Authentication

In the SCO OpenServer implementation of SNMP, authentication is based on a field in the PDU called the community name. Each community is a list of hosts that can be managed together as a unit by SNMP.

When an agent receives a request, it validates the identity (community name, IP address pair) of the sender by comparing it against the list in /etc/snmpd.comm of authorized management stations. If the sender is not listed, or does not have the appropriate access permissions, the packet is discarded. The agent can also be configured to send an authentication trap to a specified group of management stations, informing them that an invalid access has been attempted.

See also:

• ``SNMP PDUs and operations''

• ``Configuring the SNMP ``communities'' group''

• ``Using the SNMP commands''