[gentoo-user] net-snmp 5.7.2_rc1 on xen

[Matt Harrison <iwasinnamuknow@genestate.com>]

Hi list,

I've been away from Gentoo for quite a while but recently a friend asked
me to help update an aged linode vps running on Xen.

All has gone well except the new version of net-snmp (5.7.2_rc1) refuses
to start as Xen doesn't provide access to PCI info:

 * Starting snmpd ...
pcilib: Cannot open /proc/bus/pci
pcilib: Cannot find any working access method.
 * start-stop-daemon: failed to start `/usr/sbin/snmpd'
 * Failed to start

I know next to nothing about Xen and little more about snmp. We
contacted linode to see if they had dealt with this before (the system
is running the standard gentoo image, although updated). Unfortunately
they stated that they are an unmanaged service and wouldn't provide any
further help.

I've looked around for several days but have found very little info on
this and nothing that helpful. Short of compiling a custom version of
net-snmp and hacking out the PCI stuff (which may solve the problem or
may just mean snmp doesn't return the needed info) I have run out of ideas.

Any help on this would be appreciated

Many thanks