Filtering within device management protocol queries

A network device comprising:

• an interface to receive, from a device management system, a request message that conforms to a network management protocol, wherein the request includes a set of managed object identifiers and a set of filter operator object identifiers, wherein the request message comprises one of a simple network management protocol (SNMP) GET, GETNEXT, or GETBULK command, and wherein each of the set of filter operator object identifiers specifies one of a mathematical operator, an equality operator, a bitwise operator, and a logical operator;
• a control unit that provides an execution environment for a management agent that operates in accordance with SNMP;
• and
• a data repository configured to store information,
• wherein, in response to the request, the management agent is operable to generate at least one filter criterion based on the set of managed object identifiers and the set of filter operator object identifiers and to retrieve a set of managed object values stored in the data repository based on the set of managed object identifiers,
• wherein each managed object value of the set of managed object values corresponds to a respective managed object identifier of the set of managed object identifiers specified in the request message, and
• wherein the management agent is operable to generate and output to the device management system a response message based on the set of managed object identifiers specified in the request message and the retrieved set of managed object values, wherein each managed object value included in the response message satisfies one or more of the at least one filter criterion.

A computer-readable storage medium encode with instructions that cause one or more programmable processors of a network device to:

• receive, from a device management system, a request message, wherein the request message includes a set of managed object identifiers and a set of filter operator object identifiers, wherein the request message comprises one of a simple network management protocol (SNMP) GET, GETNEXT, or GETBULK command, and wherein each of the set of filter operator object identifiers specifies one of a mathematical operator, an equality operator, a bitwise operator, and a logical operator;
• generate at least one filter criterion based on the set of managed object identifiers and the set of filter operator object identifiers;
• receive a set of managed object values stored in a management information base (MIB) of the network device based on the set of managed object identifiers, wherein each managed object value of the set of managed object values corresponds to a respective managed object identifier of the set of managed object identifiers specified in the request message;
• generate a response message based on the set of managed object identifiers specified in the request message and the retrieved set of managed object values, wherein each managed object value included in the response message satisfies one or more of the at least one filter criterion;
• and
• send the response message to the device management system.

A method comprising:

• generating, with a device management system, a Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) request message, the request message including one or more filter operators and one or more managed object identifiers, wherein the SNMP request message comprises one of an SNMP GET, GETNEXT, or GETBULK command, and wherein each of the set of filter operator object identifiers specifies one of a mathematical operator, an equality operator, a bitwise operator, and a logical operator;
• sending, to a managed device, the SNMP request message;
• receiving, with the device management system and from the managed device, an SNMP response message, the SNMP response message including values associated with at least one of the one or more operational object identifiers, wherein the values satisfy the one or more filter operators included in the request message;
• and
• storing the received values in a data repository of the device management system.