DNSMib: A method to obtain MIB information trough DNS ************************************************************* UNDER DEVELOPMENT - PRE-ALPHA PHASE ************************************************************* (c) 2005 by Unilogic Networks B.V. Author: Ing. C.J.H. Albert Original Idea: Saku Ytti 1. Why DNSMib ? DNSMib was thought of by ytti of #networker. I decided to write this draft and make a prototype implementation. Why DNSMib? Because fetching MIBs is an hell if you only want descriptions and names for OIDs if you snmpwalk a device. DNS is the ideal OID search base as it is using the same hierarchy. It is even possible to delegate a certain OID subtree to a vendor's nameserver. 2. How do we use DNSMib ? DNSMib will use certain DNS types to distinguish between data types, fields and names. We could introduce new types but this will ofcourse hurt DNS implementations being used for DNSMib. I'd rather try and use standaard DNS types for DNSMib. Here is a short legend: SNMP Definition DNS Definition OID Name - PTR DESCRIPTION - TXT SYNTAX - A The SYNTAX field has different types which we specifiy as following Type - IP Definition Counter - 127.0.1.1 Counter32 - 127.0.1.2 Counter64 - 127.0.1.3 3. Prototype The first prototype implementation will be a patch to net-snmp probably. Testing tools will be build in perl. The DNS backend will be something that has to be decided on before hand. Some DNS server that can do SQL or can handle dedicated backends (that read MIB files directly) are preferred ofcourse. -- CHANGES -- 03-07-2005 19:55 - Initial Draft