Enabling SNMP in Cisco Routers / Switches

Summary

This article will guide your through the steps to enable SNMP in Cisco Routers and Switches

Description

1. Telnet to the router/switch
   
   prompt#telnet testrouter
2. Go to the enable mode by specifying the password:
   
   Router>enable
   Password:
   Router#
3. Go into configuration mode:
   
   Router#configure terminal
   Enter configuration commands, one per line. End
   with CNTL/Z.
   Router(config)#
4. Use the command below to add a Read-Only community string:
   
   Router(config)#snmp-server community public RO
   where "public" is the Read-only community string.
5. To add a Read-Write Community string, use the command below:
   
   Router(config)#snmp-server community private RW
   where "private" is the Read-write community string.
6. Exit the configuration mode and save the settings:
   
   Router(config)#exit
   Router#write memory
   Building configuration...
   [OK]
   Router#

To enable SNMP traps, follow the steps below in the Configuration mode of the Router/Switch:

First, set the host to which the traps have to be sent using the folowing command:
snmp-server host <IP Address> version <v1 or 2c> <RO community string>
where,
<IP Address> refers to the IP Address of the device to which the traps have to be sent
<v1 or 2c> refers to the SNMP version
<RO community string> refers to the Read-Only community string
Then, enable SNMP Traps using the command below:
snmp-server enable traps [notification-type] [notification-option]
Ex: snmp-server enable traps config [this will send all configurationnotifications as traps]