UCD-SNMP-MIB

MIB Reference — IPNetwork Monitor · Updated September 09, 2026

All MIBsUCD-SNMP-MIB

Organization: University of California, Davis

Last Updated: 2020-08-21

Category: Net-SNMP and Linux, Routing Protocols

Description: University of California Davis SNMP extensions for Linux/Unix host monitoring: CPU load averages, memory/swap usage, disk utilization, running processes, and extensible script execution.

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

What Is UCD-SNMP-MIB?

UCD-SNMP-MIB is a widely used private MIB module originating from the University of California, Davis SNMP project (the precursor to Net-SNMP), often still called simply the ucd snmp mib by longtime administrators, providing host-monitoring extensions for Unix/Linux systems beyond standard MIB-II. It exposes categories including CPU load averages, memory and swap usage, disk space utilization, running-process monitoring, and an extensible mechanism for executing custom shell scripts and reporting their output/exit codes via SNMP. Its purpose is squarely hardware/software status monitoring: the process table (prTable/prEntry) lets an operator confirm a named process is running and within expected min/max instance counts, prErrorFlag/prErrMessage surface failures (with prErrFixCmd able to trigger an automatic remediation command), and the broader UCD extensions cover load average, memory, and disk thresholds that are classic leading indicators of a Unix/Linux host running into resource exhaustion. It has no formal dependency on other MIBs beyond standard SNMPv2-SMI conventions, since it was designed as a self-contained set of practical host-monitoring extensions layered on top of standard MIB-II. It is ubiquitously deployed on Linux/Unix servers running the Net-SNMP agent (net-snmp/snmpd), making it one of the most common private MIBs encountered in general server monitoring.

IPNetwork Monitor allows you to monitor SNMP objects defined in UCD-SNMP-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

  • Unix/Linux servers running the Net-SNMP (net-snmp/snmpd) agent

Monitoring Examples

An administrator would configure prTable/prEntry entries (prNames, prMin, prMax) to watch that a critical daemon process stays within its expected running-instance count, and poll prErrorFlag/prErrMessage to detect when that check fails - for example a crashed web server process dropping the running count below prMin, with prErrFixCmd able to automatically attempt a restart. Beyond the process table, the module's well-known load-average, memory, and disk objects (grouped under ucdInternal/ucdExperimental in this listing) are commonly polled to catch a Linux host approaching CPU saturation, swap exhaustion, or a full disk partition before it causes an outage.

What Can Be Monitored

  • CPU load averages
  • memory and swap usage
  • disk space utilization
  • running process count/status vs. thresholds
  • custom script execution results/exit codes
Imported Objects

From HCNUM-TC

CounterBasedGauge64

From SNMPv2-SMI

Counter32
Integer32
MODULE-IDENTITY
NOTIFICATION-TYPE
OBJECT-TYPE
Opaque
Unsigned32
enterprises

From SNMPv2-TC

DisplayString
TEXTUAL-CONVENTION
TruthValue

How to Use in IPNetwork Monitor

Example using memBuffer OID:

Select a Unix/Linux server running the Net-SNMP (net-snmp/snmpd) agent 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 memBuffer into the Find box to locate it in the OID tree, then select it and click OK. It reports the total amount of real or virtual memory currently allocated for use as memory buffers, in KB. 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 an Integer32-type OID, Value bounds is the most useful condition here — trigger an alert if the value grows well beyond its normal baseline without leveling off, since continuously rising buffer allocation can indicate memory pressure. Click Finish to create the monitor; you can adjust any parameter later.

See also: memTotalFree, memTotalSwap

OIDs

RFC description

University of California Davis private SNMP MIB extensions maintained by net-snmp project, including process, disk, and load monitoring (OID 1.3.6.1.4.1.2021).

Start monitoring Unix/Linux servers running the Net-SNMP (net-snmp/snmpd) agent (CPU/memory/disk/process-table status) 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 UCD-SNMP-MIB