RFC 1227 (rfc1227) - Page 1 of 13

SNMP MUX protocol and MIB

Network Working Group                                            M. Rose
Request for Comments: 1227       Performance Systems International, Inc.
                                                                May 1991


                       SNMP MUX Protocol and MIB

Status of this Memo

   This memo suggests a mechanism by which a user process may associate
   itself with the local SNMP agent on a host, in order to implement
   portions of the MIB.  This mechanism would be local to the host.

   This is an Experimental Protocol for the Internet community.
   Discussion and suggestions for improvement are requested.  Please
   refer to the current edition of the "IAB Official Protocol Standards"
   for the standardization state and status of this protocol.
   Distribution of this memo is unlimited.

Table of Contents

   1. Introduction ..........................................    1
   2. Architecture ..........................................    2
   3. Protocol ..............................................    3
   3.1 Tricky Things ........................................    3
   3.1.1 Registration .......................................    4
   3.1.2 Removing Registration ..............................    4
   3.1.3 Atomic Sets ........................................    4
   3.1.4 Variables in Requests ..............................    5
   3.1.5 Request-ID .........................................    5
   3.1.6 The powerful get-next operator .....................    5
   3.2 Protocol Data Units ..................................    6
   3.3 Mappings on Transport Service ........................    8
   3.3.1 Mapping onto the TCP ...............................    8
   4. MIB for the SMUX ......................................    9
   5. Acknowledgements ......................................   12
   6. References ............................................   12
   7. Security Considerations................................   13
   8. Author's Address.......................................   13

1.  Introduction

   On typical kernel/user systems, an agent speaking the SNMP [1] is
   often implemented as a user-process, that reads kernel variables in
   order to realize the Internet-standard MIB [2].  This approach works
   fine as long as all of the information needed by the SNMP agent
   resides in either the kernel or in stable storage (i.e., files).
   However, when other user-processes are employed to implement other



Rose