Managing Traps Using the Trap Manager

This section contains the following topics:

Trap Daemon

The Trap Manager lets you perform sophisticated trap database and trap filter file management. You can use the Trap Manager to manage trap information and translation messages stored in the Trap Database and trap filters stored in the trap filter file.

The CA Trap Daemon (CATRAPD) receives Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) traps on UDP port 162. These SNMP traps contain critical information about the latest status of your network environment, including the network itself and devices on that network. Since this information is received in the form of Management Information Base (MIB) variables and their numeric values, it is difficult to understand offhand. The Trap Daemon reads the MDB trap tables, which contain all trap information and translation messages, and translates SNMP traps into meaningful, easy to understand messages. These translated traps appear on the CA NSM Event Console.

For every incoming trap, the Trap Daemon also searches the trap filters file for any filters that apply. If the specified filter criteria is satisfied, the trap is dropped from further processing and does not appear on the Event Console. This can be very helpful if you are only interested in certain traps.

Note: By default, CATRAPD does not translate the trap information it receives. You must configure CATRAPD to use the Trap Translation Database. You can also enable or disable translation for specific traps.