SNMPv3 is a secure protocol when compared to SNMPv1 and SNMPv2c. To use SNMPv3, you must configure an SNMPv3 user to run the SNMP utilities from the SNMP manager.

Step

Use the "security login create command" to create an SNMPv3 user.

You are prompted to provide the following information:

Engine ID: Default and recommended value is local Engine ID
Authentication protocol
Authentication password
Privacy protocol
Privacy protocol password

Result

The SNMPv3 user can log in from the SNMP manager by using the user name and password and run the SNMP utility commands.

SNMPv3 security parameters

SNMPv3 includes an authentication feature that, when selected, requires users to enter their names, an authentication protocol, an authentication key, and their desired security level when invoking a command.

The following table lists the SNMPv3 security parameters :

Parameter	Command-line option	Description
engineID	-e EngineID	Engine ID of the SNMP agent. Default value is local EngineID (recommended).
securityName	-u Name	User name must not exceed 32 characters.
authProtocol	-a {none \| MD5 \| SHA \| SHA-256}	Authentication type can be none, MD5, SHA, or SHA-256.
authKey	-A PASSPHRASE	Passphrase with a minimum of eight characters.
securityLevel	-l {authNoPriv \| AuthPriv \| noAuthNoPriv}	Security level can be Authentication, No Privacy; Authentication, Privacy; or no Authentication, no Privacy.
privProtocol	-x { none \| des \| aes128}	Privacy protocol can be none, des, or aes128
privPassword	-X password	Password with a minimum of eight characters.

Parameter

Command-line option

Description

engineID

-e EngineID

Engine ID of the SNMP agent. Default value is local EngineID (recommended).

securityName

-u Name

User name must not exceed 32 characters.

authProtocol

-a {none | MD5 | SHA | SHA-256}

Authentication type can be none, MD5, SHA, or SHA-256.

authKey

-A PASSPHRASE

Passphrase with a minimum of eight characters.

securityLevel

-l {authNoPriv | AuthPriv | noAuthNoPriv}

Security level can be Authentication, No Privacy; Authentication, Privacy; or no Authentication, no Privacy.

privProtocol

-x { none | des | aes128}

Privacy protocol can be none, des, or aes128

privPassword

-X password

Password with a minimum of eight characters.

Examples for different security levels

This example shows how an SNMPv3 user created with different security levels can use the SNMP client-side commands, such as snmpwalk, to query the cluster objects.

For better performance, you should retrieve all objects in a table rather than a single object or a few objects from the table.

You must use snmpwalk 5.3.1 or later when the authentication protocol is SHA.

Security level: authPriv

The following output shows the creation of an SNMPv3 user with the authPriv security level.

security login create -user-or-group-name snmpv3user -application snmp -authentication-method usm
Enter the authoritative entity's EngineID [local EngineID]:
Which authentication protocol do you want to choose (none, md5, sha, sha2-256) [none]: md5

Enter the authentication protocol password (minimum 8 characters long):
Enter the authentication protocol password again:
Which privacy protocol do you want to choose (none, des, aes128) [none]: des
Enter privacy protocol password (minimum 8 characters long):
Enter privacy protocol password again:

FIPS mode

security login create -user-or-group-name snmpv3user -application snmp -authmethod usm
Enter the authoritative entity's EngineID [local EngineID]:
Which authentication protocol do you want to choose (sha, sha2-256) [sha]

Enter authentication protocol password (minimum 8 characters long):
Enter authentication protocol password again:
Which privacy protocol do you want to choose (aes128) [aes128]:
Enter privacy protocol password (minimum 8 characters long):
Enter privacy protocol password again:

snmpwalk Test

The following output shows the SNMPv3 user running the snmpwalk command:

For better performance, you should retrieve all objects in a table rather than a single object or a few objects from the table.

$ snmpwalk -v 3 -u snmpv3user -a SHA -A password1! -x DES -X password1! -l authPriv 192.0.2.62 .1.3.6.1.4.1.789.1.5.8.1.2
Enterprises.789.1.5.8.1.2.1028 = "vol0"
Enterprises.789.1.5.8.1.2.1032 = "vol0"
Enterprises.789.1.5.8.1.2.1038 = "root_vs0"
Enterprises.789.1.5.8.1.2.1042 = "root_vstrap"
Enterprises.789.1.5.8.1.2.1064 = "vol1"

Security level: authNoPriv

The following output shows the creation of an SNMPv3 user with the authNoPriv security level.

security login create -user-or-group-name snmpv3user1 -application snmp -authmethod usm -role admin
Enter the authoritative entity's EngineID [local EngineID]:
Which authentication protocol do you want to choose (none, md5, sha) [none]: md5

FIPS Mode

FIPS does not allow you to choose none for the privacy protocol. As a result, it is not possible to configure an authNoPriv SNMPv3 user in FIPS mode.

snmpwalk Test

The following output shows the SNMPv3 user running the snmpwalk command:

For better performance, you should retrieve all objects in a table rather than a single object or a few objects from the table.

$ snmpwalk -v 3 -u snmpv3user1 -a MD5 -A password1!  -l authNoPriv 192.0.2.62 .1.3.6.1.4.1.789.1.5.8.1.2
Enterprises.789.1.5.8.1.2.1028 = "vol0"
Enterprises.789.1.5.8.1.2.1032 = "vol0"
Enterprises.789.1.5.8.1.2.1038 = "root_vs0"
Enterprises.789.1.5.8.1.2.1042 = "root_vstrap"
Enterprises.789.1.5.8.1.2.1064 = "vol1"

Security level: noAuthNoPriv

The following output shows the creation of an SNMPv3 user with the noAuthNoPriv security level.

security login create -user-or-group-name snmpv3user2 -application snmp -authmethod usm -role admin
Enter the authoritative entity's EngineID [local EngineID]:
Which authentication protocol do you want to choose (none, md5, sha) [none]: none

FIPS Mode

FIPS does not allow you to choose none for the privacy protocol.

snmpwalk Test

The following output shows the SNMPv3 user running the snmpwalk command:

For better performance, you should retrieve all objects in a table rather than a single object or a few objects from the table.

$ snmpwalk -v 3 -u snmpv3user2 -l noAuthNoPriv 192.0.2.62 .1.3.6.1.4.1.789.1.5.8.1.2
Enterprises.789.1.5.8.1.2.1028 = "vol0"
Enterprises.789.1.5.8.1.2.1032 = "vol0"
Enterprises.789.1.5.8.1.2.1038 = "root_vs0"
Enterprises.789.1.5.8.1.2.1042 = "root_vstrap"
Enterprises.789.1.5.8.1.2.1064 = "vol1"