Configuring SNMP Data Sources with Network Discovery

Overview

SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol) enables Mango by Radix IoT to monitor network infrastructure such as switches, routers, UPS systems, printers, and environmental sensors. Mango ships two SNMP tools, and they do different jobs:

• SNMP device scan finds devices. You give it IP addresses, CIDR ranges or hostnames and it reports every SNMP host that answers.
• SNMP point import interrogates one device you already have a data source for. It performs an SNMP walk and lets you select which objects to turn into Mango points.

There is no feature called “SNMP Network Discovery” – that is a description of what these two do together, not a name you will see in Mango.

Prerequisites

• Mango 4.x or 5.x with an active license
• Network connectivity to the target SNMP device (UDP port 161)
• SNMP enabled on the device with a known community string (v1/v2c), or the v3 security name and passphrases
• Superadmin. The SNMP point import page declares superadmin explicitly, and since the device scan is reached from it, you need superadmin for both in practice

SNMP Version Comparison

Mango’s SNMP version selector shows these as 1, 2c and 3. The v3 credential field is Security name, not a username. The privacy options are spelled without hyphens – AES128, AES192, AES256 – and AES192 is easy to miss.

Step 1: Open the SNMP point import tool

The tool is called SNMP point import. It is not in the navigation menu – it is hidden and superadmin-only, and it surfaces on the Utilities card at the bottom of Administration > Admin home. Click SNMP point import there.

The page opens with a Choose data source picker listing only SNMP data sources, and two buttons beside it: Start scan, which opens the SNMP device scan, and New data source, which sends you to the Data sources page to build one.

Step 2: Create an SNMP Data Source

Click New data source. It does not open a dialog – it navigates to the Data sources page, where you create an SNMP data source and configure:

• Name: Descriptive label (e.g., Core Switch - Lobby)
• Host: IP address or hostname
• Port: Usually 161
• SNMP version: 1, 2c, or 3
• Update period: Polling frequency (e.g., 30 seconds)
• Read community and Write community for v1/v2c. There is no single field called “community string”
• For v3: Security name, Auth protocol, Auth passphrase, Privacy protocol, Privacy passphrase, and optionally Engine ID, Context engine ID and Context name
• Retries and Timeout (ms), which are the two settings to reach for when a device is slow

The editor also carries Trap port, Maximum vars per request and Local address, which you can leave alone for a straightforward polling setup.

Step 3: Select MIB Files (Optional)

MIB files translate numeric OIDs into readable names (e.g., 1.3.6.1.2.1.1.5.0 becomes sysName.0).

1. Obtain the MIB file from your device vendor
2. Put it in Mango’s SNMP MIB filestore. The Select MIB files button is a filestore chooser, not an upload from your desktop, and it accepts .txt and .mib files
3. Select one or more before starting the walk. The page shows how many are in play – “Using 2 information files”

Step 4: Execute the SNMP Walk

This happens on the first tab, Select SNMP OIDs.

1. Select your data source in Choose data source. Start SNMP walk stays disabled until you do
2. Optionally set Start walk at OID to scope the walk to one subtree instead of the whole device
3. Click Start SNMP walk. Cancel SNMP walk stops a walk in progress
4. Review the results table: Existing XID, OID, Variable syntax, Current value, Accessible, Symbol and Description

Step 5: Create Mango Points

The import tool has three tabs and you pass through all of them in order:

1. Select SNMP OIDs – tick the rows you want. The page reports “n points selected”
2. Map point properties – choose which walk column feeds each point property: Column for OID, Device Name, Name, XID, Settable, Unit and Data Type. This tab is easy to miss and you cannot skip it
3. Preview and create points – check the Preview of the first point, set Existing OID strategy to Skip, Update (preserve XID) or Update (change XID), then click Create Mango points

Start over resets the tool once the import finishes. Points begin polling on the next update cycle. Use Bulk data point edit to batch-modify properties afterward.

Finding Devices You Do Not Know About

Everything above assumes you already know the device’s address. When you do not, use the other tool: SNMP device scan, reached from Start scan on the SNMP point import page.

1. Enter IP addresses, CIDR ranges or hostnames – a whole subnet is fine
2. Tick Show scan settings to set Port, Retries, Timeout (ms), SNMP version and the credentials the scan should try. These are the same fields as the data source editor, because the scan has to authenticate the same way
3. Click Start scan, or Cancel scan to stop it
4. Results list each responding host by IP or hostname alongside its system OIDs – Description, Object ID, Up time, Contact, Name, Location and Services
5. Create a data source from a device you found, give it a Data source name, then use Back to point import to walk it

Troubleshooting