Which Perl module should I use - Revision history

MikeAyers at 18:41, 23 January 2008

2008-01-23T18:41:56Z

MikeAyers: created

2008-01-23T18:38:38Z

created

MikeAyers at 18:37, 23 January 2008

2008-01-23T18:37:24Z

New page

There are basically two alternative SNMP perl modules.
One is a "pure-perl" implementation, called "Net::SNMP"
and develeped by David Town.
The other is a perl interface to the Net-SNMP C libraries,
which comes as two separate packages - SNMP and Net-SNMP.
These are therefore closely linked with the C library code.

The SNMP::Info module is a higher-level convenience module,
using the Net-SNMP perl modules (i.e. SNMP/Net-SNMP).

The SNMP::Info documentation tells you not to install SNMP or
Net::SNMP from CPAN - but the reasons are different for each of
these two packages.

You shouldn't install Net::SNMP because the SNMP::Info
module is not written to use the Net::SNMP api. It's the wrong
package for this module, so there's no point in installing it.

You *should* install SNMP/Net-SNMP - but not from CPAN.
Because these modules are closely linked with the C library,
they rely on having the correct version of the library installed.
There can be minor changes to the library internals from one
release to another, which wouldn't affect most applications
but can break the perl internals.

The safest approach is to install the SNMP perl modules from
the same Net-SNMP distribution as the C libraries that you are
using. That's the most reliable way to ensure compatibility.

If you are using a vendor-supplied version of the Net-SNMP suite,
then they ought to provide a package that includes the perl APIs
as well. If you compiled things yourself from source, then

<tt>./configure --with-perl-modules</tt>

will build the correct perl API modules as well.

← Older revision		Revision as of 18:41, 23 January 2008
Line 1:		Line 1:
		+	{{GoodAnswer}}
		+
		+	== Question ==
		+	Which Perl SNMP module should I use?
		+
		+	== Answer ==
	There are basically two alternative SNMP perl modules.		There are basically two alternative SNMP perl modules.
	One is a "pure-perl" implementation, called "Net::SNMP"		One is a "pure-perl" implementation, called "Net::SNMP"

@@ Line 13: / Line 13: @@
 these two packages.
-   You shouldn't install Net::SNMP because the SNMP::Info
+You shouldn't install Net::SNMP because the SNMP::Info
 module is not written to use the Net::SNMP api.   It's the wrong
 package for this module, so there's no point in installing it.
-  You *should* install SNMP/Net-SNMP - but not from CPAN.
+You *should* install SNMP/Net-SNMP - but not from CPAN.
 Because these modules are closely linked with the C library,
 they rely on having the correct version of the library installed.
@@ Line 24: / Line 24: @@
 but can break the perl internals.
-  The safest approach is to install the SNMP perl modules from
+The safest approach is to install the SNMP perl modules from
 the same Net-SNMP distribution as the C libraries that you are
 using.   That's the most reliable way to ensure compatibility.