Convert SNMPv2 to SNMPv3 error ESXi 7 / 8

[svillar]

Hi,
I have the following code to secure SNMP with SNMPv3.  Using esxcli directly on the host, everything works fine, however the converted commands to powershell are failing at steps 3 and 5 with the following error:

Update Daemon runtime state failed: Agent not responding, connect uds socket(/var/run/snmp.ctl) failed 2, err= No such file or directory
At line:1 char:5
+     $esxcli.system.snmp.set.Invoke(@{
+     ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    + CategoryInfo          : OperationStopped: (:) [], ViError
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : VMware.VimAutomation.Sdk.Types.V1.ErrorHandling.VimException.ViError

Here's the code.  Thanks for any ideas!

# SNMPv3 variables

$authProtocol = "SHA1"       # Authentication protocol

$privProtocol = "AES128"     # Privacy protocol

$snmpUser1 = "snmpv3"         # SNMPv3 username

$authPassword = "authpassword1"  # SNMPv3 auth password

$privPassword = "privpassword1"  # SNMPv3 privacy password

# Array of ESXi hostnames

$vmHost = "host.domain.com"

    Write-Host "=== Processing host: $vmHost ===" -ForegroundColor Cyan

    # Connect directly to the ESXi host

    $hostConnection = Connect-VIServer -Server $vmHost -User "root" -Password "myrootpassword"

    # Get the VMHost object for this session

    $vmhost = Get-VMHost -Server $hostConnection

    # Create EsxCli object

    $esxcli = Get-EsxCli -VMHost $vmhost -V2

    # Step 1: Ensure SNMP service is enabled

    Write-Host "Enabling SNMP service..."

    $esxcli.system.snmp.set.Invoke(@{ "enable" = $true })

    # Step 2: Reset old SNMP v2 configuration (optional)

    Write-Host "Resetting old SNMP v2 configuration..."

    $esxcli.system.snmp.set.Invoke(@{ "communities" = "reset"; "targets" = "reset" })

      

       # Step 3:  Authentication protocols

       Write-Host "Setting authentication protocols"

       $esxcli.system.snmp.set.Invoke(@{

       "authentication" = "SHA1"

       "privacy" = "AES128" })

      

       # Step 4: Generate SNMPv3 password hashes

       Write-Host "Generating SNMPv3 password hashes..."

       $hashes = $esxcli.system.snmp.hash.Invoke(@{

              authhash  = $authPassword

              privhash  = $privPassword

              rawsecret = $true

       })

       $authHashValue = $hashes.authhash

       $privHashValue = $hashes.privhash

   # Step 5: Configure SNMPv3 user

    Write-Host "Configuring SNMPv3 user..."

    $esxcli.system.snmp.set.Invoke(@{

        "users" = "$snmpUser1/$authHashValue/$privHashValue/priv"

    })

    # Step 6: Verify SNMP configuration

    Write-Host "Verifying SNMP configuration..."

    $snmpStatus = $esxcli.system.snmp.get.Invoke()

    $snmpStatus

    # Step 7: Disconnect from the host

    Disconnect-VIServer -Server $hostConnection -Confirm:$false

 

-------------------------------------------

[MohammadHadi Milani]

You need to explicitly restart or start the SNMP daemon after enabling it, before setting authentication and users. With PowerCLI that looks like

echo "Enabling SNMP service..."

$esxcli.system.snmp.set.Invoke(@{ "enable" = $true })

Write-Host "Restarting SNMP service..."

$esxcli.system.snmp.restart.Invoke()
Then proceed with your Step 2 (reset).

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