FLOW-METER-MIB

MIB Reference — IPNetwork Monitor · Updated September 09, 2026

All MIBsFLOW-METER-MIB

Organization: IETF Realtime Traffic Flow Measurement Working Group

Last Updated: 1999-10-25

Category: Network Monitoring (RMON)

Description: Defines managed objects for controlling an RTFM traffic flow meter, specifying traffic flows to measure and providing efficient SNMP retrieval of flow data records.

IPNetwork Monitor uses several OIDs from this MIB in network discovery and polling the applicable devices. Start monitoring FLOW-METER-MIB with a free 30-day trial of IPNetwork Monitor.

What Is FLOW-METER-MIB?

FLOW-METER-MIB is the IETF standard MIB (RFC 2720) for managing an RTFM (Realtime Traffic Flow Measurement) traffic flow meter, a vendor-neutral network measurement device/agent used to define and collect traffic flow statistics. It exposes objects for configuring flow measurement rule sets (which traffic flows to match and record), controlling meter operation, and retrieving compact flow data records efficiently rather than one row at a time. It supports monitoring traffic/performance data and the operational status of the flow-measurement process itself: rule set status and readiness (flowRuleInfoStatus, flowRuleInfoRulesReady) and how many flow records a rule set has produced (flowRuleInfoFlowRecords), plus per-interface flow measurement configuration (flowInterfaceTable). It has no dependency on other management MIBs beyond the standard SNMPv2 SMI and conformance framework. It is typically deployed on dedicated traffic flow meters or router/probe devices performing network usage accounting, billing, or traffic analysis. Engineers implementing or auditing this functionality typically reference the FLOW-METER-MIB RFC/standard documentation for the authoritative specification.

IPNetwork Monitor allows you to monitor SNMP objects defined in FLOW-METER-MIB. Use the built-in SNMP Monitoring Browser to explore available variables, view their current values and descriptions, and select the objects you want to monitor. You can then create SNMP monitors, configure thresholds, and receive alerts when monitored values change.

Supported Devices

  • vendor-neutral, standards-based MIB, not tied to a specific manufacturer
  • RTFM traffic flow meters / network probes
  • routers performing flow-based traffic accounting

Monitoring Examples

An operator can inspect flowRuleSetInfoTable/flowRuleSetInfoEntry, indexed by flowRuleInfoIndex, to check flowRuleInfoStatus and flowRuleInfoRulesReady for a given rule set, confirming whether the flow-matching rules have been successfully loaded and activated. flowRuleInfoFlowRecords reports how many matching flow records that rule set has generated, giving a live measure of matched traffic volume, while flowRuleInfoOwner and flowRuleInfoTimeStamp identify who installed the rule set and when. Polling flowInterfaceTable/flowInterfaceEntry per monitored interface reveals whether flow measurement is active on that interface; a rule set stuck in a non-ready flowRuleInfoStatus would indicate a misconfiguration preventing flow data collection.

What Can Be Monitored

  • flow rule set status and readiness
  • number of matched flow records
  • rule set owner and timestamp
  • per-interface flow measurement configuration
  • flow rule set size
Imported Objects

From IF-MIB

ifIndexOBJECT-TYPE

From RMON2-MIB

TimeFilter

From SNMPv2-CONF

MODULE-COMPLIANCE
OBJECT-GROUP

From SNMPv2-SMI

Counter32
Counter64
Integer32
MODULE-IDENTITY
OBJECT-TYPE
mib-2

From SNMPv2-TC

RowStatus
TEXTUAL-CONVENTION
TimeStamp
TruthValue

How to Use in IPNetwork Monitor

Example using flowDataToPDUs OID:

Select a device implementing FLOW-METER-MIB as the target host to create a monitor — the SNMP service should be up and running on it. Click New Monitor, then check SNMP Custom on the Favorites tab, click Next, and confirm the host. On the next page, click Select... to open the built-in SNMP MIB Browser and type flowDataToPDUs into the Find box to locate it in the OID tree, then select it and click OK. The count of packets flowing from source to destination for this flow. On the monitor's Main parameters page you can set the target's SNMP port (default 161), credentials, polling interval, and other settings — see the SNMP Monitor help for details. On the State conditions and Alerting tabs, configure when the monitor should change state and trigger an alert; since this is a Counter64-type OID, Value bounds is the most useful condition here — trigger an alert if the counter increases sharply between polls relative to its normal baseline, since an unexpected spike often reflects a real change in traffic or activity. Click Finish to create the monitor; you can adjust any parameter later.
OIDs

RFC description

RTFM (Realtime Traffic Flow Measurement) meter MIB for monitoring and measuring network traffic flows per RFC 2720.

Start monitoring Vendor-neutral RTFM traffic flow meter/router, any manufacturer (RFC 2720) with a free 30-day trial of IPNetwork Monitor. Import MIBs, browse SNMP OIDs, create custom SNMP monitors, configure alerts, and monitor any SNMP-enabled network device from a single console.

Download FLOW-METER-MIB