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Network

banshee/network-collection/network/snmp/

sensors

The hardware sensors of a network device by SNMP (ENTITY-SENSOR-MIB): temperatures, fans, voltages, currents, power, and their state.

  • network
  • snmp
  • entity-sensor-mib
  • temperature
  • fan
  • voltage
  • hardware

by banshee1 installation2 versions

v2Latest

Published on October 28, 2026. One naming convention across collections; documentation completed.

Hardware sensors of a network device, by SNMP

Returns, for each hardware sensor of a switch, a router or a firewall, its measure in its unit (temperature, fan speed, voltage, current, power) and the state the device gives it. Five watches are offered, each one set on the probe.

Versions

Generic: any device and any version whose agent serves the standard table, ENTITY-SENSOR-MIB. A brand that keeps its sensors in its own MIB only is read by the collector of that brand (network/cisco/snmp/ios/environment, network/mikrotik/snmp/health).

How it works

The collector reads entPhySensorTable (ENTITY-SENSOR-MIB, RFC 3433), the standard table of the sensors of a device, whatever its brand, and names each sensor by entPhysicalName (ENTITY-MIB), the name the device gives the part it measures.

  • The measure is entPhySensorValue, brought to its unit by entPhySensorScale (milli, units, kilo…) and entPhySensorPrecision (the number of decimals): a sensor reading 42500 milli-degrees with no decimal returns 42.5 °C.
  • Each sensor goes to the output of its type: celsius to temperature, rpm to fan-speed, voltsAC and voltsDC to voltage, amperes to current, watts to power. A sensor of another type (humidity, frequency, a true/false) returns its state only.
  • The state is entPhySensorOperStatus in words: ok, unavailable, nonoperational. The measure of a sensor that is not ok is not returned: it means nothing.
  • A sensor without a name takes its index (sensor 1012); two sensors of the same name each keep their own, the second carrying its index.
  • A device that serves no sensor stops the collector as misconfigured: never a green light without a measure.

The collector only reads: SNMP sends nothing but reads.

Prerequisites

  • The SNMP agent of the device enabled, reachable from the poller (UDP 161), its access restricted to the poller.
  • An agent that implements ENTITY-SENSOR-MIB; the view granted to the poller includes entitySensorMIB (.1.3.6.1.2.1.99) and entPhysicalName (.1.3.6.1.2.1.47.1.1.1.1.7).
  • Read-only access, SNMPv2c or SNMPv3, set on the host or one of its folders (protocol:snmp:* variables).

Outputs

NameLabelUnitPer instance
temperatureTemperature°Cyes, per sensor
fan-speedFan speedrpmyes, per sensor
voltageVoltageVyes, per sensor
currentCurrentAyes, per sensor
powerPowerWyes, per sensor
statusSensor state—yes, per sensor

Watches

NameTitleKindDefaultsChecked by default
hotHigh temperatureabove a threshold, on temperaturewarning above 70 °C, critical above 85 °C, for 3 runsyes
fan-stoppedFan stoppedbelow a threshold, on fan-speedcritical below 1 rpm, for 2 runsyes
failedSensor failedstate to avoid, on statuscritical on nonoperationalyes
voltage-lowLow voltagebelow a threshold, on voltageno threshold: each rail has its own, set it on the probeno
missingSensor missingexpected instances, on statusno sensor named: it raises nothing until names are set on the probeno

Limits

  • The temperature thresholds, 70 °C and 85 °C, are generic defaults, taken from no maker's documentation: adapt them to the hardware on the probe. An optical transceiver runs cooler than a switching chip; leave out the sensors that do not count in the selection.
  • The thresholds the device itself keeps (entPhySensorThreshold is not in RFC 3433, only in vendor extensions) are not read.
  • Which devices serve ENTITY-SENSOR-MIB, and with which names, is not verified here without a device: run the probe once and read its sensors.