Linux Appliance Design

B.7. The SMI

MIBs are described using a grammar defined by the Structure of Management Information (SMI), which is a subset of Abstract Syntax Notation One (ASN.1). ASN.1 was created to allow description of data in a way independent of machine architecture (for example, no assumptions about endian-ness or word size). The SNMP SMI adopted a subset of the object types definable under ASN.1 and then simplified the notation.

All you really need to know about all this is how to read and write the notation used to describe a MIB. This is best accomplished with minimal notation definitions illustrated by examples. You can create a new MIB largely by cutting and pasting from other MIBs.

Note:

We've attempted to keep our discussion of MIBs as simple as possible. ...