ESXi 5.x: SNMP service crashes

Last Updated: 1/11/13

Problem:

- no SNMP response from ESXi 5.x servers
- .trp files pile up in /var/spool/snmp
- starting the snmpd service (/etc/init.d/snmpd start) and they checking a few minutes later and it would be stopped (/etc/init.d/snmpd status)
- /var/log/vmkernel.log file shows "wantcoredump" message every time snmpd crashes
- .trp files use all the inodes in the root volume and prevent new files from forming, see related article [vSphere 5.1 update 1 - no space left on device]

Solution:

- Erase all .trp files in /var/spool/snmp
- Increase memory limit for SNMP service from 5MB to 25MB. See screenshot.

vsphere 5.1 snmpd crashing from memory limit.png

Keywords: vmware, vsphere, esx 4, esxi 5, snmpd, snmp, crash, log, error, memory