How to query OIDs in the MIB browser

How to query OIDs in the MIB browser

The managed objects in a management information base (MIB) are called object identifiers (object IDs or OIDs). OIDs are identifiable by strings of numbers separated by dots. Learn how to open the MIB browser and configure SNMP settings.
You can query any OID in a MIB file using the MIB browser. To do so:
  1. Open Command Prompt or Windows Terminal with administrator or root privileges, respectively.
  2. Navigate to the directory where the On-Premise Poller is installed.
  3. Navigate to the Network Plus\bin folder.
  4. Start the MibBrowser.sh/MibBrowser.bat file in the Network Plus\bin folder.
  5. As the MIB browser opens, set the SNMP credentials with respect to the version.
    1. For SNMPv1, set the host, port, and SNMP community. Then click OK.
    2. For SNMPv2c, navigate to Edit > Settings. Then change the SNMP Version to v2c and click OK. Set the host, port, and SNMP community.
    3. For SNMPv3, navigate to Edit > Settings. Then change the SNMP Version to v3 and click Add. Set the Target Host, Target Port, User Name, and authentication credentials. Then click OK.
  6. In the MIB browser, navigate to File > Load MIB and select the MIB file that contains the required OID. As an example, let us consider HOST-RESOURCES-MIB, which includes the OID for CPU utilization (Fig. 1).

    Figure 1. Loading HOST-RESOURCES-MIB. 
  7. Once the MIB file is loaded, navigate to the required node (Fig. 2). Alternatively, if you know the OID present in the MIB, you can enter it directly in the Object ID field (Fig. 3). For example, let us query the OID for CPU utilization on servers in the HOST-RESOURCES-MIB file, which is .1.3.6.1.2.1.25.3.3.1.2.

    Figure 2. Navigating to the node.

    Figure 3. Entering the OID in the Object ID field. 
    The OID displayed in Figure 2 is .iso.org.dod.internet.mgmt.mib-2.host.hrDevice.hrProcessorTable.hrProcessorEntry.hrProcessorLoad, and this can also be written as .1.3.6.1.2.1.25.3.3.1.2. 
  8. Now click the Get SNMP variable  icon, which is the seventh icon from the left (Fig. 4). You can now see the values displayed on the screen.

    Figure 4. Viewing the values for the OID after clicking Get SNMP variable.
    As with the example shown here (HOST-RESOURCES-MIB), you can query any OID in any MIB. 
Alternative steps
If the MIB browser is inaccessible or fails to work, you can use SNMP command-line tools, as given below, to query the OIDs.
  1. Install the required packages:
    Fedora/CentOS: yum install net-snmp-utils
    Ubuntu: apt-get install snmp
  2. After the installation, execute the commands below in the terminal:
    > snmpwalk -v [1/2c/3] -c Read_Community IP_Address .1.3.6.1.2.1.25.3.3.1.2
    For example: snmpwalk -v 2c -c public 10.10.10.1 .1.3.6.1.2.1.25.3.3.1.2
    If the SNMP port is not the default one, execute the following command:
    IP_Address:Port
    For example: 10.10.10.1:601
Related articles
  1. Checking SNMP reachability using the MIB browser
  2. Identifying the device identifier using the MIB browser