You can examine /var/log/syslog.log to identify SNMP inform configuration errors. This article lists some common syslog error entries that can occur while the SNMP agent is sending informs.
If a remote user has been set using the –R option with wrong authorization or privacy hash:
2012-07-05T06:56:25Z snmpd: snmpd: Sr_init_inform: remote engine id is unknown for '10.112.170.205:2264', will attempt discovery 2012-07-05T06:56:25Z snmpd: snmpd: Sr_init_inform: notification queue now at 1 items 2012-07-05T06:56:25Z snmpd: snmpd: SendToIpTransport: sendto(fd=6, length=69) rc = 69 2012-07-05T06:56:25Z snmpd: snmpd: Sr_send_inform: discovery inform {secLevel: noAuthNoPriv, serial: 2, user: '', authSnmpEngineID: ''} pdu sent to 10.112.170.205:2264 size 69 retries left: 3
2012-07-05T06:57:26Z snmpd: snmpd: Sr_init_inform: engine id discovery already in progress, enqueue inform serial 3 2012-07-05T06:57:26Z snmpd: forward_notifications: processing notifications complete. 1 offered, 1 traps delivered, 0 traps failed to parse 2012-07-05T06:57:26Z snmpd: retrieve_report: no file (/tmp/cvtcimsnmp.xml) found to parse 2012-07-05T06:57:31Z snmpd: snmpd: SendToIpTransport: sendto(fd=6, length=179) rc = 179 2012-07-05T06:57:31Z snmpd: snmpd: Sr_send_inform: inform {secLevel: authPriv, serial: 3, user: 'user3', authSnmpEngineID: '80001f880430783031323334'} pdu sent to 10.112.170.205:2264 size 179 retries left: 2 2012-07-05T06:57:41Z snmpd: snmpd: SrInformTimeout: total informs lost so far 1 out of 0 delivered, last one 56 seconds ago 2012-07-05T06:57:46Z snmpd: snmpd: SrInformTimeout: inform not delivered. serial: 3 timed out, discarding. 2012-07-05T06:57:46Z snmpd: snmpd: SrInformTimeout: total informs lost so far 2 out of 0 delivered, last one 0 seconds ago
If the receiving SNMP client is not configured and listening:
2012-07-05T05:57:08Z snmpd: snmpd: Sr_init_inform: Initializing to send InformRequest serial 3. timeout=500 retry=3 2012-07-05T05:57:08Z snmpd: snmpd: Sr_init_inform: remote engine id is unknown for '10.112.170.205:2264', will attempt discovery 2012-07-05T05:57:08Z snmpd: snmpd: Sr_init_inform: notification queue now at 2 items 2012-07-05T05:57:08Z snmpd: snmpd: Sr_init_inform: engine id discovery already in progress, enqueue inform serial 3 2012-07-05T05:57:08Z snmpd: forward_notifications: processing notifications complete. 1 offered, 1 traps delivered, 0 traps failed to parse 2012-07-05T05:57:18Z snmpd: snmpd: SendToIpTransport: sendto(fd=6, length=69) rc = 69 2012-07-05T05:57:18Z snmpd: snmpd: Sr_send_inform: discovery inform {secLevel: noAuthNoPriv, serial: 3, user: '', authSnmpEngineID: ''} pdu sent to 10.112.170.205:2264 size 69 retries left: 1 2012-07-05T05:57:18Z snmpd: snmpd: SrInformTimeout: inform not delivered. serial: 2 timed out, discarding. 2012-07-05T05:57:18Z snmpd: snmpd: SrInformTimeout: total informs lost so far 1 out of 0 delivered, last one 0 seconds ago
The following errors appear in the syslog.log file in the following situations:
If the authentication protocol or privacy protocol defined for the ESXi SNMP agent is different from that of the SNMP client application. For example, if the agent is configured for MD5 and the client is configured for SHA1.
If the user name defined for the ESXi SNMP agent is different from that defined for the SNMP client application.
If the authorization key or privacy key defined for the ESXi SNMP agent is different from that defined for the SNMP client application.
2012-07-05T06:03:58Z snmpd: snmpd: SrParseV3SnmpMessage: parsed message header:authSnmpEngineID: 80:00:1f:88:04:30:78:30:31:32:33:34, contextSnmpEngineID: 80:00:1f:88:04:30:78:30:31:32:33:34, contextName: - 2012-07-05T06:03:58Z snmpd: snmpd: SrInformProcessResponse: Error parsing response/report to InformRequest, error code 600 SR_USM_UNSUPPORTED_SEC_LEVELS 2012-07-05T06:04:03Z snmpd: snmpd: SendToIpTransport: sendto(fd=6, length=151) rc = 151 2012-07-05T06:04:03Z snmpd: snmpd: Sr_send_inform: inform {secLevel: authPriv, serial: 5, user: 'user3', authSnmpEngineID: '80001f880430783031323334'} pdu sent to 10.112.170.205:2264 size 151 retries left: 1 2012-07-05T06:04:03Z snmpd: snmpd: SrInformTimeout: total informs lost so far 3 out of 0 delivered, last one 94 seconds ago 2012-07-05T06:04:03Z snmpd: snmpd: SrInformResponse: Got response/report to InformRequest from 10.112.170.205:2264 2012-07-05T06:04:03Z snmpd: snmpd: ReceiveFromIpTransport: recvfrom(fd=6, length=2048) rc = 104 2012-07-05T06:04:03Z snmpd: snmpd: SrInformProcessResponse processing packet size 104 2012-07-05T06:04:03Z snmpd: snmpd: SrParseV3SnmpMessage: usmUserName = 'user3' pdu request is securityLevel noAuthNoPriv(1), usm entry was authPriv returning unsupported security level
If the remote engine ID configured in the ESXi SNMP agent is wrong:
2012-07-05T07:03:15Z snmpd: snmpd: Sr_init_inform: engine id discovery already in progress, enqueue inform serial 3 2012-07-05T07:03:20Z snmpd: snmpd: SrBuildV3SnmpMessageUSM: no keys configured, usmUserName = user3, usmUserEngineID = 80:00:1f:88:04:30:78:30:31:32:33:34 2012-07-05T07:03:20Z snmpd: snmpd: SrBuildV3SnmpMessageUSM: no keys configured, usmUserName = user3, usmUserEngineID = 80:00:1f:88:04:30:78:30:31:32:33:34 2012-07-05T07:03:25Z snmpd: snmpd: SrInformTimeout: inform not delivered. serial: 2 timed out, discarding. 2012-07-05T07:03:25Z snmpd: snmpd: SrInformTimeout: total informs lost so far 1 out of 0 delivered, last one 0 seconds ago