or other storage device
Use the following PRTG sensor to start receiving and analyzing SNMP traps
How PRTG defines sensors
In PRTG, “sensors” are the basic monitoring elements. One sensor usually monitors one measured value in your network, e.g. the traffic of a switch port, the CPU load of a server, the free space of a disk drive. On average you need about 5-10 sensors per device or one sensor per switch port.
How the sensor works: The PRTG SNMP Trap Receiver Sensor is a passive receiving sensor. It does not actively query data at fixed intervals, but instead collects incoming trap messages. The PRTG server uses this sensor to receive data and – depending on the filter rule – sound the alarm.
What the sensor displays: The SNMP Trap Receiver Sensor displays the total number of traps received per second, as well as the number of messages that are classified as warnings or errors. It also indicates how many trap packets are lost per second. When using this sensor, you can set your own filter rules.
Inspect traps with the SNMP Trap Receiver Sensor from PRTG
PRTG saves incoming trap messages as regular system files, and neatly displays them in the sensor. The SNMP Trap Receiver Sensor lets you analyze traps and filter them according to date, source, agents, bindings, and more. Be sure to copy the MIB file from the source device and save it in your PRTG program path. PRTG will use this MIB to make your trap messages legible.
How PRTG helps you analyze SNMP traps
SNMP stands for Simple Network Monitoring Protocol. Its usefulness in network administration comes from the fact that it allows information to be collected about network-connected devices in a standardized way across a large variety of hardware and software types. SNMP is a protocol for management information transfer in networks, for use in LANs especially, depending on the chosen version.
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Critical system monitoring
Above all else, SNMP trap monitoring is designed for the critical systems that are fundamental to your company. If one of these systems malfunctions, then time is of the essence.
Immediate notifications
If a critical situation arises, you’ll be notified by PRTG at once – not just when the next scanning interval is scheduled to query your data. PRTG receives the traps, classifies them as errors or warnings, and sounds the alarm.
Quick troubleshooting
If a device crashes, often it continues to send log messages with information about the crash, including that which may have caused it. By using PRTG as your trap receiver, you’ll see what happened just before the malfunction, and can therefore quickly get to the root of the problem.
Increased security
Not a single administrator enjoys spending all their time monitoring network components for unwanted intrusions. SNMP trap monitoring uses trap messages to keep you in the know – such as when someone logs into your system during the night even though no one is in the office.
Easy setup
Thanks to the pre-configured sensor of PRTG, your SNMP trap monitoring will be up and running in no time. Step-by-step instructions facilitate the setup process.
Keep a constant eye on your network – even while on the go
PRTG is set up in a matter of minutes and can be used on a wide variety of mobile devices.
Tutorial: 5 easy steps for setting up SNMP trap monitoring
Step 1: Configure the target device
Configure your target device so it can send SNMP traps. This configuration varies according to the device and its manufacturer (Cisco, HP, Dell, etc.). In general, the IP address and the trap receiver port will be requested.
Step 2: Add the SNMP Trap Receiver Sensor
In this step, you’ll incorporate the SNMP Trap Receiver Sensor into your PRTG monitoring. Use the “Sensor/Add Sensor” menu option to search for and add the sensor. Be sure to add the sensor to your probe device. By doing so, you’ll receive traps from all the devices that are connected to the probe. If you add the sensor to a specific device, then only the traps of that device will be received.
Step 3: Configure the sensor
Configure the filter rules in the sensor settings. By default, every trap will be received. The “Exclude” filter lets you exclude certain types of trap messages, e.g. traps from a specific IP address that do not need to be considered. Use the warning and error filters to define those traps which will prompt PRTG to sound the alarm.
Step 4: Set up the notification system
In “Notifications,” choose whether you’d like to be alerted by email, SMS, push notification, or some other action. You can also opt to be notified when trap messages are received, and have these messages saved so you can analyze the incidents later.
Step 5: Sit back and relax
Your SNMP trap monitoring is configured and ready to go. You can now get back to your other tasks.
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The short and sweet of it: All you need to know about SNMP traps
What is an SNMP trap?
The network protocol SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol) supplies information on the statuses of individual systems and devices. An SNMP trap is a log-like message that is sent from a device to a “receiver.”
What does an SNMP trap contain?
SNMP packets consist of a packet header, a PDU header, and a PDU body. For trap messages, the information sent in the PDU header can vary. The PDU header of an SNMP trap packet contains the packet types, the OID of the device, the IP address of the sender, general and company-specific IDs, and the time the trap event occurred. The actual values are sent in the PDU body.
How can I receive SNMP traps?
An SNMP Trap Receiver collects SNMP messages that are sent from network devices to the network management station. Monitored devices send SNMP traps at will to report incidents to the management system. PRTG can handle thousands of SNMP traps per second.
Will I need a trap server?
The term “trap server” is sometimes used synonymously with “trap receiver.” This server receives and processes messages. The SNMP Trap Receiver Sensor lets you configure any PRTG probe device as an SNMP trap server. PRTG supports SNMP v1 traps as defined in RFC 1157, and SNMP v2c traps as outlined in RFC 3416.
Can PRTG analyze and display SNMP traps?
PRTG receives the traps, which include the number of messages received per second, warnings, errors, and lost data packets. PRTG presents trap content and messages in an easy-to-read table. Data can be filtered however you like.
How thoroughly are the SNMP traps analyzed?
With PRTG, you get a quick overview of the traps and their contents, and will be notified immediately in the event of a problem. If you need a more thorough analysis, various specialized tools will allow you to examine traps in detail.
Which port is used for the transmission of SNMP messages?
By default, SNMP traps are sent via UDP port 162. This port must be set as the destination port in your source devices.
What is the difference between Get, GetNext, Set, and Trap?
SNMP works on the assumption that a network management system submits a query, and a managed device returns an answer. There are four possibilities for this exchange: Get, GetNext, Set, and Trap. With Trap, SNMP traps are automatically sent from a device to a compatible receiver – without the receiver requesting them. This is not the case with Get and GetNext. With these commands, queries are performed manually. Set is not a traditional monitoring function.
Does the SNMP trap monitor work with Windows?
PRTG has always been developed for Windows systems, which means you can also set up your trap monitoring in Windows.
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3 reader tips from our knowledge base
See our knowledge base for thousands of helpful articles on PRTG. When it comes to SNMP and SNMP traps, we recommend the following:
- How can I configure sensors using speed limits to keep the status for more than one interval?
- How do I test the SNMP Trap Receiver Sensor?
- My SNMP sensors don't work. What can I do?
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Network-Monitoring
PRTG is comprehensive network monitoring software. It lets you monitor systems, devices, and applications by working with a variety of different technologies, including SNMP, NetFlow, packet sniffing, and WMI.
PRTG: The multi-tool for sysadmins
Adapt PRTG individually and dynamically to your needs and rely on a strong API:- HTTP API: Access monitoring data and manipulate monitoring objects via HTTP requests
- Custom sensors: Create your own PRTG sensors for customized monitoring
- Custom notifications: Create your own notifications and send action triggers to external systems
- REST Custom sensor: Monitor almost everything that provides data in XML or JSON format
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