Does SNMP engineID need to be unique?

[Kris Marsh]

Hi,

I'm considering using SNMP v3 for management of multiple devices. I'd like to standardise the configuration string used, as long as the encrypted password. As the encrypted password is computed from the engineID, this would mean a single engineID for all devices. Are there any problems in doing this? We are not currently using SNMP v3, so I'm not worried about breaking existing user accounts.

[Collin Clark · Accepted solution]

The SNMP Engine ID is automatically generated on each router and they do not need to match. You set the encryption passwords, the Engine ID does not.

Hope that helps.

[Kris Marsh]

Thanks for the response.

The encrypted password is derived from the engineID, so multiple devices with multiple engineIDs will result in different encrypted passwords.

I'd like to set all engineIDs the same such that I can document and re-use a single encrypted password string. Would this cause a problem?

[Joe Clarke]

Yes, it absolutely will cause a problem.  Do NOT do this.  Engine IDs must be unique on all your agents.  If not, management applications may attempt to use the wrong engine time and boots when querying the device, and this will result in failures.