Issue
The question is sometimes is asked if the default passwords (community strings) for Public and Private can be changed in Netcontrollers
Environment
Netcontrollers (BCX, 9680, 99xx)
Cause
Sites want to change the default Community strings for better security
Resolution
The option to change the community string password is only available if the controller is enabled for snmp alarming. If the controller is at the default with only snmp access to be shown in a Network Management System, the ability to change the default community string name is not available. In that case, the default community strings passwords have to be used.
Once the snmp alarming options is enabled on the controller then the following instructions can be used.
There is a place in the configuration page of the Netcontroller called snmp alarm configuration. On that page there are options for the snmp communities (public/private) for Gets and Sets. There are fields there with the default passwords of ‘Public’ for Gets and ‘Private’ for Sets. These can be changed to an 8 character word. This password would then need to be matched within the Network Management Software (NMS) to do the gets and sets. See page 19 of Andover Continuum v1.9 SNMP Configuration Guide for information on setting these passwords.
