SNMP Agent Extensibility (agentx)
---------------------------------

Charter
Last Modified: 2002-05-24

Current Status: Concluded Working Group

Chair(s):
    Bob Natale  <[email protected]>

Operations and Management Area Director(s):
    Randy Bush  <[email protected]>
    Bert Wijnen  <[email protected]>

Operations and Management Area Advisor:
    Bert Wijnen  <[email protected]>

Editor(s):
    Mark Ellison  <[email protected]>

Mailing Lists:
    General Discussion:[email protected]
    To Subscribe:      [email protected]
        In Body:       Subscribe. MUST include Subject: subscribe
    Archive:           ftp://amethyst.bmc.com/pub/agentx/archives

Description of Working Group:

The goal of this working group is to define standards-track technology
for SNMP Agent extensibility.  The resulting technology specification
will allow independently developed sub-agents to communicate with a
master-agent running on an Internet device.

The technology specification will consist of:

o (mandatory) a platform-independent protocol which supports
   intra-agent communication within a device or local area network;

o (optional) a MIB module, which, when implemented by a master-agent,
  allows an SNMP-based management application to monitor and control
  the intra-agent communication service; and,

o (optional) a programmatic interface to the services offered by
  that protocol.

The working group is explicitly directed to develop a solution which is
adequate to achieve transparency with respect to whether a SNMP request
is processed by a master-agent and/or one or more sub-agents;
simultaneously, the working group is further directed to use good
engineering judgement is developing an approach with the smallest
reasonable "footprint" to achieve intra-agent communication.  As a
consequence, if the working group may choose to avoid complete
transparency, if, at its discretion, this proves too costly.  In this
case, the working group should document its decision for this
engineering trade-off.

Although the working group will solicit existing specifications and
experience in this area, it will produce a vendor-neutral technology
specification.

Goals and Milestones:

  Done         Publication of AgentX protocol specification as Proposed

  Done         Publication of AgentX MIB specification as a Proposed
               Standard

  Done         Implementation reports formally solicited

  Done         Interoperability reports formally solicited

  Done         Implementation and interoperability reports summarized (by
               WG Chair) and assessed via WG e-mail discussion

  Done         All open issues resolved

  Done         Modifications (if any) to documents (RFC2741 and RFC2742)
               completed

  Done         Decision to advance or recycle made by WG and handed off to
               IESGfor action

  Done         Request for advancement of RFC 2741 and 2742 made to IESG

  JAN 02       Shutdown WG or re-charter


Internet-Drafts:

 No Current Internet-Drafts.

Request For Comments:

 RFC   Stat Published     Title
------- -- ----------- ------------------------------------
RFC2257 PS   JAN 98    Agent Extensibility (AgentX) Protocol Version 1

RFC2741 PS   JAN 00    Agent Extensibility (AgentX) Protocol

RFC2742 PS   JAN 00    Definitions of Managed Objects for Extensible SNMP
                      Agents