SNMP Connection Error in VCF Operations for Networks due to Passphrase Length

Products

• VCF Operations for Networks

Issue/Introduction

When attempting to add or validate a physical  Arista switch in the VCF Operations for Networks GUI, the operation fails with the following SNMP connection error:

• • 

 

• The following similar logs pertaining to the length of the passphrases can be found in /var/log/arkin/collector/latest.log:

ERROR collector 19001 [netw@4413 class="common.snmp.SNMPHelper" thread="collector-process-msg-exec-39" method="validate" line="246"]
 error while testing snmp connection
java.lang.IllegalArgumentException: USM passphrases must be at least 8 bytes long (RFC3414 _11.2)
        at org.snmp4j.security.UsmUser.(UsmUser.java:91) _[snmp4j-2.8.6.jar:_]
        at com.vnera.dataproviders.core.common.snmp.SNMPHelper.updateSNMPEngine(SNMPHelper.java:459) _[dataproviders-0.001-SNAPSHOT.jar:_]
        at com.vnera.dataproviders.core.common.snmp.SNMPHelper.(SNMPHelper.java:195) _[dataproviders-0.001-SNAPSHOT.jar:_]
        at com.vnera.dataproviders.core.common.snmp.SNMPHelper.validate(SNMPHelper.java:243) _[dataproviders-0.001-SNAPSHOT.jar:_]
        at com.vnera.dataproviders.core.common.DataProviderFactory.validateCredentials(DataProviderFactory.java:924) _[dataproviders-0.001-SNAPSHOT.jar:_]
        at com.vnera.dataproviders.core.common.DataProviderFactory.validateCredentials(DataProviderFactory.java:413) _[dataproviders-0.001-SNAPSHOT.jar:_]
        at com.vnera.collector.core.engine.SaasCommandProcessor.processMessage(SaasCommandProcessor.java:396) _[collector-0.001-SNAPSHOT.jar:_]
        at com.vnera.collector.core.saascommunication.SaasListener.lambda_receiveMessage_0(SaasListener.java:123) _[collector-0.001-SNAPSHOT.jar:_]
        at java.util.concurrent.FutureTask.run(FutureTask.java:264) [_:_]
        at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor.runWorker(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:1136) [_:_]
        at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor_Worker.run(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:635) [_:_]
        at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:840) [_:_]
 ERROR collector 19001 [netw@4413 class="core.common.DataProviderFactory" thread="collector-process-msg-exec-39" method="validateCredentials" line="931"] snmp connection error for ARISTASWITCH: internal error while forming snmp poller task: USM passphrases must be at least 8 bytes long (RFC3414 _11.2)
WARNING collector 19001 [netw@4413 class="core.common.DataProviderFactory" thread="collector-process-msg-exec-39" method="validateCredentials" line="1098"] Total time for validation in millis: 5176 for: ARISTASWITCH

Environment

VCF Operations for Networks 9.1

Cause

The issue is caused by SNMPv3 credentials (authentication or privacy passphrases) that do not meet the minimum length requirements defined in RFC 3414.

Resolution

To resolve this issue, ensure all SNMPv3 credentials assigned to the device meet the RFC requirements:

1. Update Device Credentials: Log in to the target network switch (e.g., Arista) and update the SNMPv3 user configuration to use passphrases that are more than 8 characters long.
2. Update VCF Operations for Networks:
   • Navigate to Settings > Accounts and Data Sources.
   • Select the failing data source and update the SNMP Credentials section with the new, compliant passphrases.
3. Validate: Click Submit or Validate to verify that the connection error no longer appears.