How to properly configure snmp_exporter and prometheus.yml?

rob...@irob.se

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Sep 14, 2017, 3:02:52 AM9/14/17

to Prometheus Users

Hi, I'm quite new to Prometheus but so far I've managed to solve any issues. However I'm facing some problems with snmp_exporter.

Basically I only want to monitor cisco switches with it.

But when I use the suggested configuration in prometheus.yml I get FAILED: relabel configuration requires a regular expression.

scrape_configs:
  - job_name: 'snmp'
    static_configs:
      - targets:
        - 172.16.185.55  # SNMP device.
    metrics_path: /snmp
    params:
      module: [if_mib]
    relabel_configs:
      - source_labels: [__address__]
        target_label: __param_target
      - source_labels: [__param_target]
        target_label: instance
      - target_label: __address__
        replacement: 127.0.0.1:9116  # SNMP exporter.

When I add a regex like .* I get: FAILED: unknown fields in scrape_config: static_configs

- job_name: 'snmp'

    static_configs:
     - targets:
       - 172.16.185.55  # SNMP device.
    metrics_path: /snmp
    params:
      module: [if_mib]
    relabel_configs:
      - source_labels: [__address__]
        regex: .*
        target_label: __param_target
      - source_labels: [__param_target]
        regex: .*
        target_label: instance
      - target_label: __address__
        regex: .*
        replacement: 127.0.0.1:9116  # SNMP exporter.

When I change to:

- job_name: 'snmp'
    target_groups:
     - targets: ['172.16.185.55']  # SNMP device.
    metrics_path: /snmp
    params:
      module: [if_mib]
    relabel_configs:
      - source_labels: [__address__]
        regex: .*
        target_label: __param_target
      - source_labels: [__param_target]
        regex: .*
        target_label: instance
      - target_label: __address__
        regex: .*
        replacement: 127.0.0.1:9116  # SNMP exporter.

The promtool check-config reports no issues.

But the Prometheus Status page of course have to target for the exporter:

http://127.0.0.1:9116/snmp
module="if_mib" DOWN none 3.727106627s ago server returned HTTP status 400 Bad Request

So basically this all boils down to: How to properly configure snmp_exporter?
/ Robert Nilsson

Brian Brazil

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Sep 14, 2017, 3:48:36 AM9/14/17

to rob...@irob.se, Prometheus Users

On 14 September 2017 at 08:02, <rob...@irob.se> wrote:

Hi, I'm quite new to Prometheus but so far I've managed to solve any issues. However I'm facing some problems with snmp_exporter.

Basically I only want to monitor cisco switches with it.

But when I use the suggested configuration in prometheus.yml I get FAILED: relabel configuration requires a regular expression.

What version of Prometheus are you using? That should only happen in rather old versions.

Brian

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Brian Brazil

www.robustperception.io

rob...@irob.se

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Sep 14, 2017, 3:57:46 AM9/14/17

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I'm running version:

prometheus -version

prometheus, version 0.16.2+ds (branch: debian/sid, revision: 0.16.2+ds-1ubuntu1)

build user: pkg-go-ma...@lists.alioth.debian.org

build date: 20160408-04:15:29

go version: go1.6

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Brian Brazil
www.robustperception.io

Brian Brazil

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Sep 14, 2017, 4:00:19 AM9/14/17

to rob...@irob.se, Prometheus Users

On 14 September 2017 at 08:57, <rob...@irob.se> wrote:

I'm running version:

prometheus -version

prometheus, version 0.16.2+ds (branch: debian/sid, revision: 0.16.2+ds-1ubuntu1)

build user: pkg-go-maintainers@lists.alioth.debian.org

build date: 20160408-04:15:29
go version: go1.6

That's fairly old, I'd suggest picking up something newer. The (.*) default was added in a later release.

Brian

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Brian Brazil

www.robustperception.io

rob...@irob.se

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Sep 14, 2017, 4:46:28 AM9/14/17

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Thanks Brian,

I added the Ubuntu artful Repo which contains 1.7.1 and got one step closer to success however now Prometheus reports:

snmp
Endpoint	State	Labels	Last Scrape	Error
http://127.0.0.1:9116/snmp module="if_mib" target="172.16.185.55"	DOWN	instance="172.16.185.55"	13.642s ago	context deadline exceeded

I'm using a custom snmp community but could not find any default community string in snmp.yml.

/ Robert Nilsson

Den torsdag 14 september 2017 kl. 10:00:19 UTC+2 skrev Brian Brazil:

On 14 September 2017 at 08:57, <rob...@irob.se> wrote:

I'm running version:

prometheus -version

prometheus, version 0.16.2+ds (branch: debian/sid, revision: 0.16.2+ds-1ubuntu1)

build user: pkg-go-ma...@lists.alioth.debian.org

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/prometheus-users/0b59d27c-de15-480d-bbe9-4ce6ed9cbba4%40googlegroups.com.

For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.

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Brian Brazil
www.robustperception.io

Brian Brazil

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Sep 14, 2017, 4:53:32 AM9/14/17

to rob...@irob.se, Prometheus Users

On 14 September 2017 at 09:46, <rob...@irob.se> wrote:

Thanks Brian,

I added the Ubuntu artful Repo which contains 1.7.1 and got one step closer to success however now Prometheus reports:

snmp
Endpoint State Labels Last Scrape Error
http://127.0.0.1:9116/snmp
module="if_mib" target="172.16.185.55" DOWN instance="172.16.185.55" 13.642s ago context deadline exceeded

I'm using a custom snmp community but could not find any default community string in snmp.yml.

snmp
http://127.0.0.1:9116/snmp module="if_mib" target="172.16.185.55"	DOWN	instance="172.16.185.55"	13.642s ago	context deadline exceeded

Can you share the relevant bit of your config? The default is "public" https://github.com/prometheus/snmp_exporter/tree/master/generator#file-format

Brian

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Brian Brazil

www.robustperception.io

rob...@irob.se

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Sep 14, 2017, 4:56:32 AM9/14/17

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Ah, I bet I will get it to work now. Of course I need to generate a Cisco specific yml with custom community (Read the manual first).

Thanks for your help!

/ Robert

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Brian Brazil
www.robustperception.io

satyanara...@gmail.com

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Nov 22, 2018, 10:03:17 PM11/22/18

to Prometheus Users

Glad I saw this discussion. I am facing the same issue as well. I can access the network devices using "default/public" snmp string, but not with the other defined SNMP strings. May I know how I can specify the snmp string in generator and generate the data? Any config snippets would be extremely helpful.

Ben Kochie

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Nov 23, 2018, 3:39:31 AM11/23/18

to satyanara...@gmail.com, Prometheus Users

Yes, you can put your SNMP authentication in the generator.yml. See the README[0].

modules:
  module_name:  # The module name. You can have as many modules as you want.
    walk:       # List of OIDs to walk. Can also be SNMP object names or specific instances.
      - 1.3.6.1.2.1.2              # Same as "interfaces"
    auth:
      # Community string is used with SNMP v1 and v2. Defaults to "public".
      community: FooBar

[0]: https://github.com/prometheus/snmp_exporter/blob/master/generator/README.md#file-format

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satyanara...@gmail.com

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Nov 25, 2018, 9:48:21 PM11/25/18

to Prometheus Users

Thank you. I have already seen that. How do I generate the new snmp.yml after updating generator.yml - that is the piece I am unsure about? Could you please share some details on that?

satyanara...@gmail.com

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Nov 27, 2018, 11:34:12 PM11/27/18

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Here is what I get when I run the command provided on the doc.

# ./generator generate

-bash: ./generator: No such file or directory

#

Once generator.yml is updated with new community string, is this the command to run to get the new snmp.yml generated?

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