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Would it be correct, for better understanding and simplicity, to classify all MIB OID identifiers into two main categories ?

  • those providing status (information) about something (provisioning, load, frequency, etc.) i.e. read-only access.
  • those that allow to set or change specific parameters, i.e. read-write access.
k1eran
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1 Answers1

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An SNMP RFC defines the concept of MAX-ACCESS which is a closely related to the classification you describe, but a bit stricter and explicit. Quoting the spec ...

The MAX-ACCESS clause, which must be present, defines whether it makes "protocol sense" to read, write and/or create an instance of the object, or to include its value in a notification. This is the maximal level of access for the object. (This maximal level of access is independent of any administrative authorization policy.)

The value "read-write" indicates that read and write access make "protocol sense", but create does not. The value "read-create" indicates that read, write and create access make "protocol sense". The value "not-accessible" indicates an auxiliary object (see Section 7.7). The value "accessible-for-notify" indicates an object which is accessible only via a notification (e.g., snmpTrapOID [5]).

These values are ordered, from least to greatest: "not-accessible", "accessible-for-notify", "read-only", "read-write", "read-create".

k1eran
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  • I mean more wide classification, all OIDs can be grouped by functional purpose in two gropus: information OIDs and management OIDs. For example, we can take some **information OID** and change access settings from default read-only to read-write (rewrite SNMP agent settings) and then set some value, this value _will not work_ in live system, because this OID inteded for dispaying info, not for managing system. Alternatively, if we set some value to **management OID**, then change access level from read-write to read-only, this value will work. –  Sep 08 '14 at 12:29
  • Well, you clearly have an opinion already. Whether or not you want to listen to k1eran's (correct) answer is your choice. You can of course classify OIDs in whatever way you like, but the SNMP standards define the access like what he quoted above. – Jolta Sep 08 '14 at 14:57
  • My classification not by access type (which is particular usage), but by **functional purpose**. –  Sep 09 '14 at 17:01
  • Yes, you can classify them however you like. But since the rest of the world doesn't, you'll risk being misunderstood. – Jolta Sep 11 '14 at 06:46