AP7902 problems with SNMP connectivity AND firmware update

[BillP]

I've been failing miserably at getting a simple snmpwalk -v1 -c public hostIP to read from my AP7902. It times out. I feel like it worked 2 years ago or so, but I'm not sure. I have checked settings in the 7902 by web and by SSH. SNMP v1 is enabled. The default community public remains untouched as read-only. (I tried private too with no effect). SNMPv3 is disabled. I note that a port scan of the unit lists 22,23, and 80, but not 161 for SNMP. Rebooting the management card does not change anything.

The system info is:

Model Number: AP7902
Serial Number: ZA1431006024
Hardware Revision: B2
Manufacture Date: 07/30/2014
MAC Address: 00 C0 B7 87 68 D7
Management Uptime: 0 Days 1 Hour 0 Minutes

Application Module
Name: rpdu
Version: v3.9.2
Date: 07/07/2016
Time: 10:40:30

APC OS (AOS)
Name: aos
Version: v3.9.2
Date: 07/06/2016
Time: 15:12:05

I found that the latest firmware at APC is apc_hw05_aos_656.bin, so I thought I'd see if updating helped. I used both ftp from Linux and the Windows APC FWUpgrade utility, and both successfully authenticate and upload about 80k and then timeout. The Windows tool gives the additional log message of "Error -> Incompatible Hardware". I don't know what that's about, this is the firmware package served up by APC for all 7xxx and 8xxx models. Anyone have an idea?

The APC works in other respects. I guess I should focus on the firmware update first.

[BillP]

Hi Daniel,

AP7902 does not support version 5.X or 6.X firmwares. Those are only for NMC2 devices. The part you may have missed is the v5 and v6 works for AP7XXXB or AP8XXX series Rack PDUs. The error message is accurate of "incompatible hardware" when trying with just AP7XXX models.

In summary, you have the latest 3.9.2 firmware for your device.

Which tool are you using to attempt a walk? Is it something like NET-SNMP? Can you provide the exact command? A lot of times, you have to specify the SNMP instance on whatever OID you are trying, which is often a .0 at the end of the OID.

Alternatively, can you try any other MIB browser tools? I often use GetIf, iReasoning, or we also have MG-Soft in-house. These are GUI based so I don't know if they are an option just to compare results and see if it works to do a WALK or GET command.

Do you see anything in the event log relating to SNMP, like any unauthorized attempts to access the SNMP interface?

[BillP]

That was an entirely helpful response!

I tried GetIF and it immediately provided a complete SNMP dump with no errors.

Then...I went back to my linux machine from which I was running the snmpwalk command. I used the exact command line which had failed 50 times with a timeout and....it suddenly worked.

I have no idea how a successful connection from getif could possibly affect incoming connections from the Linux snmpwalk command, but everything is working.

Thank you very much!  And also for the explanation about the firmware too.

[BillP · Accepted solution]

Ahh, it was magic  you're welcome!