Managing NerveCenter - Managing SNMP Settings - SNMP v3 Security Settings -
Setting the Maximum SNMP v3 Requests per Cycle      SNMP v3 Operations Log

SNMP v3 Security Settings

Before NerveCenter can poll SNMP v3 agents, the agents must be configured to support a NerveCenter user. By default the user name is NCUser, though you can change the name in NerveCenter Administrator.

The NerveCenter user (NCUser) shall have a context (NCContext by default) and two passwords (authentication and privacy). You must supply the authentication and privacy passwords for the NerveCenter user configured on your devices. The security level and authentication protocol are set at the node level in NerveCenter Client.

More information is contained in the following sections:

• Changing the SNMP v3 Key Passwords
• Changing the NerveCenter SNMP v3 User Name and Context

Changing the SNMP v3 Key Passwords

The authentication and privacy protocols require specialized keys, called authentication and privacy keys. These keys are generated from corresponding passwords. Before NerveCenter can poll SNMP v3 nodes, NerveCenter requires passwords for the NerveCenter user (NCUser) configured on your v3 agents.

By default, these passwords are as follows when you install NerveCenter.

• The default authentication password is NCUserAuthPwd. This password is required for AuthNoPriv and AuthPriv security.
• The default privacy password is NCUserPrivPwd. This password is required for AuthPriv security.

After installation, you can change the passwords as appropriate for your network management strategy. Optionally, you can command NerveCenter to update the new passwords on all managed nodes.

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   Each password must have at least eight characters, with a maximum length of 32 characters. The passwords are case sensitive.

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  To provide or change SNMP v3 passwords:

1. Open NerveCenter Administrator and connect to the appropriate NerveCenter Server. See Connecting Administrator to a NerveCenter Server on page 38.
2. Select the SNMPv3 tab.

   The SNMPv3 tab is displayed.

   

3. Enter your authentication password in the Authentication field.
4. Retype this password in the Reconfirm Authentication field.
5. Enter your privacy password in the Privacy field.
6. Retype this password in the Reconfirm Privacy field.
7. To update the passwords on all managed agents, select Update Keys At Nodes.

   You would normally want NerveCenter to update the passwords on your agents. If you prefer to do this manually or if you have already set the passwords on each agent, then do not select the checkbox.

8. Select Save.

   A message box displays a warning that NerveCenter must stop polling SNMP v3 nodes while performing this operation.

9. Select Yes to save the new passwords or No to cancel the change.

When NerveCenter updates passwords on managed agents, all polling of SNMP v3 nodes is paused until the operation is complete. In addition, various v3 operations (e.g., change of authentication protocol or security level) are not available in NerveCenter Client during this operation.

After the key change, NerveCenter is configured with the new passwords even if the key change operation fails on an agent. Key change failure is indicated in the node's properties in NerveCenter Client.

If NerveCenter Server is stopped during a remote key change operation, the operation resumes automatically when the Server is restarted.

Changing the NerveCenter SNMP v3 User Name and Context

Before NerveCenter can poll SNMP v3 agents, the agents must be configured to support a NerveCenter user and context. By default the MD5 user name is NCUser, the SHA-1 user name is NCUserSHA1, and the context is NCContext. If you change these values on your agents, you must make the same change in NerveCenter Administrator. You may want to change the user names and context on a regular basis to ensure privacy, or if you have multiple NerveCenter managing different categories of devices, you may want different user names and context associated with each category.

 
  To change the user name or context:

1. Open NerveCenter Administrator and connect to the appropriate NerveCenter Server. See Connecting Administrator to a NerveCenter Server on page 38.
2. Select the SNMPv3 tab.

   The SNMPv3 tab is displayed.

   

3. Enter enter the new MD5 user name in the User (MD5) field. Select the existing text and type the name you want.
4. Enter enter the new SHA-1 user name in the User (SHA-1) field. Select the existing text and type the name you want.

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      The MD5 authentication user name and the SHA-1 authentication user name must be different.

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5. Enter the new context in the Context field.
6. Select Save.

NerveCenter is configured with the new user name and context and will use these names when communicating with managed nodes.