Originally published on LinkedIn on 2025-01-22.

In my experience working with cloud environments, I’ve extensively used Prometheus, Grafana, and Alertmanager for monitoring. However, when dealing with TV Headends, I’ve encountered a common challenge: the lack of Prometheus endpoints for directly scraping metrics.

To overcome this, we can leverage the widely available SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol)

Integrating SNMP with Prometheus Link zu Überschrift

SNMP Exporter Link zu Überschrift

  • Prometheus offers an official open-source SNMP exporter, making it easy to collect SNMP data.
  • To effectively gather metrics from less common hardware, utilize MIB (Management Information Base) files provided by the manufacturer. For example, Astro Strobel BC4 headends offer a downloadable ZIP file containing relevant MIBs from their controller’s web interface.

This approach allows for seamless integration of traditional SNMP data with the powerful monitoring capabilities of the Prometheus ecosystem.

To configure the SNMP Exporter for Astro Strobel BC4 follow these steps.

  • Prepare MIB Files: Download the ZIP archive from the BC4 Management Controler and copy the AstroStrobel*.mib files into the snmp_exporter/generator/mibs directory.
  • Configure Generator: Follow the documentation within the snmp_exporter project to set up the MIB generator.
  • Add the following entry to the generator.yml file:
  • Run SNMP Exporter: Download the OS-specific snmp_exporter archive.
  • Unzip the archive and place the generated snmp.yml file in the snmp_exporter directory.
  • Start the snmp_exporter service.

It is easy to verify if the SNMP exporter is successfully collecting metrics from your device by making a simple HTTP request. This can be done using a web browser or the curl command-line tool. Replace the snmp_target_IP with a real IP.

The snmp_exporter is correctly configured if it successfully retrieves metrics related to the SNMP module.

Prometheus Link zu Überschrift

Prometheus is an open-source monitoring and alerting system that collects and stores time-series data. It excels at high-volume time series data, making it ideal for monitoring dynamic systems and applications.

The scrape target for the snmp exporter has to be added in the prometheus configuration. As first step create a directory for the configuration and the configuration file.

To keep things easy, the prometheus container is started with the host network and the configuration file is mounted into the container.

Open the prometheus UI via http://127.0.0.1:9090 and check if prometheus can reach the target and the metrics are scraped.

Check if target status is OK Check if target status is OK

Check if metrics are available already Check if metrics are available already

Grafana Link zu Überschrift

Grafana is a solution to visualize dashboards and can use different datasources. Is also available as container which is useful for tests. When used with the host network the webservice is available at http://127.0.0.1:3000 with default credentials admin/admin .

As a first step prometheus has to be added as Datasource.

Add datasource in grafana Add datasource in grafana

To effectively visualize the collected Prometheus data, create a dashboard with panels. Understanding the available metrics is crucial for this process. Let’s use bc4DynamicNIT as an example to illustrate this.

The “bc4DynamicNIT” Object Type within the AstroStrobel-Buscontroller.mib is specified as an Integer data type. The possible values, represent a state.

This knowledge allows you to effectively use value mappings to accurately visualize the state of the system within the dashboard.

Example value mapping Example value mapping

With this understanding of the MIB and the snmp_exporter it is easy to create more Panels.

BC and NIT Status BC and NIT Status

Device temperatures Device temperatures

Channel Signal Status Channel Signal Status

Integrating SNMP data into your monitoring solution offers significant advantages. You can create informative dashboards and, most importantly, establish a robust proactive alerting system to ensure the optimal performance and reliability of your TV Headend.

This flexible Monitoring stack can be readily integrated with other services, databases, and solutions. Prometheus and Grafana act as a central hub for collecting and visualizing metrics, providing a unified view of your entire system. There are plenty of exporters and integrations available and also client libraries to add prometheus to applications.

Alertmanager Link zu Überschrift

Alertmanager is an open-source system designed to handle and route alerts generated by monitoring systems like Prometheus. By integrating Alertmanager with Prometheus and SNMP for TV Headend monitoring, it is possible to establish a proactive and efficient alerting system that ensures timely issue resolution and minimizes service disruptions.

Conclustion Link zu Überschrift

This flexible stack, empowered by a rich ecosystem of exporters, enables seamless integration with various services and infrastructure components. Prometheus and Grafana act as a central hub for collecting and visualizing metrics, providing a comprehensive overview of system performance. Alertmanager, with its extensive support for receivers, ensures timely and effective notification of critical events.

I hope this article has provided you with an interessting overview of TV Headend monitoring based on SNMP and Prometheus. Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.

Disclaimer: I have not received any financial or material compensation from any of the companies mentioned in this article. The idea for this setup came to me while talking with a small cable TV provider. I was really curious to see what was possible.

May the Force be with you

Gerhard Sulzberger