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No part of this document may be reproduced by any means nor modified, decompiled, disassembled, published
or distributed, in whole or in part, or translated to any electronic medium or other means without the written
consent of SolarWinds. All right, title, and interest in and to the software and documentation are and shall remain
the exclusive property of SolarWinds and its respective licensors.
SOLARWINDS DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, CONDITIONS OR OTHER TERMS, EXPRESS OR
IMPLIED, STATUTORY OR OTHERWISE, ON SOFTWARE AND DOCUMENTATION FURNISHED
HEREUNDER INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION THE WARRANTIES OF DESIGN,
MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO
EVENT SHALL SOLARWINDS, ITS SUPPLIERS, NOR ITS LICENSORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES,
WHETHER ARISING IN TORT, CONTRACT OR ANY OTHER LEGAL THEORY EVEN IF SOLARWINDS
HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.
The SOLARWINDS and SOLARWINDS & Design marks are the exclusive property of SolarWinds Worldwide,
LLC and its affiliates, are registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, and may be registered or
pending registration in other countries. All other SolarWinds trademarks, service marks, and logos may be
common law marks, registered or pending registration in the United States or in other countries. All other
trademarks mentioned herein are used for identification purposes only and may be or are trademarks or
registered trademarks of their respective companies.
Portions Copyright ComponentOne, LLC 1991-2002. All Rights Reserved.
Portions of the following SolarWinds SAM Documentation is excerpted from:
IBM DeveloperWorks, Copyright IBM Corporation 1994, [Link] at
[Link]
Microsoft TechNet, TechNet Library, 2010 Microsoft [Link] rights [Link] at
[Link].
Oracle Corporation, 2012 2010 Oracle Corporation. All rights [Link] at [Link]
Portions of the component monitor information used in the AppInsight for SQL feature are provided courtesy of
the following sources:
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Portions of the following SolarWinds SAM Documentation is excerpted from:
Microsoft TechNet, TechNet Library, 2010 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
Available at [Link]
[Link]
[Link]
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[Link]
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Oracle Corporation, 2012 2010 Oracle Corporation. All rights [Link] at [Link]
[Link]
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Guide/JBossAS_Server.html.
Dirk Nachbar: Oracle Fusion Middleware & Application Server, Copyright 2015
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[Link]
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Citrix Corporation, Citrix InfoCenter, Copyright 2012 Citrix Corporation. All rights reserved. Available at
[Link]
RealNetworks, Inc., Helix Server and Helix Proxy Troubleshooting Guide, Copyright 2012 RealNetworks,
Inc. All rights reserved. Available at
[Link]
er%20process%20must%20wait%20for%20another%20%22&source=web&cd=4&ved=0CDoQFjAD&url=http
%3A%2F%[Link]%2Fhelp%2Flibrary%2Fguides%2FHelixServerWireline12%2Fpdf%2FServer
[Link]&ei=uyqQT9_XE6ie2wXPo5iSBQ&usg=AFQjCNE3CpUHuLmpfScz2A9GOM9ysztgA&cad=rja.
Hewlett-Packard Company, Copyright 2012 Hewlett-Packard Company. All rights reserved. Available at
[Link]
[Link]
Portions of the Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2-2012 R2 Failover Cluster documents are based on the
following source:
[Link]
Internet Systems Consortium, Copyright 2012 Internet Systems Consortium. All rights reserved. Available at
[Link]
[Link]
Portions of the Microsoft Routing and Remote Access 2008-2012 R2 and Microsoft Routing and Remote Access
2008-2012 R2 (Events) document are based on the following content:
[Link]
Portions of the Remote Desktop Services Licensing document were originally created by and are excerpted from
the following sources:
Microsoft Corp., Copyright 2012. All rights reserved. Available at [Link]
Portions of the Barracuda Spam and Virus Firewall document is based on the following:
[Link]
Portions of the Trend Micro documents are based on the following:
[Link]
[Link]

Portions of the SQL Server 2008 Reporting Services document, the SQL Server 2008 Reporting Services R2
document, the SQLServer 2012 reporting Services document, and the SQLServer 2008-2012 Reporting Services
(Events) document are based on the following sources:
[Link]
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Danga Interactive, Copyright 2012 Danga Interactive. All rights reserved. Available at
[Link]
MongoDB, Copyright 2012 10gen, Inc. All rights reserved. Available at
[Link]
O'Reilly Squid, Copyright 2012 O'Reilly Media, Inc. All rights reserved. Available at
[Link]
Sybase, Copyright 2012 Sybase, Inc. All rights reserved. Available at [Link]
[Link]
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SAP Corporation, Copyright 2012 SAP Corporation. All rights reserved. Available at
[Link] and
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APC powerchute, Copyright 2012. All rights reserved. Available at
[Link]
Oracle Corporation, Copyright 2012 Oracle Corporation. All rights reserved. Available at
[Link] and
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[Link]
[Link]%2Fdistrisoft%2Fantivirus%2Fcas%2Fman_01_spnt_58_1060_
[Link]&ei=tw4cUOeJKqrY2QXCgIGgDw&usg=AFQjCNGocyArGtBrtOWmt29IlqGYCQhxQQ
Server Manager for JD Edwards EnterpriseOne. Copyright 2012 JD Edwards Corporation. All rights reserved.
Available at [Link]
IBM, Copyright 2012. All rights reserved. Available at
[Link]
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Bind 9 Administrator Reference Manual: [Link]
Microsoft TechNet, TechNet Library, 2010 Microsoft Corporation. All rights [Link] at
[Link]
Unidata, Rocket software, 2010 Unidata. All rights [Link] at
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Portions of this documentation are based on:
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Veeam Backup & Replication PowerShell Guide.
Portions of this document were originally created by and are excerpted from the following sources:
SAAS Corporation, Copyright 2012 SAAS Corporation. All rights reserved. Available at:
[Link]

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Microsoft copyright 2013
BizTalk Server 2010-2013 is based on the following sources:
[Link]
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V-Server definition courtesy of the following:
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Portions of the Exchange Active Sync Connectivity document are provided courtesy of the following sources:
Test-ActiveSyncConnectivity:
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Exchange 2013 templates are based on the following documents:
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Portions of the Clam AV document is based on the following information:
[Link]
Portions of the Websense document are courtesy of Websense, copyright 2013.
[Link]
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Portions of the Blackberry Enterprise Server 10 Services (Windows) document are based on information found
at:
[Link]

Portions of the Blackberry Enterprise Server 10 Statistic (SNMP) document are based on information found at:
[Link]
Portions of the Microsoft DirectAccess documents are based on:
[Link] Microsoft, copyright 2013.
Potions the Oracle documents are based on the following and courtesy of Oracle, copyright 2013:
[Link]
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Portions of the Microsoft System Center Operations Manager 2012 document are courtesy of Microsoft Corp.
Copyright 2013.
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Portions of the AppInsight for IIS document are courtesy of Microsoft Corp. Copyright 2013.
[Link]
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Portions of this document are courtesy of Kaspersky, copyright 2013:
[Link]
SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor, 2/24/2015, version 6.2
DJR

About SolarWinds
SolarWinds, Inc develops and markets an array of IT management, monitoring, and
discovery tools to meet the diverse requirements of todays IT management and consulting
professionals. SolarWinds products continue to set benchmarks for quality and
performance and have positioned the company as the leader in IT management and
discovery technology. The SolarWinds customer base includes over 85 percent of the
Fortune 500 and customers from over 170 countries. Our global business partner
distributor network exceeds 100 distributors and resellers.

Contacting SolarWinds
You can contact SolarWinds in a number of ways, including the following:
Team

Contact Information

Sales

1.866.530.8100
[Link]

Technical [Link] you need a customer account to access

Support the Customer Support area of the website.
User
Forums

[Link] contains the community oriented user forums

Conventions
The documentation uses consistent conventions to help you identify items throughout the
printed and online library.
Convention

Specifying

Bold

Window items, including buttons and fields.

Italics

Book and CD titles, variable names, new terms

Fixed font

File and directory names, commands and code examples, text

typed by you

Straight brackets, as in
[value]

Optional command parameters

Curly braces, as in
{value}

Required command parameters

Logical OR, as in
value1|value2

Exclusive command parameters where only one of the options

can be specified

SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor Documentation

Library
The following documents are included in the Server & Application Monitor (SolarWinds SAM)
documentation library:
Document

Purpose

Administrator Guide

Provides detailed setup, configuration, and conceptual information

for SolarWinds SAM.

Evaluation Guide

Provides an introduction to SolarWinds Server & Application

Monitor features and instructions for installation and initial
configuration.

Page Help

Provides help for every window in the SolarWinds Server &

Application Monitor user interface

Quick Start Guide

Provides installation, setup, and common scenarios for which

SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor provides a simple, yet
powerful, solution.

Release Notes

Provides late-breaking information, known issues, and updates. The

latest Release Notes can be found at [Link].

The following documents supplement the Server & Application Monitor documentation library
with information about SolarWinds Common Components:
Document

Purpose

Orion Common
Components
Administrator Guide

Provides detailed setup, configuration, and conceptual

information for the common components.

Orion Common
Provides help for every window in the Orion Common
Components Page Help Components user interface.
Release Notes

Provides late breaking information, known issues, and updates.

The latest Release Notes can be found at [Link].

Note: With this release, Orion products are based on a set of common features that are
shared by all of the Orion products. Therefore you need to consult the documentation listed
above for the Orion Common Components in order to find information about all of the
common features.

Table of Contents
About SolarWinds

Contacting SolarWinds

Conventions

SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor Documentation Library

Table of Contents

10

Chapter 1: Introduction

85

Changes in this Guide from SAM 6.1.1 to 6.2

85

Applications Defined

86

Template/Application Relationship

86

SAM Glossary of Terms

87

How Does SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor Work?

89

Application Availability and Status

91

Chapter 2: Requirements and Installation

Requirements for SolarWinds SAM

93
93

SolarWinds Server Software Requirements

93

SolarWinds Server Hardware Requirements

95

Requirements for Virtual Machines and Servers

96

Requirements for the Orion database Server (SQL Server)

97

Additional SolarWinds SAM Requirements

99

FIPS Support
FIPS Manager

99
100

Server Sizing

101

SNMP Requirements for Monitored Devices

102

Enabling Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS)

102

Enabling IIS on Windows Server 2003

102

Enabling IIS on Windows Server 2008

105

Upgrading SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor

109

Upgrading NPM and SolarWinds SAM on Your Current Server

110

Upgrading SAM to a New Server While Keeping NPM on Your Current Server

110

Moving SolarWinds SAM to a different server

111

General Requirements

111

Database Requirements

112

Stopping SAM Services

112

To stop SolarWinds SAM services:

Creating a Database Backup File with Database Manager
To backup your Orion database using Database Manager:
Creating a Database Backup File with SQL Server Management Studio
To backup your Orion database using SQL Server Management Studio:
Restoring a Database Backup File for SQL Express Server
To restore your database backup file on a server running SQL Express Server:
Restoring a Database Backup File for SQL Server 2008
To restore your database backup file on a server running SQL Server 2008:
Updating SolarWinds SAM to Use the New Database Server
To update SolarWinds SAM to use a new database:
Reassigning Nodes
To reassign items to the new polling engine:
Moving SolarWinds SAM Security Certificates to a New Server
To replicate the original certificate:
Migrating Licenses with License Manager
To deactivate currently installed licenses:
Installing License Manager

112
113
113
114
114
115
115
116
116
117
117
118
118
120
120
121
121
122

To install License Manager:

122

Using License Manager

122

To deactivate currently installed licenses:

122

Upgrading SolarWinds APM when SolarWinds Failover Engine is Installed

On the primary/active server:

123
123

On the primary Server (assuming a successful upgrade of secondary completed):124

Installing SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor

125

Uninstalling SAM

130

Advanced Installation of SAM

131

To assign nodes to polling engines:

Activating Your License

137
137

To evaluate the software without a license:

137

To license the software on a server with Internet access:

138

To license the software on a server without Internet access:

138

Finishing SolarWinds SAM Installation

139

Follow the directions in the SolarWinds Configuration Wizard:

139

To configure Server & Application Monitor:

139

Excluding SolarWinds Data Directories from Anti-Virus Scanning

141

Exclude for Windows Server 2003:

141

Exclude for Windows Server 2008:

141

Running SolarWinds SAM

To run SolarWinds SAM:

142
142

Internet Explorer Security Settings

142

Licensing

142

To see the available component monitors remaining in your license:

Chapter 3: Common Tasks with SolarWinds SAM

146
148

Monitoring Web Site Performance

148

Deciding What to Monitor

149

Monitoring the Intranet Home Page

149

Monitoring the Corporate Home Page

150

Troubleshooting the HTTP Template

150

Monitoring IIS Application Pools

151

Deciding What to Monitor

152

What needs to be monitored:

152

Scanning for Applications Worth Monitoring

153

What needs to be monitored:

153

The administrator user name and passwords are:

153

Monitoring a Specific URL

To monitor a specific URL, follow the step outlined below:
Monitoring VMware Performance Counters
What needs to be monitored:

154
154
156
156

To create a new Application Monitor using the browsing method to select the
desired VMware performance counters:
156

Monitoring and Restarting Stopped Windows Services

What needs to be monitored:
Monitoring Large Directories

159
159
161

What needs to be monitored:

161

Troubleshooting the Large Directory Monitor

163

Chapter 4: Managing the Web Console

164

To manage the SolarWinds Web Console, navigate to the Settings page:

165

Refer to the sections that follow for details about the administrative commands
available in each category:

166

Discovery Central

167

Node & Group Management

167

Virtualization Settings
Accounts
Account List
Customize

168
168
168
169

Customize Menu Bars

169

Color Scheme

169

External Websites

169

Customized SAM Tabbed Sub-Views

169

Manage Alerts

170

Views

170

Manage Views

171

Add New View

171

Views by Device Type

171

Views by Application Type

171

Settings

171

Web Console Settings

171

Polling Settings

172

SAM Settings

172

SolarWinds Thresholds

172

Virtualization Thresholds

172

Details

172

Database Details

172

Polling Engines

173

Orion Core Details

173

License Details

173

Navigating the SolarWinds Web Console

173

Using Web Console Tabs

173

Using and Disabling Web Console Breadcrumbs

174

To disable web console breadcrumb navigation:

Managing Nodes from the Web Console
To manage the SolarWinds Web Console, navigate to the Settings page:
Unmanaging Nodes
To unmanage a node:
Adding Nodes for Monitoring
To add a device for monitoring in the SolarWinds Web Console:
Deleting Nodes from Monitoring
To delete a node from monitoring in the SolarWinds Web Console:

175
175
175
176
176
176
176
179
179

Deleting Applications or Volumes from Monitoring

180

Viewing Node Data in Tooltips

180

Editing Node Properties

181

To edit object properties in the SolarWinds Web Console:

Promoting a Node from ICMP to SNMP Monitoring
To promote an ICMP only node to SNMP:
Promoting a Node to WMI Monitoring
To promote a node to WMI:
Viewing Node Resources
To view a list of all resources present on a node:
Setting Node Management States
To set or change the management state of a node:
Unscheduled Node Polling and Rediscovery
To perform an unscheduled poll or rediscovery:
Unmanage Scheduling Utility
To schedule tasks to be stopped:

181
182
182
183
184
184
184
185
185
186
186
186
187

Monitoring Windows Server Memory

188

Scheduling a Node Maintenance Mode Time Period

188

Administrative Functions of the SolarWinds Web Console

Changing an Account Password
To change an account password:

188
188
189

Viewing Secure Data on the Web

189

Handling Counter Rollovers

189

To designate the type of counter used by SolarWinds SAM:

SolarWinds General Thresholds

190
190

SolarWinds General Threshold Types

190

Setting SolarWinds General Thresholds

192

To set SolarWinds SAM thresholds:

192

Customizing Views
Creating New Views
To create a new view:
Editing Views

192
193
193
194

To edit an existing view:

194

Configuring View Limitations

195

To enable a view limitation:

196

Copying Views
To copy a view:
Deleting Views
To delete an existing view:
Views by Device Type

196
197
197
197
197

To assign a view by device type:

197

Resource Configuration Examples

197

Selecting a Network Map

198

To add a network map to the web console:

198

Displaying a List of Objects on a Network Map

198

To display a list of network map objects:

198

Displaying a Custom List of Maps

199

To display a custom list of maps:

199

Displaying an Event Summary - Custom Period of Time

200

To display an event summary:

200

Specifying User-Defined Links

200

To enable a user-defined links resource:

200

Specifying Custom HTML or Text

201

To specify custom HTML or text:

201

Specifying a SolarWinds Report

202

To include a SolarWinds report:

202

Displaying a Custom List of Reports

202

To display a custom list of reports:

203

Filtering Nodes

203

To enable filtering on a node list:

203

Grouping Nodes

204

To enable grouping on a node list:

204

Customizing Web Console Menu Bars

205

To customize web console menu bars:

205

Changing the Web Console Color Scheme

207

To change the web console color scheme:

207

Changing the Web Console Site Logo

207

To change the web console banner:

207

Configuring the Available Product Updates View

To configure product updates:
Updating your SolarWinds Installation
To update your SolarWinds installation:

207
208
208
208

NOCView

208

Enabling NOC

209

Adding NOCviews
Adding AppStack to a NOC View

209
211

Editing NOCviews

213

Disabling NOCviews

214

Customizing Charts in the SolarWinds Web Console

Chart Information:

215
215

Custom Chart Resource Title Bar Options

215

Edit Chart Title View

216

Exporting Views to PDF

217

To export a view to PDF:

Creating a Custom Summary View
To create or edit a custom summary view in the web console:
Creating and Editing External Website Views
To create or edit an external website view in the web console:
Custom Object Resources in the SolarWinds Web Console
Editing a Custom Object Resource
To edit a Custom Object resource:

217
217
217
218
218
219
219
219

Selecting Custom Objects and Resources

219

Available Custom Resources

220

Integrating SolarWinds Engineers Toolset

Configuring a Toolset Integration
To configure SolarWinds Toolset integration settings:
Adding Programs to a Toolset Integration Menu
To add a program to the SolarWinds Toolset Integration menu:
Web Console Configuration
Creating a Web Console Configuration Backup
To create a SolarWinds Web Console configuration backup:
Restoring a Web Console Configuration Backup
To restore a SolarWinds Web Console configuration backup:
Clearing a Web Console Configuration
To clear your SolarWinds Web Console configuration:
Logging in for the First Time as an Administrator

220
220
221
221
221
222
222
223
223
223
223
223
224

To log in to the SolarWinds Web Console:

224

Windows Authentication with Active Directory

224

To enable Active Directory Windows authentication to the web console:

224

Using the Web Console Notification Bar

225

Using the SolarWinds Web Console Message Center

226

To view and configure the Message Center:

226

Suppressing Events
Suppressing Events:
Using Node Filters
To apply a node filter:

226
227
227
227

Accessing Nodes Using HTTP, SSH, and Telnet

228

Using Integrated Remote Desktop

228

To launch Integrated Remote Desktop:

Using Audit Events
Adding the Audit Events resource:
Filtering Audit Events

229
229
230
230

To Filter Audit Events:

230

Editing Audit Events:

232

Chapter 5: SolarWinds SAMCharts and Resources

234

Application Availability Chart

234

Custom Chart

235

Custom Area Chart

238

Custom Bar Chart

238

Component Availability Chart

239

Custom Chart View

241

Printing Options

241

Chart Titles

241

Time Period

241

Sample Interval

242

Chart Size

242

Font Size

242

Data Export Options

242

Custom Line Chart

243

Custom Query Resource

243

Custom Table

244

Editing the Custom Table resource:

Custom Node Charts
Availability

245
246
246

CPU Load

247

Memory Usage

247

Packet Loss and Response Time

247

Custom Volume Charts

247

Event Log Message Details

248

Min/Max Average Chart

249

Adding the Chart:

249

Customizing the Chart

250

Zooming

250

Multiple Object Chart

251

Clicking Edit allows you to configure the characteristics of a selected multiple

objects chart:To add the Multiple Object Chart to your home page:

252

To configure the Multiple Object Chart:

252

Multiple Statistic Chart

Zooming
Multi Chart
Chapter 6: SolarWinds SAM Settings
Getting Started with SAM

253
253
255
258
259

Scan Nodes for Applications

259

Manually Assign Application Monitors

259

Component Monitor Wizard

259

Application Monitors
Manage Application Monitors
Application Monitor Templates

260
260
260

Manage Templates

260

Create a New Template

260

Component Monitors

260

Component Monitor Library

261

Manage Assigned Component Monitors

261

Manage Component Monitors within Templates

261

Application Detail Views

Views by Application Type

261
261

SAM Settings

261

Credentials Library

262

Data and Database Settings

262

Database Maintenance

262

To set the three Statistic Retention Intervals:

262

Polling Engine Mode

263

To set the Polling Engine Mode (v5.2 and earlier):

263

License Summary
SAM License Summary
thwack Community

263
263
263

Shared thwack Templates

264

SAM thwack Forum

264

Chapter 7: Discovering and Adding Nodes on a Network

Discovery Central
To access Discovery Central:

265
265
266

Virtualization Discovery

266

Application Discovery

266

Network Sonar Discovery

266

Discovering devices on your network from Discovery Central:

Using the Network Sonar Results Wizard
To select the results of a network discovery for monitoring in SAM:

267
273
273

Managing Scheduled Discovery Results

274

Using the Discovery Ignore List

275

To manage devices on the Discovery Ignore List:

Chapter 8: Application Discovery

275
277

To Access Application Discovery:

277

Select Nodes

277

Select Applications

277

Enter Credentials

278

Review and Start Scan

278

Add UX Monitors

279

Add Application Monitors

279

To add Application Monitors on the Add Application Monitors page:

Reading the Application Summary

279
280

Active Application Alerts

280

Application Health Overview

280

Applications with Problems

281

Last 25 Application Events

281

Thwack Latest Application Templates

282

Top 10 Components Monitored by Response Time

282

Top 10 Processes Monitored by CPU Load

282

Top 10 Processes Monitored by Physical Memory

282

Top 10 Processes Monitored by Virtual Memory

283

Top XX Monitored Processes by I/O Reads/Sec

283

Top XX Monitored Processes by I/O Writes/Sec

284

Top XX Monitored Processes by I/O Total Operations/Sec

285

Server Warranty Summary

286

Server Warranty Summary Alerts

Chapter 9: Managing Groups and Dependencies
To access the Manage Groups page:
Creating Groups
To create a new group:
Editing Groups
To edit properties of an existing group:
Managing Group Members
To add and remove the objects of an existing group:
Deleting Groups
To delete a group:
Managing the Display of Group Status
To configure the method used to determine the status of a selected group:

287
288
288
288
289
290
290
290
291
291
291
291
292

Managing Dependencies

293

Creating a Dependency

293

To create a dependency:
Editing a Dependency

294
295

To edit an existing dependency:

Deleting a Dependency
To delete an existing dependency:
Viewing Alerts on Child Objects
Chapter 10: Managing Accounts
Creating Accounts
To create a new user account:
Editing User Accounts
User Account Access Settings
To edit a user account:

295
296
296
296
297
297
297
298
299
300

Configuring Audible Web Alerts

301

To enable audible web alerts:

302

Setting Account Limitations

To set user account limitations:

302
302

Defining Pattern Limitations

304

Setting Default Account Menu Bars and Views

304

To set default menu bar and view options:

305

Configuring an Account Report Folder

To configure an account report folder:

306
307

Server & Application Monitor Settings

307

Orion General Settings

308

Integrated Virtual Infrastructure Monitor Settings

309

Chapter 11: Managing SolarWinds SAM Polling Engines

Viewing Polling Engine Status
To display the Polling Engine view:
Configuring Polling Engine Settings
To open the SolarWinds Polling Settings view:
SolarWinds Polling Settings

310
310
310
311
311
311

Polling Intervals

311

Polling Statistics Intervals

312

Network

312

Calculations & Thresholds

312

Calculating Node Availability

313

Node Status:

314

Percent Packet Loss:

314

Calculating a Baseline

314

Using the Polling Engine Load Balancer

315

To reassign nodes to a different polling engine:

315

Setting the Node Warning Level

316

Managing Packet Loss Reporting

316

To configure the Response Time Retry Count for your polling engine:
Chapter 12: Virtualization
VMware Monitoring

316
318
318

Virtual Machine Auto-Summary

319

Virtualization Alerting and Reporting

319

Requirements for Monitoring ESXi and ESX Servers

319

Enabling SNMP on VMware ESXi and ESX Servers

321

Enabling SNMP on VMware ESXi

321

To enable SNMP on VMware ESXi:

Enabling SNMP on ESX Server Version 3.5
To enable SNMP on ESX Server version 3.5:
Enabling SNMP on ESX Server Version 4.0
To enable SNMP on ESX Server version 4.0:
Creating ESX Server Credentials for SolarWinds SAM
To create ESX Server credentials for SolarWinds SAM:
Managing VMware Credentials in the Web Console

321
323
323
324
324
326
326
327

To update a VMware credential:

327

Adding Virtual Servers for Monitoring

327

Polling for VMware nodes Using the Network Sonar Wizard

327

Adding VMs from the Virtualization Assets Resource

327

Virtualization Summary
To view the Virtualization Summary:

328
328

Viewing ESX Host Details

328

Changing Polling Orders for ESX Servers

329

To poll a vCenter-managed ESX Host from the SolarWinds server:

Troubleshooting ESX Hardware Monitoring
Hyper-V Monitoring

329
329
330

Requirements for Monitoring Hyper-V Servers

330

Configuring Hyper-V Servers for Discovery

331

Modifying the Windows Firewall

332

Ensure the Core Networking rules are enabled

332

To allow core networking traffic through the Windows Firewall on Windows

2008 R2:

332

Enable the Windows Management Instrumentation (DCOM-In) rule

332

To allow WMI traffic through the Windows Firewall on Windows 2008 R2:

333

Create a new firewall rule to open the RPC ports

333

To open the RPC ports on Windows 2008 R2:

333

Enabling and Disabling Hyper-V Monitoring

333

List Resources Method:

334

Virtualization Summary Method:

334

Accessing Hyper-V Details

Virtualization Assets:
Chapter 13: Building Component Monitors and Templates
Certificate Credentials Library

335
336
337
339

Adding a Certificate to the Library

339

Assigning Certificate Credentials

339

A.) When Assigning a Template to a Node:

340

B.) Editing a Template Directly:

340

Understanding the Credentials Library

340

To set up a user account on a SQL server

341

Adding Credentials to the Credentials Library

342

To add credentials from the Credential Library page:

Editing Credentials in the Credentials Library
To edit an existing credential from the Credential Library page:
Deleting Credentials from the Credentials Library
To delete an existing credential from the Credential Library page:

342
342
342
342
343

Using Quick Credentials

To create and assign credentials using Quick Credentials when editing a template or Application Monitor:
Managing Assigned Application Monitors
Editing an Assigned Application Monitor
To edit an individual application:
Unmanaging Assigned Application Monitors
To unmanage assigned Application Monitors:
Remanaging Assigned Application Monitors
To remanage assigned Application Monitors:
Deleting Assigned Application Monitors
To delete assigned Application Monitors:
Application Monitor Thresholds
Inheriting Thresholds

343
343
344
344
344
345
345
346
346
346
346
347
347

Threshold Adjustments at the Template Level

348

Threshold Adjustments at the Component Monitor Level

348

Automatic Calculation of Baseline Data

To Change the Amount of Data Used in Baseline Calculations:

348
349

Multi-value Scripts and Thresholds

349

Applying Baseline Thresholds at the Template Level

351

To Edit and Apply Baseline Thresholds for a Template:

Applying Baseline Thresholds at the Application Level
To Edit and Apply Baseline Thresholds for an Application:
Latest Baseline Details
To View the Latest Baseline Details Page:
Understanding Latest Baseline Details

351
352
353
354
354
355

Understanding the Occurrences Chart

356

Understanding the Metric Over Time Chart

357

Understanding the Latest Baseline Statistics Table

358

Understanding Baseline Details and Setting Thresholds

359

Understanding Sustained Thresholds

Working with Component Monitors

359
360

Viewing the Component Monitor Library

361

Managing Assigned Component Monitors

361

Creating a New Template with Assigned Component Monitors

361

To quickly create a new template with assigned component monitors:

361

Assigning Component Monitors to a Node

362

To quickly assign component monitors to a node:

362

Copying Assigned Component Monitors to an Assigned Application Monitor

363

To quickly copy component monitors to an assigned Application Monitor:

363

Copying Assigned Component Monitors to an Application Monitor Template

363

To quickly copy component monitors to an Application Monitor template:

363

Editing Assigned Application Monitors

364

To edit the assigned Application Monitor for a component monitor:

364

Deleting Assigned Application Monitors

364

To delete an assigned component monitor:

364

Managing Component Monitors within Templates

364

Listing the Component Monitors Defined in a Template

365

To quickly see the different component monitors within your templates:

365

Creating a New Template from Existing Component Monitors

365

To create a new template that contains copies of existing component monitors:365

Creating Assigned Application Monitors from Existing Component Monitors

365

To create assigned Application Monitors from existing component monitors:

365

Copying a Component Monitor

366

To copy a component monitor to a template or an assigned Application Mon366

itor:
Choosing Component Monitors and Templates Based on Protocol
RPC vs. WMI
Web Service Monitoring

367
367
367

JSON

368

SOAP Monitor

369

Definitions:

369

About the SOAPMonitorCurrently, the SOAPmonitor within SAMcan return a

status of either Up or Down, or return a status of Warning or Critical based on 369

response time thresholds. This monitor also has the ability to search for the
presence of a string. You can test the SOAP monitor in Edit mode. If the test
poll throws a web exception (indicating that there was a problem on the target)
the response content is extracted and you will be able to view the message to
help identify the issue.
Configuring the SOAP Monitor

369

Loading WSDLFilesThe SOAPmonitor within SAM currently supports the

WSDL schema, which must be exposed on a URL. Once the WSDL file is successfully loaded, the file will be parsed automatically and the fields, highlighted
below, will populate.
370
Manually Entering XML

372

Scripting Custom Component Monitors

373

Creating a Linux/Unix Script Monitor

374

To adapt an existing Perl script to a Linux/Unix Script component monitor in a

new template:

374

Linux/Unix Scripts

377

Example Scripts

377

Scripts Must Report Status Through Exit Codes

377

Scripts with Text Output

378

Creating a Windows Script Monitor

379

Field Descriptions

380

Creating a Windows Script Monitor

382

To adapt an existing Visual Basic script to a Windows Script Monitor in a new

template:

382

Macros for Script Arguments

383

Scripts Must Report Status Through Exit Codes

383

Scripts with Text Output

384

Example Scripts

384

Creating a Nagios Script Monitor

386

Return Codes

386

Field Descriptions

387

Creating a Windows PowerShell Monitor

389

What needs to be monitored:

389

Troubleshooting the [Link] PowerShell Monitor

392

Using Application Monitor Templates

392

Scanning Nodes for Applications

392

To use the application discovery:

393

Select Nodes

393

Select Applications

393

Enter Credentials

394

Review & Start Scan

394

Add UX Monitors

394

Manually Assign Application Monitors

394

To assign a template using the wizard:

394

To assign a template through the Manage Application Monitor Templates

page:

395

Creating New Templates

396

Creating New Templates Using the Traditional Method:

396

Creating New Templates Using the Browsing Method:

396

Managing Templates

397

Creating Templates

398

To create an application template:

398

Assign to Node

398

To create an assigned Application Monitor by assigning template(s) to nodes: 398

Editing Templates

399

To edit an application template:

399

Multi-Edit Templates

399

Ordering Components

400

Copying Templates

401

To copy an application template:

401

Exporting and Importing Templates Locally or Using Thwack

401

To export a template:

401

To import a template from a file:

402

To import a template from thwack:

402

Deleting Templates

403

To delete a template:

403

Tagging Templates

403

To add tags:

404

To remove tags:

404

Understanding Component Monitors and Application Monitor Templates

404

Requirements for Component Monitors and Templates that use WMI

406

Monitoring External Nodes

410

Custom Application Monitor Template Example: Creating a SolarWinds SAM Template

410
To create a SolarWinds SAM application template:

411

Web Service Monitoring

413

JMX Component Monitor Wizard

413

To add a JMX component monitor, perform the following steps:

413

Available Data Transformations

414

Conversion Value

416

Chapter 14: Asset Inventory

418

Asset Inventory Requirements

419

Third Party Software Required for Asset Inventory Information

420

HP

420

HP/VMWare

420

Dell/VMWare

420

IBM

420

VMWare

420

Asset Inventory Data Collection

420

Enabling the Asset Inventory Dashboard

421

To Enable Asset Inventory data collection via the Add Node Wizard:

421

To Enable Asset Inventory data collection via the Management Resource:

421

Viewingthe Asset Inventory Dashboard

Navigating to the Asset Inventory page:

422
423

Custom Asset Information

423

Drivers

424

Firmware

425

Graphics and Audio

425

Hard Drives

426

Hosted Virtual Machines

427

Logical Volumes

427

Memory

428

Network Interfaces

429

Operating System Updates Applied

429

Out of Band Management

430

Peripherals

430

Ports and USB Controllers

431

Processors

431

Removable Media

432

Software Inventory

432

Storage Controllers

433

System Information

433

General

434

Hardware

434

Operating System

435

Windows Update Information

435

Chapter 15: AppInsight Applications

437

Template/Application Relationship

437

Changing between 32-bit and 64-bit polling methods:

AppInsight for SQL
AppInsight for SQL Requirements and Permissions

438
439
440

AppInsight for SQL Requirements

440

AppInsight for SQL Permissions

441

The following script will configure permissions for a SQLaccount:

442

AppInsight for SQL Licensing

442

Adding AppInsight for SQL to a Node

443

To Add AppInsight for SQL via the Management Resource:

Adding a Named Instance

445
445

AppInsight for SQL Default Instances

445

Add a Node

446

Choose your Applications

447

Setting Properties

448

Editing the AppInsight for SQL Template

Editing the AppInsight for SQL Template:
Understanding the AppInsight for SQL Details View
Editing Resources
Navigating the AppInsight for SQL Details View

449
449
450
451
452

Navigating to the Database Details view:

454

Monitoring Clusters with AppInsight for SQL

455

AppInsight for SQL Alerts

458

AppInsight for SQL Details View (Summary Tab)

459

All Databases

460

Active Alerts

460

Application Availability

461

Zooming

462

Application Details

462

Buffer Manager

463

Cache

466

Connections

469

Disk

472

Latches and Locks

475

Memory

481

Pages

491

Processes and Services

497

Sessions

498

SQL Agent Job Status

501

SQL Errors

501

SQL Event Log Message Details

502

SQL Server

503

Top 10 Databases by Active User Connections

513

Top 10 Most Expensive Queries by CPU Time

514

AppInsight for SQL Details View (Queries Tab)

515

Most Expensive Queries

Database Details View

515
516

To navigate to the Database Details view:

516

Active User Connections

517

Connections

518

Database Availability

520

Zooming

521

Database Details

522

Database Disk I/O

523

Database Size by File

524

Log Flushes

525

Storage

529

Top 10 Clustered Indexes by Fragmentation

538

To change the thresholds for the Top Indexes for Database performance
counter:

539

Top 10 Most Expensive Queries by CPU Time

541

Top 10 Nonclustered Indexes by Fragmentation

542

Top 10 Tables by Size

544

Transaction Log Disk I/O

546

Transaction Log Size by File

547

Transactions

549

AppInsight for Exchange

553

AppInsight For Exchange Licensing

554

AppInsight for Exchange Requirements and Permissions

555

Quick Configuration and Navigation

557

Adding AppInsight for Exchange to a Node

557

Understanding the AppInsight for Exchange Details Views

562

Navigating the AppInsight for Exchange Details View

563

Advanced Manual Configuration

566

Changes that will be made to enable AppInsight for Exchange

567

Finding Exchange Credentials

568

Manually Configuring Exchange Server

570

Defining Exchange Credentials

570

Installing PowerShell 2.0 on Server 2008 R2:

571

Installing PowerShell 2.0 on Server 2012:

572

Create a Self-Signed Certificate:

573

WinRM 2.0

575

Create a Firewall Rule

575

Configuring IIS

577

For more information, see:

579

Finding Exchange URL Settings

580

To verify the PowerShell instance used by Exchange on a server, follow the

steps listed below:

580

PowerShell Permissions

583

Editing the AppInsight for Exchange Template

585

Attachment Extensions

586

AppInsight for Exchange Alerts

587

AppInsight for Exchange Details View

588

Active Alerts

589

Application Availability

589

Application Details

591

Calendar and Resource Booking

592

Critical Processes and Services

595

Exchange Event Log Message Details

602

Exchange Server

603

Information Store

608

Mailbox Database Copies

614

Mailbox Database Size and Space Used

617

Mailbox Database Status

618

Mail Database

623

Management

627

Replication

629

Replication Status Checks

633

Storage

636

Users By Mailbox Size

639

Users By % Mailbox Quota Used

641

Users By Messages Sent

643

AppInsight for Exchange Database Details View

645

To navigate to the Database Details view:

645

Active/Mounted Database Availability

645

Database Copies

647

Database Details

651

Database Disk I/O

659

Database File Size

660

Database I/O

661

Database Metrics

665

Events

668

Messages

670

Transaction Log Disk I/O

672

Transaction Log File Size

672

AppInsight for Exchange Mailbox Details View

673

Mailbox Details

673

Mailbox Synced Devices

675

Received Mail

675

Sent Mail

676

Total Mailbox and Attachments Sizes

677

Troubleshooting AppInsight for Exchange

679

Troubleshooting Permissions

679

Troubleshooting Exchange Performance Counters

682

Troubleshooting Error Codes in AppInsight for Exchange

685

Changing between 32-bit and 64-bit polling methods:

700

AppInsight for IIS

AppInsight for IISRequirements and Permissions
AppInsight for IIS Requirements and Permissions

701
702
702

AppInsight For IIS Licensing

703

Understanding the AppInsight for IIS Details View

704

Editing Resources

705

AppInsight for IIS Alerts

706

Quick Configuration and Navigation

710

Adding AppInsight for IIS to a Node

710

Adding AppInsight for IIS via the Management Resource:

710

Editing the AppInsight for IIS Template

714

Editing the AppInsight for IISTemplate:

715

Navigating the AppInsight for IIS Details View

715

Navigating to the Website Details view:

717

Manually Configuring AppInsight for IIS

717

Installing PowerShell 2.0 and the WebAdministration Snapin

718

Downloading and Installing PowerShell 2.0 on Windows Server 2008:

718

Installing PowerShell 2.0 on Windows Server 2008

718

Installing PowerShell 2.0 on Windows Server 2008 R2

718

Set Execution Policy

720

Creating a Self-Signed Certificate

720

Creating a Firewall Rule

721

Updating WsMan Limits

721

Creating a WinRM Listener:

722

Finding IIS URL Settings

722

AppInsight for IIS Application Details View

724

Active Alerts

725

Application Availability

725

Application Details

727

Application Pools

727

Cache

729

Connections

732

IIS Average CPU and Memory Usage

734

IIS Average Network Traffic

736

Event Log Message Details

738

Management

738

Processes and Services

740

Sites

741

Top Page Requests by Average Server Execution Time

742

AppInsight for IIS Website Details View

744

Bindings

744

Connections

745

Files

748

Log Size by File

750

Management

750

Network I/O

751

Requests

752

Site Availability

755

Site Details

756

Site Size by Directory

757

SSL Certificate Expiration

757

Top Page Requests by Average Server Execution Time

758

Web Server Response Time

760

AppInsight for IIS Application Pool Details View

761

Application Pool Availability

762

Application Pool Details

763

Management

764

Worker Process Activation Service

764

Worker Process Cache

767

Worker Process Details

771

Worker Process Requests and Threads

772

Troubleshooting AppInsight for IIS

774

Access is denied when configuring AppInsight for IIS

775

Changing between 32-bit and 64-bit polling methods:

775

Credentials Test Failed

776

Polling fails due to a missing certificate.

777

IISPolling Failed

778

Node Unreachable.

778

IISVersion Failed

779

WinRM Testing Failed

780

Error Code 1367

782

Error Code 1726

783

Error Code 16004

785

Error Code 16005

786

Error Code 16006

787

Error Code 16007

787

Error Code 16008

788

Error Code 16009

790

Error Code 16013

791

Error Code 16022

792

Error Code 16023

793

Error Code 16024

794

Error Code 16029

795

Error Code 16049

796

Error code 16090

797

Other Errors

799

An HTTPS listener currently exists on port 5986:

803

Create a Firewall Rule

804

Event IDs

805

Performance Counter Details View

814

Average Site Response Time

814

Performance Counters

815

Performance Counter Details

816

History Chart

817

Chapter 16: The AppStack Environment

819

Introduction to the AppStack Environment View

819

AppStack Categories and Data

824

Understanding AppStack

836

Understanding Status and Colors

Understanding Mixed Icons
Understanding Quick Links

837
837
838

Understanding Categories
Understanding the Category Status Summary

840
841

Understanding the Overview Bar:

841

Understanding Filtering Options

841

Understanding Filter Properties

842

Understanding Layouts

845

Understanding the AppStack Resource

847

Navigating AppStack

848

Using AppStack

849

Customizing the AppStack Environment View

851

Adding AppStack to a NOC View

853

Chapter 17: Agents

Agent Requirements

856
858

Accounts and Security Requirements:

859

Requirements for Remote Deployment from the Orion Server:Note: Other

remote or mass deployment methods do not have the same requirements.

860

Open Ports Requirements for Remote Deployment from the Orion Server:

860

Agent-Initiated (Active) Communication

860

Orion Server-Initiated (Passive) Communication

861

Agent Discovery

862

Add Agent via the Add Node Wizard

863

Windows Core Agent Installation

866

Deploying an Agent

867

Deploying Agent Software via Orion Server Push

867

Deploying the Agent Manually

871

Mass Deploying an Agent:

873

Packaging the Orion Agent for Deployment with Patch Manager

878

Gold Master Image

888

Agent Settings

890

Managing Agents

892

Editing Agent Settings in the Control Panel

Agent Alerting

895
898

Certificates and the Agent

899

Changing the Agent Port

904

Changing Agent Modes

905

Keeping Track of Polling Methods

907

Connecting to a previously installed agent

910

Agent Performance Counters

910

Editing Agent Configuration

912

Changing between 32-bit and 64-bit polling methods:

913

Troubleshooting Agents and Deployment

914

Troubleshooting Server Push Deployment

914

Troubleshooting Manual Deployment

915

Troubleshooting Mass Deployment

916

Passive Agent: Connection Refused.

916

Passive Agent: Agent is not Running in Passive Mode.

916

Invalid Agent Version

917

Agent GUIDis Different than the Requested ID.

917

Agent Alerting
Chapter 18: Alerting and Reporting
Alerting

917
919
919

Understanding Alerts

920

Managing Alerts

921

Managing Actions

922

Introduction to the Alert Wizard

924

Alert Properties

925

Trigger Conditions

926

Reset Condition

927

Time of Day

928

Trigger Actions

929

Reset Actions

931

Summary

933

Available Alerts

933

Adding Alerts

938

Adding Alert Actions

942

Sending an E-mail / Page

942

To configure an email/page action for an alert:

943

Playing a Sound

944

To configure a play sound action for an alert:

944

Logging an Alert to a File

945

To configure an alert log file for an alert:

945

Logging an Alert to the Windows Event Log

946

To configure alert logging to the Windows Event Log:

946

Logging an Alert to the NetPerfMon Event Log

947

To configure alert logging to the NetPerfMon Event Log:

947

Sending a Syslog Message

948

To configure an alert to send a Syslog message:

948

Executing an External Program

949

To configure an alert to execute an external program:

949

Executing a Visual Basic Script

950

To configure alerts to execute a Visual Basic (VB) script:

950

Emailing a Web Page

951

To configure an email web page action for an alert:

951

Using Text to Speech Output

952

To configure a text-to-speech output action for an advanced alert:

952

Sending a Windows Net Message

953

To configure SolarWinds to send a Windows Net message upon alert:

953

Sending an SNMP Trap

954

To configure SolarWinds to send an SNMP trap upon alert:

954

Restart IIS Site/Application Pool

955

Using Get or Post URL Functions

956

To configure SolarWinds to use GET or POST URL functions with alerts:

956

Dial Paging or SMS Service

957

Change Custom Property

957

To configure an email/page action for an alert:

957

Set Custom Status

958

To configure an email/page action for an alert:

Alert Details

958
959

Management

959

Alert Status Overview

960

Alert Definition Details

961

History of this Alert on this Object

963

Other Objects currently Experiencing the same Alert

963

Top 10 Objects by trigger count of this alert

964

Alert notes

965

Viewing Alerts in the SolarWinds Web Console

To view alerts in the Web Console:
Acknowledging Alerts in the Web Console
To acknowledge alerts using the SolarWinds Web Console:
Viewing Alerts from Mobile Devices
To view and acknowledge alerts from a mobile device:
Understanding Condition Groups

965
966
967
967
968
968
969

All Condition Group

969

Any Condition Group

969

None Condition Group

970

Not All Condition Group

970

SolarWinds SAM Alerts

970

Component Monitor Alerting Properties

971

Application Monitor Alerting properties

974

Application Monitor Variables for Alerts

974

Component Monitor Variables for Alerts

985

Web Console Based Reports

1000

Using Predefined Web Console Based Reports

1001

Predefined Server & Application Monitor Web Console Based Reports

1001

Application Reports

1001

Agent Reports

1003

Group Reports

1003

Hardware Health Reports

1004

Interface Reports

1005

Node Reports

1007

Creating and Editing Web Based Reports

1012

Edit Report Screen

1014

Report Width:

1014

Header Section:

1015

Logo

1015

Content Section:

1016

Page Layout

1016

Layout Columns

1018

For drop down Menu

1018

Edit Table

1019

Edit Resource Screen

1019

Table Layout

1020

Table Layout

1022

Table Layout (Column Details)

1022

Display Settings

1024

Creating a Scheduled Report

1024

Scheduling a Web-Based Report

1025

Creating a Web-Based Report Schedule

1025

Using an Existing Web-Based Report Schedule

1029

Adding a Custom Table to a Web-Based Report Column

Desktop Notification Tool
Chapter 19: Monitoring Quality of Experience

1029
1031
1035

Introduction

1036

Requirements

1036

Network Packet Analysis Sensor Requirements

1037

Server Packet Analysis Sensor Requirements

1037

Port Requirements

1037

User Scenarios

1038

Scenario: High Response Time

1038

Packet Analysis Sensor Licensing

1038

Viewing Packet Analysis Sensor Licensing Details

1038

Purchasing Additional Licenses

1039

Activating Additional Licenses

1039

Common Packet Analysis Sensor Deployment Scenarios

1040

Aggregation per application

1041

Aggregation with access to network (NPAS)

1042

Aggregationwith access to application servers (SPAS)

1043

Aggregation per site

1044

Aggregation per site with access to network (NPAS)

1045

Aggregation per site with access to application servers (SPAS)

1046

Aggregation per computer

1047

Aggregation per computer with access to network (NPAS)

1048

Aggregation per computer with access to application servers (SPAS)

1049

Deploying a Network Sensor

1050

Deploying a Server Sensor

1051

Configuring Nodes and Applications to Monitor

1051

Monitoring QoE Applications

1052

Defining Custom HTTP Applications

1053

Advanced Sensor Configuration

1055

Configuring the Monitored Interface

1055

Configuring the Number of CPU Cores and Allocated Memory

1056

Packet Analysis Sensor Agents

1057

Quality of Experience Resources

1057

All Nodes with QoE Traffic

1057

Application Response Time (Time to First Byte)

1058

Application Response Time (Time to First Byte)

1059

Business Related vs. Social Traffic

1059

Changing an Application Productivity Rating

1060

Data Volume By Application

1060

Data Volume By Node

1061

Network Response Time (TCP Handshake) by Application

1062

Network Response Time (TCP Handshake) by Node

1063

QoE Applications/Nodes Exceeding Thresholds

Configuring Response Time Thresholds
Quality of Experience Application Details
Managing QoE Applications
Quality of Experience Application Stats
Managing QoE Applications

1064
1064
1065
1065
1066
1066

Top XX Application Response Time

1067

Top XX Data Volume

1068

Top XX Network Response Time (TCP Handshake)

1069

Top XX Transactions

1070

Traffic By Category

1071

Changing an Application Category

Traffic By Risk Level

1072
1073

Changing an Application Risk Level

1073

Transactions By Application

1074

Transactions By Node
Chapter 20: Monitoring Hardware Health

1075
1076

Hardware Items Monitored by SAM

1077

Hardware Monitoring and VMware

1077

Accessing Hardware Monitoring Agent Software

1078

Adding Server Hardware Monitoring

1079

Add Node Wizard

1079

Manually Add Hardware Monitoring

1079

Hardware Details

1080

Current Hardware Health Status

1081

Hardware Health Overview Chart

1082

Changing Threshold Values

1083

Hardware Health Chart

1086

Customizing the Hardware Health Chart

1087

Chapter 21: Viewing Performance and Status

1090

Understanding the SAM Application Summary

Understanding SAM Application Details

1090
1092

Understanding SolarWinds SAM Component Details

1093

Understanding SolarWinds SAM Component Settings

1095

Showing SolarWinds SAM Data in Node Details

1095

To enable SolarWinds SAM-specific resources:

Customizing SAM Application Summary Views

1095
1096

Pre-configured Summary Views

1096

Summary View Filtering Criteria

1097

To create a Filtered Applications Summary view based on the default SAM

Application Summary view:

1098

To add a summary view menu item to the menu bar in the Applications tab:

1098

Customizing Application Details Views

1099

Default Application Details View

1099

Custom Application Details View

1099

To customize an application details view for an assigned Application Monitor:

1099

Managing Custom Application Details Views

1100

To select a view for a template:

1100

To select a view for an application:

1100

Viewing Node and Application Data in Tooltips

1101

Node Tooltips

1101

Application Tooltips

1102

Monitoring Network Events in the Web Console

1102

Viewing Event Details in the Web Console

1102

To view event details in the Web Console:

1103

Acknowledging Events in the Web Console

1103

To acknowledge events in the Web Console:

Understanding Volume Details
To navigate to the Volume Details page:

1103
1104
1104

Volume Details Resource

1104

Volume Polling Details

1105

Total Disk IOPS

1105

Avg. Disk sec/Transfer

1106

Disk queue length

1108

Avg. Disk Space Used - Today

1109

Percent Disk Space Used - Today

1110

Volume Size

1111

Volume Thresholds and Planning

1112

Editing Capacity Planning Thresholds

1112

CPUCapacity Forecast Chart

1113

Memory Capacity Forecast Chart

1114

Node Resource Capacity Forecast

1116

Volume Capacity Forecast

1116

Top XX Capacity Problems

1117

Understanding Interface Details

1118

Interface Details Resource

1119

Percent Utilization

1119

Min/Max Average bps In/Out Chart

1120

Percent Utilization - Line Chart

1121

In/Out Errors and Discards

1123

Total Bytes Transferred

1124

Min/Max/Average Packets In/Out

1125

Chapter 22: Creating Account Limitations

Using the Account Limitation Builder
Creating an Account Limitation
To create an account limitation:
Deleting an Account Limitation
To delete an account limitation:

1128
1128
1128
1128
1129
1129

Chapter 23: Managing Processes, Services, Tasks, and Events in Real Time 1130
Real Time Process Explorer
Accessing the Real Time Process Explorer

1130
1131

Node Details page

1131

To navigate to the Node Details page:

1131

Application Details page

1132

To navigate to the Application Details page:

1132

Component Details page

1132

To navigate to the Component Details page:

Monitoring Unmonitored Processes
To have SAM monitor a process that is not being monitored:
Using the Real Time Process Explorer

1133
1133
1133
1133

To show all running processes:

1135

To show a set number of running processes:

1135

To pause polling:

1135

To end processes:

1135

To start polling:

1136

Real Time Process Explorer Alerts

1136

Real Time Process Information in Top XX Alerts

1136

Service Control Manager

Accessing the Service Control Manager

1139
1139

Application Details page

1139

To navigate to the Application Details page:

1140

Component Details page

1140

Node Details page

1140

To navigate to the Node Details page:

1141

Using the Service Control Manager

1141

Starting and Stopping a Service:

1142

Windows Scheduled Task Monitor

1143

Requirements for the Windows Scheduled Task Monitor

1143

Enabling the Windows Scheduled Task Monitor

1144

Accessing the Windows Scheduled Task Monitor

1146

Understanding the Windows Scheduled Task Monitor

1147

Alerting Using Windows Scheduled Task Monitor Macros

1148
1148

Windows Scheduled Task Monitor Returned Status Codes

1149

WTSM Status

1152

Real Time Event Viewer

1153

Accessing the Real Time Event Viewer

1154

To navigate to the Node Details page:

1154

To navigate to the Application Details page:

1154

To navigate to the Component Details page:

1155

Filtering Events
To Select a Log Type:

1155
1155

Reading Events

1157

Monitoring Events

1157

Component Monitor Wizard

1158

Chapter 24: Monitoring Syslog Messages

1159

Configuring the SolarWinds Syslog Port

1159

To configure the Syslog port:

Syslog Messages in the Web Console

1160
1160

Syslog Resources

1160

Viewing Syslog Messages in the Web Console

1161

To view Syslog messages in the Web Console:

Acknowledging Syslog Messages in the Web Console
To acknowledge Syslog messages in the SolarWinds Web Console:
Using the Syslog Viewer
Viewing and Acknowledging Current Messages
To view and acknowledge current Syslog messages:
Searching for Syslog Messages
To search the Syslog message list:
Syslog Server Settings

1161
1162
1162
1163
1163
1163
1163
1163
1164

To start and configure the Syslog Viewer:

1164

Configuring Syslog Viewer Filters and Alerts

1165

To configure Syslog Viewer filters and alerts:

1165

Available Syslog Alert Actions

1167

Forwarding Syslog Messages

1169

To configure the forward Syslog message action:

Syslog Alert Variables

1169
1169

Syslog Date/Time Variables

1169

Other Syslog Variables

1171

Syslog Message Priorities

1171

Syslog Facilities

1172

Syslog Severities

1173

Chapter 25: Monitoring SNMP Traps

1175

The SNMP Trap Protocol

1175

Viewing SNMP Traps in the Web Console

1175

To view SNMP traps in the Web Console:

Using the Trap Viewer
Viewing Current Traps
To view current trap messages:
Searching for Traps
To search the trap message list:
Trap Viewer Settings

1176
1176
1176
1176
1177
1177
1177

To start and configure the Trap Viewer:

1177

Configuring Trap Viewer Filters and Alerts

1178

To configure SolarWinds to send an SNMP trap upon alert:

Available Trap Alert Actions

1178
1179

Trap Alert Variables

1181

Trap Date/Time Variables

1181

Other Trap Variables

1182

Chapter 26: Managing the SolarWinds SAM Database

Using Database Manager
Adding a Server
To add a SQL server to Database Manager:

1184
1184
1185
1185

Creating Database Backups

1185

Restoring a Database

1185

To restore a database from backup:

1185

Compacting your Database

1186

Compacting Individual Tables

1186

Viewing Database Details

1186

To view database details:

Viewing Table Details
To view table details:

1186
1187
1188

Editing Database Fields

To edit database fields with Database Manager:
Detaching a Database
To detach a database:
Using SQL Server Management Studio
To use SQL Server Management Studio to manage your database:
Database Maintenance
Running Database Maintenance
To run the Database Maintenance utility:
Migrating your Database

1188
1188
1189
1189
1190
1190
1192
1192
1192
1193

Stopping SolarWinds Services

1193

To stop SolarWinds services:

1193

Migrating SolarWinds SAM

1193

To migrate SAM:

1194

Creating a Database Backup File with SQL Server Management Studio

1195

To backup your database using SQL Server Management Studio:

1195

To restore your database backup file on a server running SQL Server 2008: 1196
To update SAM to use a new database:

1197

Moving SAM to a New Server

1198

To replicate the original certificate:

1198

To export data from one Orion database and import it into another:

1199

Chapter 27: Creating Custom Properties

Creating a Custom Property
To create a property with Manage Custom Properties Editor:
Removing a Custom Property
To remove a custom property:
Importing and Exporting Custom Property Data

1201
1201
1202
1203
1203
1204

To import custom property data:

1204

To export custom property data:

1205

Editing Custom Properties

1206

To edit a custom property:

1206

To edit a custom property's value:

1206

Chapter 28: Additional Polling Engine and Web Console

Understanding How Polling Engines Work

1208
1208

SolarWinds SAM is Poller-Unaware By Default

1209

SolarWinds SAM Additional Polling Engines are Poller-Aware

1209

Requirements for Installing an Additional Polling Engine

1210

Installing an Additional Polling Engine

1211

To install the additional polling engine:

1212

To assign nodes to polling engines:

1212

Installing an Additional Web Console

1213

To install an additional Web Console:

1213

Copying the Default Reports

1213

Chapter 29: Status Icons and Identifiers

1215

Chapter 29: Interface Variables and Errors

1216

Interfaces

1216

Interface Traffic

1217

Interface Errors

1219

Chapter 30: SolarWinds Variables and Examples

1220

Variable Modifiers

1220

95th Percentile Calculations

1221

Regular Expression Pattern Matching

1222

Characters

1222

Character Classes or Character Sets [abc]

1222

Anchors

1224

Quantifiers

1225

Dot

1227

Word Boundaries

1227

Alternation

1227

Regular Expression Pattern Matching Examples

1228

Alert Engine Variables

1229

General

1229

Date/Time

1230

Group Variables

1231

SQL Query

1233

Status Variables

1234

Node Variables

1235

Volume Variables

1244

Hardware Specific Variables

1246

Hardware Status

1246

Node Hardware Type

1248

Node Hardware Sensor

1249

I/O Operations Macros

1250

Asset Inventory Alert Macros

1250

Example Messages Using Variables

1252

Syslog Alert Variables

1252

Syslog Date/Time Variables

1252

Other Syslog Variables

1254

Trap Alert Variables

1254

Other Trap Variables

1254

Trap Date/Time Variables

1255

Script Macros

1257

Node Custom Property Macros

1258

Application Custom Property Macros

1258

Baseline Threshold Macros

1258

Chapter 31: Network Atlas

1260

What is in a Map?

1260

Example Maps

1261

Installing Network Atlas

1262

Network Atlas Requirements

1262

Network Atlas Requirements

1262

Creating a Basic Map

1263

Starting Network Atlas

1263

To start Network Atlas:

Adding Map Objects
To add monitored objects to your map:

1263
1264
1264

Connecting Map Objects Manually

To manually connect map objects:
Using Object Links to Represent Interface Status
To use object links to represent actual interface states:

1265
1265
1265
1265

Interpreting Map Links

1265

Using Anchor Points to Reshape Map Links

1266

To use object link anchor points:

Adding a Background

1266
1266

Selecting a Background Color

1266

To set a map background color:

1266

Selecting a Background Texture

1266

To set a map background textures:

1266

Selecting a Background Image

1267

To select a background image:

1267

Clearing the Background

1268

Saving Maps
To save a map:
Opening Maps
To open a map:

1268
1268
1269
1269

Displaying Maps in the Web Console

1269

Map Resources in the Network Atlas Web Console

1269

Displaying Maps in the SolarWinds Web Console

1270

To display a saved map in the Home view of the SolarWinds Web Console:
Displaying Maps in the SolarWinds EOC Web Console

1270
1270

To display a saved map in the Home view of the SolarWinds EOC web console:1270
Advanced Mapping Techniques

1271

Zooming In and Out of a Map

1271

Creating Nested Maps

1271

To create a nested map:

1273

Displaying Map Object Metrics

1273

To add the secondary status indicator:

1273

To change the thresholds of the metrics:

1273

Adding Independent Map Objects and Floating Labels

1274

To add an independent object:

1274

To add an independent label:

1274

Changing the Appearance of Map Objects

1274

To set the default representations of map objects:

1274

To change the representation of selected map objects:

1274

Pasting Custom Icons from the Windows Clipboard

1275

To paste a custom icon into Network Atlas:

1275

To delete a custom icon:

1276

Adding Custom Icons from Graphics Files

1276

To add custom icons from graphics files:

1277

To assign a custom icon to an object:

1277

Changing the Appearance of Links

To change the appearance of a link:
Changing the Appearance of Labels

1277
1277
1277

To move a label:

1277

To edit the text in a label:

1278

To change the appearance of a label:

1278

Linking Map Objects to URLs

To link a map object to a URL.

1278
1278

Linking or Embedding Maps in Web Pages

1279

Customizing SolarWinds Web Console Tooltips

1279

To add additional information to map object tool tips:

1279

Example Custom SolarWinds Node Tooltip

1280

Advanced Map Layouts

1280

Displaying Grid Guides

1280

To display a grid:

1280

To customize the grid:

1281

Aligning Map Objects

1281

Distributing Map Objects

1281

Selecting Automatic Layout Styles

1282

To arrange map objects according to a layout style:

1283

Map Properties

1283

Setting the Map Up Status Threshold

1283

To set the percentage of map objects that determine Up status of a map:

1283

Overriding Account Limitations

1283

To hide nodes from users who have account limitations:

1284

To reveal nodes to all users:

1284

Network Atlas Settings

1284

Network Atlas Tooltip Variables

1285

Application Variables

1285

Application Component Monitor Variables

1286

Date and Time Variables

1287

General Variables

1288

Node Variables

1289

Volume Variables

1295

Wireless Variables

1296

Group Variables

1297

Chapter 32: Configuring Automatic Login

Using Windows Pass-through Security
To enable IIS NT security for Windows Pass-through Security:

1299
1299
1300

Passing Login Information Using URL Parameters

1301

Using the DirectLink Account

1302

To enable a DirectLink account for the SolarWinds Web Console:

Chapter 33: Component Monitor Types
DHCP User Experience Monitor

1302
1303
1304

Statistic

1304

Field Descriptions:

1304

Directory Size Monitor

1306

Statistic

1307

Field Descriptions:

1307

DNS Monitor - TCP

1308

Statistic

1308

Field Descriptions:

1308

DNS User Experience Monitor

1309

Statistic

1309

Field Descriptions:

1310

DNS Monitor - UDP

Statistic
Download Speed Monitor

1311
1311
1312

Statistic

1312

Field Descriptions:

1312

Exchange Web Services User Experience Monitor

Field Descriptions:

1313
1314

File Age Monitor

1315

Statistic

1315

Field Descriptions:

1315

File Count Monitor

1317

Statistic

1317

Field Descriptions:

1317

File Existence Monitor

1319

Statistic

1319

Field Descriptions:

1319

File Change Monitor

1320

Statistic

1320

Field Descriptions:

1320

File Size Monitor

1322

Statistic

1322

Field Descriptions:

1322

FTP User Experience Monitor

1323

To configure the FTP User Experience Monitor and generate a snapshot

checksum:

1324

Statistic

1324

Field Descriptions:

1324

FTP Monitor
Statistic

1326
1326

Field Descriptions:

1326

HTTP Form Login Monitor

1327

Statistic

1327

Troubleshooting

1327

Field Descriptions:

1328

HTTP Monitor

1331

Statistic

1331

Field Descriptions:

1331

HTTPS Monitor

1334

Statistic

1334

Field Descriptions:

1334

IMAP4 Monitor

1338

Statistic

1338

Field Descriptions:

1338

IMAP4 User Experience Monitor

1339

Statistic

1339

Field Descriptions:

1339

JMX Monitor
Field Descriptions:
LDAP User Experience Monitor

1341
1341
1343

Statistic

1343

Field Descriptions:

1343

Linux/Unix Script Monitor

1345

Statistic

1345

Field Descriptions:

1345

MAPI User Experience Monitor

1347

Install the MAPI Client on Your SolarWinds SAM Server

1347

Statistic

1348

Notes:

1348

Field Descriptions:

1348

Nagios Script Monitor

Field Descriptions:

1350
1350

NNTP Monitor

1352

Statistic

1352

Field Descriptions:

1352

ODBC User Experience Monitor

1353

Statistic

1353

Install ODBC Drivers on the SolarWinds SAM Server.

1354

TCP Ports

1354

Field Descriptions:

1354

To create the SQL Server connection string:

1355

Oracle User Experience Monitor

1356

Statistic

1357

Install Oracle Client on the SolarWinds SAM Server.

1357

TCP Ports

1357

Field Descriptions:

1357

Performance Counter Monitor

1361

Statistic

1362

Field Descriptions:

1362

POP3 Monitor

1364

Statistic

1365

Field Descriptions:

1365

POP3 User Experience Monitor

1366

Statistic

1366

Field Descriptions:

1366

Process Monitor - SNMP

1367

Statistic

1368

Field Descriptions:

1368

Process Monitor - WMI

1369

Statistic

1369

Field Descriptions:

1369

RADIUS User Experience Monitor

1371

Statistic

1371

Field Descriptions:

1371

Service Status SNMP

1372

Statistic

1372

Field Descriptions:

1372

SMTP Monitor

1373

Statistic

1374

Field Descriptions:

1374

SNMP Monitor

1375

Statistic

1375

Field Descriptions:

1375

SOAP Component Monitor

1376

Field Descriptions:

1377

SQL Server User Experience Monitor

1380

Statistic

1380

Field Descriptions:

1380

SSL Certificate Expiration Date Monitor

Field Descriptions:
TACACS+ User Experience Monitor

1382
1382
1384

Important: This component monitor will not work using an agent as the polling
method.

1384

Statistic

1384

Field Descriptions:

1384

TCP Port Monitor

1385

Statistic

1385

Field Descriptions:

1385

Tomcat Server Monitor

1386

Statistic

1386

Field Descriptions:

1387

VMware Performance Counter Monitor

1389

Statistic

1389

Field Description:

1390

Web Link Monitor

Statistic

1393
1393

Field Descriptions:
Windows Event Log Monitor

1393
1395

Statistic

1395

Field Descriptions:

1395

Windows PowerShell Monitor

1399

Statistic

1399

Field Descriptions:

1399

Windows Script Monitor

1401

Field Descriptions:

1402

Windows Service Monitor

1404

Statistic

1404

Field Descriptions

1404

WMI Monitor

1405

Statistic

1406

Field Descriptions:

1406

Chapter 34: Filter Syntax Reference

1408

To apply a resource filter:

1408

Filter Syntax
SQL or SWQL?
SWQL Filter Syntax Examples

1408
1408
1409

Wildcards

1409

Filtering by Custom Property

1409

Filtering by Built-in Properties

1409

Examples

1409

Filtering by Status

1409

SQL Filter Syntax Examples

1410

Wildcards

1410

Filtering by Custom Property

1410

Examples

1410

Filtering by Status

1410

SWQL Resource Matrix

EOC Filters

1411
1411

Alert Resource Filters

1411

Orion SAM Resource Filters

1411

Events Filters

1414

Inventory Filters

1414

EOC Filters

1414

IP SLA Filters

1416

NCM Filters

1418

NTA Filters

1419

Wireless Filters

1419

Summary Report Filters

1420

SysLog Filters

1421

Trap Filters

1421

IVIM Filters

1421

Virtualization Summary

1421

Datacenter Details

1422

Cluster Details

1422

SolarWinds SAM Filters

1423

SAM Resource Filters

1423

Configuring and Integrating

JMX
JConsole
To login to JConsole:
Adding a JMX Component Monitor to SAM
To add a JMX Monitor to a node using the wizard:

1426
1426
1427
1428
1429
1429

Configuring Java Applications Servers for JMX

1432

Configuring Java Virtual Machines for SNMP

1448

Configuring a Standalone Java Virtual Machine

1448

Configuring Apache Tomcat (tested on version 7.0)

1451

Configuring JBoss (tested on versions 5.0.1, 5.1, and 6.0)

1452

Configuring GlassFish (tested on version 3.1):

1454

Configuring IBM WebSphere (tested on version 7.0):

1454

Configuring Oracle WebLogic (tested on version [Link])

1455

Enabling Java SNMP monitoring for Weblogic

MAPI
The MAPI User Experience Monitor in SAM

1458
1459
1460

What credentials should a user use?

1460

Why does the profile have to be able to log in to the SAM server?

1460

Install the MAPI Client on the SolarWinds SAM Server

Field Descriptions of the MAPI Monitor:
Troubleshooting MAPI

1460
1462
1463

MAPI Probe Diagnostic Checklist

1464

Install CDO or Outlook

1464

Check the MAPI profile

1464

Check probe settings

1464

Mailbox recommendations

1465

Advanced Troubleshooting

1465

[Link] Command Line Arguments

1465

In SAM v5.0+:

1466

New in SAM 5.0+ (not listed in the configuration file):

1467

Oracle

1468

Physical and Logical Structures

1468

Storage

1468

Disk files

1468

Configuring SAM to Monitor an Oracle Database Server

1469

Prerequisites for Oracle Server Monitoring

1469

Installing [Link]

1469

Installing the Basic Lite Oracle Client

1475

Adding an Oracle Database Server to SAM

1478

Monitoring an Oracle Database on an Existing Node

1485

Getting the Required Settings

1489

Troubleshooting

1492

Oracle Client Driver and Server Compatibility

1493

SAM is Unable to Load the Oracle Client Driver

1493

Troubleshooting Steps:

1494

Using Process Explorer to Determine if SAM is Loading the Correct Oracle Client Library
1495
Using Process Monitor to Determine Why the Oracle Client Fails

1497

Oracle User Experience Monitor is Unable to Connect to the Oracle Server

1500

Troubleshooting steps:

1501

Using the Oracle SQL*Plus Tool to Troubleshoot Connectivity Issues:

1502

Connecting to an Oracle Server Using Simple Syntax

1502

Connecting to the Oracle Server Using Full Oracle Connection Syntax

1503

Executing queries using SQL*Plus

1505

PowerShell
PowerShell and SAM: Configuration and Usage

1507
1508

Exchange 2010 Management Tools

1508

Installation of Exchange Management Tools:

1509

64-bit vs. 32-bit

1512

Platform Scenarios

1512

Troubleshooting PowerShell Snap-In Compatibility

1513

PowerShell Templates and Monitors

1515

PowerShell Code with SAM

1519

Scripts Must Report Status Through Exit Codes

1521

Scripts with Text Output

1522

Remote Execution vs. Local Execution

1523

Script:

1523

To save this script as a PowerShell (ps1) file:

1524

To open the PowerShell console:

1524

To run this command via remote execution:

1524

To run this command via local execution:

1524

Execute Scripts Remotely via Secure WinRM

1525

PowerShell 2.0 Remoting Requirements

1526

PowerShell 2.0 Remoting Configuration

1527

Configuration of the Remoting Server

1527

Create a Self-signed Certificate

1527

Create a WinRM HTTPS Listener

1535

Adding a Firewall Exception

Remoting Client/SAM Computer Configuration
Transferring the Certificate:

1537
1538
1541

Communicate with Remoting Host

1545

Setup Windows PowerShell Monitor in SAM

1547

LDAP
LDAP Key Terms and Components

1550
1550

Distinguished Names

1550

Search Root

1551

Search Filter

1551

Basic LDAP Syntax

1551

The LDAP User Experience Monitor

1553

Use the LDAP Monitor to test that:

1553

How this Monitor Works:

1554

Integrating the LDAP User Experience Monitor

1554

Prerequisites

1554

Fields Defined

1554

Credentials

1556

How To...

1558

How To Add and Manage Resources in a Page View

1558

How To Change the Width and Number of Columns in a Page View

1560

How To Disable Asset Inventory Data Collection

1560

How to Handle Microsoft Server Clusters in AppInsight for SQL

1560

AppInsight for SQL: Create an alert trigger based on how much available space
is occupied by actual data in the database.
1561
How to Remove an Application Template from Multiple Nodes

1561

How to Monitor Multiple Instances of [Link]

1561

How to Restart a Windows Service with an Alert Action

1562

How to Wrap a VBScript Around an Executable File

1563

How to Control Whether Alerts are Repeated or Suppressed if a Condition Still

Exists

1563

How to Stop the Polling of all Applications Monitored by SAM.

1564

How To Use VB Script to Monitor Your SSL Expiration Date

1564

How to Monitor an Application Process Launched from a Specific Path.

1568

Troubleshooting
Slow Performance on Windows Server 2008
To Disable TCP Auto-tuning:

1570
1571
1572

Why do my SAM WMI Monitors Show Status Unknown?

1572

Working with Temporary Directories

1573

Moving the SQL Server Temporary Directory

1573

Redefining Windows System Temporary Directories

1573

To Redefine Default System Temporary Directories:

WMI Troubleshooting Flowchart for SolarWinds SAM

1574
1575

Testing Local WMI Services

1576

Test WMI on the Target Server

1576

Reset the WMI Counters

1579

To manually reset the WMI counters:

1579

Testing Remote WMI Connectivity

1579

Remotely Test WMI on the Target Server

1579

Verify Administrator Credentials

1582

Enable Remote Procedure Call (RPC)

1582

To enable the RPC service:

1582

Configure Distributed Component Object Model (DCOM) and User Account Control (UAC)
1582
Enabling DCOM
To enable DCOM permissions for your Server & Application Monitor credentials:
Enabling Account Privileges in WMI
To enable namespace and sub-namespaces privileges:
Disabling Remote User Account Control for Workgroups
To disable remote UAC for a workgroup computer:

1583
1583
1584
1584
1584
1585

Add a Windows Firewall Exception for Remote WMI Connections

1585

Do You Need an Additional Polling Engine?

1585

Verify SAM Component Configuration

1586

Service reporting, "Invalid Class"

1586

WMI is Still Not Working. Now What?

1587

Troubleshooting Hardware Health

1588

Hardware Prerequisite Checklist

1588

Hardware Troubleshooting Flowchart

1590

Troubleshooting an SNMP Node

1591

Using [Link]:
Troubleshooting a WMI Node
Using [Link] to troubleshoot WMI:
Troubleshooting a VMWare Node
To determine if a node is polled through the vCenter or directly:
Troubleshooting AppInsight for Exchange

1592
1593
1593
1595
1596
1597

Troubleshooting Permissions

1597

Troubleshooting Exchange Performance Counters

1600

Troubleshooting Error Codes in AppInsight for Exchange

1603

Troubleshooting AppInsight for IIS

1618

Access is denied when configuring AppInsight for IIS

1620

Changing between 32-bit and 64-bit polling methods:

1620

Credentials Test Failed

1621

Polling fails due to a missing certificate.

1622

IISPolling Failed

1622

Node Unreachable.

1623

IISVersion Failed

1624

WinRM Testing Failed

1625

Error Code 1367

1627

Error Code 1726

1628

Error Code 16004

1630

Error Code 16005

1631

Error Code 16006

1632

Error Code 16007

1632

Error Code 16008

1633

Error Code 16009

1635

Error Code 16013

1636

Error Code 16022

1637

Error Code 16023

1638

Error Code 16024

1639

Error Code 16029

1640

Error Code 16049

1641

Error code 16090

1642

Other Errors

1644

An HTTPS listener currently exists on port 5986:

1648

Create a Firewall Rule

1649

Event IDs

1650

Troubleshooting Agents
SAM Page Help

1659
1660

What Changes will be made?

1660

AppInsight for Exchange: Learn more

1661

Help me find these Credentials

1661

Manually Configuring AppInsight for IIS

1661

Inherit Credentials from Node

1662

AppStack: Hiding Up Objects

1662

How To Install PowerShell 2.0 on the Exchange Server

1662

Installing PowerShell 2.0 on Server 2008:

1662

Installing PowerShell 2.0 on Server 2012:

1663

Creating an Active Directory account with local administrative privileges.

Defining Exchange Credentials

1666
1666

Creating an Active Directory account with organization wide Exchange access

(View-Only-Organization Management and Mailbox Search Management Role). 1667
Create a self-signed certificate.

1670

Create a Firewall Rule.

1671
1674

Setup PSLanguageMode for the PowerShell web site.

Prepare the PowerShell web site for configuration.
Configuring IIS

1674
1676
1676

Application Custom Properties

1678

Find Processes, Services and Performance Counters

1678

SolarWinds SAM Application Detail Reports

1678

Active Application Alerts

1679

Application Availability

1679

Application Details

1679

Last XX Application Events

1680

Application Dependencies

1680

Availability Statistics

1681

Custom Area Graph

1681

Custom Bar Graph

1681

Custom Line Graph

1682

Components

1682

Processes and Services

1682

Application Health Overview

1682

Application Summary Reports

1683

All Applications Tree

1684

Active Application Alerts

1684

Last 25 Application Events

1684

Applications With Problems

1685

Custom HTML Resource

1685

Down Applications

1685

Getting Started with SAM

1685

No Applications Defined

1685

thwack Community: Latest Application Monitor Templates

1685

Top XX Processes by CPU Load

1686

Top XX Processes by Physical Memory

1686

Top XX Components by Response Time

1687

Top XX Components by Statistic Data

1687

User Links Resource

1688

Top XX Processes by Virtual Memory

1688

Whats New in SolarWinds SAM

1689

SolarWinds SAM Charts

1689

Component Monitor Library

1689

Component Settings

1689

Configuration Settings for SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor

1690

Add New Application Monitors

1690

Application Discovery

1691

Assigned Application Monitor

1691

Create or Edit Template

1691

Create Assigned Application

1692

Create Assigned Application Monitor

1692

Credentials Library

1692

Data and Database Settings

1693

Database Settings

1693

Poller Setting

1693

Licensing Summary

1694

Manage Application Monitor Templates

1694

Manage Assigned Application Monitors

1695

Manage Assigned Component Monitors

1696

Manage Component Monitors Within Templates

1696

Conversion Value

1696

Customize Chart

1696

Creating a Windows Script Monitor

1698

Field Descriptions

1698

Available Data Transformations

1699

SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor Page Help

1703

Component Detail Reports

1703

Component Statistics Linear Gauges

1703

Min/Max Average CPU Load

1705

Min/Max Average Physical Memory

1705

Min/Max Average Response Time

1706

Min/Max Average Statistic Data

1707

Min/Max Average Virtual Memory

1707

Component Availability

1708

Component Details

1708

Last XX Component Events

1709

Multi Component Statistics Linear Gauges

1709

Multi Component Statistics Statistic Data

1710

Multiple Value Component Statistics Radial Gauges

1711

Multiple Statistic Chart

1712

Multiple Value Component Statistics Linear Gauges

1712

Component Statistics Radial Gauges

1713

Event Log Message Details Resource

1714

Node Details

1714

Applications

1715

Top XX Components by Response Time

1715

Top XX Processes by CPU Load

1716

Top XX Processes by Physical Memory

1716

Top XX Processes by Virtual Memory

1717

Top XX Components by Statistic Data

1717

Node Related XX Syslog Messages

1718

Tags

1718

SAM thwack Forum

1718

Shared Application Monitor Templates on thwack

1718

Finding Templates to Import

1719

Importing a Template

1719

Views by Application Type

1719

Real-Time Process Explorer

1719

Triggered Alerts - Last 30 Days

1720

Group Details

1720

CPUs by Percent Load

1720

Virtual Assets

1720

Adding VMs from the Virtual Assets Resource

1720

Virtual Asset Summary

1721

Node is not Being Polled via Windows Credentials

1721

Server & Application Monitor Template Reference

Active Directory

1725
1725

Active Directory 2003-2008 Services and Counters

1726

Active Directory 2008 R2-2012 Services and Counters

1732

AIX

1737

AIX
Monitored Components:
AIX LPD
Apache

1738
1738
1743
1743

Apache

1744

Apache (Windows)

1747

Below is an example using the Scripts Arguments field:${IP},8080

APC PowerChute Agent (Windows)
Monitored Components:

1748
1749
1749

Barracuda Spam and Virus Firewall

1752

Bind

1755

Bind (Linux - v9.5 and earlier)

Note: Tested on CentOS 5.5 and Bind 9.3.6 version.
Bind (Linux - v9.6 and higher)
Note: Tested on CentOS 5.5 and Bind 9.9.2 version.

1756
1756
1758
1758

Note: All monitors, except SNMP Process Monitor: Named, has the Count statistic as difference option enabled and will show the statistical difference from
the last SAM polling [Link] monitors except SNMP Process Monitor: Named,
require the following arguments: perl ${SCRIPT} path_to_rndc path_to_
[Link] path_to_rndc - This is full path to the rndc command. By
default: /usr/local/sbin/rndc. path_to_named.stats - This is full path to
[Link] file, which is generated by the rndc stats command.
1758
Below is an example using the Scripts Arguments field:perl ${SCRIPT} /usr/local/sbin/rndc /var/named/[Link]

1758

Monitored Components:

1758

BizTalk
BizTalk Server 2010 Adapters Performance Counters
Monitored Components:
BizTalk Server 2010 Host Throttling Performance Counters

1766
1767
1767
1771

Monitored Components:

1771

BizTalk Server 2010 Message Box and Orchestrations Performance Counters 1778
BizTalk Server 2010 Availability Status

1783

BizTalk Server 2010-2013 Adapters Performance Counters

1785

Monitored Components
BizTalk Server 2010-2013 Availability Status
This template allows you to check the status of BizTalk statistics: Host
Instances, Orchestrations, Send Ports and Send Port Group by using WMI
queries.

1785
1789

1789

Prerequisites: WMI access on target [Link]: Administrator on target server.

1789
Note: Before using this template you should provide the correct names of
instances/ports/orchestrations in the Query field. See notes for each particular monitor.

1789

Monitored Components

1789

BizTalk Server 2010-2013 Host Throttling Performance Counters

Monitored Components
BizTalk Server 2010-2013 Message Box and Orchestrations Performance
Counters
Monitored Components
Blackberry

1791
1791
1797
1798
1802

Blackberry Delivery Confirmation

1803

Customizing Script Variables

1803

Blackberry Enterprise Server

1805

Monitored Components:

1805

Blackberry Enterprise Server 10 Services (Windows)

1806

Blackberry Enterprise Server 10 Statistic (SNMP)

1810

Cisco

1814

Cisco CallManager

1815

CiscoSecure ACS (via SNMP)

1817

Monitored Components:
CiscoWorks LAN Management Solution
Monitored Components:
Citrix

1817
1818
1818
1823

Citrix XenApp 5.0 Core Counters

Monitored Components
Citrix XenApp 5.0 ICA Session Counters
Monitored Components:

1824
1824
1828
1828

Citrix XenApp 5.0 Presentation Server Counters

1834

Citrix XenApp 5.0 Services

1839

Citrix XenApp 6.0 Core Counters

1842

Citrix XenApp 6.0 ICA Session

1845

Monitored Components:

1845

Citrix XenApp 6.0 Presentation Server

1851

Citrix XenApp 6.0 Services

1856

Clam AV

1858

CUPS

1860

DHCP User Experience Monitor

1862

Directory Size

1863

Distributed File System (DFS)

1864

DNS User Experience

1872

Download Speed Monitor

1873

Installing the Microsoft Windows Character Generator Service

1873

Enabling the Unix/Linux Character Generator Service

1873

Errors in Application Event Log

1875

Exchange 2007 and 2010

1876

Basic versus Advanced Templates

1876

Typical Usage Scenario

1876

Exchange 2007-2010 Client Access Role Services and Counters (Basic)

1878

Exchange 2007-2010 Mailbox Role Services and Counters (Basic)

1880

Exchange 2007-2010 Edge Transport Role Services and Counters (Basic)

1884

Exchange 2007-2010 Unified Messaging Role Services and Counters (Basic)

1887

Exchange 2007-2010 Common Performance Counters

1889

Exchange 2007-2010 Statistics with PowerShell

1892

Exchange 2007-2010 Hub Transport Role Services and Counters (Basic)

1899

Exchange 2007-2010 Mailbox Send and Receive Statistics with PowerShell

1902

Exchange 2010 Client Access Role Counters (Advanced)

1905

Exchange 2010 Mailbox Role Counters (Advanced)

1907

Exchange 2010 Hub Transport Role Counters (Advanced)

1912

Exchange 2010 Edge Transport Role Counters (Advanced)

1916

Exchange 2010 Unified Messaging Role Counters (Advanced)

1920

Exchange 2010 OWA Form Login (PowerShell)

1922

Exchange 2007 Client Access Role Counters (Advanced)

1923

Exchange 2007 Mailbox Role Counters (Advanced)

1925

Exchange 2007 Hub Transport Role Counters (Advanced)

1931

Exchange Server 2000 and 2003

1935

Exchange 2007 Edge Transport Role Counters (Advanced)

1936

Exchange 2007 Unified Messaging Role Counters (Advanced)

1940

Exchange 2007 Outlook Web Access (OWA) Form Login

1942

Exchange 2010 Statistics with PowerShell

1943

Basic versus Advanced Templates

1960

Typical Usage Scenario

1960

Exchange 2013 Client Access Role Services and Counters (Basic)

1960

Basic versus Advanced Templates

1963

Typical Usage Scenario

1963

Exchange 2013 Client Access Role Counters (Advanced)

1963

Exchange Active Sync Connectivity

1968

Files
File Age Monitor

1971
1972

Statistic

1972

Field Descriptions:

1972

File Change Monitor

1974

Monitored Components:

1974

File Count

1975

File Count Script

1976

Monitored Components:
File Existence Monitor
Monitored Components:

1976
1977
1977

File Size Monitor

Monitored Components:
FTP User Experience
Monitored Components:

1978
1978
1979
1979

GlassFish (JMX)

1980

GoodLink Server for Microsoft Exchange

1984

Monitored Components
Generic Mail Server
Monitored Components:
Group Policy Object (System and Application Logs)
Monitored Components:
Helix
Helix Universal Media Server (Linux/Unix)
Monitored Components:
Helix Universal Media Server (Windows)
Monitored Components:
HP-UX
Monitored Components:
HTTP
HTTP
Monitored Components:

1984
1988
1988
1989
1989
1993
1994
1994
2005
2005
2016
2016
2019
2021
2021

HTTPS Monitor

2022

HTTP Form Login

2023

Monitored Components:
IBM

2023
2023

IBM DB2

2024

IBM DB2 HADR Health

2028

IBM Informix

2031

IBM WebSphere (JMX)

2047

IMAP4 Round Trip Email

2050

Monitored Components:
ISC DHCP Server (Linux)

2050
2051

Note: Tested on CentOS 5.5 and ISC DHCP 3.0.5 version.

2051

Monitored Components:

2051

Java Application Server (SNMP)

2053

JBoss (JMX)

2060

Kaspersky Security Center Antivirus

2065

JD Edwards EnterpriseOne Server Manager (Windows)

2068

Monitored Components:

2068

LDAP User Experience Monitor

2071

Linux

2071

Linux CPU Monitoring Perl

2072

Monitored Components:

2072

Linux Disk Monitoring Perl

2074

Monitored Components:

2074

Linux Memory Monitoring Perl

Monitored Components:
Linux Sendmail Monitoring Perl
Monitored Components:
Log Parser
Log Parser (PowerShell)
Configuring Windows Remote Management (WinRM)
Log Parser (Perl)
Lotus

2077
2077
2080
2080
2081
2083
2083
2086
2087

Lotus Domino Server Processes and Network Ports (Windows)

2088

Lotus Domino Server Processes and Network Ports (Linux)

2091

Lotus Domino Server Statistics

2094

MAPI Round Trip Email

Monitored Components:

2098
2098

Memcached

2099

Microsoft Direct Access

2103

Microsoft DirectAccess 2008 R2

Configuring Windows Remote Management (WinRM)
Microsoft DirectAccess 2012

2103
2110
2110

Configuring Windows Remote Management (WinRM)

Microsoft DirectAccess 2012 (Health with PowerShell)
Microsoft Dynamics
Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 Statistics
Monitored Components:
Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 Events
Monitored Components:
Microsoft Forefront
Microsoft Forefront Endpoint Protection 2010 (Client)
Monitored Components:

2117
2117
2118
2119
2119
2125
2125
2131
2132
2132

Microsoft Forefront Endpoint Protection 2010 (Server)

2136

Microsoft Forefront Threat Management Gateway 2010

2139

Monitored Components:
Microsoft IIS
Internet Information Services and Counters (IIS)

2139
2144
2145

Monitored Components:

2145

Microsoft IIS SMTP Server

2147

Microsoft Lync
Microsoft Lync Server (Edge Role)
Monitored Components:
Microsoft Lync Server (Front-End Role)
Monitored Components:
Microsoft Lync Server (Mediation Role)
Monitored Components:
Microsoft Lync Server 2013 (Front-End Role)
Monitored Components:
Microsoft Lync Server 2013 (Edge Role)
Monitored Components:
Microsoft Lync Server 2013 (Mediation Role)

2150
2152
2152
2157
2157
2163
2163
2165
2165
2172
2172
2178

Monitored Components:

2178

Microsoft Message Queuing

2179

Microsoft Message Queuing (Performance)

2180

Monitored Components:
Microsoft Message Queuing Events
Monitored Components
Microsoft Network Policy
Microsoft Network Policy Server Events
Monitored Components:
Microsoft Network Policy Server RADIUS Proxy
Monitored Components:
Microsoft Network Policy Server RADIUS Server
Monitored Components:
Microsoft Routing and Remote Access

2180
2184
2184
2200
2201
2201
2207
2207
2210
2210
2212

Microsoft Routing and Remote Access 2008-2012 R2

2212

Microsoft Routing and Remote Access 2008-2012 R2 (Events)

2217

Microsoft SharePoint

2219

SharePoint Server 2007

2220

SharePoint Server 2010

2223

SharePoint Services (WSS) 3.0

2226

SharePoint Server 2013

2228

Monitored Components:

2228

Service: SharePoint Search Host Controller

2228

Service: SharePoint Server Search 15

2228

Service: SharePoint Timer Service

2228

Service: SharePoint Tracing Service

2228

Service: SharePoint User Code Host

2229

Service: Document Conversions Launcher

2229

Service: Document Conversions Load Balancer

2229

Current Requests

2229

Request Wait Time

2229

Requests Queued

2229

Requests Rejected

2230

Worker Process Restarts

2230

Requests/Sec

2230

Cache API Trims

2230

Cache API Hit Ratio

2231

Sql Query Executing time

2231

Executing Sql Queries

2231

Responded Page Requests Rate

2231

Executing Time/Page Request

2231

Current Page Requests

2231

Rejected Page Requests Rate

2232

Incoming Page Requests Rate

2232

Active Threads

2232

Microsoft SQL
SQL Server 2005 Analysis Services
Monitored Components:
SQL Server 2008 Analysis Services
Monitored Components:
SQL Server 2012 Analysis Services
Monitored Components:
SQL Server Query
Monitored Components:

2232
2233
2233
2238
2238
2244
2244
2249
2249

SQL Server 2008 Reporting Services

2249

SQL Server 2008 Reporting Services R2

2253

SQL Server 2012 Reporting Services

2257

SQL Server 2008-2012 Reporting Services (Events)

2262

Microsoft System Center

Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager 2012
Monitored Components
Configuring Windows Remote Management (WinRM)
Microsoft System Center Operations Manager 2012 (Agent)
Monitored Components
Configuring Windows Remote Management (WinRM)
Microsoft System Center Operations Manager 2012 (Management Server)
Monitored Components

2265
2265
2265
2271
2271
2271
2273
2273
2273

Configuring Windows Remote Management (WinRM)

2279

Microsoft Windows Internet Name Service (WINS)

2279

Microsoft Windows Internet Name Service (WINS) Statistic

Monitored Components:
Microsoft Windows Internet Name Service (WINS) Events
Monitored Components:
Microsoft Windows

2280
2280
2282
2282
2289

Windows 2003 -2008 FTP Service

2290

Windows 2008 R2 - 2012 FTP Service

2292

Windows DHCP Server

2294

Windows DNS Server

2300

Windows Network Load Balancing

2304

Windows Print Services

2313

Windows Remote Desktop Services (Session Host Role)

2314

Windows Update Monitoring

2323

Configuring Windows Remote Management (WinRM)

Microsoft Windows Server
Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Failover Cluster
Monitored Components:
Microsoft Windows Server 2008 Failover Cluster
Monitored Components:
Microsoft Windows Server 2012 Failover Cluster
Monitored Components:
Windows Server 2003 Domain Controller Security

2323
2325
2326
2326
2337
2337
2350
2350
2353

Configuring Windows Remote Management (WinRM)

2353

Monitored Components:

2353

Windows Server 2003-2012 Services and Counters

Monitored Components

2358
2358

Windows Server 2008 - 2012 Domain Controller Security

2361

Configuring Windows Remote Management (WinRM)

2361

Monitored Components

2362

Windows Server 2003-2012 Services And Counters

2368

Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2-2012 R2 Failover Cluster

2371

Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2-2012 R2 Failover Cluster (Advanced)

2384

Mongo

2385

MongoDB (Windows)

2386

MongoDB (Linux)

2390

MySQL

2395

Nagios Linux File & Directory Count Script

2405

Field Descriptions
Novell GroupWise

2405
2408

Novell GroupWise Post Office Agent (Windows)

2409

Novell GroupWise Message Transfer Agent (Windows)

2415

Novell GroupWise Post Office Agent (Unix)

2418

Novell GroupWise Message Transfer Agent (Unix)

2424

Office 365 User Statistics with PowerShell

2426

OpenLDAP

2429

Oracle

2432

Oracle Automatic Storage Management

Monitored Components
Oracle Database
Monitored Components:
Oracle WebLogic (JMX)
POP3 Round Trip Email
Monitored Components:
Postfix
Monitored Components:

2432
2432
2437
2437
2441
2448
2448
2449
2449

PostgreSQL

2453

Progress Database

2456

Progress Database (Linux and Unix)

2457

Arguments in Linux/Unix monitors:

2457

Monitored Components

2457

Progress Database (Linux and Unix sh script)

Arguments in Linux/Unix monitors:

2462
2462

Monitored Components:

2462

Remote Desktop Services Licensing

2466

RADIUS User Experience Monitor

2473

Server Clock Drift

2473

Server Clock Drift (PowerShell)

2474

Server Clock Drift (Perl)

2475

Solaris

2475

Solaris

2476

Solaris LPD

2481

Monitored Components:
SolarWinds
Orion Server

2481
2482
2483

Monitored Components:

2483

SolarWinds (Orion) Server

2488

Monitored Components:

2488

SolarWinds Failover Engine

2492

SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer Database

2495

SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer

2499

SolarWinds Web Performance Monitor (WPM) Player

2504

Monitored Components
Kiwi Syslog Server
Monitored Components:
Squid

2504
2507
2507
2509

Squid (Windows)

2510

Squid (Linux and Unix)

2518

SSL Certificate Expiration Date Monitor

2526

Streaming Media Services 2008

2527

Sybase

2531

Sybase ASE

2532

Sybase SQL Anywhere

2536

Symantec
Symantec Backup Exec Server

2539
2541

Monitored Components:
Symantec Backup Exec Remote Agent

2541
2548

Monitored Components:

2548

Symantec NetBackup Server

2550

Symantec NetBackup Client

2555

Symantec Endpoint Protection Server

2557

Monitored Components:
Symantec Endpoint Protection Client

2557
2559

Monitored Components:

2559

TACACS+ User Experience

2562

Terminal Licensing Server

2563

Monitored Components
Tomcat Server
Monitored Components:
Trend Micro

2563
2569
2569
2570

Trend Micro OfficeScan Client

2570

Trend Micro OfficeScan Server

2571

Trend Micro Server Protect (Windows)

2574

Monitored Components:

2574

UniData Database (Windows)

2577

Monitored Components

2577

Unix

2583

Unix CPU Monitoring Perl

2584

Monitored Components:

2584

Unix Disk Monitoring Perl

2587

Unix Memory Monitoring Perl

2589

Monitored Components:

2589

Veeam Backup and Replication Server

2592

VMWare

2594

VMware vCenter Server 5.5

2594

VMware ESX Host

2598

Web Link

2600

Websense Web Security

Monitored Components

2600
2600

Chapter 1:
Introduction
SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor (SolarWinds SAM) allows you to create
and monitor your own custom collection of monitored components, providing an
open field of opportunity to the network engineer. It also allows you to create
flexible Application Monitor templates to combine process monitors, port
availability, and performance counters, allowing you to assess the status of every
aspect of your application and the health of the application as a whole.

Changes in this Guide from SAM 6.1.1 to 6.2

l
l
l
l
l

l
l
l
l
l
l
l

l
l

AppInsight for IIS section has been added

Agents chapter has been added
The AppStack Environment chapter has been added
NOCView section has been added
Requirements for SolarWinds SAM have been upgraded. SQLServer 2008
is the lowest version supported by SAM 6.2
Volume Thresholds and Planning section has been added
Win 32 based alerting has been removed
Web based alerting section added, found at Alerting
Monitoring Quality of Experience chapter has been added
Interface Variables and Errors page has been added
Desktop Notification Tool page has been added
Changing Threshold Values for Hardware Health Monitoring has been
updated
Status Icons and Identifiers page has been updated
Requirements for Component Monitors and Templates that use WMI page
has been updated
Templates added include the following:
l Kaspersky Security Center Antivirus
l SolarWinds Failover Engine
l Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 Statistics
l Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 Events
l Clam AV
l Blackberry Enterprise Server 10 Services (Windows)

85

Chapter 1: Introduction

l
l
l
l
l
l
l
l
l
l
l
l
l
l
l
l

Blackberry Enterprise Server 10 Statistic (SNMP)

Exchange Active Sync Connectivity
Office 365 User Statistics with PowerShell
SQL Server 2008 Reporting Services
SQL Server 2008 Reporting Services R2
SQL Server 2012 Reporting Services
SQL Server 2008-2012 Reporting Services (Events)
Barracuda Spam and Virus Firewall
VMware vCenter Server 5.5
Trend Micro OfficeScan Client
Trend Micro OfficeScan Server
Remote Desktop Services Licensing
Microsoft Routing and Remote Access 2008-2012 R2
Microsoft Routing and Remote Access 2008-2012 R2 (Events)
Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2-2012 R2 Failover Cluster
Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2-2012 R2 Failover Cluster
(Advanced)

Applications Defined
An application in SolarWinds SAM is considered a collection of component
monitors housed in a template. A component monitor is defined as a value
returned by a specific process, counter, status, or a value returned by a script.
With this received data, SolarWinds SAM can easily show you a myriad of vital
statistics concerning the health of your system.
Templates provide blueprints for the applications to be monitored. You can
quickly and easily customize numerous templates, using only the component
monitors you need for a specific environment. Take a look at the following
diagram:
Template/Application Relationship
The following illustration explains the Template and Application relationship and
is true for all templates, including AppInsight Aplications.
Here you can see that if you change something at the template level, the
applications based on that template will be affected. Conversely, if you change
something on the application level, only the individual application will be affected.
This inheritance relationship is beneficial if you need to make a great deal of
changes quickly. For example, rather than change one item on 100 applications
that are based on a single template (which requires 100 changes), you can more

86

SAM Glossary of Terms

easily change the one item on the template. That one change in the template will
trickle down to all 100 applications that are based on the template.

SolarWinds SAM recognizes and answers the complexity of todays business

applications with scalability, flexibility, and reliability.
Refer to the following sections for more information:
l
l

SAM Glossary of Terms

How Does SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor Work?

SAM Glossary of Terms

Here is a list of fundamental terms with which you should be familiar. A tree-like
map is also provided to visualize how SAM operates.

87

Chapter 1: Introduction

Component Monitor A component monitor is the fundamental element of an

application. Component monitors return the current status or value of a monitored
service or process. All component monitors return at least one value or one status
condition.
Node - A node is considered to be any endpoint of a given network. For example,
any server or computer on a network is considered a node. Sometimes a node is
referred to as a device.
Application - An application in SolarWinds SAM is a collection of component
monitors.
Template - A template is the blueprint for an application. It is a collection of
component monitors designed to monitor a server or application. You can
customize numerous templates using only the component monitors you need for a
specific environment.
The type of information returned by the component monitor is based upon the type
of monitor being utilized. For example, one type of monitor can report the up or
down status of a service or process, another monitor can return the percentage of

88

How Does SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor Work?

free space of a volume. Another type of component monitor can return up to ten
values. Each monitor type, along with its parameters and returned values and/or
states, is unique.
Each node, along with its applications and component monitors, can be viewed
from the SolarWinds SAM web console as shown in the diagram below. The view
can be customized to suit your needs.

How Does SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor Work?

Using UDP, TCP, SNMP, and WMI calls to your network framework and
application servers, SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor provides real time
feedback on your applications and trending through statistics stored in the Orion

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database. Keeping with the SolarWinds common components infrastructure, there
are no agents installed on your servers and no remote software to maintain. All
calls are made in real time and displayed on a Web Console accessible from any
supported browser.
As a standalone product, SAM's operations can be visualized with the following
flowchart:

Installed as a module in your family of SolarWinds products, SAM can be

visualized with the following flowchart:

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Application Availability and Status

Application Availability and Status

On any given poll, an applications availability is either 100% or 0% based on the
status of the [Link] is 100% if the application status is available,
warning, or critical. For any other status on that poll, SAM marks the availability at
0%.
The status of an application is determined by the worst status of the individual
component monitors for that application. For example, if one component for an
application is down, then the application is marked as down. If one component is
in a warning state and the rest of the components are up, then the application is
given a warning status.

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Chapter 1: Introduction
With respect to how an applications availability is calculated over time, SAM
aggregates the availability values to Hourly/Daily tables during database
maintenance, which is how the average is calculated. Availability for component
monitors is calculated in the same way.

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Chapter 2:
Requirements and Installation
Installing SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor (SolarWinds SAM) is a wizard
driven process. Resource and space requirements are reasonable, and most
deployments do not require hardware updates to your SolarWinds Server.
This chapter discusses:
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Requirements for SolarWinds SAM

FIPS Support
Server Sizing
SNMP Requirements for Monitored Devices
Upgrading SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor
Installing SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor
Activating Your License
Finishing SolarWinds SAM Installation
Excluding SolarWinds Data Directories from Anti-Virus Scanning
Running SolarWinds SAM
Internet Explorer Security Settings
Licensing

Requirements for SolarWinds SAM

SolarWinds recommends installing your SolarWinds product on one server, and
installing the Orion database on its own SQL Server. Installations of multiple
SolarWinds SAM servers using the same database are not supported.
Note: Solarwinds does not support installing SAM on domain controllers.
SolarWinds Server Software Requirements
The following table lists minimum software requirements and recommendations
for your SolarWinds server.
Software

Requirements

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Chapter 2: Requirements and Installation

Operating
System

Windows Server 2003 R2 SP2, Windows Server 2008 R2, with

IIS in 32-bit mode, Windows 2012, Windows 2012 R2, or
Windows 2012 Datacenter edition. IIS must be installed.
SolarWinds recommends that SolarWinds administrators have
local administrator privileges to ensure full functionality of local
SolarWinds tools. Accounts limited to use of the SolarWinds
Web Console do not require administrator privileges.
Notes:
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Web
Server

SolarWinds does not support production installations of

SolarWinds products on Windows XP, Windows Vista, or
Windows 7 systems.
If you are installing SolarWinds SAM on Windows Server
2003, confirm that your full computer name is no longer
than 15 characters in length. Windows Server 2003 trims
any characters beyond the fifteenth, and this may prevent
SolarWinds services from properly identifying your
SolarWinds server.
For more information, see Additional SolarWinds SAM
Requirements

Microsoft IIS, version 6.0 and higher, in 32-bit mode.

DNS specifications require that hostnames be composed of
alphanumeric characters (A-Z, 0-9), the minus sign (-), and
periods (.). Underscore characters (_) are not allowed. For more
information, see RFC 952.
Warning: The following Windows accounts, as configured by
IIS 6.0 on Windows Server 2003 with their default security
settings, are required:
IUSR_<hostname>, as

a member of theGuestsgroup ONLY.

IWAM_<hostname>, as

a member of theIIS_WPG group ONLY.

Disabling these accounts or changing any default settings of

these accounts may negatively affect the operation of your
SolarWinds installation. SolarWinds strongly recommends
against altering these accounts or their settings.
Note: SolarWinds neither recommends nor supports the

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SolarWinds Server Hardware Requirements

installation of any SolarWinds SAM product on the same server

or using the same database server as a Research in Motion
(RIM) Blackberry server.
.NET
Version 3.5 .NET Framework, 4.0 is recommended.
Framework
SNMP
Trap
Services

Windows operating system management and monitoring tools

component

Web
Console
Browser

Microsoft Internet Explorer version 7 or higher with Active

scripting,
Firefox 13.0 or higher (Toolset Integration is not supported on
Firefox), Google Chrome

SolarWinds Server Hardware Requirements

The following table lists minimum hardware requirements and recommendations
for your SolarWinds server.
Note: Hardware requirements are listed by SolarWinds license level.
Hardware

AL150 - AL500

AL700 AL1500

ALX

CPU
Speed

2.4 GHz

Dual Core 3.0 GHz

Quad Core 3.0 GHz

Note: Dual processor, dual core is recommended.

Hard Drive 4 GB
10 GB
25 GB
Space
Note: A RAID 1 drive for server operating system, SolarWinds
installation, and tempdb files is recommended. The SolarWinds
installer needs 1GB on the drive where temporary Windows
system or user variables are stored. Per Windows standards, some
common files may need to be installed on the same drive as your
server operating system.
Memory

4 GB

6 GB

8 GB

Application 161/SNMP and 443/SNMP. VMware ESX/ESXi Servers are polled

Ports
on 443.

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Chapter 2: Requirements and Installation

17777/TCP open for SolarWinds module traffic

17778/ HTTPS open to access the SolarWinds Information Service
API

Requirements for Virtual Machines and Servers

SolarWinds installations on VMware Virtual Machines and Microsoft Virtual
Servers are fully supported if the following minimum configuration requirements
are met for each virtual machine.
Note: SolarWinds strongly recommends that you maintain your SQL Server
database on a separate physical server.
Virtual
SolarWinds Requirements by License Level
Machine
AL700 - AL1500
ALX
Configuration AL50 - AL500
CPU Speed

2.4 GHz

Dual Core 3.0 GHz

Quad Core 3.0

GHz

Allocated
Hard Drive
Space

4 GB

10 GB

25 GB

Memory

4 GB

Network
Interface

Each virtual machine on which SolarWinds is installed should

have its own, dedicated network interface card.

Note: Due to intense I/O requirements, SQL Server should be

hosted on a separate physical server configured as RAID 1+0.
RAID 5 is not recommended for the SQL Server hard drive.
6 GB

8 GB

Note: Since SolarWinds uses SNMP to monitor your network,

if you are unable to dedicate a network interface card to your
SolarWinds server, you may experience gaps in monitoring
data due to the low priority generally assigned to SNMP
traffic.

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Requirements for the Orion database Server (SQL Server)

Requirements for the Orion database Server (SQL Server)

The following table lists software and hardware requirements for your Orion
database server. SolarWinds license levels are provided as a reference.
Requirements AL50 AL500
SQL Server

AL700 AL1500

ALX

SolarWinds supports the following versions of SQLServer:

SQL Server 2008 wihtout SP, with SP1, with SP2, or with
SP3
SQL Server 2008 R2 without SP, with SP1, or with SP2
SQL Server 2012 without SP or with SP1
SQL Server 2014
Notes:
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Due to latency effects, SolarWinds does not recommend

installing your SQL Server and your SolarWinds server
or additional polling engine in different locations across
a WAN. For more information, see SolarWinds Knowledge Base article, Can I install my SolarWinds server
or Additional Polling Engine and my Orion database
(SQL Server) in different locations across a WAN?
Either mixed-mode or SQL authentication must be supported.
If you are managing your Orion database, SolarWinds
recommends you install the SQL Server Management
Studio component.
Use the following database SQL statement to check
your SQL Server version, service pack or release level,
and edition:
select SERVERPROPERTY ('productversion'),
SERVERPROPERTY ('productlevel'), SERVERPROPERTY
('edition')

CPU Speed

2.4 GHz

Dual Core
3.0 GHz

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Chapter 2: Requirements and Installation

Hard Drive
Space

4 GB

Memory

4 GB

10 GB

25 GB

Note: Due to intense I/O requirements, a RAID 1+0 drive is

strongly recommended the SQL Server database and
SolarWinds data and log files. RAID 5 is not recommended
for the SQL Server hard drive. The SolarWinds installer
needs at least 1GB on the drive where temporary Windows
system or user variables are stored. Per Windows standards,
some common files may need to be installed on drive as your
server operating system.
6 GB

8 GB

Note: SolarWinds recommends additional RAM for

SolarWinds SAM installations utilizing more than 1,000
monitors. For optimal performance in larger ALX
environments, we recommend 8GB of RAM or greater.
Additional memory will improve both performance and
reliability.
Memory and
Additional
Pollers

Each additional poller requires 8GB of

additional RAM. For example, SAM plus 2
additional pollers would require 24GB of
RAM. 3 additional pollers would require
32GB of RAM, and so on.

PowerShell

SAM's PowerShell Script Monitor works

with PowerShell 1.0 and higher for local
execution.
Note: PowerShell 2.0 or higher is required for
remote execution.

The Configuration Wizard installs the following required x86 components if they
are not found on your Orion database server:
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Microsoft SQL Server Management Objects

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Additional SolarWinds SAM Requirements

Additional SolarWinds SAM Requirements
Enterprise-level SolarWinds SAM deployments with the potential for more than
1,000 monitors may need additional computing resources above the standards
required for SolarWinds common components:
Component Monitors Additional Requirements
Up to 1,000

No additional requirements

More than 1,000

8+ GB RAM

Important: If you are running Windows Server 2008, you must upgrade to
Windows Server 2008 R2 because SolarWinds SAM does not support Windows
Server 2008 due to known WMI issues.

FIPS Support
FIPS (Federal Information Processing Standard) defines security and
interoperability standards for computers used by the U.S. federal government.
To enable FIPS in the Local Security Policy on Windows:
1. Click Start > Control Panel > System and Security > Administrative Tools,
and then double-click Local Security Policy.
2. Expand the Local Policies category in the left pane, and then click Security
Options.
3. Right-click System Cryptography: Use FIPS compliant algorithms for
encryption, hashing, and signing.
4. In the context menu that is displayed, click Properties.
5. In the Local Security Setting tab, click Enabled and then click OK.
Notes:
l FIPS can also be enabled as part of Group Policy.
l If using the FIPS Manager to enable/disable FIPS, you need to restart your
web browser to apply the new settings.
SolarWinds SAM installations on Windows Server 2008 R2 require a Microsoft
hotfix to realize the FIPS-compatibility features of this release. For more
information about this required Microsoft hotfix, see the article
[Link] As noted in the KB article, you need to
enable FIPS first before applying the Microsoft hotfix.

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If you use component monitors that have not passed FIPS testing, they may not
work properly when FIPS is enabled.
FIPS Manager
SolarWinds does provide a FIPS manager. The default location of this program is
C:\Program Files (x86)\SolarWinds\Orion\[Link].

The FIPS Manager allows you to switch between both Windows and SolarWinds
FIPS compatible mode. (FIPS mode in Windows needs to be disabled manually if
needed).
The following SolarWinds SAM component monitors have passed FIPS testing:
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DHCP User Experience Monitor

Directory Size Monitor
DNS Monitor - TCP
DNS Monitor - UDP
DNS User Experience Monitor
Download Speed Monitor
File Age Monitor
File Count Monitor
File Existence Monitor
File Size Monitor
FTP Monitor
HTTP Form Login Monitor
HTTP Monitor
HTTPS Monitor
IMAP4 Monitor
IMAP4 User Experience Monitor
LDAP User Experience Monitor
Linux/Unix Script Monitor
MAPI User Experience Monitor
NNTP Monitor
ODBC User Experience Monitor
Oracle User Experience Monitor
Performance Counter Monitor
POP3 Monitor
POP3 User Experience Monitor
Process Monitor - SNMP FIPS not supported when SNMP is SNMPv3 and
using MD5.
Process Monitor - WMI
SMTP Monitor

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Server Sizing
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SNMP Monitor FIPS not supported when SNMP is SNMPv3 and using
MD5.
SQL Server User Experience Monitor
TCP Port Monitor
Tomcat Server Monitor
Web Link Monitor
Windows Event Log Monitor
Windows Script Monitor

Server Sizing
SolarWinds SAM is capable of monitoring networks of any size, ranging from
small corporate LANs to large enterprise and service provider networks. Most
SolarWinds SAM systems perform well on 3.0 GHz systems with 4 GB of RAM
using default polling engine settings. However, when monitoring larger networks,
you should give additional consideration to the hardware used and the system
configuration.
There are three primary variables that affect scalability. The most important
consideration is the number of monitored components. Monitoring more than
1,000 components may require fine tuning for optimal performance. The second
variable to consider is polling frequency. For instance, if you are collecting
statistics more frequently than the default, the system will have to work harder and
system requirements will increase. Finally, the number of simultaneous users
accessing SolarWinds SAM directly impacts system performance.
When planning a SolarWinds SAM installation, there are four main factors to keep
in mind with respect to polling capacity: CPU, memory, number of polling
engines, and polling engine settings. For minimum hardware recommendations,
see Requirements for SolarWinds SAM on page93. For more information about
polling engines, see Additional Polling Engine and Web Console on page 1208.
Installing SolarWinds SAM and SQL Server on different servers is highly
recommended, particularly if you are planning on having more that 1,000
component monitors. This scenario offers several performance advantages as the
SolarWinds SAM server does not perform any database processing and it does
not have to share resources with SQL Server.
If you plan to monitor 10,000 or more components, SolarWinds recommends that
you install additional polling engines on separate servers to help distribute the
work load. For more information about sizing SolarWinds SAM to your network,
contact the SolarWinds sales team or visit [Link]. For more

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information about configuring additional pollers, see Additional Polling Engine
and Web Console on page 1208.

SNMP Requirements for Monitored Devices

SolarWinds SAM can monitor the performance of any SNMPv1-, SNMPv2c-, or
SNMPv3-enabled device on your network. Consult your device documentation or
a technical representative of your device manufacturer to acquire specific
instructions for configuring SNMP on your device.
Notes:
l To properly monitor devices on your network, you must enable SNMP on all
devices that are capable of SNMP communications.
l Unix based devices should use the configuration of Net-SNMP version 5.5
or higher that is specific to the type of Unix-based operating system in use.
l SolarWinds SAM is capable of monitoring VMware ESX and ESXi Servers
versions 3.5 and higher with VMware Tools installed. For more information
about enabling SNMP and VMware Tools on your VMware device, consult
your VMware documentation or technical representative.
l If SNMPv2c is enabled on a device you want to monitor, by default,
SolarWinds SAM will attempt to use SNMPv2c to poll the device for performance information. If you only want SolarWinds SAM to poll using
SNMPv1, you must disable SNMPv2c on the device to be polled.

Enabling Microsoft Internet Information Services

(IIS)
To host the SolarWinds Web Console, Microsoft Internet Information Services
(IIS) must be installed and enabled on your SolarWinds SAM server. Windows
Server 2003 requires IIS version 6 while Windows Server 2008 requires IIS
version 7, as detailed in the following sections:
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Enabling IIS on Windows Server 2003

Enabling IIS on Windows Server 2008
AppInsight for IISRequirements and Permissions

Enabling IIS on Windows Server 2003

The following procedure enables IIS on Windows Server 2003.
To enable IIS on Windows Server 2003:

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Enabling IIS on Windows Server 2003

1. Click Start> Control Panel> Add or Remove Programs.
2. Click Add/Remove Windows Components.
3. Confirm that Application Server is checked, and then click Details.

4. Confirm that Internet Information Services (IIS) is checked, and then click
Details.

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5. Confirm that World Wide Web Service is checked, and then click Details.

6. Confirm that World Wide Web Service is checked, and then click OK.

7. Click OK on the Internet Information Services (IIS) window, and then click
OK on the Application Server window.

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Enabling IIS on Windows Server 2008

8. Confirm Management and Monitoring Tools is checked and click Details.

9. Confirm that both Simple Network Management Protocol and WMI SNMP
Provider are checked, and then click OK.

10. Click Next, and then click Finish when the wizard completes.
Note: You may be prompted to install additional components, to provide
your Windows Operating System media, or to restart your computer.

Enabling IIS on Windows Server 2008

IIS is enabled automatically after the SAM installation and prior to the start of the
Configuration Wizard. If the Configuration Wizard detects that IIS is not installed

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on Windows 2008, it installs IIS. The following manual procedure is provided for
Windows Server 2008 in case problems occur with the automatic IIS installation.
To enable IIS on Windows Server 2008:
1. Click Start> All Programs> Administrative Tools> Server Manager.
2. Click Roles.

3. Click Add Roles.

4. Click Next to start the Add Roles Wizard, and then check Web Server (IIS).

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Enabling IIS on Windows Server 2008

5. If you are prompted to add features required for Web Server (IIS), click
Add Required Features.

6. Click Next on the Select Server Roles window, and then click Next on the
Web Server (IIS) window.

7. Confirm that Common HTTP Features> Static Content is installed.

8. Check Application Development> [Link].

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9. Click Add Required Role Services.

10. Check both Security> Windows Authentication and Security> Basic

Authentication.

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Upgrading SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor

11. Check Management Tools> IIS 6 Management Compatibility.

12.
13.
14.
15.

Click Next on the Select Role Services window.

Click Install on the Confirm Installation Selections window.
Click Close on the Installation Results window.
If you are currently enabling IIS as part of a SolarWinds SAM installation, restart the SolarWinds SAM installer.

Upgrading SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor

If you have version 3.1 or lower of SolarWinds APM installed, you must first
upgrade to NPM 10 and then upgrade to APM 3.5 before you can upgrade to
SAM 5.X. For more information, click Upgrade Instructions in any SolarWinds
NPM group on the License Management page of the Customer Portal.
Note: SolarWinds recommends creating a backup of your database before
starting any SolarWinds upgrade or installation.
If you have version 3.5 or later of APM installed, you have an option for
upgrading to APM 4.X, or SAM 5.X:
Upgrading NPM and SolarWinds SAM on Your Current Server
Notes:
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Always upgrade NPM first, then you can upgrade to SAM
If installed together on the same server, SAM and SolarWinds NPM share
the same database.

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If installed on different servers, SAM and SolarWinds NPM each require

their own database. You cannot share one database between separate
SAM and SolarWinds NPM servers.

Upgrading NPM and SolarWinds SAM on Your Current Server

To upgrade both SolarWinds NPM and SolarWinds SAM on your current
SolarWinds server:

1. Upgrade SolarWinds NPM to version 10.3.

Note: For compatablitiy between specific versions of SolarWinds software,
refer to the following KB article: [Link]
2. Install SAM 5.X as described in the section Installing SolarWinds Server &
Application Monitor on page125.
Important: Always upgrade NPM on all SolarWinds servers first. After that is
complete, you can successfully upgrade. Failure to upgrade in the correct order
will result in the Configuration Wizard generating a Database Configuration
Failure error.
For more information, see Installing SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor
in the SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor Administrator Guide.

Upgrading SAM to a New Server While Keeping NPM on Your Current Server
To upgrade SAM to a new server:
1. Back up your current SolarWinds Server.
2. Shutdown SolarWinds NPM and SAM on your current SolarWinds Server.
3. Have your Database Administrator clone your Orion database to a different
name.
Note: To clone your Orion database, use the appropriate version of
Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio for your database. You can
download this from the Microsoft website if it is not already installed.
4. Uninstall SAMfrom your original SolarWinds Server.
a. Use Add or Remove Programs in Control Panel to remove
SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor.
b. The Configuration Wizard should be run automatically as part of the
uninstallation. If it is not, execute it manually by clicking Start> All
Programs> SolarWinds Orion> Configuration andAutoDiscovery> Configuration Wizard.

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Moving SolarWinds SAM to a different server

c. In the Configuration Wizard, select all components to be modified:
Database, Website, and Services, and then configure them appropriately for your original SolarWinds Server.
d. Ensure that you specify the original database.
e. Delete the SAM folder in the
<drive>:\INETPUB\SOLARWINDS\ORION directory, where <drive>
is the drive letter for the SAM Website Root Directory, for example:
C.
5. Copy the security certificate from the original server to the new server.
6. Install SAM on its new server as described in the section Installing
SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor on page125, and in the Configuration Wizard specify the new cloned database.
For more information, see Installing SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor

Moving SolarWinds SAM to a different server

Migrating SolarWinds SAM to a different server is a process that can take as little
as 30 minutes or as long as several hours, depending on the size of your Orion
database. Consider scheduling an appropriate maintenance window in which to
perform your migration. The process involves deactivating the licenses of your
products, stopping the services, migrating the products, and then uninstalling your
previous installation.

General Requirements
Moving your SolarWinds SAM implementation to a new server requires the
following:
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SolarWindsSAM implementation.
Windows user account credentials that have been granted administrative
rights on both servers.
A license reset to register SolarWindsSAM on your new server. You will
need to install SolarWinds License Manager to manage the required license
migration.

Note: Maps and map objects created or edited in SolarWinds Network Atlas are
stored in the Orion database. If the database is successfully migrated, there is no
need to migrate any additional Network Atlas map files.

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Database Requirements
Ensure that you comply with the following requirements before you attempt to
modify or back up your existing database:
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higher.
Install your new database server. The following procedures assume you are
moving your database from one physical server to another and that the management tool (Enterprise Manager, SQL Server Management Studio
Express, or SQL Server Management Studio) is installed on the new database server.
If you want to use a Microsoft SQL Server Express database, recognize that
the database store is limited to 4GB.
Know the sa password to both your existing Orion database server and your
new database server.
Know the credentials to an account with administrator rights on both your
existing Orion database server and your new database server.
Have a maintenance window during which you can safely shutdown your
SolarWinds SAM services. You need to stop data collection to ensure that
your backup file matches your last active database state.

Stopping SAM Services

It is important to stop the SolarWinds SAM services that are currently writing to the
database. This ensures that you do not have data inconsistencies when you bring
your new database server online.
To stop SolarWinds SAM services:
1. Click Start> All Programs> SolarWinds Orion > Advanced Features>
Orion Service Manager.
2. Expand Services.
3. Click each service, except the SQL Server service, and then click Stop.
Notes:
l If you have more than one Polling Engine, you will need to stop each
additional Polling Engine before continuing.
l Do not stop the SQL Service. The SQL Service needs to be running in
order to make the necessary changes to the database.
4. Click File> Exit.

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Creating a Database Backup File with Database Manager

Creating a Database Backup File with Database Manager

Complete the following procedure if you want to use Database Manager.
To backup your Orion database using Database Manager:
1. Log on to the computer that hosts your current SolarWinds SAM server.
2. Click Start> All Programs> SolarWinds Orion> Advanced Features>
Database Manager.
3. If your SQL Server is not listed in the left pane, add your server, as
shown in the following steps:
a. Click Add Server.
b. Select the name of the SQL instance from the SQL Server list. If
your server is not listed, type the name or IP address.
c. Select the appropriate authentication type, and then click Connect
to Database Server.
4. Locate and right-click your database in the Database Manager tree in the
left pane, and then click Backup Database.
5. Type a Description of the database backup, and then specify a Backup
Filename, including the path.
Note: Click the ellipsis to directly select the Backup Filename.
6. Select either of the following options:
l If you want to attach your new database backup to the end of
the selected backup file, select Append to the end of the
Backup File.
l If you want to overwrite the selected backup file, select Overwrite Backup File.
7. Click OK.
8. If you are moving the SQL database to the new SolarWinds SAM
server, copy the new backup file to a folder on the new server.
9. Install SolarWinds SAM on the new server, but DO NOT run the Configuration Wizard yet. Reboot the server if prompted, and then register the
software.
Note: A new license key is required, and you will need to install
SolarWinds License Manager to manage the required license migration.
10. On the new server, click Start> SolarWinds Orion> Advanced
Features> Database Manager.
11. If your SQL Server is not listed in the left pane, add your server, as
shown in the following steps:

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1. Click Add Server.
2. Select the name of the SQL instance from the SQL Server list. If
your server is not listed, type the name or IP address.
3. Select the appropriate authentication type, and then click Connect
to Database Server.
12. Locate and right-click on your server in the Database Manager tree in the
left pane, and then click Connect to Server.
13. If you moved the SQL database to the new server, perform the following
steps:
Note: Database Manager cannot create new folders. Therefore, specify a
path that already exists.
a. Click Database> Restore Database.
b. Click the ellipsis to Select the Database file to Restore.
c. If you want to verify the validity of the selected database, click
Verify.
d. Confirm or edit the name of the restored database in the Restore Database as the following Database name field.
e. If you want to restore the database as .MDF or .LOG files, provide appropriate filenames in the Restore Database in the following MDF and
LOG files fields.
f. Click OK.
14. Run the Configuration Wizard and specify the existing (or newly restored)
database on the Database setup section of the wizard. When prompted,
click Yes to use the existing database.
Note: Do not skip tabs or deviate from the tab order. Click Start, and then
click Continue to complete the wizard in order. Completing tabs out of
order may adversely affect the install process.

Creating a Database Backup File with SQL Server Management Studio

Complete the following procedure if your new database server uses SQL Server
2008.
To backup your Orion database using SQL Server Management Studio:
1. Log on to the new database server using an administrator account.
2. Click Start > All Programs > Microsoft SQL Server 2008 > SQL Server
Management Studio.
3. Specify the server name of the current Orion database server on the Connect to Server window.

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Restoring a Database Backup File for SQL Express Server

4. If you are using SQL Server Authentication, click SQL Server Authentication in the Authentication field, and then specify your credentials in the
User name and Password fields.
5. Click Connect.
6. In the pane on the left, expand the name of the server hosting the SQL
instance you are using for SolarWinds SAM, and then expand Databases.
7. Right-click the name of your Orion database, and then click Tasks > Back
Up.
8. In the Source area, select Full as the Backup type.
9. In the Backup set area, provide an appropriate Name and Description for
your database backup.
10. If there is not already an appropriate backup location listed in the Destination area, click Add, and then specify and remember the destination path
and file name you provide. This is the location where your backup is stored.
Note: Remember, if your database is on a remote server, as recommended,
this backup file is also created on the remote database server. It is not created locally.
11. Click Options in the Select a page pane on the left.
12. In the Reliability area, check Verify backup when finished.
13. Click OK.
14. Copy the .bak file from your current Orion database server to your new database server.

Restoring a Database Backup File for SQL Express Server

Complete the following procedure if you are restoring your Orion database
backup file to a database server running SQL Express Server.
Note: Remember that SQL Express has a 4GB data store limitation. If at all
possible, consider using a production version of SQL Server.
To restore your database backup file on a server running SQL Express
Server:
1. Log on to the new database server using an administrator account.
2. Click Start > All Programs > Microsoft SQL Server 200X > SQL Server
Management Studio Express.
3. Click File > Connect Object Explorer.
4. Specify the name of the new Orion database server on the Connect to
Server window.

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5. If you are using SQL Server Authentication, click SQL Server Authentication
in the Authentication field, and then specify your credentials in the User
name and Password fields.
6. Click Connect.
7. Click the name of your server to view an expanded list of objects associated
with your server.
8. Click Databases, and then click Restore Database.
9. Leave To database blank.
10. Click From device, and then browse () to the location of your .bak file.
11. Click Add, and then navigate to the .bak file and click OK.
12. Click OK on the Specify Backup window.
13. Check Restore.
14. Select the name of your database from the To database field. It will now be
populated with the correct name.
15. Click Options in the left Select a page pane, and then check Overwrite the
existing database.
16. Ensure you select a directory that already exists for the files listed in the
Restore As column.
17. Click OK.
18. Open and run the configuration wizard to update your SolarWinds SAM
installation.

Restoring a Database Backup File for SQL Server 2008

Complete the following procedure if you are restoring your Orion database
backup file to a database server running SQL Server 2008.
To restore your database backup file on a server running SQL Server 2008:
1. Log on to the new database server using an administrator account.
2. Click Start > All Programs > Microsoft SQL Server 2008 > SQL Server
Management Studio.
3. Click File > Connect Object Explorer.
4. Specify the name of the new Orion database server on the Connect to
Server window.
5. If you are using SQL Server Authentication, click SQL Server Authentication in the Authentication field, and then specify your credentials in the
User name and Password fields.
6. Click Connect.
7. Click the name of your server to view an expanded list of objects associated
with your server, and then right-click Databases.
8. Click Restore Database.

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Updating SolarWinds SAM to Use the New Database Server

9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.

16.
17.
18.
19.

Leave To database blank.

Select From device, and then click Browse ().
Confirm that File is selected as the Backup media.
Click Add.
Navigate to the .bak file, select it, and then click OK.
Click OK on the Specify Backup window.
In the Destination for restore area, select the name of your database from
the To database field.
Note: The To database is now populated with the correct name.
Check Restore next to the database backup you are restoring.
Click Options in the left Select a page pane.
Check Overwrite the existing database (WITH REPLACE).
For each Original File Name listed, complete the following steps to ensure a
successful restoration:
Log on to the new database server using an administrator account.

20. Select Leave the database ready to use by rolling uncommitted transactions(RESTORE WITH RECOVERY), and then click OK.
21. Open and run the configuration wizard to update your SolarWinds SAM
installation.
Note: Due to the nature of security identifiers (SIDs) assigned to SQL
Server 2008 database accounts, SolarWinds recommends that you create
and use a new account for accessing your restored Orion database on the
Database Account window of the SolarWinds Configuration Wizard.

Updating SolarWinds SAM to Use the New Database Server

In general, SolarWinds recommends that you use SQL Server Authentication with
the sa login and password to ensure that SolarWinds SAM can always access
your SQL Server database, even when it is hosted remotely on a separate server.
To update SolarWinds SAM to use a new database:
1. Log on to your SolarWinds SAM server.
2. Click Start> All Programs> SolarWinds Orion> Configuration and
Auto-Discovery> Configuration Wizard.
3. Check Database, and then click Next.
4. Specify your new database server in the SQL Server field.
5. If you want to use SQL authentication, check Use SQL Server Authentication, and then provide the appropriate credentials.
Note: SolarWinds recommends that you use the sa login and password for

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6.
7.
8.
9.

10.
11.

your database server to ensure that you are able to properly configure the
Orion database user account.
Click Next.
Select Use an existing database, select or type the Existing Database
name, and then click Next.
If you are prompted to use the existing database, click Yes.
Select Create a new account, and then provide a New Account name.
Notes:
l Creating a new account ensures that SolarWinds SAM has required
access to your migrated database.
l The New Account must be a member of the securityadmin server role.
l The sysadmin role and the sa user account are always members of
securityadmin.
Provide and confirm an account Password.
Click Next to start database configuration, and then click Finish to exit the
Configuration Wizard.

Reassigning Nodes
If a new name is used for the new SolarWindsSAM server, it is added to the
database as a new polling engine. All current nodes remain assigned to the old
polling engine name and must be reassigned to the new polling engine, as
shown in the following procedure.
To reassign items to the new polling engine:
1. Click Start> All Programs> SolarWinds Orion > Advanced Features>
Orion Service Manager.
2. Stop all SolarWinds services.
Notes:
l If you have more than one Polling Engine, you will need to stop each
additional Polling Engine before continuing.
l Do not stop the SQL Service. The SQL Service needs to be running in
order to make the necessary changes to the database.
3. Click File> Exit
4. Click Start> SolarWinds Orion> Database Utilities> Database
Manager.
5. Expand your SQL Server in the tree.
6. Expand the Orion database.
Note: By default, this database is named NetPerfMon.
7. Right-click on the Engines table, and then click Query Table.
8. Click Refresh to display the table entries.

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To reassign items to the new polling engine:

9. Select Read-Write (Results can be edited).

10. Replace the value in the ServerName field for the old polling engine with
the server name of the new polling engine. In the previous graphic, the
OLD-SERVER is renamed NEW-SERVER.
Note: It is not necessary to update the IP field. The next time the service is
started, SolarWinds SAM discovers the new IP address, and the IP field is
updated automatically.
11. Delete the newly added engine from the table (EngineID: 2 in this example)
by clicking on the blank area to the left of the row to select it. Right-click anywhere in the selected row, and then click Delete Selected Rows.

12. Click Yes when prompted to confirm deleting the row.

Note: The final result will display the new server name with the IP address
of the old server. The next time the service starts, the IP field will be updated
with the IP address of the new server.
13. Close Database Manager.

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Moving SolarWinds SAM Security Certificates to a New Server

SolarWinds SAM encrypts your sensitive data with a security certificate stored on
the original SolarWinds SAM server. To grant a new server access to this
encrypted data, you must copy the original security certificate to the new server.
Warning: If you do not replicate the original certificate, SolarWinds SAM on the
new server cannot access any credentials used by your component monitors, and
all of those component monitors will fail.
To replicate the original certificate:
1. Export the credential from the original server.
a. On the Start Menu, click Run, type MMC, and then click OK.
b. On the File menu, click Add/Remove Snapin, and then click Add.
c. Select Certificates and then click Add.
d. Select Computer account and then click Next.
e. Select Local computer and then click Finish.
f. Click Close.
g. Click OK.
h. Expand the Certificates (Local Computer)> Personal > Certificates
group.
i. Right-click SolarWinds Agent Provision (if present), and
SolarWinds-Orion, point to All Tasks on the shortcut menu, and then
click Export.
j. Click Next in the Certificate Export Wizard.
k. Select Yes, export the private key, click Next, and then click Next
again.
l. Type and confirm a password for this private key, and then click Next.
m. Specify the file name to which you want to save the certificate, click
Next, and then click Finishthe certificate is saved with a .pfx file
name extension.
2. Copy the .pfx certificate file to the new server.
3. Import the certificate to the new server.
a. On the Start Menu, click Run, type MMC, and then click OK.
b. On the File menu, click Add/Remove Snapin, and then click Add.
c. Select Certificates, and then click Add.
d. Select Computer account, and then click Next.
e. Select Local computer, and then click Finish.
f. Click Close.
g. Click OK.
h. Expand the Certificates (Local Computer) group.

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Migrating Licenses with License Manager

i. Expand the Personal group.
j. Expand the Certificates group.
k. If there is a SolarWinds SAM Engine item in the list, right-click
SolarWinds Agent Provision and SolarWinds-Orion and select
Delete from the shortcut menu.
l. Right-click the CertificatesPersonalCertificates node, point to All
Tasks in the shortcut menu, and then click Import.
m. Click Next in the Certificate Import Wizard.
n. Specify the .pfx certificate file you copied to the server and then click
Next.
o. Enter the password for the private key, check Mark this key as exportable, and then click Next.
p. Select Place all certificates in the following store, and then select
Personal as the Certificate Store.
q. Click Next and then click Finish.

Migrating Licenses with License Manager

You must run License Manager on the computer where the currently licensed
SolarWinds products are installed before you can migrate licenses to a new
installation. The following procedure deactivates currently installed licenses that
can then be transferred to a new installation.
To deactivate currently installed licenses:
1. Click Start> All Programs> SolarWinds> SolarWinds License Manager.
2. Check the products you want to deactivate on this computer.
3. Click Deactivate.
4. Specify your SolarWinds Customer ID and password when prompted, and
then click Deactivate.
Note: Deactivated licenses are now available to activate on a new computer.
When you have successfully deactivated your products, log on to the computer on
which you want to install your products, and then begin installation. When asked
to specify your licenses, provide the appropriate information. The license you
deactivated earlier is then assigned to the new installation.

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Installing License Manager

You will need to install License Manager on the computer from which you are
migrating currently licensed products.
Note: You must install License Manager on a computer with the correct time. If
the time on the computer is even slightly off, in either direction, from Greenwich
Mean Time (GMT), you cannot reset licenses without contacting SolarWinds
Customer Service. Time zone settings neither affect nor cause this issue.
To install License Manager:
1. Click Start> All Programs> SolarWinds> SolarWinds License Manager
Setup.
2. Click I Accept to accept the SolarWinds EULA.
3. If you are prompted to install the SolarWinds License Manager application,
click Install.
Using License Manager
You must run License Manager on the computer where the currently licensed
SolarWinds product is installed before you can migrate licenses to a new
installation. The following procedure deactivates currently installed licenses that
can then be transferred to a new installation.
To deactivate currently installed licenses:
1. Click Start> All Programs> SolarWinds> SolarWinds License Manager.
2. Check the products you want to deactivate on this computer.
3. Click Deactivate.
4. Specify your SolarWinds Customer ID and password when prompted, and
then click Deactivate.
Note: Deactivated licenses are now available to activate on a new computer.
When you have successfully deactivated your products, log on to the computer on
which you want to install your products, and then begin installation. When asked
to specify your licenses, provide the appropriate information. The license you
deactivated earlier is then assigned to the new installation.

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Upgrading SolarWinds APM when SolarWinds Failover Engine is Installed

Upgrading SolarWinds APM when SolarWinds Failover Engine is

Installed
Prior to attempting this upgrade you should read the entire procedure.
On the primary/active server:
Note: If the secondary server is the active server, omit step 1 below.
1. Switch active server to secondary, shutdown Failover Engine on
primary server. Using the SolarWinds Orion Failover Manager, select the
secondary (passive) server and click Make Active. Wait for the secondary
server to become active. After that stop Stop Orion Failover Engine from context menu of tray icon.
2. Shutdown Orion Failover Engine on the secondary (active) server. Stop
Orion Failover Engine on the secondary (active) server leaving the protected applications running from context menu of tray icon.
On the secondary server:
1. Upgrade the desired SolarWinds product :
a. Install theSolarWinds Update by running the setup program.
b. If asked, reboot the server. After the reboot is complete, shutdown
the Failover Engine and proceed with the Configuration Wizard.
c. Verify that SolarWinds is operational.
2. If the upgrade procedure was successful, proceed to step 4.
3. If Upgrade on the secondary server fails:
a. Research the cause of the upgrade failure.
b. If the issue can be resolved, then it is safe to proceed with the
upgrade procedure. Otherwise, you can revert to a previous version.
c. To revert to a previous version:
i. Uninstall the upgraded components.
ii. On the secondary server, launch the SolarWinds Failover
[Link] the Server wizard and click on the
Machine tab. Change the Current role to Secondary/passive.
iii. Reboot the server.
iv. SolarWinds Failover Enginewill start andSolarWinds will be
stopped.
v. On the primary server, launch the SolarWinds Failover
Engine. Configure the Server wizard and click on the
Machine tab. Change the Current role to Primary/active.

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vi. Restart SolarWinds Failover Engine on the primary server
and allow the system to synchronize.
vii. Start SolarWinds Failover Manager and check that the system completes the full system check.
Needs to be updated:
l
l

SQL is already updated, needs reverting.

SolarWinds is not able to uninstall/upgrade, needs repair of the previous
release.

4. Change the server role to Secondary/passive:

a. Start the Failover Engine in the context menu of the tray icon.
b. Stop the Failover Engine, including stopping all protected applications in the context menu of the tray icon.
c. Wait until all protected services are stopped.
d. Launch the Configure Server wizard and then click on the Machine
tab. Change the Current role to Secondary/passive.
e. Start the Failover Engine to enable the packet filter.
f. Shutdown Failover Engine.
On the primary Server (assuming a successful upgrade of secondary completed):
5. Perform upgrade on primary:
a. Disable Neverfail Packet Filter Driver on Public NIC
1. Open Properties of the Public Network Adapter.
l (e.g. in Network Connections window, accessible via
Control Panel, right click the Public Network Adapter
and select Properties)
2. Uncheck the Neverfail Packet Filter Driver item on the list
and close the window by clicking OK.
b. Install the SolarWinds Update by running the setup program.
c. If asked, reboot the server now. After the reboot is complete, shutdown Failover Engine and proceed with the Configuration Wizard.
d. Verify that SolarWinds is operational.
e. Enable the Neverfail Packet Filter Driver on Public NIC
1. Open Properties of the Public Network Adapter.
l (e.g. in Network Connections window, accessible via
Control Panel, right click the Public Network Adapter
and select Properties)

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2. Check the Neverfail Packet Filter Driver item on the list and
close the window by clicking OK.
6. Resume the Failover Engine:
a. Start the Failover Engine on the Primary Server.
b. Launch the Failover Manager on the Primary Server and make the
Primary Server Active using the Make Active button.
c. Start Failover Engine on the Secondary server.
d. Start Replication using the Start Replication button in the Failover Manager.
7. License SolarWinds
a. If applicable, license the application(s) on the Active (Primary)
server.
8. IfSolarWinds fails to start on the secondary server, follow the steps below:
1. Shutdown the Failover Engine.
2. Launch the Configure Server wizard and set the secondary server role to
passive.
3. Startthe Failover Engineon the secondary server.
4. Start the Configure Server wizard on the primary server and set the server
role to active.
5. Startthe Failover Engineon the primary server.
6. Launch theSolarWinds Orion Failover Managerand verify that the system
completes the Full System Check.
7. Investigate the cause of the SolarWinds failure on the secondary server.

Installing SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor

SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor offers an intuitive wizard to guide you
through installing and configuring the product. If you are performing a clean install
of SolarWinds SAM and also want to install SolarWinds NPM, you should install
SolarWinds NPM version 10.2.2 or higher. For more information, see Installing
SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor in the SolarWinds Network
Performance Monitor Administrator Guide.
To install or upgrade SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor:
1. Using an account with local administrative privileges, log on to the
SolarWinds server on which you want to install SolarWinds SAM. To avoid
permissions issues, this account should not be a domain account, and

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it should not be subject to any local or group policy restrictions.
2. If you downloaded the product from the SolarWinds website, complete
the following steps:
Using an account with local administrative privileges, log on to the
SolarWinds server on which you want to install SolarWinds SAM. To avoid
permissions issues, this account should not be a domain account, and
it should not be subject to any local or group policy restrictions.
3. If you are prompted to install any required components, such as
Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 or Microsoft [Link] 2.0 AJAX Extensions, click Install and then complete the component installation.
Note: Downloading and installing Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 may take
a long time, depending on your existing system configuration.
4. Review the Welcome text, and then click Next.

5. If the InstallShield Wizard detects that Microsoft Internet Information

Services (IIS) is not installed, suspend installation, quit setup, and then
install Internet Information Services (IIS).
6. If you had to install Internet Information Services (IIS), launch the
SolarWinds evaluation executable again.
7. Accept the terms of the license agreement, and then click Next.

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Installing SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor

8. Accept the default install location, or navigate to a different location, and

then click Next.

9. Select either the Express Install Recommended option or the Advanced

Install option, and then click Next.
Important: The Express Install option is only available in the evaluation
version. The Full Install version does not include SQL server

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10. Click Next to start copying files. Installation begins.

11. After files are copied and installed, configuring begins automatically.

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12. Click Finish to exit the Configuration Wizard.

13. Type Admin in the User Name field, and then click LOGIN.

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14. The Network Sonar Wizard is displayed. Click Cancel and then confirm that
you want to cancel the network discovery by clicking OK.
Note: The wizard can be used to discover a set of nodes in your network.
You will use it later in this guide.

Uninstalling SAM
The following procedure fully uninstalls SAM and deletes the SAM database.
Notes:
l

This is a general uninstall procedure, and it may differ slightly from version
to version.
This is the recommended procedure when installing daily builds for testing.

To fully uninstall SAM and remove the SAM database:

1. Click Start > Control Panel > Add or Remove Programs.
2. Click SolarWinds Orion Server and Application Monitor..., and then click
Remove.
3. Complete the SAM uninstall wizard.
4. In the Add or Remove Programs window, click SolarWinds Job
Engine..., and then click Remove.
5. Complete the uninstallation of the SolarWinds Job Engine.
6. In the Add or Remove Programs window, click SolarWinds Orion Information Service, and then click Remove.
7. Complete the uninstallation of the SolarWinds Orion Information Service.
8. Click Start > Run...
9. Type regedit, and then click OK.

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10. Expand HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE > Software.
11. Delete both the SolarWinds and the [Link] folders.
12. If you are uninstalling Orion SAM from a 64-bit computer, expand HKEY_
LOCAL_MACHINE > Software > Wow6432Node, and then delete both the
SolarWinds and the [Link] folders.
13. Delete the SolarWinds folder from the Program Files folder on your main
volume. Typically, the Program Files folder is located at C:\Program
Files\.

14. Delete the SolarWinds folder from the Program Files\Common Files folder
on your main volume. Typically, the Common Files folder is located at
C:\Program Files\Common Files\.

15. Delete the SolarWinds website directory. Typically, the SolarWinds website
directory is located in C:\Inetpub\.
16. Delete the SolarWinds folder from the All Users\Application Data\ directory. Typically, this SolarWinds folder is located in C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\.

17. Using your SQL Server tools, delete your Orion database. The Orion database is typically named NetPerfMon, and it can be found in the Databases
folder of your SQL Server management application.
18. Using your SQL Server tools, delete your Orion database user. The Orion
database user can be found by expanding Security > Logins in your SQL
Server management application.

Advanced Installation of SAM

SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor offers an intuitive wizard to guide you
through installing and configuring the product.
To install or upgrade SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor:
l

Using an account with local administrative privileges, log on to the

SolarWinds server on which you want to install SolarWinds SAM. To
avoid permissions issues, this account should not be a domain
account, and it should not be subject to any local or group policy
restrictions.
If you downloaded the product from the SolarWinds website, complete
the following steps:
a. Navigate to the location of your downloaded .zip file, and then
extract the evaluation package to an appropriate location.
b. Launch the SolarWinds SAM evaluation executable.
If you are prompted to install any required components, such as
Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 or Microsoft [Link] 2.0 AJAX

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Extensions, click Install and then complete the component installation.

Note: Downloading and installing Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 may take
a long time, depending on your existing system configuration.
Review the Welcome text, and then click Next.

If the InstallShield Wizard detects that Microsoft Internet Information

Services (IIS) is not installed, suspend installation, quit setup, and then
install Internet Information Services (IIS).
If you had to install Internet Information Services (IIS), launch the
SolarWinds evaluation executable again.

1. Accept the terms of the license agreement, and then click Next.

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Advanced Installation of SAM

2. Accept the default install location, or navigate to a different location, and then
click Next.

3. Select the Advanced Install option, and then click Next.

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4. SAM will begin installation, taking you through multiple installation screens.
Click Next as prompted to be taken to the Database Settings of the Configuration
Wizard,

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Advanced Installation of SAM

5. Configure the database for your environment by selecting the appropriate SQL
Server database and Authentication information, and then click Next.

6. Select whether to Create a new database, or Use an existing database, and

then enter the information as needed, then click Next.

7. Select whether to Create a new account, or Use an existing account, and

then enter the account information, then click Next.

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If the Website Settings page is displayed, configure the IP Address, Port,

and Website Root Directory as appropriate and select whether you want to
enable automatic login, then click Next.

8. Ensure that all the services displayed in the Service Settings page are
checked, and then click Next.

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To assign nodes to polling engines:

9. Review the Configuration wizard Summary page, and then click Next.
10. Click Finish to complete the Configuration Wizard.
Note: If you encounter any issues with the additional polling engine, rerun the
Configuration Wizard on the SolarWinds SAM server.
To assign nodes to polling engines:
You can assign nodes to the polling engines by selecting the desired Polling
Engine in the Add Node wizard.
You can also perform Poller Load Balancing using the Monitor Polling Engines
tool to assign nodes to polling engines. Click Start> All Programs>
SolarWinds> AdvancedFeatures> Monitor Polling Engines. Then click
Servers > Poller Load Balancing to display a dialog where you can assign
nodes to particular polling engines. For more information, see Understanding
How Polling Engines Work" on page 1208.

Activating Your License

After installing the software through the setup wizard, you are prompted to enter
the license activation key for your product. If you do not have an activation key,
the product runs in a time-limited evaluation mode.
To evaluate the software without a license:
1. Click Continue Evaluation.

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To license the software on a server with Internet access:
1. Click Enter Licensing Information.
2. Select I have internet access and an activation key.
3. Click the [Link] link to access the customer portal on the SolarWinds web site.
4. Log on to the portal using your SolarWinds customer ID and password.
5. Click License Management on the left navigation bar.
6. Navigate to your product, choose an activation key from the Unregistered
Licenses section, and then copy the activation key.
7. If you cannot find an activation key in the Unregistered Licenses section, contact SolarWinds customer support.
8. Return to the Activate SAM window, and then enter the activation key in the
Activation Key field.
9. If you access Internet web sites through a proxy server, click I access
the internet through a proxy server, and enter the proxy address and port.
10. Click Next.
11. Enter your email address and other registration information, and then click
Next.
To license the software on a server without Internet access:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

8.
9.
10.
11.
12.

Click Enter Licensing Information

Select This server does not have internet access, and then click Next.
Click Copy Unique Machine ID.
Paste the copied data into a text editor document.
Transfer the document to a computer with Internet access.
On the computer with Internet access, complete the following steps:
Browse to [Link] and then log on to
the portal with your SolarWinds customer ID and password.
Navigate to your product, and then click Manually Register License.
If the Manually Register License option is not available for your product,
contact SolarWinds customer support.
Provide the Machine ID from Step 5, and then download your license key
file.
Transfer the license key file to the server.
Return to the Activate SAM window, browse to the license key file, and then
click Next.

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Finishing SolarWinds SAM Installation

Finishing SolarWinds SAM Installation

After activating your license, you are prompted to configure SolarWinds SAM.
Doing so configures the Orion database, web site, and services to work in your
specific environment.
Follow the directions in the SolarWinds Configuration Wizard:
Notes:
l Confirm that you have designated a SQL Server database instance for
SolarWinds SAM.
l Confirm that the Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager is not open
while the Configuration Wizard is running.
During configuration, the SolarWinds polling engine will shut down temporarily
with the result that, if you are actively polling, you may lose some polling data.
SolarWinds recommends that you perform upgrades during off-peak hours of
network usage to minimize the impact of this temporary polling stoppage.
To configure Server & Application Monitor:
1. If the Configuration Wizard has not loaded automatically, click Start>
All Programs> SolarWinds Orion> Configuration and AutoDiscovery> Configuration Wizard.
2. Click Next on the Welcome window of the Configuration Wizard.
3. If you are prompted to stop services, click Yes.
Note: To ensure that all updates and changes are installed correctly, it is
imperative that you stop all services.
4. Specify the SQL Server instance you want to use to store network data.
5. Provide the credentials, if necessary, that are required to log into the selected instance.
Notes:
l If you are using an existing database, the user account needs only
to be in the db_owner database role for the existing database.
l If you are using an existing SQL account, the user account needs
only to be in the db_owner database role for the SolarWinds SAM
database.
The selected instance must support mixed mode or SQL authentication with
strong passwords. A strong password must meet at least three of the following
four criteria:
l
l

Contains at least one uppercase letter.

Contains at least one lowercase letter.

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l
l

Contains at least one number.

Contains at least one non-alphanumeric character, e.g., #, %, or ^.

For more information about authentication with strong passwords, see

[Link]
If you are using SQL Express, specify your instance as (local) and use a
strong password. For more information about authentication with strong
passwords, see [Link] Due to its inherent limitations, SolarWinds recommends against the use of SQL Express in
production environments.
l If you are creating a new database, the user account must be a member of
the dbcreator server role. The sysadmin role and the sa user account are
always members of dbcreator.
l If you are creating a new SQL account for use with SolarWinds SAM, the
user account must be a member of the securityadmin server role.
Note: The sysadmin role and the sa user account are always members of
securityadmin.
6. Click Next.
7. If you are creating a new database, select Create a new database,
provide a name for the new database, and then click Next.
Note: SolarWinds recommends against using non-alphanumeric characters in database names.
8. If you are using an existing database, select Use an existing database,
type the database name or select it from the list, and then click Next.
9. If you want to create a new SQL account for the SolarWinds SAM
polling engine and web console to use for accessing the database,
select Create a new account, provide an account name and password,
confirm the account password, and then click Next.
10. If you want to use an existing SQL account for the SolarWinds SAM
polling engine and web console to use for accessing the database,
select the existing account, provide the appropriate password, and then
click Next.
11. If you need to specify a particular IP Address for the SolarWinds SAM
Web Console, provide the IP address of the host web server.
Note: SolarWinds recommends the default All Unassigned unless your
environment requires a specific IP address for your SolarWinds Web Console.
12. Specify both the port through which you want to access the web console
and the volume and folder in which you want to install the web console
files.
Note: If you specify any port other than 80, you must include that port in the
l

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Excluding SolarWinds Data Directories from Anti-Virus Scanning

13.
14.
15.

16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.

URL used to access the web console. For example, if you specify an IP
address of [Link] and port 8080, the URL used to access the web
console is [Link]
Click Next.
If you are prompted to create a new directory, click Yes.
If you are prompted to create a new website, click Yes.
Note: Choosing to overwrite the existing website will not result in the deletion of any custom SolarWinds SAM website settings you may have previously applied.
Confirm that all services you want to install are checked, and then click
Next.
Review the final configuration items, and then click Next.
Click Next on the Completing the SolarWinds Configuration Wizard dialog.
Click Finish when the SolarWinds Configuration Wizard completes.
Log in to the SolarWinds Web Console as an administrator.
Note: By default, you can log in with User Name Admin and no password.
If you have not discovered your network devices and added them to
the Orion database, the Network Discovery Wizard starts.

Excluding SolarWinds Data Directories from AntiVirus Scanning

Anti-virus programs may lock files used by the SolarWinds Job Engine v2 during
scanning. This can cause the SolarWinds Job Engine v2 services to stop and
restart, causing delayed polling and gaps in data for a poll cycle.
SolarWinds recommends that you exclude certain SolarWinds data directories
(depending on your Windows platform) from your anti-virus scanning to improve
performance and stability:
Exclude for Windows Server 2003:
C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application
Data\SolarWinds

Exclude for Windows Server 2008:

C:\ProgramData\SolarWinds

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Chapter 2: Requirements and Installation

Running SolarWinds SAM

To run SolarWinds SAM:
1. Click Start > All Programs > SolarWinds Orion> Orion Web Console.
The SolarWinds Web Console is displayed. You can login by default by entering
the User name Admin and no password. Then click Login.

Internet Explorer Security Settings

If you are using Internet Explorer, SolarWinds recommends that you add the URL
of your SolarWinds website ([Link] the URL of
SolarWinds support ([Link] and about:blank to the list of
trusted sites.
If you do not add these URLs to the list of trusted sites, you may see Internet
Explorer dialogs that contain messages similar to the following regarding
blocking website content:
l

Content from the website listed below is being blocked by the Internet
Explorer Enhanced Security Configuration.
To add the specified URLs to your trusted sites list, click the Add button
in the Internet Explorer dialog.

For more information about adding sites to your trusted sites list, see the Microsoft
article, Working with Internet Explorer Security Settings.

Licensing
The SolarWinds SAM license you purchase is based on the number of allowed
assigned component monitors. A component monitor provides a statistic that you
want to monitor in SolarWinds SAM. You can have as many application templates
and assigned monitors as you need, as long as the number of assigned
component monitors does not exceed the license count.
If you have more assigned component monitors than allowed by your license, the
monitors that exceed your license limit are not activated, and their component
statuses are changed to "Not Licensed." You can either disable some assigned
component monitors to reduce your total assigned monitor count, or contact
SolarWinds about upgrading your SolarWinds SAM license.
How is SAM

Available License

Questions

142

Answers

Licensing

licensed?

Tiers

By the
number of
Component
Monitors

AL150 (Up to 150

Component Monitors)
AL300
AL700
AL1100
ALX (Unlimited
component monitors
with standard polling
throughput).

What is a
Component
Monitor?

The value
returned by a
component
monitor is a
measurement
of application
health and
availability
that needs to
be monitored.
It can be a
process, a
service, a
performance
counter, a
port, an URL,
a User
Experience
Monitor, a
Nagios script,
and so on.
An
application
typically
consumes
15-25
component
monitors.
The
Windows
Scheduled
Task Monitor
consumes
five (5)
component

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Chapter 2: Requirements and Installation

monitors per
Windows
server.
AppInsight
for SQL
consumes 50
component
monitors per
database
instance.
AppInsight
for Exchange
consumes 50
component
monitors per
mailbox role
server.
AppInsight
for IIS
consumes 30
component
monitors per
monitored IIS
server.
Why Component
Monitors, and not
devices?

144

Monitorbased pricing
is flexible.
Monitorbased pricing
provides a
good
correlation of
price to
value.

Licensing

Is it always on
component
monitors?

Technically,
it is based on
highest
number of
Nodes,
Volumes,
and
Component
Monitors
(refer to NPM
licensing for
Node &
Volume
definition),
but in almost
every case,
Component
Monitors is
the highest
factor. There
may be some
instances
where
Volumes or
Nodes would
be the
highest
factor.

Asset Inventory data collection

Asset Inventory data collection does not count against your SAM component
monitor license.
Windows Scheduled Task Monitor
The WSTM consumes five (5) license units per node.
Agents
Agent software is free. You remain bound by the limits of the license you own
regardless of how you poll information, either via an agent or another protocol.

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Chapter 2: Requirements and Installation

AppInsight for SQL
When usingAppInsight for SQL, 50 component monitors will count against your
licensed number of component monitors,per SQL instance.
AppInsight for Exchange
When using AppInsight for Exchange, 50 component monitors will count against
your licensed number of component monitors, per Exchange Server.
AppInsight for IIS
When usingAppInsight for IIS, 30 component monitors will count against your
licensed number of component monitors,per monitored IISserver
Important: The example below illustrates a situation where you would have 40
available component monitors available, but have surpassed your allowed
number of 300 monitors by 60. The discrepancy is caused by AppInsight
application implementations. AppInsight applications are licensed as 50 monitors
per application and cannot be partially licensed, as is the case with typical
applications.

Note: SolarWinds SAM licenses do not have to mirror the license count of any
other installed SolarWinds product. For example, you can install SolarWinds
SAM with a 150 component license on a SolarWinds NPM server with an
unlimited node license.
To see the available component monitors remaining in your license:
1. Log on to the SolarWinds Web Console with an administrator account.
2. Click Applications.
3. Click SAM Settings.

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To see the available component monitors remaining in your license:

4. Click SAM License Summary.
Note: As an alternative to the previous procedure, you can also click
License Details in the Settings page to view the used and available component monitors.
Licensing Information:
l

When using your Customer ID and password, you can use your individual
profile information.
You can get your license information from the customer portal using the customer portal link: [Link] instead of [Link]
If you do not know your CustomerID and/or password, navigate to
[Link] and request the
desired information.
To get your activation key, navigate to the Customer Portal and click
License Management, then click the plus sign [+].

Deactivation
If you have deactivation information, you should step through the deactivation
process a second time. You no longer need your Customer ID and password and
will prompted multiple times to confirm that you are sure you want to deactivate
your product.
License Paths
The License Manager will only work for people under active maintenance and
can be downloaded from the customer portal. You can activate or deactivate your
products using the License Manager, as well as see all products you have
installed on that computer.

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Chapter 3:
Common Tasks with SolarWinds
SAM
The features and flexibility provided by Server & Application Monitor give highly
detailed insight into the performance quality of applications on your network. The
tasks presented in this chapter illustrate the value of Server & Application Monitor,
and how it can immediately offer you a significant return on your investment:
l
l
l
l
l
l
l
l
l

Monitoring Web Site Performance

Monitoring Microsoft Windows Performance
Monitoring IIS Application Pools
Scanning for Applications Worth Monitoring
Monitoring VMware Performance Counters
Monitoring and Restarting Stopped Windows Services
Creating a Custom Component Availability Report
Creating a Windows PowerShell Monitor
Monitoring Large Directories

Monitoring Web Site Performance

You are the website administrator for your company. You are responsible for the
Intranet web site accessed by the employees and the corporate web site
accessed by the customers. You want to make sure both your employees and
customers are able to access your web sites and that you are alerted to any
problems that would prevent them from doing so.

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Chapter 3: Common Tasks with SolarWinds SAM

Deciding What to Monitor

The Intranet server is in your server room. To make sure only employees can
access the Intranet web site, the web site is secured using basic HTTP
authentication (htpasswd) that requires them to log on using a user name and
password. You decide to monitor this server using the HTTP template and the
valid credentials: user name "admin" and password "password.
The corporate web server is hosted and managed by a web hosting company.
You can monitor the web site with the HTTP Template, but because you do not
have direct control over the server hardware, you will add the server to the Orion
database as an external node.
Monitoring the Intranet Home Page
We need to add the Intranet web server to the Orion database, and then assign
the SolarWinds SAM HTTP template to the web server.
1. Log on to the SolarWinds Web Console.
2. Click Applications if not already selected.
3. Add the Intranet web server to the Orion database.
a. Click Add a Node.
b. Type the Hostname or IP Address of the Intranet web server.
c. Check the ICMP (Ping only) check box, select the appropriate
Polling Engine (if applicable), and then click Next.
d. In the Add Application Monitors page, click Next.
Note: If you wish to add an Application Monitor to the node, you
may do so either here or from the Application Settings as described
elsewhere in this guide.
e. In the Change Properties page, click OK, Add Node.

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Monitoring the Corporate Home Page

Assign the HTTP template to the Intranet web server node.
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.
h.
i.
j.
k.
l.
m.
n.

Click Applications if not already selected.

Click SAM Settings.
Click Manually Assign Application Monitors.
Select Web Server in the Show only list.
Select HTTP, and then click Next.
Expand the categories and locate your Intranet web server node, select
it, and then click Next.
Select <New Credential> in the Choose Credential list.
Type Intranet Admin in the Credential Name field.
Type admin in the User Name field.
Type password in the Password and Confirm Password fields.
Click Test.
If the test fails, see Troubleshooting the HTTP Template.
Click Assign Application Monitors.
Click Done.

Monitoring the Corporate Home Page

We need to add the corporate web server to the Orion database as an external
node, and then assign the HTTP template to the web server.
1. Log on to the SolarWinds Web Console.
2. Click Applications if not already selected.
3. Add the corporate web server to the Orion database as an external node.
a. Click Add a Node.
b. Type the Hostname or IP Address of the corporate web server.
c. Check the External check box, select the appropriate Polling Engine
(if applicable), and then click Next.
4. Assign the HTTP template to the corporate web server node.
a. Select Web Server in the Show only list.
b. Select HTTP.
c. Select Inherit credentials from template and then click Test.
d. If the test fails, see Troubleshooting the HTTP Template.
e. Click Next.
f. Enter the Name for your corporate web server.
g. Click OK, Add Node.
Troubleshooting the HTTP Template
If the web site requires a user name and password, verify that you are entering a
working user name and password.

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Chapter 3: Common Tasks with SolarWinds SAM

If the SolarWinds SAM server must connect to the Internet through a web proxy:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

Click Assign Application Monitors even though the test failed.

Click Edit.
Click [+] to expand the HTTP Monitor component.
Click Override Template next to Use Proxy.
Check the Use Proxy check box.
Click Override Template next to Proxy Address.
Type the proxy address in the Proxy Address field using the syntax [Link]
8. Click Test All.
9. Click Submit.
10. Click Done.

Monitoring IIS Application Pools

You maintain a web server that hosts five different web sites through Internet
Information Services (IIS) 6.0 using application pools to separate each web site.
Everything was fine at first, but the average load time for the web pages has
doubled as business has grown, and you suspect it may be time to move at least
one of the web sites to a new server.

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Deciding What to Monitor

Deciding What to Monitor
Internet Information Services 6.0 runs each application pool in a new instance of
[Link]. Monitoring the five [Link] instances individually will let you see
which web site is using the most system resources. You can then make a more
informed decision as to which web site you should move to the new server.
Note: [Link] is running only if there are HTTP requests made to a server. To
keep [Link] running if no HTTP requests are made to that server, add an
HTTP Monitor to the same application. The HTTP Monitor will then check the
same website and generate HTTP requests, thereby keeping [Link] running.
What needs to be monitored:
Five instances of [Link], differentiated by application pool. SolarWinds SAM
can monitor them separately if you specify the application pool names in the
component monitors.
1. Log on to the SolarWinds Web Console.
2. Click Applications if not already selected.
3. Add the web server to the Orion database.
a. Click Add a Node.
b. Type the hostname or IP address of the Intranet web server.
c. Check the ICMP (Ping only) check box and then click Next.
d. In the Add Application Monitors page, click Next.
e. In the Change Properties page, Click OK, Add Node.
4. Find the [Link] process on the web server.
a. Click Applications if not already selected.
b. Click SAM Settings.
c. Click Component Monitor Wizard.
d. Select Process Monitor WMI as the monitor type, and then click
Next.
e. Click Browse, select the web server, and then click Select.
f. Enter WebServerAdmin in the Credential Name field.
g. Enter your administrator user name in the User Name field.
h. Enter your password in the Password and Confirm Password fields.
i. Click Next.
j. Wait for the process list to load.
k. Click the last page button to view the last page.
l. Check the check box next to [Link], and then click Next.
m. Change Monitor Name to Webpool1.
n. Enter webpool1 in the Command Line Filter field.
o. Change the CPU Warning Threshold to greater than 40.

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p. Change the CPU Critical Threshold to greater than 50.
q. Click Add Another Component.
r. Repeat steps d through q, changing the Monitor Name and Command
Line Filter fields appropriately for the four remaining webpool filters.
s. After creating the monitors for all five [Link] instances, click Next.
t. Select New Application Monitor.
u. Type Web Server Application Pools as the Application Monitor
Name, and then click Next.
v. Select the web server node, and then click Next.
w. Review the list of component monitors to create, and then click OK,
Create.

Scanning for Applications Worth Monitoring

You already use SolarWinds SAM for monitoring applications critical to your own
job functions. Now, you want to discover and monitor other applications that are
hosted in your organization's network.

What needs to be monitored:

You decide to scan for Windows and IIS because you have the Windows
administrator password to access many computers on the network and you have
a hunch at least a few of them are running IIS.
All the computers in your network are already in the Orion database, so there is
no need to add them.
The administrator user name and passwords are:
User Name: WAREHOUSE\Administrator
Password: H0merSamps0n

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Monitoring a Specific URL

User Name: IT\Administrator
Password: FourLights
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

6.

7.

8.
9.
10.
11.

Log on to the SolarWinds Web Console.

Click Applications if not already selected.
Click SAM Settings.
Click Scan Nodes for Applications.
Select nodes:
a. Click [+] to expand the node groups.
b. Select the nodes you want to scan, and then click Next.
Select applications to find.
a. Uncheck all applications except:
l Internet Information Services
l Windows Server 2003-2008.
b. Click Next.
Enter the credentials for the servers you are scanning:
a. Click Add Credential.
b. Type Warehouse Admin in the Credential Name field.
c. Type WAREHOUSE\Administrator in the User Name field.
d. Type H0merSamps0n in both the Password and Confirm Password
fields.
e. Click Submit.
f. Click Add Credential.
g. Type IT Admin in the Credential Name field.
h. Type IT\Administrator in the User Name field.
i. Type FourLights in the both the Password and Confirm Password
fields.
j. Click Submit.
k. Click Next.
Click Start Scan.
Click View SAM Summary Page.
Click View results (near the top of the page) after the SAM scan is complete.
Review the results of the scan.

Monitoring a Specific URL

To monitor a specific URL, follow the step outlined below:
1. Login to the Web Console and navigate to Settings.
2. Click Manage Nodes and then click Add Node.

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Chapter 3: Common Tasks with SolarWinds SAM

3. Enter the URL you want to monitor (eg: [Link]) and select No
Status: External Node, as highlighted below:

4. Click Next and then select Web Pages from the drop-down menu.

5. Check Web Link and select Inherit credentials from Template. Click Test
and then click Next.

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Monitoring VMware Performance Counters

6. On the Change Properties page, review properties you wish to change and
then click, OK, Add Node.
7. Navigate to the Node Details page to review the results. To do this, click the
Home tab then drill down to your specific node in the All Nodes resource.

Monitoring VMware Performance Counters

You want to ensure the health of your VMware environment.
What needs to be monitored:
You want to create an Application Monitor that uses VMware performance
counters provided by the VMware wizard to monitor the health of various aspects
of your VMware environment.
To create a new Application Monitor using the browsing method to select
the desired VMware performance counters:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Log on to your SolarWinds Web Console with an Administrator account.

Click the Applications tab.
Click SAM Settings.
Click Component Monitor Wizard underneath Getting Started with SAM.
Select one of the following component monitor types, depending on
whether you want to browse for ESX or vCenter performance counters:

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VMware ESX Performance Counter MonitorVMware vCenter Performance Counter Monitor
6. Click Next.
7. Type the IP address of the VMware node you want to browse, or click
Browse, select the node from the list, and click SELECT.
8. If suitable credentials already exist, choose the credential from the
Choose Credential list.
9. If suitable credentials do not exist, choose <New Credential> from the
Choose Credential list, and then add the new credential by filling out the
credential details.
10. Click Next.
11. Select whether you want to monitor A single system or Multiple systems.
12. Choosing A single system will provide specific counters that apply to the
target system only.
Note: This option provides all available performance counters with
instances for the specified Entity Type. Since the performance counters
selected may contain instances, the Application Monitor or template created based on them cannot be considered as generic, and may only be
assigned to the specific target node you specified in step 7 above.
Choosing Multiple systems will provide more generic counters that can
be applied to multiple systems.
Note: This option provides only aggregate performance counters (without
instances). Therefore the Application Monitor or template created based on
them can be considered as generic and assigned to different ESX/vCenter
target hosts. In this case, monitors in the application or template created
will contain the special ${VMWARE_ENTITY_NAME} variable in the
Entity Name field of the monitor. When the monitor runs, this variable will
be resolved to the first available Entity on a target host with the desired
Entity Type (for example, the first Host System).
13. Select the desired VMware Entity Type to monitor:
l Cluster Compute Resource (only available if the VMware vCenter Performance Counter Monitor type is selected in step 5) Data object that
aggregates the computation resources of its associated Host System
objects into one single computation resource for use by virtual machines.
The cluster services such as HA (High Availability), DRS (Distributed
Resource Scheduling), and EVC (Enhanced vMotion Compatibility),
enhance the usefulness of this single computation resource. This Entity
Type is specific to vCenter systems.
l Host System Managed object type that provides access to a virtualization
host platform.

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To create a new Application Monitor using the browsing method to select the
Resource Pool Represents a set of physical resources which may be a
single host, a subset of a host's resources, or resources spanning multiple
hosts. You can subdivide Resource pools by creating child resource pools.
In order to run, a virtual machine must be associated as a child of a resource
pool. In a parent/child hierarchy of resource pools and virtual machines, the
root resource pool is the single resource pool that has no parent pool.
l Virtual Machine Managed object type for manipulating virtual machines,
including templates that can be repeatedly deployed as new virtual
machines. This object type provides methods for configuring and controlling
a virtual machine.
14. If you selected the A single system option in step 11, select the desired
VMware Entity to monitor.
15. Select the desired Performance Object (group) to monitor. For example, if
you want to monitor CPU counters, select CPU.
16. Select the check boxes next to the counters to monitor for the selected Performance Object.
Note: To select all the counters listed, select the check box next to
Counter.
l

The selected counters are listed in the Selected items list with a red X
next to each one. To delete an item, click the red X next to the item and it
will be removed from the list.
17. If you want to select counters from an additional Performance Object,
select the next Performance object and then add the desired counters for it.
18. When you are finished selecting counters, click Next.
19. If you selected the A single system option in step 12, select the desired
counter instances to monitor:
a. Use the Group By drop down to display the counters for a particular Performance Object, or select All Counters.
b. Click the name of the desired counter to choose its instances.
c. Select the check box(es) next to the desired instance(s) to monitor.
Note: To select all the instances listed, select the check box next to
Instance Name.
The selected instances are then displayed in the Selected items list
with a red X next to each one. To delete an item, click the red X next to
the item and it will be removed from the list.
d. When you are finished selecting counter instances, click Next.
20. The Edit Properties page is displayed with the component monitors that
have been created for each of your selected counters or counters/instances.
Here you can modify settings such as the Monitor Name, which defaults to
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Chapter 3: Common Tasks with SolarWinds SAM

the counter name that was selected. This is only a descriptive label, and
can be modified as desired.
If you chose the Multiple systems option in step 11, you can see the
special ${VMWARE_ENTITY_NAME} variable in the Entity Name field of
the monitor. When the monitor runs, this variable will be resolved to the first
available Entity on a target host with the desired Entity Type (for example,
the first Host System).
You also need to configure your warning and critical thresholds for
response time and statistic.
21. When you are finished editing monitor properties, click Next.
22. The Add to Application Monitor or Template page is displayed with the
Component list collapsed. Click [+] next to Component list to expand the
list of counters or counters/instances to be added.
23. Select New Application Monitor. Then enter a name for the new Application Monitor, for example: VMware Disk and CPU Monitor.
You can change the name of the Application Monitor up to and including
step 26.
24. If you selected the Multiple systems option in step 11, expand the list of
nodes and select the nodes to monitor. Only VMware ESX and vCenter
nodes are displayed.
25. Click Next.
26. Click OK, Create.
27. Click View SAM Summary Page.
28. Your new VMware monitor appears in the tree view for the All Applications
resource. The polling results for the new monitor are updated after a few
minutes.

Monitoring and Restarting Stopped Windows Services

You want to ensure the health of your Windows server by monitoring the services
that are running. If any services are stopped, they should be restarted.
What needs to be monitored:
You want to create an Application Monitor that monitors Windows services. You
also want to create an alert that attempts to restart any services that are stopped
and sends an email.

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What needs to be monitored:

To create a new Application Monitor template using the browsing method to
select the desired Windows services and then assign it to the desired
nodes:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.

10.
11.
12.
13.
14.

15.
16.
17.

Log on to your SolarWinds Web Console with an Administrator account.

Click the Applications tab.
Click SAM Settings.
Click Component Monitor Wizard underneath Getting Started with SAM.
Select the following component monitor type:
Windows Service Monitor
Click Next.
Type the IP address of the Windows node you want to browse, or click
Browse, select the node from the list, and click SELECT.
If suitable credentials already exist, choose the credential from the
Choose Credential list.
If suitable credentials do not exist, choose <New Credential> from the
Choose Credential list, and then add the new credential by filling out the
credential details.
Click Next.
Browse the list of services and check the boxes for the services to monitor.
Adjust thresholds as desired.
Click Next.
Ensure that New Application Monitor Template Name is selected and
then enter a name for your new template, for example CustomWindowsServices.
Click Next.
Select the boxes for the desired nodes to monitor and click Next.
Click OK, Create to create the assigned Application Monitor.

To create an alert that restarts any stopped Windows services and sends an
email:
1. Click Start > All Programs > SolarWinds Orion > Alerting, Reporting,
and Mapping > Advanced Alert Manager.
2. Click Configure Alerts.
3. Scroll to the bottom of the list in the Manage Alerts dialog, and check the
box for Restart a service.
4. If you would also like to send an e-mail notification for the service
restart:
a. Highlight Restart a service and click Edit.
b. Select the Trigger Actions tab and then click Add New Action.
c. Select Send an E-Mail / Page and click OK.

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d. Complete the e-mail info and click OK.
e. Click OK.
5. Click Done.
For more information about restarting Windows services with an alert action, see
Restarting Windows Services with an Alert Action on page 1.

Monitoring Large Directories

You already use the Directory Size monitor in SolarWinds SAM for monitoring
small and medium-sized directories. Now you need to monitor a very large
directory.
You discover the Directory Size monitor has problems monitoring the very large
directory, which contains hundreds or even thousands of files, because the
monitor timeout may lapse before the target computer can finish computing the file
sizes and sending the response.
In order to work around this issue, you decide to use the Windows Script monitor
instead to execute a Visual Basic script that uses the [Link]
to calculate the directory size.
What needs to be monitored:
You decide to monitor the very large directory using the Windows Script monitor,
because this method should be as fast as if you view the folder properties in
Windows Explorer to get the size and avoid the timeout issues.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Log on to your SolarWinds Web Console with an Administrator account.

Click the Applications tab.
Click SAM Settings.
Click Create a New Template underneath Application Monitor Templates.
Type a name for your template in the Template Name field, for example
Large Directory Monitor.
6. If you want to turn on extended debug information to assist Customer
Support, expand Advanced and then set Debug logging On and specify
the Number of log files to keep.
Here you can also select either 32bit or 64bit from the drop down list
entitled, Platform to run polling job on.
Note: Do not turn on Debug logging unless directed by Customer Support.

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What needs to be monitored:

7. Click Add Component Monitor.
8. Expand the Custom Component Monitors group, and then check Windows Script Monitor.
9. Click Submit.
10. Select credentials with appropriate permissions to run the script on the
SolarWinds SAM server, and that also has appropriate permissions to do
whatever else the script requires.
11. Copy the following Visual Basic script to get the directory size into the
Script Body field:
Dim folderPath
folderPath = [Link](0)
Set fs=[Link] ("[Link]")
Set folder= [Link](folderPath)
[Link] "Message: Folder " &folderPath & " is " & [Link]
& " bytes large"
[Link] "Statistic: " & [Link]

The VB code does the following:

a. Reads the first argument passed to the script (the UNC pathname for
the directory to monitor) and stores it in folderPath.
b. Creates the [Link] and stores it in fs.
c. Gets the folder name from the saved command line argument and
stores it in folder.
d. Displays the message with the folder name and the folder size.
e. Displays the statistic (folder size in bytes).
Note: The script does no error checking, such as handling the case if
the folder does not exist.
12. Type the UNC pathname for the directory name to monitor into the Script
Arguments field.
You can use the token ${IP} and the IP address will be filled in with the IP
address of the target node to which the monitor is assigned when the Windows
Script monitor runs.
For example, if you type the following UNC pathname for the directory name in
the Script Arguments:
\\${IP}\c$\my_large_directory

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the VBscript will get the size of the directory c:\my_large_directory on the node
to which the Windows Script monitor is assigned.
13. Specify the critical and warning thresholds appropriately based on the
desired directory size.
14. Click Submit.
15. Create an assigned Application Monitor by assigning the Large Directory
Monitor template to the desired node to monitor.
a. Click the Applications tab.
b. Click SAM Settings.
c. Click Manually Assign Application Monitors underneath Getting Started with SAM.
d. Select All in the Show only list.
e. Click Large Directory Monitor and then Next.
f. Click Manually Assign Application Monitors underneath Getting Started with SAM.
g. Select All in the Show only list.
h. Click Large Directory Monitor and then click Next.
i. Browse to the desired node to monitor, select it, and then click Next.
j. Enter itadmin in the Credential Name field.
k. Enter your administrator user name in the User Name field.
l. Enter your password in the Password and Confirm Password fields.
m. Click Test.
n. If the test fails, see Troubleshooting the Windows 2003-2008 Template..
o. Click Assign Application Monitors, and then click Done.
Troubleshooting the Large Directory Monitor
Verify that you are entering the user name and password of an administrator-level
account. If you think you have entered an incorrect credential, correct the mistake
and then retest.
If you made a mistake with the spelling of the directory name, correct it and then
retest.

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Managing the Web Console
The SAM Web Console is an integral part of the SolarWinds family of products
that can be configured for viewing from virtually any computer connected to the
Internet. You can also customize the web console for multiple users and store
individually customized views as user profiles. Administrator functions are
accessed by clicking Settings in the top right of all SolarWinds Web Console
views.
The SolarWinds Web Console administrator manages the SolarWinds Website
using the commands listed in the various categories on the Settings page.
You can manage SolarWinds SAM nodes, groups, accounts, alerts, views, and
settings. You can also manage the navigation and look of SolarWinds SAM and
view information about available product updates. This guide is designed to
mirror the SAM interface, as shown below.
Note: If links appear not to work or misdirect you, clear your web cache which can
be done by clicking the Clear Web Cache button at the top right of the Settings
page, or by going through your browser's Options menu.

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To manage the SolarWinds Web Console, navigate to the Settings page:

1. Log on to your SolarWinds Web Console with an Administrator account.
Note: Initially, Admin is the default administrator user ID with a blank password. You can change the password later using the Account Manager. For
more information, see Managing Accounts.
2. Click Settings near the top right of the SolarWinds Web Console to display
the Settings page.

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Refer to the sections that follow for details about the administrative commands
Refer to the sections that follow for details about the administrative commands available in each category:
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Getting Started with SolarWinds

Discovery Central
Network Sonar Discovery
Add a Node
Node & Group Management
Manage Nodes
Virtualization Settings
Manage Dependencies
Manage Groups
Accounts
Manage Accounts
Account List
Customize
Customize Menu Bars
Color Scheme
External Websites
Manage Alerts
Manage Advanced Alerts
Product Updates
Available Product Updates
SolarWinds Product Team Blog
Views
Manage Views
Add New View
Views by Device Type
Views by Application Type
Settings
Web Console Settings
Polling Settings
SAM Settings
SolarWinds Thresholds
Virtualization Thresholds
Details
Database Details
Polling Engines
Orion Core Details
License Details

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Agents
Agent Settings

Discovery Central
Click Discovery Central on the Settings page to view a centralized overview of
the types and number of network objects you are monitoring with your currently
installed SolarWinds products.
Refer to Discovering and Adding Nodes on a Network.
Network Sonar Discovery
Click Network Sonar Discovery on the Settings page to discover a range of
nodes in your SolarWinds SAM.
For more information, refer to Network Sonar Discovery.
Add a Node
Click Add a Node on the Settings page to add a single device to your
SolarWinds SAM.
For more information, see "Adding Nodes for Monitoring".

Node & Group Management

The Node & Group Management category gives you access to the commands for
managing nodes, groups, and dependencies.
Refer to the following sections for more information:
Click Manage Nodes on the Settings page to add, view, and manage all
nodes and resources managed or monitored by your SolarWinds SAM
installation.
l Virtualization Settings
l Click Manage Dependencies on the Settings page to manage dependencies for your SolarWinds SAM.
l Click Manage Groups on the Settings page to manage groups for your
SolarWinds SAM.
Manage Nodes
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Click Manage Nodes on the Settings page to add, view, and manage all nodes
and resources managed or monitored by your SolarWinds SAM installation.

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Virtualization Settings
Click Virtualization Settings on the Settings page to open the Virtualization
Settings view. Here you can view a list of currently monitored VMware ESX
Servers, VMware credentials, as well as Hyper-V information.
For more information, refer to Virtualization.
Manage Dependencies
Click Manage Dependencies on the Settings page to manage dependencies for
your SolarWinds SAM.
For more information, see "Managing Groups and Dependencies".
Manage Groups
Click Manage Groups on the Settings page to manage groups for your
SolarWinds SAM.
For more information, see "Managing Groups and Dependencies".

Accounts
The Accounts category gives you access to the commands for managing
accounts, permissions, and views.
Refer to the following sections for more information:
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Account List

Manage Accounts
Click Manage Accounts on the Settings page to manage user accounts,
permissions, and views.
For more information, see "Managing Accounts".

Account List
Click Account List on the Settings page to open the SolarWinds Website
Accounts view, providing an immediate overview of web console user account
settings.
You may use this view to make changes to multiple accounts simultaneously and
immediately by clicking to check or clear options. Clicking an Account user
name opens the Account Manager for the selected account.
For more information, see "Managing Accounts".

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Customize
The Customize category provides commands to customize the navigation and
appearance of your SolarWinds Web Console.
Refer to the following sections for more information:
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Customize Menu Bars

Color Scheme
External Websites
Customized SAM Tabbed Sub-Views

Customize Menu Bars

Click Customize Menu Bars on the Settings page to configure the menu bars
seen by individual users.

Color Scheme
Click Color Scheme on the Settings page to select a default color scheme for
resource title bars.
For more information, see "Changing the Web Console Color Scheme".

External Websites
Click External Websites on the Settings page to designate any external website
as a SolarWinds Web Console view, appearing in the Views toolbar.
For more information, see "Creating and Editing External Website Views".

Customized SAM Tabbed Sub-Views

Sam allows you to add vertical tabs on any page in the web console, allowing
you to customize the data you view.
To enable SAM Sub-Views:
1. From the web console, click Customize Page in the upper-right hand
corner of the screen.
2. Check Enable Left Navigation.
3. The following screen appears:

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4. To add a tab, click Add tab.

At this point, you can customize each sub-view tab with its own resources just as
you would for any other view.
For more information see, "Editing Views".

Manage Alerts
The Manage Alerts category gives you access to the commands that allow you to
edit, disable, enable, or delete currently configured advanced alerts.
Refer to the following section for more information:
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Alerting and Reporting

Views
The Views category gives you access to the commands that allow you to manage
individual web console views as well as views for device and application types.
Refer to the following section for more information:
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Manage Views
Add New View
Views by Device Type
Views by Application Type
Customizing Views

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Manage Views
Click Manage Views on the Settings page to add, edit, copy, or remove individual
web console views.
For more information see Customizing Views".

Add New View

Click Add New View on the Settings page to add a custom view with the
information you want to view.
For more information see Customizing Views".

Views by Device Type

Click Views by Device Type on the Settings page to designate default views for
network nodes.
For more information, see "Views by Device Type".

Views by Application Type

Click Views by Application Type on the Settings page to specify a custom or a
default application details view for each application type.
For information, see Views by Application Type.

Settings
The Settings category gives you access to the commands that allow you to
manage configuration settings for the Web Console, polling, SAM, and
thresholds.
Refer to the following sections for more information:
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Web Console Settings

Polling Settings
SolarWinds Thresholds
SolarWinds Thresholds

Web Console Settings

Click Web Console Settings on the Settings page to customize the function and
appearance of both the SolarWinds Web Console and the charts that are
displayed as resources in SolarWinds Web Console views.
For more information, see "Customizing Charts in the SolarWinds Web Console".

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Polling Settings

Polling Settings
Click Polling Settings on the Settings page to define the configuration of polling
intervals, timeouts, statistics calculations, and database retention settings for your
SolarWinds SAM polling engine.
For more information, see "SolarWinds Polling Settings".

SAM Settings
Click SAM Settings on the Settings page to configure SolarWinds SAM and its
templates and component monitors.
For more information refer to SolarWinds SAM Settings.

SolarWinds Thresholds
Click SolarWinds Thresholds on the Settings page to configure SolarWinds
SAM threshold settings.
For more information, see "SolarWinds General Thresholds".

Virtualization Thresholds
Click Virtualization Thresholds on the Settings page to configure SolarWinds
SAM virtual threshold settings for VMware and Hyper-V objects.
For more information, see "SolarWinds General Thresholds".

Details
The Details category gives you access to the commands that allow you to view
configuration details for the database, polling engines, licenses, and modules.
Refer to the following sections for more information:
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Database Details
Polling Engines
Orion Core Details
License Details

Database Details
Click Database Details on the Settings page to display details about the SQL
Server database currently used. For more information, see "Data and Database
Settings".

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Polling Engines
Click Polling Engines on the Settings page to show the status and selected
configuration information for each currently operational polling engine. For more
information, see "Managing SolarWinds SAM Polling Engines".

Orion Core Details

Click Orion Core Details on the Settings page to display an information-only
page that displays details about your installation of the common components and
resources that all SolarWinds products share, including information about your
SolarWinds server, monitored object counts, and the version numbers of the
executables and DLLs required by any and all installed SolarWinds products.

License Details
Click License Details on the Settings page to display details about both your
SolarWinds SAM license and your monitored network.
This page also shows the version of the applications that you are running and the
versions of associated DLLs.

Navigating the SolarWinds Web Console

The SolarWinds Web Console offers two primary methods of navigation: top-level
web console tabs and view-level breadcrumbs. The following sections describe
how these navigation methods are used:
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Using Web Console Tabs

Using and Disabling Web Console Breadcrumbs

Using Web Console Tabs

In the case of a basic SolarWinds SAM installation, the SolarWinds Web Console
displays the following tabs:
Home
The Home tab provides a menu bar of links to views aiding you in general
network management and monitoring. Information, like events and Top 10
lists, and technologies, like alerts, used to generate the views linked from
the Home menu are generally available to all SolarWinds modules. By
default, the SolarWinds Summary Home view displays when you click
Home from any view in the web console.

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Using and Disabling Web Console Breadcrumbs

Applications
If you are viewing the SolarWinds Web Console on a server on which
SolarWinds SAM is installed, the Applications tab opens a menu of default
views for some of the many different types of applications SolarWinds SAM
can monitor. The SAM Summary Home view displays by default when you
click Home from any web console view.
Virtualization
The Virtualization tab provides access to specific views and resources that
are tailored for monitoring virtual devices.

Using and Disabling Web Console Breadcrumbs

As you navigate web console views, your location is recorded as a series of links,
or breadcrumbs, to the views you have opened. Each breadcrumb offers the
following navigation options:
Clicking a breadcrumb opens the corresponding view directly.
Clicking > next to a breadcrumb opens a clickable list of all other views at the
same navigation level in the web console. For example, if you are on a Node
Details view, clicking > displays a list of other monitored nodes.
Note: Only the first 50 monitored nodes, listed in alphanumeric order by IP
address, are displayed.
To customize the items in a breadcrumb drop down:
1. Click > at an appropriate level in a breadcrumb to open the drop down.
2. Click Customize this list.
3. Select a criterion from the menu, and then click Submit.
Note: All items in the customized list will be identical for the selected criterion.
Disabling Web Console Breadcrumbs
To ensure access is appropriately restricted for account-limited users, you may
want to disable breadcrumbs, as indicated in the following procedure.

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To disable web console breadcrumb navigation:
1. Log on to your SolarWinds server using an account with administrative
access.
2. Open [Link] (default location C:\Inetpub\SolarWinds\) for editing.
3. In the <appsettings> section, locate the following setting:
<add key=DisableBreadCrumbs value=false/>

4. Change false to true, as follows:

<add key=DisableBreadCrumbs value=true/>

5. Save [Link].
Note: If you run the Configuration Wizard after editing this setting, your
changes may be overwritten.

Managing Nodes from the Web Console

The SolarWinds Web Console administrator manages the SolarWinds Website
using the commands listed in the various categories on the Settings page. From
the Web Console, the administrator can manage nodes, groups, accounts, alerts,
views, and settings. The administrator can also manage the look and feel of
SolarWinds SAM and view information about available product updates.
To manage the SolarWinds Web Console, navigate to the Settings page:
1. Log on to your SolarWinds Web Console with an Administrator account.
Note: Initially, Admin is the default administrator user ID with a blank password. You can change the password later using the Account Manager. For
more information, refer to Managing Accounts".
2. Click Settings at the top right of the SolarWinds Web Console to display the
Settings page.
Note: The Node Management feature is accessible by clicking Manage
Nodes either in the header of any All Nodes resource or in the Node &
Group Management grouping of the Website Administration page. The All
Nodes resource is included on the SolarWinds Summary Home view by
default, but you can include it on any other web console view as well. Confirm that the All Nodes resource is available on an appropriate Web Console view before continuing. For more information about adding resources
to SolarWinds Web Console views, see Editing Views.
Refer to the following sections for more information:
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Adding Nodes for Monitoring

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Deleting Nodes from Monitoring

Viewing Node Data in Tooltips
Editing Node Properties
Promoting a Node from ICMP to SNMP Monitoring
Viewing Node Resources
Setting Node Management States
Unscheduled Node Polling and Rediscovery
Monitoring Windows Server Memory
Scheduling a Node Maintenance Mode Time Period
Agents

Unmanaging Nodes
If you need to deactivate nodes for a period of time, you can do so by unmanaging
them. Changes you make to the managed or unmanaged status of a node takes
affect after the next polling cycle.
To unmanage a node:
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Log on to your SolarWinds Web Console with an Administrator account.

Click the Home tab.
Click Settings.
Click Manage Nodes.
Check the nodes you want to unmanage.
Click Unmanage and follow the prompts as needed.

Adding Nodes for Monitoring

The following procedure details the steps required to add a device for monitoring
in the SolarWinds Web Console.
To add a device for monitoring in the SolarWinds Web Console:
1. Log in to the SolarWinds Web Console as an administrator.
2. Click Settings in the top right of the web console.
3. Click Manage Nodes in the Node & Group Management grouping of the
SolarWinds Website Administration page.
4. Click Add Node on the Node Management toolbar.
5. Provide the hostname or IP Address of the node you want to add in the
Hostname or IP Address field.
6. If the IP address of the node you are adding is dynamically assigned,
check Dynamic IP Address.

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7. If you only want to use ICMP to monitor node status, response time,
or packet loss for the added node, check ICMP (Ping only).
8. If you want to add an External node to monitor a hosted application
with SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor, select No Status:
External Node.
Note: The External status is reserved for nodes hosting applications that
are to be monitored with SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor.
SolarWinds SAM will not collect or monitor any data about a node itself, if it
is marked as External.
9. If you want to monitor Windows Servers using WMI and ICMP, select Windows Servers: WMI and ICMP.
10. If you want to monitor Windows Servers using an agent, select Windows
Servers: Agent.
11. If you are adding a VMware device, check Poll for VMware to ensure
that SolarWinds SAM acquires any data the VMware device provides to
SNMP polling requests, and then complete the following steps to provide
required vCenter or ESX Server credentials. For more information, see Virtualization" on page 318.
a. Select an appropriate vCenter or ESX credential.
Notes:
l If you are creating a new credential, select <New Credential>.
l If you are editing an existing credential, select the credential
you want to edit.
l SolarWinds recommends against using non-alphanumeric characters in VMware credential names.
b. If you are creating a new credential, provide a Credential name.
c. Provide an appropriate User name and a Password, and then provide
the password again in the Confirm password field.
d. Click Test to confirm the VMware credentials you have provided.
11. If you want to use SNMP and ICMP to monitor the added node, complete the following steps:
a. Select the Most Devices and the SNMP Version for the added node.
Notes:
l SolarWinds uses SNMPv2c by default. If the device you are
adding supports or requires the enhanced security features of
SNMPv3, select SNMPv3.
l If SNMPv2c is enabled on a device you want SolarWinds SAM to
monitor, by default, SolarWinds SAM will attempt to use
SNMPv2c to poll for performance information. If you only want

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12.

13.

14.
15.
16.

17.
18.

SolarWinds SAM to poll using SNMPv1, you must disable

SNMPv2c on the device to be polled.
b. If you have installed multiple polling engines, select the Polling
Engine you want to use to collect statistics from the added node.
Note: This option may not be available if you are only using one polling
engine to collect information from your network.
c. If the SNMP port on the added node is not the SolarWinds default
of 161, provide the actual port number in the SNMP Port field.
d. If the added node supports 64bit counters and you want to use
them, check Allow 64bit counters.
Note: SolarWinds fully supports the use of 64-bit counters; however,
these high capacity counters can exhibit erratic behavior depending on
manufacturer implementation. If you notice peculiar results when using
these counters, use the Node Details view to disable the use of 64-bit
counters for the device and contact the hardware manufacturer.
If you want SolarWinds to use SNMPv2c to monitor the added node,
provide valid community strings for the added node.
Note: The Read/Write Community String is optional, but SolarWinds does
require the public Community String at a minimum, for node monitoring. If
you want to use read/write SNMPv3 credentials, complete the following
steps in the Read / Write SNMPv3 Credentials area.
If you want SolarWinds to use SNMPv3 to monitor the added node,
provide the following SNMP Credentials, Authentication, and Privacy/Encryption settings:
SNMPv3 Username, Context, Authentication Method, and Password.
Note: If this password is a key, check Password is a key.
SNMPv3 Privacy/Encryption Method and Password.
Note: If this password is a key, check Password is a key.
If you want to save the provided credentials as a Credential Set in the
Credential Set Library, provide a Name, and then click Save.
If you want to delete a currently saved credential set, select the set to
delete, and then click Save.
If you are using SNMP to communicate with your added node, click
Validate SNMP after entering all credentials to confirm your SNMP settings.
Click Next.
Check the objects for the added node that you want SolarWinds to monitor
or manage. The following options are available in the Selection toolbar:
l Clicking All selects all listed devices for monitoring.
l Clicking None clears any checked devices.

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Clicking All Volumes selects all listed volumes for monitoring.
After you have selected objects for monitoring, click Next.
If you want to edit the SNMP settings you provided earlier, change the
appropriate values in the SNMP area of the Change Properties page, and
then click Validate SNMP to confirm your new settings.
If you want to edit the default polling settings for your added node,
change the Node Status Polling or Collect Statistics Every values in the
Polling area of the Change Properties page, as appropriate.
Note: The Node Status Polling value refers to the number of seconds,
between the node status checks that SolarWinds performs on the added
node. The Collect Statistics Every value refers to the period of time
between updates SolarWinds makes to display statistics for the added
node.
If you have defined any custom properties for a monitored node,
provide appropriate values for the added node in the Custom Properties
area of the Change Properties page.
Note: The Custom Properties area is empty if you have not defined any
custom properties for monitored network objects.
Click OK, Add Node when you have completed properties configuration.
If you have successfully added the node, click OK on the dialog.
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21.

22.

23.
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Deleting Nodes from Monitoring

The following procedure allows you to delete nodes from monitoring.
Warning: Deleting nodes from monitoring in the web console automatically stops
monitoring of all applications and volumes on the deleted nodes.
To delete a node from monitoring in the SolarWinds Web Console:
1. Log in to the SolarWinds Web Console as an administrator.
2. Click Settings in the top right of the web console.
3. Click Manage Nodes in the Node & Group Management area of the
SolarWinds Website Administration page.
4. Locate the node to delete using either of the following methods:
l Use the search tool above the node list to search your Orion database
for the node you want to delete.
l Select an appropriate Group by: criterion, and then click the appropriate group including the node to delete.
5. Check the node to delete in the list, and then click Delete on the toolbar.

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Deleting Applications or Volumes from Monitoring

Deleting Applications or Volumes from Monitoring

You can select multiple applications on different nodes for simultaneous deletion.
The search tool above the node list can aid you in finding the proper device to
delete.
1. If you want to delete a monitored application or volume, use the following steps:
a. Locate the application to delete using either of the following methods:
l Use the search above the node list to search your Orion database
either for the object to delete or for its parent object to delete.
l Select a Group by: criteria, and then click the appropriate group
including the parent node of the object to delete.
b. If you have a list of node results, click [+] to expand the parent node
of the object you want to delete.
c. Check the object to delete, and then click Delete on the toolbar.
2. Click OK to confirm deletion.

Viewing Node Data in Tooltips

Node tooltips in SolarWinds SAM provide immediate status overviews of
monitored nodes. To get a quick overview of any monitored node in the web
console, hover over the device name. The information in the following tables
displays immediately.
Node Data
Node Status

Current status of the node. (Up, Down, Warning,

Unmanaged, or Unreachable)

IP Address

The IP address currently assigned to the selected node

Machine Type

The vendor icon and vendor description of the selected

node

Average
Response Time

The measured average response time of the selected node

as of the last node poll

Packet Loss

The percent of all transmitted packets that are lost by the

selected node as of the last node poll

CPU Load

The percent of available processing capacity on the

selected node that is currently used as of the last node poll

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Memory Used

The percent of available memory on the selected node that

is currently used as of the last node poll

Editing Node Properties

The following procedure provides the steps required to edit monitored object
properties using the Node Management utility of the SolarWinds Web Console.
To edit object properties in the SolarWinds Web Console:
1. Log in to the SolarWinds Web Console as an administrator.
2. Click Settings at the top right of the web console, and then click Manage
Nodes in the Node & Group Management grouping.
3. Locate the object to edit using either of the following methods:
l Use the search tool above the node list to search your Orion database for either the object you want to edit or the parent node of the
volume you want to edit.
l Select an appropriate Group by criteria, and then click the appropriate group including either the node to edit or the parent of the
object to edit.
4. If you want to edit the properties of a monitored node, check the node
you want to edit, and then click Edit Properties.
5. If you want to edit the properties of a monitored object, click [+] next to
the parent node of the object you want to edit, check the object you want to
edit, and then click Edit Properties.
6. If you are editing the SNMP properties of a node, click Test after providing new settings to confirm they are valid for the edited node.
7. If the selected node is a VMware ESX Server and you want to poll it for
data using the VMware API, confirm that Poll for VMware is checked.
8. If you want to poll for ESX data using an existing ESX credential,
select the appropriate credential from the VMware credentials drop down
menu.
9. If you want to poll for ESX data using a new ESX credential, complete
the following steps:
a. Select <New Credential> in the Choose Credential drop down menu,
and then provide a new credential name in the Credential Name field.
Note: SolarWinds recommends against using non-alphanumeric characters in VMware credential names.
b. Add the credential User name and Password, as necessary.
c. Confirm the password and then click Validate VMware to confirm the
credentials you have provided are valid for the edited node.

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10. Edit additional device properties as needed, and then click Submit.

Promoting a Node from ICMP to SNMP Monitoring

After adding a node to the Orion database as an ICMP only node, you may need
to promote the node to SNMP to start collecting additional statistics. The Node
Management utility of the SolarWinds Web Console can easily promote your
node to SNMP without any loss of historical data.
Note: Once you promote a node from SNMP to WMI, you cannot go back to
polling via ICMP.
To promote an ICMP only node to SNMP:
1. Log in to the SolarWinds Web Console as an administrator.
2. Click Settings in the top right of the web console and then click Manage
Nodes in the Node & Group Management grouping of the SolarWinds
Website Administration page.
3. Locate the device to promote using either of the following methods:
l Use the search tool above the node list to search your Orion database for the node you want to promote.
l Select an appropriate Group by criteria, and then click the appropriate group including the node to promote.
4. Click Edit Properties, and then select Most Devices: SNMP and ICMP.
5. In the SNMP area, select the SNMP Version for the promoted node.
Note: SolarWinds uses SNMPv2c by default. If the promoted device supports or requires the enhanced security features of SNMPv3, select
SNMPv3.
6. If you have installed multiple polling engines, select the Polling Engine
you want to use to collect statistics from the added node.
Note: This option may not be available if you are only using one polling
engine to collect information from your network.
7. If the SNMP port on the added node is not the SolarWinds default of
161, provide the actual port number in the SNMP Port field.
8. If the added node supports 64 bit counters and you want to use them,
check Allow 64 bit counters.
Note: SolarWinds fully supports the use of 64-bit counters; however, these
high capacity counters can exhibit erratic behavior depending how they
are used. If you notice peculiar results when using these counters, use the
Edit Properties view to disable the use of 64-bit counters on the device in
question, and then contact the hardware manufacturer.

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9. If you want to use SNMPv2c to monitor the promoted node, provide
valid community strings for the added node.
Note: The Read/Write Community String is optional, but SolarWinds
does require the public Community String, at minimum, for node monitoring.
10. If you want to use SNMPv3 to monitor the promoted node, provide the
following SNMPv3 credential settings:
l SNMPv3 User name and Context
l SNMPv3 Authentication Method and Password/Key
l SNMPv3 Privacy/Encryption Method and Password/Key
Note: Read/Write SNMPv3 Credentials are optional, but the public
Community String is required, at a minimum, for node monitoring.
11. If you want to edit an existing SNMPv3 credential set, select the name
of your set from the Saved Credential Sets list, and then edit the stored
settings.
12. If you want save the provided SNMPv3 credentials as a credential set,
provide a Name for your new credential set, and then click Save.
13. Click Validate SNMP after entering all required credentials to confirm your
SNMP settings.
14. If you want to change the default polling settings for your promoted
node, edit the Node Status Polling or Collect Statistics Every values in
the Polling area, as appropriate.
Note: The Node Status Polling value refers to the period of time, in
seconds, between the node status checks SolarWinds performs on the promoted node. The Collect Statistics Every value refers to the period of
time between updates SolarWinds makes to displayed statistics for the promoted node.
15. If you have defined any custom properties for monitored nodes,
provide appropriate values for the promoted node in the Custom Properties.
16. Click Submit when you have completed properties configuration for your
promoted node.
17. If you have successfully added the node, click OK on the dialog.

Promoting a Node to WMI Monitoring

After adding a node to the Orion database as an ICMP or SNMP node, you may
need to promote the node to WMI to start collecting additional statistics. The Node
Management utility of the SolarWinds Web Console can easily promote your
node to WMI without any loss of historical data.

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To promote a node to WMI:

Note: Once you promote a node to WMI, you cannot go back to polling via ICMP.
Also, this option is only available in SAM 5.0 and above.
To promote a node to WMI:
1. Log in to the SolarWinds Web Console as an administrator.
2. Click Settings in the top right of the web console and then click Manage
Nodes in the Node & Group Management grouping of the SolarWinds Website Administration page.
3. Locate the device to promote using either of the following methods:
4.
l Use the search tool above the node list to search your Orion database
for the node you want to promote.
l Select an appropriate Group by criteria, and then click the appropriate
group including the node to promote.
5. Click Edit Properties, and then select, Windows Servers: WMI and ICMP.
6. Select existing WMI credentials, or create new credentials.
7. Optionally, you can click the Test button for verification.
8. If you want to change the default polling settings for your promoted
node, edit the Node Status Polling or Collect Statistics Every values in
the Polling area, as appropriate.
Note: The Node Status Polling value refers to the period of time, in
seconds, between the node status checks SolarWinds performs on the promoted node. The Collect Statistics Every value refers to the period of time
between updates SolarWinds makes to displayed statistics for the promoted
node.
9. If you have defined any custom properties for monitored nodes,
provide appropriate values for the promoted node in the Custom Properties.
10. Click Submit when you have completed properties configuration for your
promoted node.
11. If you have successfully added the node, click OK on the dialog.

Viewing Node Resources

The List Resources feature of the SolarWinds Web Console Node Management
utility allows you to immediately see all monitored volumes and charts on a
selected node, as shown in the following procedure.
To view a list of all resources present on a node:
1. Log in to the SolarWinds Web Console as an administrator.
2. Click Settings in the top right of the web console.

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3. Click Manage Nodes in the Node & Group Management grouping of the
SolarWinds Website Administration page.
4. Locate the node to view using either of the following methods:
l Use the search tool above the node list to search your Orion database
for the node you want to view.
l Select an appropriate Group by criteria, and then click the appropriate
group including the node to view.
5. Check the node you want to view from the list, and then click List
Resources on the Node Management toolbar.

Setting Node Management States

Monitored devices are regularly polled for operational status. Collected statistics
are displayed in the SolarWinds Web Console. Using the Node Management
feature of the SolarWinds Web Console, the management status of monitored
nodes, is easily set or changed, allowing you to either temporarily suspend data
collection or resume polling and statistics collection, as necessary. The following
procedure sets or changes management states for monitored nodes in the
SolarWinds Web Console.
Note: Setting a node to an unmanaged state automatically suspends the
management on the selected node.
To set or change the management state of a node:
1. Log in to the SolarWinds Web Console as an administrator.
2. Click Settings in the top right of the web console.
3. Click Manage Nodes in the Node & Group Management grouping of the
SolarWinds Website Administration page.
4. Locate the node to manage using either of the following methods:
l Use the search tool above the node list to search your Orion database
for the device you want to manage.
l Select an appropriate Group by criteria, and then click the appropriate
group including the node to manage.
5. Check the node to change, and then click Unmanage or Remanage, as
appropriate, for the selected node.
6. If you have selected Unmanage, provide start and end times and dates for
your management suspension, and then click OK.

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Unscheduled Node Polling and Rediscovery

SolarWinds SAM polls devices for statistics and status regularly, according to the
polling settings available for configuration on the Polling Settings view in the
SolarWinds Web Console. For more information, see SolarWinds Polling
Settings. Sometimes, however, it may be necessary to conduct an unscheduled
poll or rediscovery of a monitored device. The Node Management utility gives you
this ability, as shown in the following procedure.
To perform an unscheduled poll or rediscovery:
1. Log in to the SolarWinds Web Console as an administrator.
2. Click Settings in the top right of the web console.
3. Click Manage Nodes in the Node & Group Management grouping of the
SolarWinds Website Administration page.
4. Locate and check the node you want to poll or locate and check the node to
rediscover, using either of the following methods:
l Use the search tool above the node list to search your Orion database.
l Select an appropriate Group by criteria, and then click the appropriate
group including the node you want to poll or the node you want to
rediscover.
5. If you want to poll the selected node, click More Actions> Poll Now.
6. If you want to rediscover the selected node, click More Actions> Rediscover.
Note: When you click Poll Now, this reschedules a job to run "now" in the
job scheduler, meaning, if the job scheduler is already full, the job may not
executeimmediately, but it will execute sooner than the next scheduled poll
cycle.
Depending upon how many components are in a given template, and the type of
component monitors that make up a template, it is not unusual for polling to take
several minutes for the process to fully complete. To see this behavior, click Edit
Application Monitor on the Application Details page and then clickTest All.

Unmanage Scheduling Utility

Starting and stopping nodes, applications, and interfaces on a schedule is a task
best suited for the Unmanage Scheduling Utility. This can be found at Start >
SolarWinds Orion > Advanced Features > Unmanage Scheduling Utility.

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To schedule tasks to be stopped:

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

Select either New Task or open an existing task by clicking Edit Task.
Click Add Items.
Click on the Web tab.
Select the items you want to schedule to be stopped by checking the check
box next to the item name.
Click Add.
Select the length of time you would like the selected item to be stopped.
Click OK.
Optionally, you can click Save Task to save your selections for future use.

To view the details of a selected item's schedule, simply check its box and its
details will appear in the Task Item Properties pane on the right.

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From this view, you can change the settings of the item's schedule by selecting
an item and clicking Set Duration. Additionally, you can delete an item from the
unmanage schedule by selecting it and clicking Delete Checked Items.
Note: It is possible to create a conflict of schedules if you choose the same item
to be stopped using both the web console and the Unmanage Scheduling Utility
with different durations.

Monitoring Windows Server Memory

When SolarWinds SAM polls a Windows server for CPU load and memory
utilization, it pulls the amount of physical memory to define the 100% level, and
then it totals the amount of memory in use by each allocation to compute what
percentage of the physical memory is in use. This can result in memory utilization
readings over 100%, as many applications pre-allocate memory and swap before
it is actually needed. To work around this, you can also add physical memory as a
volume for these servers within SolarWinds. When monitored as a volume, the
values will be more in line with your expectations.

Scheduling a Node Maintenance Mode Time Period

When you need to perform maintenance on a node or its components, such as
upgrading firmware, installing new software, or updating security, you may want
to discontinue polling while the device is down for maintenance. Disabling
polling, or setting a node status as Unmanaged, while performing node
maintenance, maintains the accuracy of your data and prevents unnecessary alert
messages. For more information about disabling node polling to perform node
maintenance, see Setting Node Management States on page185.

Administrative Functions of the SolarWinds Web

Console
The following sections describe the primary administrative functions performed by
a SolarWinds Web Console administrator.
l
l
l

Changing an Account Password

Viewing Secure Data on the Web
Handling Counter Rollovers

Changing an Account Password

SolarWinds Web Console administrators may change user account passwords at
any time, as shown in the following procedure.

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Note: In environments where security is a priority, SolarWinds recommends
against providing a view where users may change their own web console
account passwords.
To change an account password:
1. Log in to the web console as an administrator.
2. Click Settings in the top right corner of the web console.
3. Click Manage Accounts in the Accounts grouping of the SolarWinds Website Administration page.
4. Select the user account with the password you want to change, and then
click Change Password.
5. Complete the New Password and Confirm Password fields, and then click
Change Password.
6. Click Continue when the password is successfully changed.

Viewing Secure Data on the Web

In the interest of security, sensitive network information, such as community
strings, logins, and passwords, is not viewable in the web console. However, if
you have secured your network, you may check Allow Secure Data On Web
(advanced) in the Calculations & Thresholds area of the SolarWinds Polling
Settings page to allow the passage of community strings through the web
console.
Note: This setting does not affect the display of custom reports that you export to
the web. For more information see Creating and Viewing Reports on page1.

Handling Counter Rollovers

The Counter Rollover setting configures SolarWinds SAM to properly handle
counter rollovers. SolarWinds SAM is capable of handling either 32-bit or 64-bit
counters, but, by default, SolarWinds SAM assumes counters are 32-bit. 32-bit
counters have a maximum value of 232, or 4,294,967,296, and 64-bit counters, if
they are supported by your network devices, have a maximum value of 264, or
18,446,744,073,709,551,616.
Note: The 32-bit counters option is designated as Method 1 in the Counter
Rollover field on the SolarWinds Polling Settings page.
The following procedure designates the type of counter used by SolarWinds
SAM.

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To designate the type of counter used by SolarWinds SAM:

To designate the type of counter used by SolarWinds SAM:
1. Log in to the web console as an administrator.
2. Click Settings in the top right of the web console, and then click Polling Settings in the Settings grouping of the SolarWinds Website Administration
page.
3. If you are using 64bit counters, select Method 2 in the Counter Rollover
field in the Calculations & Thresholds area.
Notes:
l If Method 2 is selected, SolarWinds SAM will intentionally skip a poll if
a polled value is less than the previous polled value to permit counting
to 264.
l SolarWinds fully supports the use of 64-bit counters; however, these
64-bit counters can exhibit erratic behavior in some implementations.
If you notice peculiar results when using these counters, disable the
use of 64-bit counters for the problem device and contact the device
manufacturer.
4. If you are using of 32bit counters, select Method 1 in the Counter
Rollover field in the Calculations & Thresholds area.
Note: If Method 1 is selected, when a rollover is detected, the time between
polls is calculated as (232 Last Polled Value) + Current Polled Value.

SolarWinds General Thresholds

Many of the resources available in the SolarWinds Web Console are capable of
displaying error and warning conditions for the devices on your network. Errors
and warnings display in the SolarWinds Web Console. SolarWinds SAM uses the
values provided on the thresholds pages to determine when and how to display
errors and warnings in the SolarWinds Web Console. The following sections
provide more information about threshold types and configuration:
l
l

SolarWinds General Threshold Types

Setting SolarWinds General Thresholds

SolarWinds General Threshold Types

The following device conditions may be configured as SolarWinds General
Thresholds:
CPU Load
Monitored network devices experiencing CPU loads higher than the value
set for the High Level display in High CPU Load reports and resources.

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Gauges for these devices also display as bold red. Monitored network
devices experiencing a CPU load higher than the value set for the Warning
Level, but lower than the value set for the High Level, display as red in
High CPU Load reports and resources. Gauges for these devices also
display as red.
Disk Usage
Monitored network devices experiencing a disk usage higher than the value
set for the High Level display as bold red in Disk Usage reports and
resources. Monitored network devices experiencing a disk usage higher
than the value set for the Warning Level, but lower than the value set for the
High Level, display as red in High Disk Usage reports and resources.
Percent Memory Used
Monitored network devices experiencing a percent memory usage higher
than the value set for the Error Level display in High Percent Utilization
reports and resources. Gauges for these devices also display as bold red.
Monitored network devices experiencing a percent memory usage higher
than the value set for the Warning Level, but lower than the value set for the
Error Level, display in High Percent Utilization reports and resources.
Gauges for these devices also display as red.
Percent Packet Loss
Monitored network devices experiencing a percent packet loss higher than
the value set for the Error Level display in High Percent Loss reports and
resources. Gauges for these devices also display as bold red. Monitored
network devices experiencing a percent packet loss higher than the value
set for the Warning Level, but lower than the value set for the Error Level,
display in High Percent Loss reports and resources. Gauges for these
devices also display as red.
SolarWinds SAM calculates percent packet loss using ICMP ping requests
made on the Default Poll Interval. SolarWinds pings monitored devices and
records the results of the ten most recent ping attempts. Percent packet loss
is expressed as the number of failed ping requests, X, divided by the
number of ping requests, 10. For more information about the Default Poll
Interval, see SolarWinds Polling Settings on page311.
For example, if, at a given point in time, the last ten ping requests made of a
selected device resulted in 2 failures and 8 successes, the percent packet
loss for the selected device at the given time is reported as 2/10, or 20%.

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Setting SolarWinds General Thresholds

Response Time
Monitored devices experiencing response times longer than the value set
for the Error Level display in High Response Time reports and resources.
Gauges for these devices also display as bold red. Devices experiencing
response times longer than the value set for the Warning Level, but shorter
than the value set for the Error Level, also display in High Response Time
reports and resources. Gauges for these devices also display as red.
SolarWinds SAM calculates response time using ICMP ping requests made
on the Default Node Poll Interval. SolarWinds pings monitored devices and
records the results of the ten most recent ping attempts. Average Response
Time is expressed as the average response time of these last 10 ping
requests. If SolarWinds SAM does not receive a ping response within the
Default Poll Interval, SolarWinds SAM will attempt to ping the
nonresponsive device once every 10 seconds for the period designated as
the Warning Interval. For more information, see SolarWinds Polling
Settings on page311.

Setting SolarWinds General Thresholds

The following procedure configures SolarWinds General Thresholds.
To set SolarWinds SAM thresholds:
1. Log in to the SolarWinds Web Console as an administrator.
2. Click Settings in the top right of the web console.
3. Click SolarWinds Thresholds in the Settings group of the SolarWinds Website Administration page.
Note: For more information about SolarWinds General Thresholds, see
SolarWinds General Threshold Types.
4. Provide appropriate values for Error Level, High Level, or Warning Level
for selected thresholds.

Customizing Views
SolarWinds Web Console views are configurable presentations of network
information that can include maps, charts, summary lists, reports, events, and
links to other resources. Customized views can then be assigned to menu bars.
Note: In environments where security is a priority, SolarWinds recommends
against providing a view where users may change their own web console
account passwords.

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Refer to the following sections for more information:
l
l
l
l
l
l
l
l
l
l
l
l
l
l
l
l

Creating New Views

Editing Views
Configuring View Limitations
Copying Views
Deleting Views
Views by Device Type
Resource Configuration Examples
Customizing Web Console Menu Bars
Changing the Web Console Color Scheme
Changing the Web Console Site Logo
Configuring the Available Product Updates View
Updating your SolarWinds Installation
Customizing Charts in the SolarWinds Web Console
Custom Node Charts
Custom Volume Charts
Custom Chart View

Creating New Views

You can customize the SolarWinds Web Console for individual users by logging
in as an administrator and creating new views as shown in the following
procedure.
Note: In environments where security is a priority, SolarWinds recommends
against providing a view where users may change their own web console
account passwords.
To create a new view:
1. Click Settings in the top right of the web console.
2. Click Manage Views in the Views group of the SolarWinds Website Administration page.
3. Click Add.
4. Enter the Name of New View.
5. Select the Type of View.
Note: The Type of View selection affects how the view is made accessible
to users, and your choice may not be changed later. For more information,
see Views by Device Type.
6. Click Submit.

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Editing Views
After you have created a new view, the Customize Your View page opens. For
more information, see Editing Views.

Editing Views
The SolarWinds Web Console allows administrators to configure views for
individual users. The following steps are required to configure an existing view.
To edit an existing view:
1. Click Settings in the top right of the web console.
2. Click Manage Views in the Views group of the SolarWinds Website Administration page.
3. Select the view you want to customize from the list, and then click Edit.
4. If you want to change the column layout of your view, complete the following steps.
a. Click Edit to the right of the column widths.
b. Select the number of columns under Layout.
e. Provide the width, in pixels, of each column in the appropriate fields,
and then click Submit.
5. If you want to add a resource, repeat the following steps for
each resource:
a. Click [+] next to the column in which you want to add a resource.
b. Click [+] next to a resource group on the Add Resources page to
expand the resource group, displaying available resources.
c. Check all resources you want to add.
d. If you have completed the addition of resources to the selected
view, click Submit.
Notes:
l Resources already in your view will not be checked on this page
listing all web console resources. It is, therefore, possible to pick
duplicates of resources you are already viewing.
l Some resources may require additional configuration. For more
information, see Resource Configuration Examples on
page197.
l Several options on the Add Resources page are added to the list
of resources for a page, but the actual configuration of a given
map, link, or code is not added until the page is previewed.
6. If you want to delete a resource from a column, select the resource, and
then click X next to the resource column to delete the selected resource.
7. If you want to copy a resource in a column, select the resource, and
then click next to the resource column to delete the selected resource.
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8. If you want to rearrange the order in which resources appear in your
view, select resources, and then use the arrow keys to rearrange them.
9. If you have finished configuring your view, click Preview.
Note: A preview of your custom web console displays in a new window. A
message may display in the place of some resources if information for the
resource has not been polled yet. For more information, see Resource
Configuration Examples on page197.
10. Close the preview window.
11. When done, click Done.
Notes:
l For more information about adding a customized view to menu bars
as a custom item, see Customizing Web Console Menu Bars on
page205.
l For more information about assigning your customized view as the
default view for a user, see Editing User Accounts on page298.

Configuring View Limitations

As a security feature, the web console gives administrators the ability to apply
device-based view limitations. The following views and limitations are available:
Managed Views that
Support Limitations

Available Limitations

SAM Application Details

Single Network Node

System Contact Pattern

SAM Component Details

Group of Nodes

Single Machine Type

SAM Summary

Node Name Pattern

Single Hardware
Manufacturer

Cluster Details

System Name Pattern IP Address Pattern

Current Top 10 Lists

Group of Machine
Types

Group of Volumes

Custom Summary

Machine Type
Pattern

Single Group

Datacenter Details

Hardware
Manufacturer

Group of Groups

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To enable a view limitation:

ESX Host Details

Device Status

Group Name Pattern

Group Details

System Location

Application Name Pattern

Group Summary

System Location
Pattern

Group of Application
Names

Node Details

System Contact

Specific Applications

SolarWinds Summary
Home
Customize Problem
Areas
Virtual Center Details
Virtualization summary
Volume Details

The following procedure configures a view limitation:

To enable a view limitation:
1. Click Settings in the top right of the web console, and then click Manage
Views in the Views group of the SolarWinds Website Administration page.
2. Select the view to which you want to add a limitation, and the click Edit.
3. In the View Limitation area of the Customize View page, click Edit.
4. Select the type of view limitation you want to apply, and then click
Continue.
5. Provide or check appropriate strings or options to define the device types to
include or exclude from the selected view, and then click Submit.
Note: The asterisk (*) is a valid wildcard. Pattern limitations restrict views to
devices for which the corresponding fields include the provided string.

Copying Views
When you want to create multiple views based on the same device type, copying
views allows you to create one view, and then use that view as a template to
create other new views. The following steps copy an existing view.

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To copy a view:
1.
2.
3.
4.

Click Settings in the top right of the web console.

Click Manage Views in the Views group.
Select the view you want to copy, and then click Copy.
If you want to edit a copied view, follow the procedure in Editing Views.

Deleting Views
The following steps delete an existing view.
To delete an existing view:
1. Click Settings in the top right of the web console.
2. Click Manage Views in the Views grouping of the SolarWinds Website
Administration page.
3. Select the view you want to delete, and then click Delete.

Views by Device Type

There are vast differences among network objects and the statistics they report,
but the SolarWinds Web Console can make it easier to view network data by
displaying object details by device type, giving you the ability to have a different
view for each unique type of device you have on your network, including routers,
firewalls, and servers. The following steps assign a view by any available device
type.
To assign a view by device type:
1. Click Settings in the top right of the web console, and then click Views by
Device Type in the Views group of the SolarWinds Website Administration
page.
2. Select available Web Views for the different types of devices that
SolarWinds is currently monitoring or managing on your network.
3. Click Submit.

Resource Configuration Examples

Several resources that may be selected from the Add Resources page require
additional configuration. Included in this section are examples of these resources
and the steps that are required for their proper configuration.

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Selecting a Network Map
Network maps created with SolarWinds Network Atlas can give a quick overview
of your network, right from the main web console view.
Note: Clicking the resource title in the title bar menu displays the resource by
itself in a browser window.
The following procedure adds a network map to the SolarWinds Web Console.
To add a network map to the web console:
1. Create a new view or edit an existing view.
Note: For more information, see Customizing Views.
2. Select the view to which you want to add the map, and then click Edit.
3. Click [+] next to the view column in which you want to display the new map.
4. Click [+] next to Network Maps, check Network Map, and then click Submit.
5. Click Preview on the Customize Your View page.
6. Click Edit in the Network Map resource title bar.
7. If you do not want to use the default title provided, enter a new Title for
the title bar of the added map.
8. If you want a subtitle, enter a new Subtitle for the added map.
Note: Titles and subtitles may be entered as either text or HTML.
9. Select from the list of available maps.
10. Select the Scale at which you want to display the map.
Note: If you leave the Scale field blank, the map will display at full scale,
based on the size of the column in which the map displays.
11. Click Submit.
Displaying a List of Objects on a Network Map
When your web console view includes a network map, it can be helpful to
maintain a list of network objects that appear on the map. The following
procedure enables a resource listing network map objects.
Note: Clicking the resource title displays the resource in a new browser window.
To display a list of network map objects:
1. Create a new view or edit an existing view.
Note: For more information, see Customizing Views on page192.
2. Select the view to display the list of network map objects, and then click
Edit.

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3. Click [+] next to the view column in which you want to display the new list of
network map objects.
4. Click [+] next to Network Maps, check List of Objects on Network Map,
and then click Submit.
5. Click Preview on the Customize Your View page.
6. Click Edit in the title bar of the List of Objects on Network Map resource.
7. If you do not want to use the default title provided, enter a new Title for
the header of the objects list.
8. If you want a subtitle, enter a new Subtitle for the added objects list.
Note: Titles and subtitles may be entered as either text or HTML.
9. Select from the list of available maps for the objects that you want to populate your list, and then click Submit.
Displaying a Custom List of Maps
The web console allows you to populate a custom view with a list of available
network maps. Each map in your custom list, when clicked, opens in a new
window. The following procedure enables a custom network maps list resource.
Note: Clicking the resource title displays the resource in its own browser window.
To display a custom list of maps:
1. Create a new view or edit an existing view.
Note: For more information, see Customizing Views on page192.
2. Select the view to which you want to add the custom list of network maps,
and then click Edit.
3. Click [+] next to the view column in which you want to display the custom
list of network maps.
4. Click [+] next to Network Maps.
5. Check Custom List of Maps, and then click Submit.
6. Click Preview on the Customize Your View page, and then click Edit in the
title bar of the Custom List of Maps resource.
7. If you do not want to use the default title provided, enter a new Title for
the header of the maps list.
8. If you want a subtitle, enter a new Subtitle for the custom list of maps.
Note: Titles and subtitles may be entered as either text or HTML.
9. Check the maps you want to include in your maps list.
10. Click Submit.

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Displaying an Event Summary - Custom Period of Time

Displaying an Event Summary - Custom Period of Time
You may want your web console view to display an event summary for a specified
period of time. The following procedure details the steps to include an event
summary in your web console.
Note: Clicking the resource title in the title bar menu displays the resource by
itself in a browser window.
To display an event summary:
1. Create a new view or edit an existing view.
Note: For more information about creating a new view or editing an existing
view, see Customizing Views on page192.
2. Select the view to include the event summary, and then click Edit.
3. Click [+] next to the view column that will display the event summary.
4. Click [+] next to Events.
5. Check Event SummaryCustom Time Period, and then click Submit.
6. Click Preview on the Customize Your View page.
7. Click Edit in the title bar of the Event Summary resource.
8. If you do not want to use the default title provided, enter a new Title for
the header of the event summary.
Note: Titles may be entered as either text or HTML.
9. Select the time period for displaying events from Display Events for the following Time Period.
10. Click Submit.
Specifying User-Defined Links
The User-Defined Links option may be used to create quick access to external
websites or customized views. URLs of your customized views can be copied
from their preview pages and pasted in a User-Defined Links field. The following
steps enable user-defined links from within your web console.
Note: Clicking the resource title in the title bar menu displays the resource by
itself in a browser window.
To enable a user-defined links resource:
1. Create a new view or edit an existing view.
Note: For more information, see Customizing Views.
2. Select the view to which you want to add the user-defined links resource.
3. Click Edit.
4. Click [+] next to the view column to display the user-defined links resource.

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5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.

Click [+] next to Miscellaneous

Check User Defined Links.
Click Submit.
Click Preview on the Customize Your View page.
Click Edit in the title bar of the User Defined Links resource.
If you do not want to use the default title provided, enter a new Title for
the links list.
11. If you want a subtitle, enter a new Subtitle for the links list.
Note: Titles and subtitles may be entered as either text or HTML.
12. Enter the following information for each link you want to define:
Create a new view or edit an existing view.
Note: For more information, see Customizing Views.
13. Click Submit.
Specifying Custom HTML or Text
In situations where you have static information that you want to provide in the web
console, use the Custom HTML or Text option. The Custom HTML or Text
option may also be used to create quick access to your customized views. The
following procedure will create a static content area within your web console for
displaying text or HTML content.
Note: Clicking the resource title displays the resource in a new browser window.
To specify custom HTML or text:
1. Create a new view or edit an existing view.
Note: For more information, see Customizing Views.
2. Select the view to include the custom HTML or text.
3. Click Edit.
4. Click [+] next to the column to display the custom HTML or text.
5. Click [+] next to Miscellaneous, and then check Custom HTML or Text.
6. Click Submit.
7. Click Preview on the Customize Your View page.
8. Click Edit in the title bar of the Custom HTML or Text resource.
9. If you do not want to use the default title provided, enter a new Title for
the specified content area.
10. If you want a subtitle, enter a new Subtitle for the specified content area.
Note: Titles and subtitles may be entered as either text or HTML.
11. Enter content as either text or HTML into the Raw HTML field.
12. Click Submit.

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Specifying a SolarWinds Report
The web console is able to incorporate reports that you have created in
SolarWinds Report Writer into any view. The following procedure will take a
report that you have created with Report Writer and include it within a web
console view.
Note: Clicking the resource title in the title bar menu displays the resource by
itself in a browser window.
To include a SolarWinds report:
1. Create a new view or edit an existing view.
Note: For more information, see Customizing Views.
2. Select the view to which you want to add the report.
3. Click Edit.
4. Click [+] next to the view column in which you want to display the report.
5. Click [+] next to Report Writer.
6. Check Report from SolarWinds Report Writer.
7. Click Submit.
8. Click Preview on the Customize Your View page.
9. Click Edit in the title bar of the Report from SolarWinds Report Writer
resource.
10. If you do not want to use the default title provided, enter a new Title for
the included report.
11. If you want a subtitle, enter a new Subtitle for the included report.
Note: Titles and subtitles may be entered as either text or HTML.
12. Select a Report to include.
13. If you want to add a filter to the included report, enter an appropriate
query in the Filter Nodes field.
Note: Filter Nodes is an optional, advanced, web console feature that
requires some knowledge of SQL queries. Click [+] next to Show Filter
Examples to view a few example filters.
14. Click Submit.
Displaying a Custom List of Reports
The web console allows you to populate a custom view with a custom reports list.
When clicked from the list, each report opens in a new window. The following
procedure details the steps required to enable a custom list of network reports.
Note: Clicking the resource title displays the resource in a new browser window.

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To display a custom list of reports:
1. Create a new view or edit an existing view. For more information, see Customizing Views.
2. Select the view to which you want to add the custom list of reports, and then
click Edit.
3. Click [+] next to the column to display the custom list of reports.
4. Click [+] next to Report Writer.
5. Check Custom List of Reports, and then click Submit.
6. Click Preview on the Customize Your View page, and then click Edit in the
title bar of the Report from SolarWinds Report Writer resource.
7. If you do not want to use the default title provided, enter a new Title for
the header of the reports list.
8. If you want a subtitle, enter a new Subtitle for the custom list of reports.
Note: Titles and subtitles may be entered as either text or HTML.
9. Check the reports that you want to include in your custom list of reports.
10. Click Submit.
Filtering Nodes
Your SolarWinds Web Console can maintain a customizable node list for your
network. Node lists may be configured for specific views using SQL query filters.
The following steps set up node filtering for node lists included in web console
views.
Note: Clicking the resource title displays the resource in a new browser window.
To enable filtering on a node list:
1. Create a new view or edit an existing view.
Note: For more information, see Customizing Views.
2. Select the view to which you want to add the node list
3. Click Edit.
4. Click [+] next to the view column in which you want to display the node list.
5. Click [+] next to Node Lists.
6. Check All NodesTable, and then click Submit.
7. Click Preview on the Customize YourView page, and then
8. Click Edit in the title bar of the All NodesTable resource.
9. If you do not want to use the default title provided, enter a new Title for
the node list.
10. If you want a subtitle, enter a new Subtitle for the node list.
Note: Titles and subtitles may be entered as either text or HTML.
11. If you want to filter your node list by text or IP address range,

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12. provide the text or IP address range by which you want to filter your node list
in the Filter Text field, as shown in the following examples:
l Type Home in the Filter Text field to list all nodes with Home in the
node name or as a location.
l Type 192.168.1.* in the Filter Text field to list all nodes in the
[Link]-255 IP address range.
13. Select the property that is appropriate to the filter text provided above, as
shown in the following examples:
l If you typed Home in the Filter Text area, select Node Name or
Location to list nodes with Home in the node name or as a location.
l If you typed 192.168.1.*in the Filter Text area, select IP Address to
list only nodes in the [Link]-255 IP address range.
l If you want to apply a SQL filter to the node list, enter an appropriate query in the Filter Nodes (SQL) field.
Notes:
l Filter Nodes (SQL) is an optional, advanced, web console feature that requires some knowledge of SQL queries. Click [+] next
to Show Filter Examples to view a few example filters.
l By default, node list resources are designed to sort nodes alphabetically by node caption. This configuration cannot be overwritten using a SQL filter, so order by clauses included in SQL
filters are redundant and will result in Custom SQL filter formatting errors.
14. Click Submit.
Grouping Nodes
Your SolarWinds Web Console can maintain a customizable node list for your
network. Node lists may be configured for specific views with node grouping. The
following steps set up node grouping for node lists included in web console
views.
Note: Clicking the resource title in the title bar menu displays the resource by
itself in a browser window.
To enable grouping on a node list:
1. Create a new view or edit an existing view.
Note: For more information, see Customizing Views.
2. Select the view to which you want to add the node list, and then click Edit.
3. Click [+] next to the view column in which you want to display the node list.
4. Click [+] next to Node Lists.

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5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.

12.

Check an appropriate node list, and then click Submit.

Click Preview on the Customize YourView page.
Click Edit in the title bar of the All NodesTree (AJAX) resource.
If you do not want to use the default title provided, enter a new Title for
the node list.
If you want a subtitle, enter a new Subtitle for the node list.
Note: Titles and subtitles may be entered as either text or HTML.
Select up to three criteria, in specified levels, for Grouping Nodes within
your web console view.
If you want to apply a SQL filter to the node list, enter an appropriate
query in the Filter Nodes field.
Notes:
l Filter Nodes (SQL) is an optional, advanced, web console feature
that requires some knowledge of SQL queries. Click [+] next to Show
Filter Examples to view a few example filters.
l By default, node list resources are designed to sort nodes alphabetically by node caption. This configuration cannot be overwritten
using a SQL filter, so order by clauses included in SQL filters are
redundant and will result in Custom SQL filter formatting errors.
Click Submit.

Customizing Web Console Menu Bars

The menu bars displayed at the top of every page may be configured to display
various menu items. You can also define menu items and add them to custom
menu bars. For more information about customizing menu bars for individual
accounts, see Editing User Accounts on page298.
The following procedure customizes a web console menu bar:
To customize web console menu bars:
1. Click Settings in the top right of the web console.
2. Click Customize Menu Bars in the Customize grouping of the SolarWinds
Website Administration page.
3. If you want to modify an existing menu, click Edit beneath the menu bar
you want to modify, and then click and drag items between the Available
items list on the left and the Selected items list on the right until the Selected items list includes all the items you want to include in your edited
menu.
Note: Hover over any view title to read a description. Selected items dis-

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To customize web console menu bars:

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.
9.

play from left to right in the edited menu bar as they are listed from top to
bottom.
If you want to create a new menu bar, complete the following steps:
a. Click New Menu Bar, and then provide a Name for the New Menu
Bar.
b. Click and drag the buttons you want to include in your new menu bar
from the Available items list on the left to their correct relative locations
in the Selected items list on the right.
Note: Hover over any view title to read a view description. Selected
items display from left to right in the new menu bar as they are listed
from top to bottom.
If you want to add menu items, complete the following steps:
a. Click Edit under the menu bar to which you are adding the new item.
b. Click and drag the items you want to include in your new menu from the
Available items list on the left to their correct relative locations in the
Selected items list on the right.
Notes:
l Hover over any view title to read a view description. Selected
items display from left to right in the new menu bar as they are listed from top to bottom.
l If you check Reports from the Select Menu Items page, you must
also enable reports for the accounts that use the menu bar. For
more information, see Configuring an Account Report Folder on
page306.
If you want to add a custom menu item, complete the following steps:
a. Click Edit under the menu bar to which you are adding the custom item.
b. Click Add.
c. Provide the Name, URL, and Description of your custom menu
item.
d. If you want the menu option to open in a new window, check
Open in a New Window.
e. Click OK.
If you want to delete a menu item, click and drag the item to delete from
the Selected items list on the right to the Available items list on the left.
Warning: Do not delete the Admin option from the Admin menu bar.
If you want to change the location of an item in your menu, click and
drag items to move them up and down in the Selected items list.
If you have finished editing your menu bar, click Submit.

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Changing the Web Console Color Scheme

The overall color scheme of the SolarWinds Web Console may be changed to
any of several color schemes that are viewable by all users, as shown in the
following procedure.
To change the web console color scheme:
1. Click Settings in the top right of the web console.
2. Click Color Scheme in the Customize grouping.
3. Select the desired color scheme, and then click Submit.

Changing the Web Console Site Logo

The SolarWinds Web Console can be configured to display your logo instead of
the default SolarWinds banner across the top of every web console page. The
following steps change the default SolarWinds web console banner.
To change the web console banner:
1. Create an appropriately sized graphic to replace the SolarWinds logo.
Notes:
l The SolarWinds banner file is 271x48 pixels at 200 pixels/inch.
l The [Link] End User License Agreement prohibits the
modification, elimination, or replacement of either the [Link] logo and link on the menu bar or the SolarWinds copyright
line at the bottom of the page.
2. Place your graphic in the images directory.
Note: By default, it is in C:\Inetpub\SolarWinds\NetPerfMon\.
3. Log in to the web console as an administrator.
4. Click Settings in the top right of the web console.
5. Click Web Console Settings in the Settings grouping of the SolarWinds
Website Administration page.
6. Type the new logo image name as a replacement for
[Link] in the Site Logo URL field.

Configuring the Available Product Updates View

The SolarWinds Web Console can automatically check for the availability of any
updates to your currently installed SolarWinds products. By default, the web
console regularly checks for product updates automatically, as indicated by the
dates and times reported as Last Check and Next Check, but you can click
Check Now at any time to see an up-to-the-minute update. If updates are

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To configure product updates:

available, a note is posted in the web console notification bar and updates are
listed in this view, where you can then select and download them as needed.
Note: For more information about downloading listed product updates, see
Updating your SolarWinds Installation.
To configure product updates:
1. Log in to the web console as an administrator, and then click Settings in the
top right corner of the web console.
2. Click Available Product Updates in the Product Updates grouping.
3. If you want to disable the automatic check for product updates, clear
Check for product updates, and then click Save Settings.
4. If you want to ensure that updates are listed for all currently installed
SolarWinds products, including SolarWinds NPM, SolarWinds SAM,
and all SolarWinds modules, check Show all updates.
5. Click Save Settings.

Updating your SolarWinds Installation

If your Product Updates view is configured to list SolarWinds updates, you can
download them directly from the Product Updates view.
To update your SolarWinds installation:
1. Log in to the web console as an administrator, and then click Settings in the
top right corner of the web console.
2. Click Available Product Updates in the Product Updates grouping.
3. Click Check Now to refresh the updates list.
4. If there are any updates you want to ignore, check the updates to ignore,
and then click Ignore Selected.
5. Check the updates you want to apply, and then click Download Selected.
6. Save and then execute downloaded installers. For more information, see
either the [Link] file packaged with the downloaded update or review
related documentation available at [Link].

NOCView
SAMoffers a Network Operations Center (NOC) view that hides console tools
while automatically rotating through custom views. NOC view mode enables you
to customize views for optimal display on large network operations center
screens. Once you click on an object in NOC view mode, you will be taken out of
NOCview mode and then taken to that object's details page.

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You can quickly turn on the NOCview from the web console by the link provided
in the upper right-hand corner of the web console, as shown:

While in the NOCview you can easily exit and edit the NOC view from the web
console by the menu provided in the upper right-hand corner of the web console,
as shown:

For more information, refer to the following sections:

l
l
l
l
l

Enabling NOC
Adding NOCviews
Editing NOCviews
Disabling NOCviews
Adding AppStack to a NOC View

Enabling NOC
NOC view mode enables you to customize web console views for optimal display
on large network operations center screens.
To enable NOC view mode for an existing view:
1. Click Customize Page in the top right of the view for which you want to
enable NOC view mode.
2. Check Enable NOC view mode.
3. Click Done.
Adding NOCviews

Adding a NOCview:

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Adding NOCviews
1. From the web console, click Customize Page in the upper right-hand
corner.
2. If not already done so, check Enable Left Navigation.

3. Click Add Tab.

4. Add a name for the tab in the field provided, then click Update. The new tab
appears in the column to the left.
5. If not already done so, check Enable NOCview mode.

6. Add the resources you want to each column by clicking the green [+], then
selecting resources from the pop-up dialog, as shown:

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7. When done, click Add Selected Resources.

8. Click Done & Go To NOC to save and view the newly created NOC view.
9. The newly added NOCview appears. The dots correspond to the different
tabs/screens created earlier in Step 3.

Adding AppStack to a NOC View

Viewing the AppStack Environment in a NOC view can only be achieved by first
adding a new NOCview, and then creating and applying an AppStack filter for
this new view. Once complete, the AppStack resource will become part of the
NOC view with the filter already applied.
To add the AppStack Resource to a NOCview, take the following steps:

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Adding AppStack to a NOC View

1. From the web console, click Customize Page in the upper right-hand
corner.
2. If not already done so, check Enable Left Navigation.
3. Click Add Tab.
4. Add a name for the tab in the field provided, then click Update. The new tab
appears in the column to the left.

5. Add the AppStack Environment resource to a column by clicking the

green [+], then selecting AppStack Environment from the pop-up dialog,
as shown:

6. Click Add Selected Resources.

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7. If not already done so, check Enable NOCview mode, then click Done.

8. Navigate to Home >Environment.

9. Filter your AppStack Environment according to you needs. When done,

click Apply Filter.
10. Save the Layout as AppStack Environment, which was added in Step 5.

11. View the NOCby navigating to Home >Show in NOC Mode.

For more information, see NOCView.
Editing NOCviews
To Edit a NOCview:
1. From the web console, navigate to Settings >Created NOCViews, as
shown:

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Disabling NOCviews

2. Check the view you want to edit, and then click Edit.

3. Make your changes, and then click Done & Go to NOC.

Disabling NOCviews
To Disable a NOCview:
1. From the web console, navigate to Settings >Created NOCViews, as
shown:

2. Check the view you want to edit, and then click Disable NOC.

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3. Confirm the dialog to have your view removed from the list.

Customizing Charts in the SolarWinds Web Console

Clicking any chart opens the Custom Chart view in a new window, displaying the
selected chart with additional chart customization options. For more information
about the Custom Chart view, see Custom Chart View.
You can also configure any custom chart resource in the SolarWinds Web
Console directly from the resource title bar either by selecting from the drop down
menu of options or by clicking Edit to display the Edit Chart Title view, as
described in the following sections.
Chart Information:
l

If SAM is upgraded to version 6.0 or higher, legacy charts already assigned

to views will be upgraded.
Charts from earlier versions of SAM will be renamed to have the prefix
"Legacy" and must be added manually.

Custom Chart Resource Title Bar Options

The title bar menu of the custom chart resource provides the following options for
viewing chart data:
l
l

l
l

View chart data over the Last 7 Days or over the Last 30 Days
Select Edit Chart to view and modify chart settings.
Note: This is the same as clicking Edit in the title bar.
View Chart Data as an HTML format document
View Chart Data in Excel to see chart data in an Excel-compatible format

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Edit Chart Title View

Edit Chart Title View
Click Edit in the title bar of a custom chart resource to display the Edit Chart Title
view. This view provides the following options to configure your chart resource:
Select a Chart allows you to change the chart type displayed in the current
resource. Chart options are determined in accordance with the type of view
displaying the resource you are currently editing. For more information about
available node charts, see Custom Node Charts on page246. For more
information about available volume charts, see Custom Volume Charts.
The Time Period for the selected chart may be any of the following:
Last Hour

Last 2 Hours

Last 24 Hours Today

Yesterday

Last 7 Days

This Month

Last 30 Days Last 3 Months This Year

Last Month
Last 12 Months

The Sample Interval for the selected chart may be any of the following:
Every Minute

Every 5 Minutes Every 10 Minutes Every 15 Minutes

Every 30 Minutes Every Hour

Every 2 Hours

Every 12 Hours

Every 7 Days

One a Day

Every 6 Hours

Notes:
l Each sample interval is represented on a chart by a single point or bar. Data
within a selected sample interval is summarized automatically.
l Due to limits of memory allocation, some combinations of time periods and
sample intervals require too many system resources to display, due to the
large number of polled data points. As a result, charts may not display if the
time period is too long or if the sample interval is too small.
The Trend Line option allows you to enable the trend line feature of SolarWinds
SAM charts. By enabling trend lines on SolarWinds SAM charts, you can see
potential future results as they are extrapolated from collected historical data.
Note: Due to the broad array of factors that can affect the performance of devices
on your network, trend lines provided on SolarWinds SAM charts are intended as
approximate predictions of future data only. For more information, see "95th
Percentile Calculations" on page 1221.

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Exporting Views to PDF

Many views in the SolarWinds Web Console may be exported directly to portable
document format (.pdf). Views that may be exported display Export to PDF in the
top right corner of the exportable view.
Note: The Export to PDF feature requires IIS Anonymous Access. Confirm that
the IUSR_SERVERNAME user is in the local Users group on your SolarWinds
server.
To export a view to PDF:
1.
2.
3.
4.

Open the web console view to export.

Click Export to PDF in the top right corner of the view.
If you are prompted to save the .pdf file, click Save.
Navigate to an appropriate location, provide an appropriate file name, and
then click Save.

Creating a Custom Summary View

The SolarWinds Custom Summary View enables you to create a fully customized
object-based view composed solely of resources you have selected. The
following procedure creates a custom summary view in the web console.
To create or edit a custom summary view in the web console:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Click Home> Custom Summary.

Click Edit in any Custom Object Resource.
Provide a Title and Subtitle for the selected Custom Object Resource.
Click Select SolarWinds Object.
On the Select a network object window, use the Show only and Group by
selection fields, as appropriate, to filter the list of monitored objects.
6. Select the SolarWinds object on which you want to base the selected Custom Object resource, and then click Select SolarWinds object.
7. Select the type of information you want the custom resource to display
about the selected object, and then customize the resource, as indicated in
the following steps:
a. If you have selected an alerts resource, indicate whether or not you
want to display acknowledged alerts by checking or clearing Show
Acknowledged Alerts, as appropriate.
b. If you have selected a resource to which SQL filters may be
applied, edit available SQL filters as appropriate. For more information,
see Using Node Filters on page227.

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Creating and Editing External Website Views

c. If you have selected a resource with an AutoHide option, select
Yes or No to enable or to disable the Auto-Hide feature, respectively. If
enabled, the resource is automatically hidden if and when related data
is not present in the Orion database.
d. If you have selected a sortable list resource, in the Sort By field select
the property by which you want the list sorted.
e. If you have selected a gaugestyle resource, select a gauge Style
and provide a Gauge Size.
f. If you have selected a chartstyle resource, select an appropriate
Time Period and Sample Interval, and then indicate whether or not
you want to show a Trend Line.
g. If you have selected a Universal Device Poller resource, select the
Universal Device Poller and Chart Format, and then configure all
other options as required for similar resource types.
8. Click Submit.
Note: For more information about customizing available resource types,
click Help in the header of any resource on the Custom Summary view,
and then click the corresponding resource type.

Creating and Editing External Website Views

With the external website view feature, any SolarWinds SAM administrator can
select any external website and designate it as a SolarWinds Web Console view,
as shown in the following procedure.
To create or edit an external website view in the web console:
1. Click Settings in the top right of the web console.
2. Click External Websites in the Customize grouping of the SolarWinds
Website Administration page.
3. If you want to delete an existing external website, click Delete next to
the website you want to delete, and then click OK to confirm the deletion.
4. If you want to add a new external website, click Add.
5. If you want to edit an existing external website, click Edit next to the
name of the website you want to edit.
6. Provide a Menu Title for the external website to display in the Views toolbar.
7. If you want to include a heading within the view, provide an optional
Page Title to display within the view.
8. Provide the URL of the external website, in [Link] format.

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9. Select the Menu Bar to which you want to add the new external website
link.
Note: For more information about customizing menu bars, see Customizing Web Console Menu Bars on page205.
10. Click OK.
11. Click Preview to view the external website as the web console will display
it.

Custom Object Resources in the SolarWinds Web

Console
The SolarWinds Web Console provides a Custom Object resource that enables
you to configure any of a wide array of resources to display performance data for
any specific monitored objects. The following sections provide more information
about editing a Custom Object resource, selecting monitored objects, and
configuring the data displayed in a Custom Object resource:
l
l
l

Editing a Custom Object Resource

Selecting Custom Objects and Resources
Available Custom Resources

Editing a Custom Object Resource

The following procedure edits a Custom Object resource.
To edit a Custom Object resource:
1. Click Edit in the header of a Custom Object resource.
2. Edit the resource Title and Subtitle as appropriate.
3. Click Select SolarWinds Object to select an appropriate monitored object.
For more information, see Selecting Custom Objects and Resources.
4. If you have completed your edits, click Submit.

Selecting Custom Objects and Resources

The following procedure selects a network object for a selected Custom Object
resource.
To select a custom monitored object for a Custom Object resource:
1. Click Edit in the header of a Custom Object resource.
2. Click Select SolarWinds Object.
3. In the Show only: field, select the type of object you want to monitor in the
Custom Object resource.

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Available Custom Resources

4. In the Group by: field, select an appropriate object grouping criterion.
Note: Defined custom properties are listed for all grouping types.
5. Click the object to monitor in the list on the left, and then select it in the
main pane grouping criterion.
6. Click Select SolarWinds Object.
7. Select the desired resource type in the Select object resource field, and
then configure options as required. For more information about available
resources, see Available Custom Resources.

Available Custom Resources

A Custom Object resource may be configured to provide the same data as any of
a number of SolarWinds Web Console resources for a selected network object:
Notes:
l Resource availability is dependent on the SolarWinds products installed.
l For more information about any available custom resource, click Help in
the resource title to view the corresponding help topic.

Integrating SolarWinds Engineers Toolset

When you are browsing the SolarWinds Web Console from a computer that
already has a SolarWinds Toolset installed, SolarWinds SAM allows you to
launch Toolset tools directly from your web browser. Right-clicking any monitored
object listed in a SolarWinds Web Console running the Toolset Integration
displays a menu of available Toolset tools and functions. The following sections
detail the configuration of the available Toolset integration.
Note: For more information about the SolarWinds Engineers Toolset tools, see
[Link].
Refer to the following sections for more information:
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Configuring a Toolset Integration

Adding Programs to a Toolset Integration Menu

Configuring a Toolset Integration

The following procedure configures SolarWinds Toolset for integration within the
SolarWinds Web Console.
Note: The first time the Toolset tools are accessed, a security warning may be
displayed. Click Yes to allow the Toolset integration.

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To configure SolarWinds Toolset integration settings:
1. Right-click any monitored object displayed within the SolarWinds Web
Console.
2. Click Settings.
3. Click SNMP Community String.
Note: The first time you launch a tool requiring an SNMP community string
from the right-click menu, the SNMP Community String window displays.
4. If you want to delete any or all saved community strings, select the
strings that you want to delete, and then click Remove, or click Remove
All.
5. Click Menu Options, and then configure the right-click menu as follows:
a. If you want either to add menu items to the right-click menu or to
remove menu items from the right-click menu, move menu items
between the list of Available Menu Options on the left and Selected
Menu Options on the right by selecting items in either column and clicking the right and left arrows, as appropriate.
b. If you want to change the order of menu items, select items and then
click the up and down arrows next to the Selected Menu Options list.
c. If you want to add a separator between items, move the -----------menu option from the Available list to the Selected list, and then move
it to your preferred location within the Selected Menu Options list.
6. Click Automatic Menu Items.
7. Check either or both, if available, of the following options:
Automatically add sub-menu items to the MIB Browser (Query MIB)
menu option from the MIB Browers [Link] add
sub-menu items to the Real Time Interface Monitor menu option
from the Real Time Interface Monitor saved report types.
Note: These options expand the list of available menu items by incorporating menu links to MIB browser bookmarks and Real Time Interface
Monitor saved reports, respectively.

Adding Programs to a Toolset Integration Menu

The following procedure provides the steps required to add any external scripts or
applications to the SolarWinds Toolset integration menu.
To add a program to the SolarWinds Toolset Integration menu:
1. If you want to add an external script to the Toolset Integration menu,
save the script in an appropriate location on the install volume of your
SolarWinds server (e.g. <InstallVolume>:\\Scripts\).

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2. If you want to add an external application to the Toolset Integration
menu, install the application in an appropriate location on the install
volume of your SolarWinds server (e.g. <InstallVolume>:\\Application\).
3. Open [Link], the Toolset Integration menu configuration file, in a text editor.
Note: By default, [Link] is located in the following
folder: <InstallVolume>:\\Program Files\SolarWinds\Common\.
4. Save a copy of [Link] as SWToolset_Old.MenuOptions.
5. Add the following line between the <MenuOptions></MenuOptions> tags
of the [Link] file:
<MenuOption Visible="TRUE" Title="ApplicationName" BeginGroupp="FALSE" HasSubMenu="FALSE" ExecStringg="<InstallVolume>:\\Application\ExecutableFile" Icon="" Extra=""
Parent="" Required="4"/>

Note: The string supplied for Title is the name for the added script or
application that will display in the menu. The string supplied for the
ExecString is the path to the script or application executable file.
6. Save the new [Link] to automatically update the Toolset Integration menu.

Web Console Configuration

SolarWinds SAM has the ability to create, restore and clear your web console
configuration
Refer to the following sections for more information:
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Creating a Web Console Configuration Backup

Restoring a Web Console Configuration Backup

Creating a Web Console Configuration Backup

The following procedure uses the SolarWinds Web Configuration
Backup/Restore utility to create a backup of your SolarWinds Web Console
configuration.
Note: The SolarWinds Web Configuration Backup/Restore utility does not create
a backup of the Orion database. As a result, configuration backups do not retain
any of the network device data or statistics for any monitored network objects.

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To create a SolarWinds Web Console configuration backup:
1. Locate and run the [Link] utility, typically located at C:\Program Files (x86)\SolarWinds\Orion.
2. Click Create Backup.
3. Name your backup and click Save.

Restoring a Web Console Configuration Backup

The following procedure uses the SolarWinds Web Configuration
Backup/Restore utility to restore a saved backup of your SolarWinds Web
Console configuration.
Warning: Do not restore web console configurations from any version of
SolarWinds SAM prior to the version currently installed.
To restore a SolarWinds Web Console configuration backup:
1. Locate and run the [Link] utility, typically located at C:\Program Files (x86)\SolarWinds\Orion.
2. Select a Backup file from the list.
3. Choose either Merge or Overwrite for the restoration process.
4. Click Restore Backup.

Clearing a Web Console Configuration

The following procedure clears an existing SolarWinds Web Console
configuration.
Warning: Clearing a web console configuration deletes all existing user
accounts, account and view settings, and menu bar customizations. SolarWinds
recommends you create a backup of your current SolarWinds Web Console
configuration before you clear it to confirm that no issues arise as a result of the
deletion of your web console customizations.
To clear your SolarWinds Web Console configuration:
1. Locate and run the [Link] utility, typically located at C:\Program Files (x86)\SolarWinds\Orion.
2. Click File > Clear Web Configuration.
3. Click Yes to confirm the deletion of your current web console configuration.

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Logging in for the First Time as an Administrator

Logging in for the First Time as an Administrator

When you launch the SolarWinds Web Console, you are presented with a login
view requiring both a User Name and a Password.
To log in to the SolarWinds Web Console:
1. Launch the SolarWinds Web Console
l Click Start> All Programs> SolarWinds > Orion Web Console.
l Or launch a browser on your SolarWinds server and enter [Link]
address or [Link] where ip_address is the IP address of
your SolarWinds host server, or where hostname is the domain name
of your SolarWinds server.
2. Enter Admin as your User Name, and then click Login.
Notes: Until you set a password, you can log in as Admin with no Password. After your first login, you may want to change the Admin password.
For more information, see Changing an Account Password.

Windows Authentication with Active Directory

As of SolarWinds Core version 2010.2, the SolarWinds Web Console can
authenticate Active Directory users and users who are members of Active
Directory security groups.
To enable Active Directory Windows authentication to the web console:
1. Install and configure Active Directory on your local network.
Notes:
l For more information about installing Active Directory on Windows
Server 2003, see the Microsoft Support article, How To Create an
Active Directory Server in Windows Server 2003.
l For more information about Active Directory on Windows Server
2008, see the Microsoft TechNet article, Active Directory Services.
2. If you want to enable automatic login for web console accounts using Windows Authentication, configure the SolarWinds Web Console as shown in
the following steps:
a. Click Start> All Programs> SolarWinds Orion> Configuration and
Auto-Discovery> Configuration Wizard.
b. Check Website, and then click Next.
c. After providing the appropriate IP Address, Port, and Website Root
Directory, select Yes Enable automatic login using Windows

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Authentication.
d. Click Next, and then complete the Configuration Wizard.
3. Log in to the web console using the appropriate domain and user, providing Domain\Username or Username@Domain as the web console User
name.

Using the Web Console Notification Bar

Below the web console menu bar, the SolarWinds notification bar provides
informational messages related to the following SolarWinds SAM features:
l

If you have configured the SolarWinds Web Console to check for product
updates, an announcement displays in the notification bar when an update,
including any upgrade, service pack, or hotfix, to SolarWinds SAM or any
other SolarWinds modules you currently have installed becomes available.
For more information about SolarWinds Product Updates, see Product
Updates.
If you have configured the SolarWinds Web Console to store blog posts,
new and unread posts to the SolarWinds Product Team Blog are
announced in the notification bar. For more information about SolarWinds
Product Updates, see Product Updates.
If you have currently configured a scheduled discovery, results display in
the notification bar when the discovery completes. For more information
about Scheduled Discovery, see Discovery Central."
If you are currently using SolarWinds SAM to monitor any VMware ESX or
ESXi Servers, the notification bar can display messages communicating the
number of ESX nodes found during any discovery, and, if any discovered
ESX nodes require credentials, the notification bar tells you. For more
information about managing ESX Servers, see Virtualization.
For more information about any displayed notification bar message, click
More Details and a web console view relevant to the displayed message
opens.
To delete a posted message, either click Dismiss Message next to the displayed message, or properly address the situation mentioned in the posted
notification.
To remove the notification bar from your web console, click Close (X) at the
right end of the notification bar.

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Using the SolarWinds Web Console Message Center

Using the SolarWinds Web Console Message

Center
The Message Center provides a single, customizable view in the web console
where, in a single table, you can review all events, alerts, traps and Syslog
messages on your network.
To view and configure the Message Center:
1. Click Home> Message Center.
2. If you only want to see messages for specific devices, select appropriate device properties in the Filter Devices area.
3. In the Filter Messages area, select the Time period for the messages you
want to review, and then provide the number of messages you want to
show.
4. If you want to show all messages, Including messages that have been
acknowledged, check Show acknowledged in the Filter Messages area.
5. If you only want to see certain types of messages, filter messages as
shown in the following steps:
a. If you want to view alerts, confirm that Show triggered alerts is
checked, and then select the type of alerts to display.
b. If you want to view event messages, confirm that Show event messages is checked, and then select the type of events to display.
c. If you want to view Syslog messages, confirm that Show syslog
messages is checked, and then select the Severity and Facility of the
Syslog messages you want to display.
d. If you want to view received traps, confirm that Show received traps
is checked, and then select the Trap type and Community String of
the traps you want to display.
e. If you want to view Audit Events, confirm that Show Audit Events is
checked, and then select the Action Type of the User you want to display.
6. Click Refresh to update the list of displayed messages.

Suppressing Events
There is no option within SAM to suppress event types from the web console;
however, suppression can be accomplished by modifying the database directly.
You can suppress specific events based on the event type. In order to do this,
refer to the following screenshot and steps:

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Suppressing Events:
1. Open Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio.
2. Modify the [Link] types table.
3. Change the number in the Record column from 1 to 0 to suppress a specific
event.
Note: SAM supports event suppression for every SAM event type (event
types from 500 to 532):

Using Node Filters

When you are managing or monitoring large numbers of network devices, node
list resources can easily become very large and difficult to navigate. Filters are
optional SQL queries that are used to limit node list displays for easier resource
navigation. SQL queries can be made on any predefined or custom properties.
For more information about defining custom properties, see Creating a Custom
Property".
To apply a node filter:
1. Click Edit in any node list resource.
2. Provide an appropriate SQL query in the Filter Nodes (SQL) field, and then
click Submit.
The following are a few example filters with associated SQL queries.

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Accessing Nodes Using HTTP, SSH, and Telnet

Note: By default, node list resources are designed to sort nodes alphabetically by
node caption. This configuration cannot be overwritten using a SQL filter, so order
by clauses included in SQL filters are redundant and will result in Custom SQL
filter formatting errors.
Filter the results to only show nodes that are not Up:
Status<>1
The following are valid status levels:
0 = Unknown (current up/down status of the node is unknown)
1 = Up (The node is responding to PINGs)
2 = Down (The node is not responding)
3 = Warning (The node may be responding, but the connection from the server to
the Node is dropping packets)
Only show Cisco devices: Vendor = 'Cisco'
Only show devices in Atlanta. (using a custom property named City):
City = 'Atlanta'
Only show devices beginning with "AX3-": Caption Like 'AX3-*'
Only show Nortel devices that are Down:
Vendor Like 'Nortel*' AND Status=2
Only show devices ending in '-TX': Vendor Like '*-TX'

Accessing Nodes Using HTTP, SSH, and Telnet

The SolarWinds Web Console supports the use of HTTP, SSH, and Telnet
protocols for remote device access if associated applications like PuTTy and
FiSSH on your SolarWinds server are properly registered. For more information,
see the MSDN article, Registering an Application to a URL Protocol. Launch
remote access applications from any Details view as follows:
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To browse directly to the viewed device using a web browser, click

To open a secure shell (SSH) to a monitored device, click .
To open a Telnet session with a monitored device, click .

Using Integrated Remote Desktop

Sometimes it is necessary to console into a remote server to troubleshoot an
issue. This can be accomplished within the SolarWinds Web Console as follows:

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Note: Press Ctrl+Alt+Break to enter/exit full screen mode.
To launch Integrated Remote Desktop:
1. Open the Node Details view for the server you want to view remotely.
Note: The easiest way to open the Node Details view is to click the remote
server you want to view in any All Nodes resource.
2. Click , located at the of the Node Details view.
Note: Depending on the security settings of your browser, you may be
asked to install an ActiveX control for remote desktop viewing. Follow all
prompts to install this required control.
3. Verify the Server IP address or hostname, select an appropriate Screen
Size, and then click Connect.

Using Audit Events

SAM offers the ability to audit itself. For example, you may want to know who
added a node to SAM and when. The Last XX Audit Events resource provides
this ability.
Note: This resource is only available for users with administrative rights.

The fields for this view are:

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Date/Time: Displays the date and time of the listed event.

User: Displays the user who performed the event.
Action: Displays the action that was taken by the listed user.

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Adding the Audit Events resource:

From this view, you can click on either the user or the node which is linked to
more information about that particular item. Clicking All Audit Events will allow
you to select the audit events you want displayed, in addition to other selfexplanatory options.
Adding the Audit Events resource:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Click Customize Page in the top right corner of the web console.
Click the [+] in either column.
Search for "Audit."
Select the resource you want, and then click Add Selected Resources.
Click Done.

For more information, see Filtering Audit Events.

Filtering Audit Events

SAM allows you to filter Audit Events based on device, time, and message.
To Filter Audit Events:
1. Click All Audit Events.
2. Select the filters you want to apply by checking the appropriate boxes and
items from the drop down menus, as highlighted below.

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3. Click Apply.

Complete SAMAudit Event List:

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All action types

User login
User logout
User account added
User account deleted
Alert acknowledged
Alert note changed
View added
View deleted
View edited
Custom property added
Custom property deleted
Custom property edited
List resources added

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Editing Audit Events:

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List resources deleted

List resources edited
Orion settings edited
Orion web settings edited
Group added
Group deleted
Group edited
Group member definition added
Group member definition deleted
Group member definition changed
Node added
Node deleted
Node managed
Node unmanaged
Node polling engine changed
Node edited
Interface added
Interface deleted
Interface managed
Interface unmanaged
Process terminated
Service state changed
Node rebooted
Application added
Application deleted
Application modified
Application managed
Application unmanaged
Application template added
Application template deleted
Application template modified
Credentials added
Credentials deleted
Credentials modified

Editing Audit Events:

Clicking Edit will allow you to choose what audit events you want displayed in
addition to selecting the time period for the events, as well as the number of
events to display.

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1. Click Edit.
2. Check the events you want to be displayed in the resource.
3. Click Submit.

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Chapter 5:
SolarWinds SAMCharts and
Resources
Following is a list of the available charts within SAM:
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Application Availability Chart

Custom Area Chart
Custom Bar Chart
Custom Chart View
Custom Line Chart
Custom Node Charts
Custom Volume Charts
Custom Table
Custom Query Resource
Event Log Message Details
Min/Max Average Chart
Multiple Object Chart
Multiple Statistic Chart
Multi Chart

Application Availability Chart

This chart lets you visualize the amount of time an application was in a particular
state of availability. This chart is interactive. Hovering over any part of the chart
will provide detailed information.

The tooltip indicates the number of times the application was in a certain state.
For example, in the previous illustration, an application was polled 12 times in
one hour (every five minutes) and was deemed available (up) 10 times, in a
Critical state once, and in a Warning state once.

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Chapter 5: SolarWinds SAMCharts and Resources

Zooming
You can have the chart show a predetermined time period of data by clicking on
any one of the three Zoom buttons; 1 hour, 12 hours, or 24 hours. Alternatively,
you can have the chart show a specific time range by dragging the mouse over a
small area of the chart, or by adjusting the sliders in the smaller chart below the
main chart.
Once you have a time period selected, the lower chart will zoom to the starting
and ending values of the selected time period. With the lower chart you can zoom
in further by fine tuning the view with the sliders. The main view of the chart will
display the selected time period between the two sliders of the lower chart.
Note: The Export button will open the Custom Chart allowing you to export this
data to both MS Excel and HTML.

Custom Chart
The Custom Chart resource allows you to easily view data based on your needs.
To customize it, simply click Edit in the upper right-hand corner of the resource.

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Custom Chart

From the Edit page, you can define the titles, datasource, time period, labels,
units displayed, the type of chart to be used, and an optional sum of the data.
To customize your chart:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

After adding this resource to a page, click Edit.

Enter a Title and optional Subtitle.
Select a datasource by clicking, Select Datasource.
Select a time period for the data from the Time Period drop down list.
Enter a label for the left Y axis.
Select the units to be displayed from the Units Displayed drop down list.
Select the type of chart to be displayed from the Chart Type drop down list.

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8. Optionally choose to display the sum of the data by checking, Show the
sum of all data.
9. Clicking More will allow you to customize further by optionally changing the
Display Name, Color, showing the 95th percentile, and trend line.
10. Optionally repeat Steps 5 - 9 for the Y axis on the right side of the chart.
11. Select a Sample Interval from the drop down list.
12. Optionally filter the results from the options provided.
13. When done, click Submit.

Zooming
You can have the chart show a predetermined time period of data by clicking on
any one of the three Zoom buttons in the head of the Zoom column. Alternatively,
you can have the chart show a specific date range by dragging the mouse over an
area of the chart. The time and date displayed at the top of the resource shows
the amount of data currently loaded into the chart. This can be changed by
clicking Edit from within the resource.

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Custom Area Chart

Custom Area Chart

The Custom Area Chart resource allows you to easily view data as shown in
percentage format. To customize it, simply click Edit in the upper right-hand
corner of the resource.

Use the check box in the legend as a toggle to show/hide data on the chart.
Clicking Export will allow you to export the data to either an HTML or Excel file.
Zooming
You can have the chart show a predetermined time period of data by clicking on
any one of the three Zoom buttons in the head of the Zoom column. Alternatively,
you can have the chart show a specific date range by dragging the mouse over an
area of the chart. The time and date displayed at the top of the resource shows
the amount of data currently loaded into the chart. This can be changed by
clicking Edit from within the resource.

Custom Bar Chart

The Custom Bar Chart resource allows you to easily view data as shown in
percentage format. To customize it, simply click Edit in the upper right-hand
corner of the resource.

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Use the check box in the legend as a toggle to show/hide data on the chart.
Clicking Export will allow you to export the data to either an HTML or Excel file.
Zooming
You can have the chart show a predetermined time period of data by clicking on
any one of the three Zoom buttons in the head of the Zoom column. Alternatively,
you can have the chart show a specific date range by dragging the mouse over an
area of the chart. The time and date displayed at the top of the resource shows
the amount of data currently loaded into the chart. This can be changed by
clicking Edit from within the resource.

Component Availability Chart

The Component Availability Chart is a straightforward bar chart that provides a
visual representation of the percentage of availability of a selected component.

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Component Availability Chart

Clicking the Edit button will provide a menu of components to choose from to
have represented on the chart, as the following illustration depicts:

Note: This option is only available on the Application Details page and not the
Component Details page. Clicking the chart itself, as opposed to the Edit button,
will bring up additional, self-explanatory options.
Zooming
You can have the chart show a predetermined time period of data by clicking on
any one of the three Zoom buttons; 1 hour, 12 hours, or 24 hours. Alternatively,
you can have the chart show a specific time range by dragging the mouse over a

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small area of the chart, or by adjusting the sliders in the smaller chart below the
main chart.
Once you have a time period selected, the lower chart will zoom to the starting
and ending values of the selected time period. With the lower chart you can zoom
in further by fine tuning the view with the sliders. The main view of the chart will
display the selected time period between the two sliders of the lower chart.
Note: The Export button will allow you to export this data to both MS Excel and
HTML.

Custom Chart View

Charts in the SolarWinds Web Console are easily customizable. Clicking a chart
opens the Custom Chart view in a new window. The following sections describe
options that are available on the Custom Chart page to modify the presentation of
a selected chart.
Note: Click Refresh at any time to review changes you have made.
Printing Options
To print your customized chart, click Printable Version and a
printable version of your customized chart displays in the browser.
Chart Titles
Chart Titles are displayed at the top center of a generated chart. The
Chart Titles area allows you to modify the Title and Subtitles of your
generated chart.
Note: SolarWinds may provide default chart titles and subtitles. If you
edit any of the Chart Titles fields on the Custom Chart page, you can
restore the default titles and subtitles by clearing the respective fields,
and then clicking Submit.
Time Period
Predefined and custom time periods are available for generated
charts. You may designate the time period for a chart by either of the
following methods:
l

Select a predefined period from the Select a Time Period:

menu.

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Sample Interval
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Provide custom Beginning and Ending Dates/Times in the

appropriate fields in the Time Period area.

Sample Interval
The sample interval dictates the precision of a given chart. A single
point or bar is plotted for each sample interval. If a sample interval
spans multiple polls, data is automatically summarized and plotted as
a single point or bar on the chart.
Note: Due to limits of memory allocation and the large number of
polled data points, some combinations of time periods and sample
intervals may require too many system resources to display. As a
result, charts may not display if the time period is too long or if the
sample interval is too small.
Chart Size
Chart Size options configure the width and height, in pixels, of the
chart. You can maintain the same width/height aspect ratio, or scale
the chart in size, by entering a width in the Width field and then
entering 0 for the Height.
Font Size
Font sizes for generated charts are variable. The Font Size option
allows you to select a Small, Medium, or Large size font for your chart
labels and text.
Note: Font Size selections are maintained in the printable version of
your chart.
Data Export Options
The Display Data from Chart area provides the following options to
export chart data as either Excel-compatible Raw Data or as
HTML-formatted Chart Data:
l

To view chart data in an Excel-compatible format, click Raw

Data, and then follow the prompts, if provided, to open or save
the resulting raw data file.
To view HTML-formatted chart data in a new browser, click
Chart Data.

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Custom Line Chart

The Custom Line Chart resource allows you to easily view data as shown in
percentage format. To customize it, simply click Edit in the upper right-hand
corner of the resource.

Use the check box in the legend as a toggle to show/hide data on the chart.
Clicking Export will allow you to export the data to either an HTML or Excel file.
Zooming
You can have the chart show a predetermined time period of data by clicking on
any one of the three Zoom buttons in the head of the Zoom column. Alternatively,
you can have the chart show a specific date range by dragging the mouse over an
area of the chart. The time and date displayed at the top of the resource shows
the amount of data currently loaded into the chart. This can be changed by
clicking Edit from within the resource.

Custom Query Resource

The Custom Query resource allows you to create a custom resource based on a
SolarWinds Query Language (SWQL) query. The query provided in this resource

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Custom Table
is run against your SolarWinds database, and the results are displayed in an
appropriate grid.
Clicking Edit allows you to configure your Custom Query resource, as indicated
in the following procedure.
To configure a Custom Query resource:
1.
2.
3.
4.

Click Edit in the Custom Query resource.

Provide an appropriate Title.
Provide an appropriate Subtitle.
Enter your custom SWQL query in the Custom SWQL Query field.
Notes:
l For more information about creating valid custom SWQL queries, see
"Using SWQL (Semantic Web Query Language)".
l Do not end your custom SWQL query with a comment. Closing your
query with a comment may comment out required query clauses that
are automatically appended to your custom query to ensure full
resource functionality in the web console.
5. Designate the Number of Rows Per Page in the resource.
Note: If your query returns a large number of objects, you can decrease the
load on your SolarWinds server by breaking your results into pages. This
setting indicates the number of objects the web console should display in
the resource at any given time.
6. Click Submit.

Custom Table
The Custom Table resource allows you to easily view data that can be
customized to suit your needs. To customize it, simply click Edit in the upper
right-hand corner of the resource.

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Editing the Custom Table resource:
Once in Edit mode, You can select and adjust the following options for this
resource:
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Title and subtitle: Used to change the labels of the Title and Subtitle.
Datasource: This will allow you to create queries and add conditions.
When you add a condition, you will be given the option to add a field or use
pre-existing fields. Your choices will be reflected in the Custom Table
resource once it has been updated.
Time Period: Select the time period for data to be displayed in the resource.
Table Layout: Once a Datasource is selected, you can add columns and
then arrange them by dragging them into position. Clicking [X] will delete
the column from view.
Sort Results: Allows you to choose how the data will be sorted and displayed.
Group Results: Allows you to choose how the data will be grouped.
Filter Results: Allows you to choose how many records will be displayed
based on either a set number or a percentage.

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Custom Node Charts

Custom Node Charts

The following node-related charts, grouped by type, are available as resources
within the SolarWinds Web Console. To add any of these charts to a web console
view dealing with monitored nodes, add the Custom Node Chart resource to the
Node Details view. For more information about adding resources to SolarWinds
Web Console views, see Customizing Views on page192.
Availability
The following charts are available to display node availability information over
custom time periods for nodes monitored by SolarWinds.
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Availability
AvailabilityAutoscale
Availability and Response Time

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CPU Load
The following charts display CPU loading information over specified periods of
time for nodes monitored by SolarWinds.
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Average CPU Load

Min/Max/Average CPU Load

Memory Usage
The following charts present memory usage information over custom time periods
for nodes monitored by SolarWinds.
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Average Memory Usage

Memory/Buffer Failures
Min/Max/Average Memory Usage
Percent Memory Used

Packet Loss and Response Time

The following charts are available to display historical statistics about packet loss
and response time for nodes monitored by SolarWinds.
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Availability and Response Time

Average Response Time
Average Response Time and Packet Loss
Min/Max/Average Response Time
Min/Max/Average Response Time and Packet Loss
Percent LossBar Chart
Percent LossLine Chart

Custom Volume Charts

The following volume-related charts, grouped by type, are available as resources
within the SolarWinds Web Console. To add any of these charts to a web console
view dealing with monitored volumes, add the Custom Volume Chart resource to
the Volume Details view. For more information about adding resources to
SolarWinds Web Console views, see Customizing Views on page192.
Allocation Failures
Shows the number of disk allocation failures that have occurred on the
selected volume.
Min/Max/Average Disk Usage

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Event Log Message Details

Shows both the total disk space available and the average amount of disk
space used on the selected volume. Bars are also included to show
minimum and maximum levels of disk usage.
Percent Disk Usage
Shows the total available disk space and the average amount of disk space
used, as a percentage of the total available, on the selected volume.
Volume Size
Shows the total disk space available on the selected volume.

Event Log Message Details

The Event Log Message Details resource allows you to read each message of
the event log in its entirety. This resource is found on the Component Details
page and can return the following information:
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Number of events matching the criteria as defined by the user

Event type / Level (Error, Warning, Information, and so on).
Event code / Event ID
Log file (Application, Security, and so on).
Time generated
Computer name
User
Message

Paging controls are located at the bottom of the resource, allowing you to
navigate through all data available for this resource. Respectively, the controls
are: Fist Page, Previous Page, Page Number, Next Page, and Last Page.

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Clicking on Show More will expand the resource to fill a separate screen.
Clicking on any message in this resource will bring up the entire message that
was created in the event log, as shown below:

Alerts with this resource can be used with the complete message text of events.
For more information see, "Other Syslog Variables" on page 1171.
This collection of detailed data is enabled by default. To disable this, navigate to
the event log monitor component, as shown below:

Min/Max Average Chart

The Min/Max Average Chart has been updated from previous releases to show
more information and provide more flexibility. These charts can be found by
navigating to the Component Details page or the Application Details page.
Adding the Chart:
1.
2.
3.
4.

Navigate to the Component Details page or the Application Details page.

Click Customize Page in the top right corner of the web console.
Click the [+] in either column.
Select a category to group items by from the Group by drop down menu:
Note: The Classic category reflects the tree views found in previous versions of SAM for this resource.

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Customizing the Chart

5. Select the charts you want, and then click Add Selected Resources.
6. Click Done.
Customizing the Chart
This chart can be customized to view the following data by clicking the Edit button
at the top-right of the chart. The available data to this chart are as follows:
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CPU Load
Physical Memory
Virtual Memory
Response Time
Statistic Data

Clicking Edit also reveals several self-explanatory options. Clicking Export will
allow you to export the data to both Excel and HTML formats.
This resource is made up of three sections: the toolbar, the main chart, and the
lower chart. This allows you to visualize the selected data by viewing the
minimums, maximums, and averages of the data for a selected time period.

Zooming
You can have the chart show a predetermined time period of data by clicking on
any one of the three Zoom buttons; 1 Day, 1 Week, or 1 Month, as highlighted in
the above illustration. Alternatively, you can have the chart show a specific date

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range by dragging the mouse over a small area of the chart, or by typing in
specific dates in the From and To fields, also highlighted.
Once you have a time period selected, the lower chart will zoom to the starting
and ending values of the selected time period. With the lower chart you can zoom
in further by fine tuning the view with the sliders, highlighted above. The main
view of the chart will display the selected time period between the two sliders of
the lower chart.
Moving the mouse over the main chart will reveal a tooltip with more detailed
information about the specific time period the mouse is hovering over.
By default, all statistics are shown in the main chart. You can add or remove any
statistic from the chart by checking and unchecking any statistic from the legend
at the lower left of the resource.

Multiple Object Chart

The Multiple Object Chart resource allows you to simultaneously view data for
multiple objects on the same chart. Objects may be on the same node or on
different nodes.

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Clicking Edit allows you to configure the characteristics of a selected multiple

Clicking Edit allows you to configure the characteristics of a selected multiple objects chart:

To add the Multiple Object Chart to your home page:

1.
2.
3.
4.

Click the Home tab to get to the Summary view.

Click Customize Page on the top right of the page.
Click the green [+] to the right of where you want to add this chart.
From Add Resources to SolarWinds Home Summary page, select and
expand Multiple Series Charts.
5. Check Multiple Object Chart, and then click Submit, and then click Done.
To configure the Multiple Object Chart:
1. Once the chart is on your Home Summary page, click Edit at the top right
of the chart.
2. From this page, you can have multiple options to choose from, including:
i. Title: This allows you to change the title of your chart.
ii. Subtitle: This allows you to add a subtitle to your chart.
iii. Choose Objects: This allows you to choose the type of objects to display from the drop down menu provided. You can remove an object
from the list by clicking the red X to its right.

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Chapter 5: SolarWinds SAMCharts and Resources

iv. Select a Chart: This allows you to chart various aspects of what you
intend to monitor.
v. Choose Objects: Click the Select SolarWinds Object button to choose
which objects you want charted based on your selection in step iii.
vi. Limit Series: Checking this box and setting the number of series will
limit the number of items displayed on the chart to the specified amount.
vii. Show Sum in Data Series: This allows you to chart the total of the other
objects graphed and is represented by its own plot line.
viii. Time Period: This allows you to set the range displayed on the chart.
ix. Sample Interval: This allows you to set the interval that this chart is
updated.

Multiple Statistic Chart

This chart provides the ability to graphically visualize multiple statistics
simultaneously, as well as view the statistics in the table below. The advantage of
this view is that you can easily determine how certain processes and services are
performing in relation to others. For example, you may notice that a spike in RAM
usage results in higher CPU usage. This charted information allows you to get a
quick overview of what is being monitored and may answer why certain
unexpected events are occurring.
Zooming
You can have the chart show a predetermined time period of data by clicking on
any one of the three Zoom buttons at the top of the chart. Alternatively, you can
have the chart show a specific time range by dragging the mouse over a small
area of the chart, or by adjusting the sliders in the smaller chart below the main
chart.
Once you have a time period selected, the lower chart will zoom to the starting
and ending values of the selected time period. With the lower chart you can zoom
in further by fine tuning the view with the sliders. The main view of the chart will
display the selected time period between the two sliders of the lower chart.

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Zooming

The Multiple Statistic Chart can be added to either the Application Details
page or the SAM Component Details page.
To add the Multiple Statistic Chart to either page, take the following steps:
1. Drill down to either the Application Details page or the SAM Component
Details page.
2. Click Customize Page on the far top right of the page.
3. Click the green [+] to the right of the column in which you want to add this
chart.
4. Select and expand SAM Charts - Historical charts for SAM.
5. Check Multiple Statistic Chart, and then click Submit, then click Done.
To configure the Multiple Statistic Chart, take the following steps:
1. Once the chart is on your Details page, click Edit at the top right of the
chart.
2. From this page, you can have several options to choose from, including:
i. Title: This allows you to change the title of your chart.
ii. Select a Time Period: This allows you provide a range for your chart.
iii. Select a Sample Interval: This allows you to select how often the chart
is updated.

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iv. Chart All or Selected Statistics: This allows you to chart certain or all
aspects of what you intend to monitor.
For more information, see Creating a Windows Script Monitor

Multi Chart
This chart provides the ability to graphically visualize multiple statistics
simultaneously at the application level without the need to drill down into each
component monitor.
The advantage of this view is that you can easily determine how certain
processes are performing in relation to others. For example, you may notice that a
spike in RAM usage results in higher CPU usage. This charted information allows
you to get a quick overview of what is being monitored and may answer why
certain unexpected events are occurring.

Zooming
You can have the chart show a predetermined time period of data by clicking on
any one of the three Zoom buttons at the top of the chart. Alternatively, you can
have the chart show a specific time range by dragging the mouse over a small
area of the chart, or by adjusting the sliders in the smaller chart below the main
chart.
The Multi Chart can be added from the Application Details page.

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Multi Chart
To add the Multi Chart to the Application Details page, take the following
steps:
1. Drill down to the Application Details page.
2. Click Customize Page on the far top right of the page.
3. Click the green [+] to the right of the column in which you want to add this
chart.
4. Search for "Multi Chart."
5. Check Multi Chart, and then click Add Selected Resources, then click
Done.
To configure the Multi Chart, take the following steps:
1. Once the chart is on your Application Details page, click either Edit, Select a
chart, or Configure this resource.

2. From this page, you have several options to choose from, including:
i) Title: This allows you to change the title of your chart.
ii) Subtitle: This allows you to change the subtitle of your chart.

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iii) Select components:

iv) Show Thresholds: This allows Warning and Critical Thresholds to

be displayed as yellow and red bands, respectively.
v) Default zoom range: Allows you to choose the time period of data
to be displayed.
vi) Amount of historical data to load: Allows you to select the
amount of historical data to be displayed.
vii) Sample interval: Allows you to set the polling time for the
components in this chart.

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Chapter 6:
SolarWinds SAM Settings
You can configure Applications, Templates, and Component Monitors through the
SolarWinds Web Console by using the SAM Settings page.

To configure SolarWinds SAM:

1. Log on to your SolarWinds Web Console with an Administrator account.
Note: Initially, Admin is the default administrator user ID with a blank password.
2. Click the Applications tab.
3. Click SAM Settings.
Refer to the sections that follow for details about the administrative commands
available in each category:
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Getting Started with SAM

Scan Nodes for Applications
Manually Assign Application Monitors
Component Monitor Wizard
Application Monitors
Manage Application Monitors
Application Monitor Templates
Manage Templates
Create a New Template
Component Monitors
Component Monitor Library

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Chapter 6: SolarWinds SAM Settings

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Manage Assigned Component Monitors

Manage Component Monitors within Templates
Application Detail Views
Views by Application Type
SAM Settings
Credentials Library
Data and Database Settings
License Summary
SAM License Summary
thwack Community
Shared thwack Templates
SAM thwack Forum

Getting Started with SAM

The Getting Started with SAM category gives you access to the commands that
allow you to start monitoring your applications or add new Application Monitors.
Refer to the following sections for more information:
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Scan Nodes for Applications

Manually Assign Application Monitors
Understanding the Credentials Library

Scan Nodes for Applications

Click Scan Nodes for Applications on the SAM Settings page to scan nodes
and automatically add Application Monitors.
For more information, see Scanning Nodes for Applications on page392.

Manually Assign Application Monitors

Click Manually Assign Application Monitors on the SAM Settings page to
assign Application Monitors to server nodes.
For more information, see Manually Assign Application Monitors on page259.

Component Monitor Wizard

Click Component Monitor Wizard on the SAM Settings page to pick the
processes, services, and performance counters you want from a list to create a
new template.
For more information, see Creating New Templates Using the Browsing Method:
on page396.

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Application Monitors

Application Monitors
The Application Monitors category gives you access to the commands that allow
you to actively monitor nodes using a collection of component monitors to
determine the overall health of applications.
For more information, see Managing Assigned Application Monitors on
page344.

Manage Application Monitors

Click Manage Application Monitors on the SAM Settings page to view, edit, and
delete assigned Application Monitors and their component monitors.
For more information, see Managing Assigned Application Monitors on
page344.

Application Monitor Templates

The Application Monitor Templates category gives you access to the commands
that allow you to edit, copy, export, import, delete, and create new templates.
For more information, see Managing Templates on page397.

Manage Templates
Click Manage Templates on the SAM Settings page to edit, copy, export, import,
and delete templates.
For more information, see Managing Templates on page397.

Create a New Template

Click Create a New Template on the SAM Settings page to create a new
application template and its component monitors.
For more information, see Creating New Templates on page396.

Component Monitors
Component monitors are the building blocks of SolarWinds SAM. This category
gives you access to the commands that allow you to monitor the status and
performance of different aspects of an application.
Refer to the following sections for more information:

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Chapter 6: SolarWinds SAM Settings

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Component Monitor Library

Manage Assigned Component Monitors
Manage Component Monitors within Templates

Component Monitor Library

Click Component Monitor Library on the SAM Settings page to view the
component monitors that are provided in the library for monitoring the status and
performance of different aspects of an application.
For more information, see Viewing the Component Monitor Library on page361.

Manage Assigned Component Monitors

Click Manage Assigned Component Monitors on the SAM Settings page to
view and manage assigned component monitors.
For more information, see Managing Assigned Component Monitors on
page361.

Manage Component Monitors within Templates

Click Manage Component Monitors within Templates on the SAM Settings
page to view and manage component monitors that are inside the Application
Monitor templates.
For more information, see Managing Templates on page397.

Application Detail Views

The Application Detail Views category gives you access to the command that
allows you to customize application detail views.

Views by Application Type

Click Views by Application Type on the SAM Settings page to customize
application detail views by application (template) type. You can choose between
displaying a generic view or a custom view for each application (template) type.

SAM Settings
The SAM Settings category gives you access to the commands that allow you to
view and manage the SAM Settings for credentials and data access.
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For more information, see "SolarWinds SAM Settings"

For more information, see Understanding the Credentials Library

261

Credentials Library
For more information, see "Data and Database Settings"

Credentials Library
Click Credentials Library on the SAM Settings page to create, edit, and delete
the credential sets component monitors use to access protected system
resources.
For more information, see Understanding the Credentials Library on page340.

Data and Database Settings

Click Data and Database Settings on the SAM Settings page to set the
database maintenance interval:
The four options are as follows:
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Detail Statistics Retention

Hourly Statistics Retention
Daily Statistics Retention
Event Log Message Retention
Baseline Data Collection Duration

Database Maintenance
The amount of data collected in the database is dependent upon the size of the
data collected as well as the number of applications and component monitors you
define.
Due to the volume of data collected, detailed statistics are stored in hourly
averages after a specified time period (7 days, by default). Hourly statistics are
compressed into daily statistics after a number of days (30 days, by default).
Detailed statistics retention is based on the individual polling intervals for each
component monitor. These settings allow you to set a length of time after which
SolarWinds SAM purges data from the database.
Note: Before modifying your database settings, consider noting your database
size and amount of data collection for a week. When the week is complete,
recheck your database size. This should help you forecast and plan for an
appropriate data compression and retention period.
To set the three Statistic Retention Intervals:
1. Log on to your SolarWinds Web Console with an Administrator account.
Note: Initially, Admin is the default administrator user ID with a blank password.

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Chapter 6: SolarWinds SAM Settings

2.
3.
4.
5.

Click the Applications tab.

Click SAM Settings.
Click Data and Database Settings.
Specify the appropriate values for the SolarWinds SAM data retention settings.

Polling Engine Mode

Note: The option to change Polling Engine Modes has been removed for SAM
5.5 and higher. For more information, see
[Link]
The polling engine mode specifies the behavior of both the main polling engine
and any additional ones you may have.
To set the Polling Engine Mode (v5.2 and earlier):
1. Log on to your SolarWinds Web Console with an Administrator account.
Note: Initially, Admin is the default administrator user ID with a blank password.
2. Click the Applications tab.
3. Click SAM Settings.
4. Click Data and Database Settings.
For more information, see "Managing the SolarWinds SAM Database" on page
1184.

License Summary
The License Summary category gives you access to the command that allows
you to view the license information summary.
For more information, see "SAM License Summary" on page 263.

SAM License Summary

Click SAM License Summary on the SAM Settings page to see a comparison
between the number of active component monitors and the limit allowed by your
SolarWinds SAM license.

thwack Community
The thwack Community category gives you access to the commands that allow
you to view and download useful information from the thwack community for

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Shared thwack Templates

SolarWinds users.
Refer to the following sections for more information:
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Shared thwack Templates

SAM thwack Forum

Shared thwack Templates

Click Shared thwack Templates on the SAM Settings page to browse and use
application templates contributed by fellow administrators.
For more information, see Exporting and Importing Templates Locally or Using
Thwack on page401.

SAM thwack Forum

Click SAM thwack Forum on the SAM Settings page to browse the information
provided in the SAM thwack Forum.
For more information, visit [Link]

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Chapter 7:
Discovering and Adding Nodes on a
Network
There are two methods to add nodes in SolarWinds SAM:
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Add a Single Node

For more information, see Adding Nodes for Monitoring.
Network Sonar Discovery

This chapter describes the process of discovering network devices and then
adding them to the Orion database via Network Sonar Discovery.
The method recommended largely depends on the number of nodes to be added.
To discover and add a larger number of nodes across your enterprise, the
Network Sonar Discovery and Network Sonar Results wizards are available,
respectively. This chapter provides instructions for quickly populating your
SolarWinds SAM database with the nodes you want to monitor and manage with
SAM. The Web Console also provides an easy to use Web Node Management
wizard suited to discovering and adding individual nodes.
Refer to the following sections for more information:
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Discovery Central
Network Sonar Discovery
Using the Network Sonar Results Wizard
Managing Scheduled Discovery Results
Using the Discovery Ignore List

Discovery Central
Discovery Central provides a centralized overview of the types and number of
nodes you are monitoring. You can also access Network Discovery and
Virtualization Discovery from within Discovery Central.

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Chapter 7: Discovering and Adding Nodes on a Network

To access Discovery Central:
1. Click Settings at the top right of the SolarWinds Web Console.
2. Click Discovery Central in the Getting Started with SolarWinds category.
Note: Clicking Go to SolarWinds Home opens the SolarWinds Summary
Home view for your entire monitored network.
Refer to the following sections for more information:
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Virtualization Discovery
Application Discovery

Virtualization Discovery
The Virtualization Discovery category displays information for both VMware and
Hyper-V infrastructures on your network. To use virtualization discovery, click
Network Sonar Discovery to discover multiple nodes or click Add A Single
Device to add a single node. For more information, see Polling for VMware
nodes Using the Network Sonar Wizard on page 327.

Application Discovery
SolarWinds SAM can scan nodes and automatically assign the Application
Monitors it deems suitable for each scanned node. You control the nodes to be
scanned, the application templates used in the scan, and the scanning
parameters that determine a match. For more information, see "Application
Discovery" on page 277.

Network Sonar Discovery

SolarWinds SAM employs the easy to use Network Sonar Wizard in order to aid
in the discovery of nodes on your network. Before using the Network Sonar
Wizard, consider the following points about network discovery in SAM:
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The Network Sonar Wizard recognizes network devices that are already in
your Orion database and prevents you from importing duplicate devices.
CPU and Memory Utilization charts are automatically enabled for your Windows, Cisco Systems, VMware, and Foundry Networks devices.
The community strings you provide in the Network Sonar Wizard are only
used for SNMP GET requests, so read-only strings are sufficient.

The following procedure steps you through the discovery of devices on your
network using the Network Sonar Wizard, automatically followed by the Network
Sonar Results Wizard:

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Discovering devices on your network from Discovery Central:

Discovering devices on your network from Discovery Central:
1. From the web console, navigate to Settings> NetworkSonar Discovery.

2. If you want to create a new discovery, click Add New Discovery.

3. If you have already defined a network discovery, a number of options
are available on the Network Sonar Discovery tab. Select one of the following:
l If you want to edit an existing discovery before using it, select
the discovery you want to edit, and then click Edit.
l If you want to use an existing discovery to rediscover your network, select the discovery you want to use, click Discover Now,
and then complete the Network Sonar Results Wizard after discovery completes. For more information about network discovery
results, see Using the Network Sonar Results Wizard.
l If you want to import some or all devices found in a defined discovery that you may not have already imported for monitoring,
select a currently defined discovery, and then click Import All Results. For more information about network discovery results, see
Using the Network Sonar Results Wizard on page273.
l If you want to import any newly enabled devices matching a
defined discovery profile, select a currently defined discovery, and
then click Import New Results. For more information about network
discovery results, see Using the Network Sonar Results Wizard
l If you want to delete an existing discovery profile, select a currently defined discovery and then click Delete.
5. If the devices on your network do not require community strings
other than the default strings public and private provided, click Next
on the SNMP Credentials view.
6. If any of your network devices require community strings other than
public and private or if you want to use an SNMPv3 credential, complete the following steps to add the required SNMP credential.
Note: Repeat the following procedure for each new community string. To
speed up discovery, highlight the most commonly used community strings
on your network, and then use the arrows to move them to the top of the
list.

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Chapter 7: Discovering and Adding Nodes on a Network

a. Click Add New Credential, and then select the SNMP Version of your
new credential.
b. If you are adding an SNMPv1 or SNMPv2c credential, provide the
new SNMP Community String.
c. If you are adding an SNMPv3 credential, provide the following information for the new credential:
l User Name, Context, and Authentication Method
l Authentication Password/Key, Privacy/Encryption Method
and Password/Key, if required.
d. Click Add.
7. Click Next on the SNMP Credentials view.

8. Tc Check all existing nodes polling with agents for node changes and
updates, check the box provided. when done, click Next.

9. If you want to discover any VMware VCenter or ESX Servers on your

network, confirm that Poll for VMware is checked, and then complete the
following steps to add or edit required VMware credentials.
Note: Repeat the following procedure for each new credential. To speed
up discovery, use the up arrow to move the most commonly used credentials on your network to the top of the list.

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Discovering devices on your network from Discovery Central:

a. Click Add vCenter or ESX Credential.
b. If you are using an existing VMware credential, select the appropriate credential from the Choose Credential drop down menu.
c. If you are adding a new VMware credential, select <New Credential> in the Choose Credential drop down menu, and then provide
a new credential name in the Credential Name field.
Note: SolarWinds recommends against using non-alphanumeric characters in VMware credential names.
d. Add or edit the credential User Name and Password, as necessary.
e. Confirm the password, and then click Add.
9. Click Next on the Local vCenter or ESX Credentials for VMware view.

10. If you want to discover devices located on your network within a specific range of IP addresses, complete the following procedure.

Note: Only one selection method may be used per defined discovery.
a. Click IP Ranges in the Selection Method menu, and then, for each IP
range, provide both a Start address and an End address.
Note: Scheduled discovery profiles should not use IP address ranges
that include nodes with dynamically assigned IP addresses (DHCP).
b. If you want to add another range, click Add More, and then repeat
the previous step.
Note: If you have multiple ranges, click X to delete an incorrect range.
c. If you have added all the IP ranges you want to poll, click Next.

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11. If you want to discover devices connected to a specific router or on a
specific subnet of your network, complete the following procedure:
Note: Only one selection method may be used per defined discovery.
a. Click Subnets in the Selection Method menu.
b. If you want to discover on a specific subnet, click Add a New Subnet, provide both a Subnet Address and a Subnet Mask for the
desired subnet, and then click Add.
Note: Repeat this step for each additional subnet you want to poll.
c. If you want to discover devices using a seed router, click Add a
Seed Router, provide the IP address of the Router, and then click
Add.
Notes:
l Repeat this step for each additional seed router you want to use.
l Network Sonar reads the routing table of the designated router
and offers to discover nodes on the Class A network ([Link]
mask) containing the seed router and, if you are discovering
devices for a SolarWinds SAM installation, the Class C networks
([Link] mask) containing all interfaces on the seed router,
using the SNMP version chosen previously on the SNMP Credentials page.
l Networks connected through the seed router are NOT automatically selected for discovery.
d. Confirm that all networks on which you want to conduct your network
discovery are checked, and then click Next.
12. If you already know the IP addresses or hostnames of the devices
you want to discover and include in the Orion database, complete the
following procedure:
a. Click Specific Nodes in the Selection Method menu.
b. Type the IPv4 or IPv6 addresses or hostnames of the devices you want
to discover for monitoring into the provided field.
Note: Type only one address or hostname per line.
c. Click Validate to confirm that the provided addresses and hostnames
are assigned to SNMP-enabled devices.
d. If you have provided all the addresses and hostnames you want to
discover, click Next.
13. Configure the options on the Discovery Settings view, as detailed in the following steps:

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Discovering devices on your network from Discovery Central:

a. Provide a Name and Description to distinguish the current discovery
profile from other profiles you may use to discover other network areas.

Note: This Description displays next to the Name in the list

of available network discovery configurations on the
Network Sonar view.
b. Position the slider or type a value, in ms, to set the SNMP Timeout.
Note: If you are encountering numerous SNMP timeouts during Network Discovery, increase the value for this setting. The SNMP Timeout
should be at least a little more than double the time it takes a packet to
travel the longest route between devices on your network.
c. Position the slider or type a value, in ms, to set the Search Timeout.
Note: The Search Timeout is the amount of time Network Sonar Discovery waits to determine if a given IP address has a network device
assigned to it.
d. Position the slider or type a value to set the number of SNMP Retries.
Note: This value is the number of times Network Sonar Discovery will
retry a failed SNMP request, defined as any SNMP request that does
not receive a response within the SNMP Timeout defined above.
e. Position the slider or type a value to set the Hop Count.
Note: If the Hop Count is greater than zero, Network Sonar Discovery
searches for devices connected to any discovered device. Each connection to a discovered device counts as a hop.
f. Position the slider or type a value to set the Discovery Timeout.
Note: The Discovery Timeout is the amount of time, in minutes,

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14.

15.
16.
17.

Network Sonar Discovery is allowed to complete a network discovery. If

a discovery takes longer than the Discovery Timeout value provided,
the discovery is terminated.
If you only want to use SNMP to discover devices on your network,
check Use SNMP only.
Note: By default, Network Sonar uses ICMP ping requests to locate
devices. Most information about monitored network objects is obtained
using SNMP queries.
If multiple SolarWinds polling engines are available in your environment, select the Polling Engine you want to use for this discovery.
Click Next.
If you want the discovery you are currently defining to run on a regular schedule, select either Custom or Daily as the discovery
Frequency, as shown in the following steps:
Notes:
l Scheduled discovery profiles should not use IP address ranges that
include nodes with dynamically assigned IP addresses (DHCP).
l Default Discovery Scheduling settings execute a single discovery of
your network that starts immediately, once you click Discover.
l Results of scheduled discoveries are maintained on the Scheduled
Discovery Results tab of Network Discovery. For more information
about managing scheduled discovery results, see Managing Scheduled Discovery Results on page274.
a. If you want to define a custom discovery schedule to perform the
currently defined discovery repeatedly in the future, select Custom
and then provide the period of time, in hours, between discoveries.
b. If you want your scheduled discovery to run once daily, select
Daily, and then provide the time at which you want your discovery to
run every day, using the format HH:MM AM/PM.
18. If you do not want to run your network discovery at this time,
select No, dont run now, and then click Save or Schedule,
depending on whether you have configured the discovery to run
once or on a schedule, respectively.
19. If you want your Network Sonar discovery to run now, click Discover to start your network discovery.

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Using the Network Sonar Results Wizard

Note: Because some devices may serve as both routers and

switches, the total number of nodes discovered may be less than
the sum of reported routers discovered plus reported switches discovered.

Using the Network Sonar Results Wizard

The Network Sonar Results Wizard directs you through the selection of nodes for
monitoring opens whenever discovery results are requested. This will happen
either when the Network Sonar Wizard completes or when Import All Results or
Import New Results is clicked for a selected discovery.
The following steps detail the selection of discovered nodes for monitoring in
SolarWinds SAM.
To select the results of a network discovery for monitoring in SAM:
1. On the Device Types to Import page, check the device types you want to
monitor, and then click Next.
Note: If you are not sure if you want to monitor a specific device type, check
the device type in question. Later, you can delete the device using Web
Node Management.
2. On the Volume Types to Import page, check the volume types you want to
monitor, and then click Next.
Note: If you are not sure you want to monitor a specific volume type, check
the volume type in question. Later, you can delete the volume of the selected type using Web Node Management.
3. If you want to import nodes, even when they are already known to be
polled by another polling engine, check the option in the Allow Duplicate

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Nodes section. For more information about working with multiple polling
engines, see Managing SolarWinds SAM Polling Engines.
4. If there are any devices on the Import Preview that you do not ever
want to import, check the device to ignore, and then click Ignore. Selected
nodes are added to the Discovery Ignore List. For more information, see
Using the Discovery Ignore List.
5. Confirm that the network objects you want to monitor are checked on the
Import Preview page, and then click Import.
Note: Imported devices display in the All Nodes resource.

Managing Scheduled Discovery Results

The Scheduled Discovery Results tab of Network Discovery provides a list of all
recently discovered, changed, or imported devices on your monitored network.
Results are compared between discoveries and results are listed on this tab. The
following procedure provides guidelines for managing discovery results.
To manage scheduled discovery results:
1. Click Start> All Programs> SolarWinds > Configuration and AutoDiscovery> NetworkDiscovery.
2. Click Scheduled Discovery Results.
3. Select the type of devices you want to view from the Status menu in the left
pane. The following options are available:
o Select Found to view all devices discovered by a scheduled discovery.
o Select Changed to view all devices that have changed between
recent scheduled discoveries. Changes include the addition of
device configuration changes.
o Select Imported to view all devices you have recently imported to
your Orion database. For more information about importing devices,
see Using the Network Sonar Results Wizard on page273.
o Select Ignored to view all devices you have added to your Discovery Ignore List. For more information about the Discovery Ignore
List, see Using the Discovery Ignore List on page275.
o Select Found and Changed to view a combined list of all devices
found or changed as described above.
o Select All except Ignored to view all discovered, changed or imported devices you have not already designated as Ignored, as
detailed above.

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Using the Discovery Ignore List

4. If you want to apply a grouping criterion to organize your listed results, select an appropriate criterion from the Group by menu in the left
pane.
5. If there are changed or discovered nodes in the results list that you
want to add to your Orion database, check them and then click Import
Nodes.
6. If there are devices you want SolarWinds SAM to ignore in future discoveries, regardless of discovered updates or changes, check the
nodes to ignore, and then click Add to Ignore List. For more information
about the Discovery Ignore List, see Using the Discovery Ignore List on
page275.

Using the Discovery Ignore List

Often, devices are found during a network discovery that you never intend to
monitor with SolarWinds SAM. The Discovery Ignore List is a record of all such
devices on your network. By placing a device on the Discovery Ignore List you
can minimize the SNMP processing load associated with discovering devices
that you never intend to monitor.
To manage devices on the Discovery Ignore List:
1. Click Start> All Programs> SolarWinds> Configuration and AutoDiscovery> NetworkDiscovery.
2. If you want to view the current Discovery Ignore List, click Discovery
Ignore List.
3. If you want to add devices to the Discovery Ignore List, complete the
following procedure:
a. Click Scheduled Discovery Results.
b. Check devices you want to ignore, and then click Add to Ignore List.
4. If you want to remove devices from the Discovery Ignore List, complete the following procedure:
a. Click Scheduled Discovery Results, and then
b. Check the devices you want to remove from the list.
c. Click Remove from Ignore List.
d. Confirm that you want to stop ignoring the selected items by clicking
OK.
After the Network Sonar Wizard completes the node discovery and imports the
results, you are taken directly to the Application Discovery Wizard to discover
applications to monitor on the nodes.

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For more information, see Application Discovery.

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Chapter 8:
Application Discovery
SolarWinds SAM can scan nodes and automatically assign the Application
Monitors it deems suitable for each scanned node. You control the nodes to be
scanned, the application templates used in the scan, and the scanning
parameters that determine a match.
To Access Application Discovery:
1. Click Settings at the top right of the SolarWinds Web Console.
2. Now click Discovery Central in the Getting Started with SolarWinds category.
3. In the Application Discovery category, click Discover Applications to
begin using the wizard-like interface.
For more information, see Add Application Monitors.
Select Nodes
1. Click [+] in the list to expand the node groups and to select the nodes you
want to scan.
2. When you are finished selecting nodes, click Next.
Select Applications
To keep the scanning time to a minimum, we recommend you initially
scan for a limited number of application templates. To see more
application templates, select a different template group from the Show
Only list.
To adjust the template assignment criteria, expand Advanced Scan
Settings and move the slider to the desired setting:
Exact Match
All the components must match to assign the template.
Strong Match
Most of the components must match to assign the template.

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Partial Match
Some of the components must match to assign the template.
Minimal Match
At least one component must match to assign the template.
When you are finished selecting applications, click Next.
Enter Credentials
Some application templates require credentials either to access
restricted resources, or to run within the context of a specific user. To
scan for these templates, add the necessary credentials to the list. If a
template you are scanning for requires credentials, the credentials in
this list are tried in the order in which they appear.
Warning: Credentials are tried several times over the course of a
scan, so an incorrect password is likely to lock out an account. To
avoid potential account lockouts that affect actual users, we
recommend you create and use service accounts. A service account is
an account created specifically for the purpose of providing
credentials to use for SolarWinds monitoring. With service accounts,
no actual user is affected by an account lockout if a password should
be entered incorrectly.
If you have domains sharing user names with different passwords, we
recommend you run separate application discoveries for each domain.
When you are finished entering credentials, click Next.
Review and Start Scan
Review the summary for the scan. If the automatic discovery matches
templates that are already assigned to the node, by default the
template is not assigned a second time. If you want to assign duplicate
templates, select Yes, Assign Anyway from the Do you want to
assign duplicates list.
Click Start Scan to begin the scan. The scan runs in the background.
If you like, click View progress near the light bulb icon toward the top
of the page to view the progress of the scan. You are notified by a
message near the top of the window when scanning is completed.
Click View Results to see the results of the scan. Click View SAM

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Add UX Monitors
Summary Page (or > SAM Application Summary) to display the
SAM summary page.
Add UX Monitors
You cannot scan for user experience (UX) monitors, but you can
assign them to nodes manually. Adding monitors from this page does
not affect your scan.

Add Application Monitors

After adding individual nodes, you are prompted by the Add Application
Monitors page to add applications for monitoring the desired application(s) on
the new node as described below.
To add Application Monitors on the Add Application Monitors page:
1. Use the Show Only list to select the desired category for the Application
Monitors you want to add.
2. Check the check box next to the Application Monitor(s) you want to assign.
3. The selected Application Monitor(s) are added to the list of Selected applications.
4. If you change your mind and want to delete an application, click the red
X next to the name of the application in the Selected applications list.
5. If suitable credentials already exist, choose the credential from the
Choose Credential list.
6. If suitable credentials do not exist, choose <New Credential> from the
Choose Credential list, and then add the new credential by filling out the
credential details.
7. Click Test to test the credentials and component monitors against the test
node.
8. If the test fails, troubleshoot the problem based on the error messages, and
then retest the node.
9. Click Next.
10. On the Change Properties page, modify any of the information as needed,
such as the Node Status Polling interval (in seconds) and the Collect Statistics Every frequency (in minutes).
11. Click OK, Add Node.

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Reading the Application Summary

The SAM Application Summary is the first view displayed after launching Server
& Application Monitor. This view provides insight into application health and
performance conditions over your entire network. The resources listed in this
section are the default views included in the SAM Application Summary.

Active Application Alerts

This resource provides the current application-specific alerts, including the time
the alert fired, the name of the application that caused the alert, and the alert
message. Click the Network Node to see the SolarWinds Node Details view.
Click the Application Name to see the SAM Application Details view.

Application Health Overview

This resource provides a status overview of all your assigned application
monitors. Click a status to list the assigned application monitors in that status.

The following statuses are depicted on the Application Health Overview:

Application Up
Assigned application monitors with all component monitors responding and
operating within their thresholds.
Application Critical

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Applications with Problems

Assigned application monitors with at least one component monitor
operating past the critical threshold.
Application Down
Assigned application monitors with at least one unresponsive component
monitor.
Application Warning
Assigned application monitors with at least one component monitor
operating past the warning threshold.
Other
Assigned application monitors that are suspended due to licensing
restrictions.
Unknown
Assigned application monitors with status that cannot yet be determined.

Applications with Problems

This resource lists the assigned application monitors reporting any status other
than up.

Last 25 Application Events

This resource provides a list of application-centric events from the time period you
specify. The default time period shows the last 25 application events. Clicking
Edit allows you to change the time period, limiting the events displayed in the
resource.

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Thwack Latest Application Templates

This resource lists the newest application monitor templates that have been
added to the Thwack community web site. Click a template to open its download
web page.

Top 10 Components Monitored by Response Time

This resource provides a list of the component monitors with the slowest
response time.

Top 10 Processes Monitored by CPU Load

This resource provides a list of the component monitors consuming the most
CPU.

Top 10 Processes Monitored by Physical Memory

This resource provides a list of the component monitors consuming the most
physical memory.

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Top 10 Processes Monitored by Virtual Memory

Top 10 Processes Monitored by Virtual Memory

This resource provides a list of the component monitors consuming the most
virtual memory.

Top XX Monitored Processes by I/O Reads/Sec

This resource displays the total number of I/O Read operations per second.

Fields:
l

Process Name: Displays the name of the listed process. Clicking a process in the list will take you to the Component Details page for that process.
Application Name: Displays the name of the listed application that contains the listed process. Clicking an application in the list will take you to
the Application Details page for that application.

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Network Node: Displays the name of the listed node that contains the listed application and process. Clicking a node in the list will take you to the
Node Details page for that node.
IO Reads: Displays the current rate of Input/Output reads.

Note: Clicking Edit will allow you to change the Title, Sub-Title, and Maximum
Number of Monitors to Display.
Hovering the mouse over any part of this resource will reveal a tooltip with
detailed information about the item listed.
For more information, see the following:
l
l

Top XX Monitored Processes by I/O Writes/Sec

Top XX Monitored Processes by I/O Total Operations/Sec

Top XX Monitored Processes by I/O Writes/Sec

This resource displays the total number of I/O Write operations per second.

Fields:
l

Process Name: Displays the name of the listed process. Clicking a process in the list will take you to the Component Details page for that process.
Application Name: Displays the name of the listed application that contains the listed process. Clicking an application in the list will take you to
the Application Details page for that application.
Network Node: Displays the name of the listed node that contains the listed application and process. Clicking a node in the list will take you to the
Node Details page for that node.
IO Writes: Displays the current rate of Input/Output writes.

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Top XX Monitored Processes by I/O Total Operations/Sec

Note: Clicking Edit will allow you to change the Title, Sub-Title, and Maximum
Number of Monitors to Display.
Hovering the mouse over any part of this resource will reveal a tooltip with
detailed information about the item listed.
For more information, see the following:
l
l

Top XX Monitored Processes by I/O Reads/Sec

Top XX Monitored Processes by I/O Total Operations/Sec

Top XX Monitored Processes by I/O Total Operations/Sec

This resource displays the total number of I/O operations per second.

Fields:
l

Process Name: Displays the name of the listed process. Clicking a process in the list will take you to the Component Details page for that process.
Application Name: Displays the name of the listed application that contains the listed process. Clicking an application in the list will take you to
the Application Details page for that application.
Network Node: Displays the name of the listed node that contains the listed application and process. Clicking a node in the list will take you to the
Node Details page for that node.
Total IOPS: Displays the current rate of Input/Output.

Note: Clicking Edit will allow you to change the Title, Sub-Title, and Maximum
Number of Monitors to Display.
Hovering the mouse over any part of this resource will reveal a tooltip with
detailed information about the item listed.
For more information, see the following:

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Chapter 8: Application Discovery

l
l

Top XX Monitored Processes by I/O Reads/Sec

Top XX Monitored Processes by I/O Writes/Sec

Server Warranty Summary

This resource displays warranties currently expired and set to expire on the
current node. This is done by SAM periodically checking the status of each
server's warranty against Dell, HP, and IBM's online warranty validation servers.
Clicking a node in the summary list will take you the Node Details view for that
node. You can expand and collapse the tree views by clicking [+] and [-]
respectively.
You can visually see warranties nearing their expiration dates by examining the
dates in the Expiration Date column. Also, if a warranty expiration date crosses a
Warning or Critical threshold, progress bars will appear as yellow and red,
respectively. Clicking Edit will allow you to customize threshold values as well as
filter the warranties you want displayed.

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Server Warranty Summary Alerts

l
l

Expired Warranties: Lists the nodes that currently have expired warranties.
Warranties Due to Expire: Lists the nodes that have warranties nearing
their expiration date.
Next 5 Warranties Set to Expire: Lists the top five warranties nearing their
expiration date.

Clicking Edit will allow you to fine tune the information displayed in this resource,
as shown below:

Server Warranty Summary Alerts

One alert is included with Server Warranty Summary:
1. Alert me when a node warranty expires in 30 days - Disabled by default

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Chapter 9:
Managing Groups and Dependencies
Groups and dependencies enable you to more effectively manage your network.
Groups give you the ability to logically organize monitored objects, regardless of
device type or location, and dependencies allow you to more faithfully represent
what can actually be known about the nodes of your network, eliminating false
positive alert triggers and providing more accurate insight into the state of your
nodes.
Groups contain SolarWinds objects that report a status such as nodes, volumes,
applications, and even other groups. You create, delete, and modify groups from
the Manage Groups page.
Note: Nesting a group within another does not create a strict parent/child
relationship. You can include any group as a member in any number of other
groups.
To access the Manage Groups page:
1. Log on to the SolarWinds Web Console.
2. Click Settings in the top right of the web console.
3. Click Manage Groups in the Node & Group Management grouping of the
SolarWinds Website Administration page.
The following sections provide more information about creating and managing
groups in SAM:
l
l

Creating Groups
Managing the Display of Group Status

Creating Groups
Creating a group is a straightforward process of selecting the SolarWinds objects
you want the group to contain. At creation time, you can also decide how you
want SolarWinds to roll up the status of the group members.

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It is also possible to specify group members on the basis of shared properties by
adding them with a dynamic query. SolarWinds objects added through dynamic
queries are automatically added or removed from the group.
Refer to the following sections for more information:
l
l
l
l

Editing Groups
Managing Group Members
Deleting Groups
Managing the Display of Group Status

To create a new group:

1. Click Start> All Programs> SolarWinds> Orion Web Console.
2. Click Settings in the top right of the web console.
3. Click Manage Groups in the Node & Group Management grouping of the
SolarWinds Website Administration page.
4. Click Add New Group.
5. Enter a name for the group in the Name field, and then expand Advanced.
6. If you want the group to roll up the worst status of the group
members, select Show Worst Status.
7. If you want the group to roll up the best status of the group members,
select Show Best Status.
8. If you want the group to display a warning status if the group members have a mixture of different statuses, select Mixed Status shows
warning.
9. Click Next.
10. If you want to individually select group members, follow these steps:
a. In the Show Only list, select the type of SolarWinds object you want to
add as a group member.
b. Check the check box of the SolarWinds object and then click Add to
Group.
11. If you want to dynamically select group members based on shared
properties, follow these steps:
a. Click Add dynamic query.
b. Type a name for the query in the Dynamic query object name
field.
c. Select a SolarWinds object type in the SolarWinds Object is
list.
d. Click Add Condition to specify further selection properties.
Note: Use the question mark (?) character as a multiple

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Editing Groups
character wildcard. Use the underscore (_) character as a
single character wildcard.
e. Click Preview to verify that the dynamic query is selecting your
intended objects.
f. Click Save.
12. Continue adding individual SolarWinds objects or dynamic queries until
you have finished building your group.
13. Click Create Group.

Editing Groups
You can edit the properties of an existing group or add and remove objects.
These are separate editing tasks.
To edit properties of an existing group:
1. Click Start> All Programs> SolarWinds > Orion Web Console.
2. Click Settings in the top right of the web console.
3. Click Manage Groups in the Node & Group Management grouping of the
SolarWinds Website Administration page.
4. Check the group you want to edit, and then click Edit Properties.
5. Edit the Name and Description of the selected group, as appropriate.
6. If you want to manage the members of the selected group, click Add &
Remove Objects. For more information about managing group members,
see Managing Group Members.
Note: Expand the Contains summary for the selected group to see all member objects in the group.
7. If you want to configure the calculation of displayed group status or
the frequency with which group status is refreshed, expand Advanced,
select a Status rollup mode, and then provide a Refresh frequency.
Note: For more information about status rollup for groups, see Managing the
Display of Group Status.
8. Click Submit.

Managing Group Members

The following procedure manages the objects included within a defined group.

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To add and remove the objects of an existing group:
1. Click Start> All Programs> SolarWinds > Orion Web Console.
2. Click Settings in the top right of the web console, and then click Manage
Groups in the Node & Group Management grouping of the SolarWinds
Website Administration page.
3. Check the group you want to edit, and then click Add & Remove Objects.

Deleting Groups
Deleting an existing dependency is a straightforward process, as shown in the
following procedure.
To delete a group:
1. Click Start> All Programs> SolarWinds > Orion Web Console.
2. Click Settings in the top right of the web console, and then click Manage
Groups in the Node & Group Management grouping of the SolarWinds
Website Administration page.
3. Check the group you want to delete, and then click Delete.

Managing the Display of Group Status

The status of any particular group is determined by the status of the members of
the group. There are three methods for determining the status displayed for a
selected group of monitored objects:
Note: For more information about object states in SolarWinds, see Status Icons
and Identifiers.
Show Best Status is most useful for displaying groups that are defined as
collections of redundant or backup devices. The following table indicates how
the Show Best Status option operates:
Note: Compare Group Status results under the Show Best Status option with
results for the same groups of objects under the Show Worst Status option.
Object States
(Up, Warning, Down)
(Warning, Up)
(Warning, Down, Unknown)

Group Status
(Up)
(Up)
(Warning)

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To configure the method used to determine the status of a selected group:

Show Worst Status ensures that the worst status in a group of objects is
displayed for the whole group. The following table indicates how the Show Worst
Status option operates:
Object States

Group Status

(Up, Warning, Down)

(Down)

(Warning, Down)

(Warning)

(Warning, Down, Unknown)

(Down)

Mixed Status shows Warning ensures that the status of a group displays the
worst warning-type state in the group. If there are no warning-type states, but the
group contains a mix of up and down states, then a Mixed Availability ( ) warning
status is displayed for the whole group. The following table indicates how the
Mixed Status shows Warning option operates:
Object States Group Status
(Critical)
(Critical)
(Mixed Availability)
The following procedure configures the method used to determine group status.
To configure the method used to determine the status of a selected group:
1. Click Start> All Programs> SolarWinds > SolarWinds Web Console.
2. Settings in the top right of the web console, and then click Manage
Groups in the Node & Group Management grouping of the SolarWinds
Website Administration page.
3. Check the group you want to edit, and then click Edit Properties.
4. Expand Advanced, and then select a Status rollup mode, as follows:
a. If you want the group to roll up the worst status of the group members, select Show Worst Status.
b. If you want the group to roll up the best status of the group members, select Show Best Status.
c. If you want the group to display a warning status if the group members have a mixture of different statuses, select Mixed Status
shows warning.

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5. Click Submit.

Managing Dependencies
Dependencies in SolarWinds allow you to account for topological constraints on
your network. These constraints may be either the result of the design of a
specific device, or the result of the physical architecture of your network itself.
SolarWinds offers an Unreachable status to account for the case when a device
may appear to be down when its status is actually indeterminate, due to another
device being down or unresponsive.
Likewise, SolarWinds also makes it possible to define dependencies among
distinct devices, as in the case of a subnet of devices on your network that
depends on a single WAN link to connect with the rest of your network. In this
case, if you have defined a group consisting of the devices in this dependent
subnet, you can then define a dependency where the dependent subnet is a child
group to the parent router that is serving as the WAN link to the rest of your
network. For more information about groups, see Managing Groups and
Dependencies.
The power of dependencies becomes evident when considering alerts. If you
have an alert configured to trigger when a monitored object is down, you only
want that alert to trigger if a monitored objects is positively down. In other words,
you do not want an down object alert to trigger for an object that is not actually
down. Without dependencies, all monitored objects on a monitored node that is
unresponsive to ICMP queries will also report as down. With dependencies in
use, these child objects will instead display as Unreachable, saving you the
hassle of sorting through numerous false alerts resulting from the failure of a
single node to respond promptly to a status query.
Refer to the following sections for more information:
l
l
l
l

Creating a Dependency
Editing a Dependency
Deleting a Dependency
Viewing Alerts on Child Objects

Creating a Dependency
Creating a new dependency is a straightforward process of selecting the parent
and children objects, as shown in the following procedure.

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To create a dependency:
To create a dependency:
1. Click Start> All Programs> SolarWinds > SolarWinds Web Console.
2. Click Settings in the top right of the web console, and then click Manage
Dependencies in the Node & Group Management grouping of the
SolarWinds Website Administration page.
3. Click Add new dependency.
4. On the Select Parent page, complete the following steps:
a. Use the Show only: and Group by: selection fields to customize the
list of displayed objects and groups.
Note: The properties listed in the Group by selection field are
dynamic.
b. Select the parent object or group in the main pane, and then click Next.
Note: If you want to define a dependency so that the reported states of
child objects are dependent on the status of multiple parent objects, create a group including all parent objects, and then select it on this view.
For more information, see Creating Groups on page288.
5. On the Choose Child page, complete the following steps:
a. Edit the Dependency name, as appropriate.
b. Use the Show only: and Group by: selection fields to customize the
list of displayed objects and groups.
Note: Properties listed in the Group by: selection field are dynamically
dependent on the selection in the Show only: field.
c. Select the child object or group in the main pane, and then click Next.
Note: If you want to define a dependency so that the reported states of
multiple child objects are dependent on the status one or more parent
objects, create a group including all child objects, and then select it on
this view. For more information, see Creating Groups on page288.
6. On the Review Dependency view, review the current settings for the configured dependency.
Notes:
l If any advanced alerts are configured on parent or child objects,
they will be listed on this view. Click [+] to expand alert details.
l In the event that a parent object is down, all alerts configured on any
child objects in a dependency on the down parent object are automatically suppressed.
7. Click Submit to accept the dependency definition.

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Editing a Dependency
Editing an existing dependency is a straightforward process, as shown in the
following procedure.
To edit an existing dependency:
1. Click Start> All Programs> SolarWinds> SolarWinds Web Console.
2. Click Settings in the top right of the web console, and then click Manage
Dependencies in the Node & Group Management grouping of the
SolarWinds Website Administration page.
3. Check the dependency you want to edit, and then click Edit.
4. On the Select Parent page, complete the following steps:
a. Use the Show only: and Group by: selection fields to customize the
list of displayed objects and groups.
Note: Properties listed in the Group by: selection field are dynamically
dependent on the selection in the Show only: field.
b. Select the parent object or group in the main pane, and then click Next.
Note: If you want to define a dependency so that the reported states of
child objects are dependent on the status of multiple parent objects, create a group including all parent objects, and then select it on this view.
For more information, see Creating Groups on page288.
5. On the Choose Child page, complete the following steps:
a. Edit the Dependency name, as appropriate.
b. Use the Show only: and Group by: selection fields to customize the
list of displayed objects and groups.
Note: Properties listed in the Group by: selection field are dynamically
dependent on the selection in the Show only: field.
c. Select the child object or group in the main pane, and then click Next.
Note: If you want to define a dependency so that the reported states of
multiple child objects are dependent on the status one or more parent
objects, create a group including all child objects, and then select it on
this view. For more information, see Creating Groups on page288.
6. On the Review Dependency view, review the current settings for the configured dependency.
Notes:
l If any advanced alerts are configured on parent or child objects, they
will be listed on this view. Click [+] to expand alert details.
l If a parent object is down, all alerts configured on any child objects in
a dependency on the down parent object are automatically suppressed.

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Deleting a Dependency
7. Click Submit to accept the dependency definition.

Deleting a Dependency
Deleting an existing dependency is a straightforward process, as shown in the
following procedure.
To delete an existing dependency:
1. Click Start> All Programs> SolarWinds> SolarWinds Web Console.
2. Click Settings in the top right of the web console, and then click Manage
Dependencies in the Node & Group Management grouping of the
SolarWinds Website Administration page.
3. Check the dependency you want to delete, and then click Delete.
4. Click Yes to confirm deletion of the selected dependency.

Viewing Alerts on Child Objects

In the event that a parent object is down, all advanced alerts configured on any
child objects in a dependency on the down parent object are automatically
suppressed. The following procedure displays all advanced alerts currently
configured on any child objects in a selected dependency.
To view alerts on child objects in a selected dependency:
1. Click Start> All Programs> SolarWinds > SolarWinds Web Console.
2. Click Settings in the top right of the web console.
3. Click Manage Dependencies in the Node & Group Management grouping of the SolarWinds Website Administration page.
4. Check the dependency that includes the child object on which the alerts you
want to view are configured, and then click Alerts on Child.

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Managing Accounts
SolarWinds Web Console user accounts, permissions, and views are established
and maintained with the SolarWinds Account Manager. When Advanced
Customization is enabled on the SolarWinds Website Settings page, you can use
Account Manager to customize menu bars and views for different users. For more
information, see Customizing Views.
Notes:
l This guide assumes that Advanced Customization has been enabled. If it
has not been enabled, the range of options available on the pages referenced in the following sections is much more limited. For more information, see Setting Account Limitations.
l To prevent issues with web console accounts, your SQL Server should not
be configured with the no count connection option enabled. The no count
option is set in the Default connection options area of the Server
Properties> Connections window of SQL Server Management Studio
Refer to the following sections for more information:
l
l

Creating Accounts
Editing User Accounts

Creating Accounts
New SolarWinds Web Console user accounts may be created by any web
console administrator. The following procedure creates a new web console user
account.
To create a new user account:
1. Log in to the SolarWinds Web Console as an administrator.
2. Click Settings in the top right of the web console.
3. Click Manage Account in the Accounts grouping of the SolarWinds Website Administration page.
4. Click Add New Account.

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5. Select the type of account you want to add, and then click Next.
6. If you selected SolarWinds individual account, complete the following
steps:
a. Provide a User Name and a Password for the SolarWinds individual
account.
b. Confirm the password, and then click Next.
c. Define user settings and privileges, as appropriate. For more information, see Editing User Accounts.
7. If you selected Windows individual account, complete the following
steps:
a. Provide the User Name and Password for a user that has administrative access to your Active Directory or local domain.
b. In the Search for Account area, enter the User name of the Active Directory or local domain user for whom you want to create a new web console account, and then click Search.
c. In the Add Users area, select the users for whom you want to create
new web console accounts, and then click Next.
8. If you selected Windows group account, complete the following steps:
a. Provide the User Name and Password for a user that has administrative access to your Active Directory or local domain.
b. In the Search for Account area, enter the Group name of the Active Directory or local domain group for which you want to create a new web
console account, and then click Search.
c. In the Add Users area, select the users for whom you want to create
new web console accounts, and then click Next.
When the new account is created, the Edit User Account view displays, showing
all configurable account options. For more information about editing account
settings, see Editing User Accounts.

Editing User Accounts

The Edit User Account page provides options for configuring web console user
accounts. On the Edit User Account page, administrators can disable an account,
set an account expiration date, grant administrator and node management rights,
set user view limitations, define a default menu bar, and set several other defaults
defining how a user account views and uses the SolarWinds Web Console.

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User Account Access Settings

The following sections and procedures detail the configuration of user accounts.
Note: To reset a password, click Change Password at the bottom of the page.
l
l
l
l
l
l

User Account Access Settings

Setting Account Limitations
Defining Pattern Limitations
Setting Default Account Menu Bars and Views
Configuring an Account Report Folder
Configuring Audible Web Alerts

User Account Access Settings

The following procedure is a guide to setting user account access.

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To edit a user account:
1. Log in to the SolarWinds Web Console as an administrator.
2. Click Settings in the top right of the web console.
3. Click Manage Accounts in the Accounts grouping of the SolarWinds Website Administration page.
4. Select the account that you want to edit, and then click Edit.
5. Set Account Enabled to Yes or No, as appropriate.
Note: Accounts are enabled by default, and disabling an account does not
delete it. Account definitions and details are stored in the Orion database
in the event that the account is enabled at a later time.
6. If you want the account to expire on a certain date, click Browse ()
next to the Account Expires field, and then select the account expiration
date using the calendar tool.
Note: By default, accounts are set to Never expire. Dates may be entered
in any format, and they will conform to the local settings on your computer.
7. If you want to allow the user to remain logged-in indefinitely, select
Yes for the Disable Session Timeout option.
Note: By default, for added security, new user accounts are configured to
timeout automatically.
8. If you want to grant administrator rights to the selected account, set
Allow Administrator Rights to Yes.
Notes:
l Granting administrator rights does not also assign the Admin menu
bar to a user. If the user requires access to Admin options, they must
be assigned the Admin view. For more information, see Setting
Default Account Menu Bars and Views on page304.
l Administrator rights are not granted by default, but they are required
to create, delete, and edit accounts. User accounts without administrator rights cannot access Admin page information.
9. If you want to allow the user to manage nodes directly from the
SolarWinds Web Console, set Allow Node Management Rights to Yes.
Note: By default, node management rights are not granted.
10. If you want to allow the user to customize views, set Allow Account to
Customize Views to Yes.
Note: By default, customized view creation is not allowed. Changes made
to a view are seen by all other users that have been assigned the same
view.
11. Designate whether or not to Allow Account to Clear Events and
Acknowledge Alerts.

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Configuring Audible Web Alerts

12. Select whether or not to Allow Browser Integration.
Note: Browser integration can provide additional functionality, including
access to right-click menu options, depending on client browser capabilities.
13. If you want to enable audible alerts through the client browser, select
a sound from the Alert Sound list.
Note: By default, sounds are stored in the Sounds directory, located at
C:\Inetpub\SolarWinds\NetPerfMon\Sounds. Sounds in .wav format that
are added to this directory become available as soon as the Edit User
Account page refreshes.
14. Provide the maximum Number of items in the breadcrumb list.
Note: If this value is set to 0, all available items are shown in breadcrumb
drop down lists.

Configuring Audible Web Alerts

When browsing the SolarWinds Web Console, audible alerts can be sounded
whenever new alerts are generated. When enabled, you will receive an audible
alert the first time, after login, that an alert is displayed on the page. This alert may
come from either an alert resource or the Alerts view. You will not receive audible
alerts if the Alerts view or the alert resource you are viewing is empty.

Following the initial alert sound, you will receive an audible alert every time an
alert is encountered that was triggered later than the latest alert that has already
been viewed.
For example, a user logs in and sees a group of alerts with trigger times ranging
from 9:01AM to 9:25AM, and the user receives an audible alert. If the user
browses to a new page or allows the current page to auto-refresh, a new alert
sounds if and only if an alert triggered later than 9:25AM is then displayed.

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To enable audible web alerts:
1. Log in to the SolarWinds Web Console as an administrator.
2. Click Settings in the top right of the web console.
3. Click Manage Accounts in the Accounts grouping of the SolarWinds Website Administration page.
4. Select the account you want to configure.
5. Click Edit.
6. Select the sound file you want to play when new alerts arrive from the Alert
Sound list.
Note: By default, sounds are stored in the Sounds directory, located at
C:\Inetpub\SolarWinds\NetPerfMon\Sounds. Sounds in .wav format that
are added to this directory become available as soon as the Edit User
Account page refreshes.
7. Click Submit.

Setting Account Limitations

Account limitations may be used to restrict user access to designated network
areas or to withhold certain types of information from designated users. The
following procedure sets user account limitations.

To set user account limitations:

1. Log in to the SolarWinds Web Console as an administrator.
2. Click Settings in the top right of the web console, and then click Manage
Accounts in the Accounts group of the SolarWinds Website Administration page.
3. If you want to limit an individual user account, complete the following
steps:
a. On the Individual Accounts tab, check the account you want to limit.
b. Click Edit.
c. Click Add Limitation in the Account Limitations section.
d. Select the type of limitation to apply, and then click Continue.
Notes:
l Because SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer (NTA) initially
caches account limitations, it may take up to a minute for

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To set user account limitations:

account limitations related to SolarWinds NTA to take effect in
SolarWinds NTA.
l Account limitations defined using the Account Limitation Builder
display as options on the Select Limitation page. Account limitations can be defined and set using almost any custom properties. For more information, see Creating Account Limitations.
e. Define the limitation as directed on the Configure Limitation page that
follows. For more information about defining pattern-type limitations,
see Defining Pattern Limitations.
4. If you want to limit a group account, complete the following steps:
Note: Limitations applied to a selected group account only apply to the
group account and not, by extension, to the accounts of members of the
group.
a. On the Groups tab, check the group account you want to limit.
b. Click Edit.
c. Click Add Limitation in the Account Limitations section.
d. Select the type of limitation to apply, and then click Continue.
Notes:
l Because SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer (NTA) initially
caches account limitations, it may take up to a minute for
account limitations related to SolarWinds NTA to take effect in
SolarWinds NTA.
l Account limitations defined using the Account Limitation Builder
display as options on the Select Limitation page. Account limitations can be defined and set using almost any custom properties. For more information, see Creating Account Limitations.
e. Define the limitation as directed on the Configure Limitation page that
follows. For more information about defining pattern-type limitations,
see Defining Pattern Limitations.
5. Click Add Limitation in the Account Limitations section.
6. Select the type of limitation to apply from the list, and then click Continue.
Notes:
l Account limitations defined using the Account Limitation Builder display as options on the Select Limitation page. Account limitations
can be defined and set using almost any custom properties. For
more information, see Creating Account Limitations on page1128.
l Because SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer (NTA) initially
caches account limitations, it may take up to a minute for account
limitations related to SolarWinds NTA to take effect in SolarWinds
NTA.

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7. Define the limitation as directed on the Configure Limitation page that follows. For more information about defining pattern-type limitations, see
Defining Pattern Limitations.

Defining Pattern Limitations

Pattern limitations may be defined using OR, AND, EXCEPT, and NOT operators
with _ and * as wildcard characters. The following examples show how to use
available operators and wildcard characters:
Note: Patterns are not case sensitive.
foo matches only objects named "foo.
foo_ matches all objects with names consisting of the string "foo" followed by
only one additional character, like foot or food, but not seafood or football.
foo* matches all objects with names starting with the string "foo, like football or
food, but not seafood.
*foo* matches all objects with names containing the string "foo, like seafood or
Bigfoot.
*foo* OR *soc* matches all objects containing either the string "foo" or the string
"soc, including football, socks, soccer, and food.
*foo* AND *ball* matches all objects containing both the string "foo" and the
string "ball, including football but excluding food.
*foo* NOT *ball* matches all objects containing the string "foo" that do not also
contain the string "ball, including food but excluding football.
*foo* EXCEPT *ball* matches all objects containing the string "foo" that do not
also contain the string "ball, including food but excluding football.
You may also group operators using parentheses, as in the following example.
(*foo* EXCEPT *b*) AND (*all* OR *sea*) matches seafood and footfall, but not
football or Bigfoot.

Setting Default Account Menu Bars and Views

The Default Menu Bar and Views section provides several options for configuring
the default menu bar and views for your user account. The following procedure is
a guide to setting these options.

304

To set default menu bar and view options:

To set default menu bar and view options:

1. Log in to the SolarWinds Web Console as an administrator.
2. Click Settings in the top right of the web console, and then click Manage
Accounts in the Accounts grouping of the SolarWinds Website Administration page.
3. Select the account that you want to configure, and then click Edit.
4. Scroll down to Default Menu Bar and Views.
5. Select a Home Tab Menu Bar from the available list.
Note: This is the default menu bar displayed when you click Home in the
SolarWinds Web Console. If you are editing a user account that must have
administrator privileges, set the Home Tab Menu Bar to Admin.
6. Select an Application Tab Menu Bar from the available list.
Note: This is the default menu bar displayed when you click Applications
in the SolarWinds Web Console. If you are editing a user account that must
have administrator privileges, select Admin.
7. Select a Virtualization Tab Menu Bar from the available list.
Note: This is the default menu bar displayed when you click Virtualization
in the SolarWinds Web Console. If you are editing a user account that must
have administrator privileges, select Admin.
8. If you have installed any additional SolarWinds modules, select a
SolarWinds Module Tab Menu Bar from each available list.
Note: This step configures the default menu bar displayed when you click
the tab corresponding to an installed module in the SolarWinds Web

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9.

10.

11.
12.

13.

14.

15.

Console. If you are editing an account that must have administrator privileges, select Admin.
Select a Home Page View.
Note: If no Home Page View is specified, the default is designated to be
the same as the page that is specified in the Default Summary View field
below.
If the Home Page View you have selected refers to a specific network
device, select a Default Network Device by clicking Edit and selecting
from the list of available devices on the next page.
Note: If the Home Page View you have selected does not require a specific
network device, SolarWinds will select a device to display, automatically.
Select a Default Summary View for the account.
Note: This is typically the same as the Home Page View.
If you want all reports to be available for the account, select \Reports
from the Report folder list in the Default Menu Bars and Views area.
Note: If you are creating a new user, you must designate the Report Folder
the new account is to use to access SolarWinds reports. By default, no
report folder is configured for new users. The Reports directory is located in
the SolarWinds SAM installation directory:
C:\ProgramFiles\SolarWinds\Orion\.
If you want to designate default Node, Volume, and Group Details
Views for this account, expand SolarWinds General Settings, and then
select appropriate Node Detail, Volume Detail, and Group Detail Views.
If you want to designate default Virtualization Summary Manager,
Cluster Details, and Datacenter Details Views for this account, expand
Integrated Virtual Infrastructure Monitor Settings, and then select appropriate default views.
Click Submit.

Configuring an Account Report Folder

Reports may be assigned to an account by creating sub-directories within the
Reports directory. Desired reports are included within the sub-directory, and the
sub-directories are then made available for assignment to an account. This
provides a level of security when reports are included in a view or added as
custom menu items. For more information, see Creating and Editing External
Website Views on page218.

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To configure an account report folder:

To configure an account report folder:
1. Log in to the SolarWinds Web Console as an administrator.
2. Click Settings in the top right of the web console, and then click Manage
Accounts in the Accounts group of the SolarWinds Website Administration
page.
3. Select the account you want to configure, and then click Edit.
4. If you want all reports to be available for the account, select \Reports
from the Report folder list in the Default Menu Bars and Views area.
Note: If you are creating a new user, you must designate the Report Folder
the new account is to use to access SolarWinds reports. Bydefault, no report
folder is configured for new users. The Reports directory is located in the
SolarWinds SAM installation directory:
C:\ProgramFiles\SolarWinds\Orion\.
5. Click Submit.

Server & Application Monitor Settings

From here, you can select the SAM defaults for the following, as shown in the
illustration below.
To navigate to this page, take the following steps:
1. From the web console, navigate to Settings >Manage Accounts.
2. Select an account to edit by checking its box. when done, click Edit.
3. The following options appear. Select the options you want, when done, click
Submit.

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Orion General Settings

From here, you can select the Orion defaults for the following, as shown in the
illustration below:

Node Details View: This view is used when details about a single Network
Node are displayed.
Volume Details View: This view is used when details about a single physical or logical Volume are displayed.
Group Details View: This view is used when details about a single Group
are displayed.

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Integrated Virtual Infrastructure Monitor Settings

Integrated Virtual Infrastructure Monitor Settings

From here, you can select the Integrated Virtual Infrastructure defaults for the
following, as shown in the illustration below:

Virtualization Manager Summary View: This view is the target of the

"VMware Summary" link in the page header.
Cluster Details View: This view is used when details about a single Cluster
are displayed.
Datacenter Details View: This view is used when details about a single
Data Center are displayed

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Managing SolarWinds SAM Polling
Engines
To ensure that your polling engines are optimized to run at peak performance,
you will need to occasionally tune them. If you use more than one polling engine,
you will need to balance the load so that each engine can perform optimally.
Refer to the following sections for more information:
l
l
l
l
l
l
l

Viewing Polling Engine Status

Configuring Polling Engine Settings
SolarWinds Polling Settings
Calculating Node Availability
Using the Polling Engine Load Balancer
Setting the Node Warning Level
Managing Packet Loss Reporting

Viewing Polling Engine Status

The SolarWinds Web Console provides the Polling Engines view, giving you
immediate insight into the performance of all polling engines in your SolarWinds
installation.
To display the Polling Engine view:
1. Log in to the SolarWinds Web Console as an administrator.
2. Click Settings in the top right of the web console.
3. Click Polling Engines in the Details group.
For more information about configuring the settings on this view in addition to
configuring all other available polling engine variables, see Configuring Polling
Engine Settings.

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Configuring Polling Engine Settings

Settings for your SolarWinds SAM polling engine are configured on the
SolarWinds Polling Settings view within the SolarWinds Web Console.
To open the SolarWinds Polling Settings view:
1. Log in to the SolarWinds Web Console as an administrator.
2. Click Settings in the top right of the web console.
3. Click Polling Settings in the Settings group.

SolarWinds Polling Settings

The following poller settings are configurable on the SolarWinds Polling Settings
view.
Refer to the following sections for more information:
l
l
l
l

Polling Intervals
Polling Statistics Intervals
Network
Calculations & Thresholds

Polling Intervals
The following settings configure default polling intervals. To apply poller settings,
click ReApply Polling Intervals.
Default Node Poll Interval
Devices are regularly polled to determine status and response time on this
designated interval. By default, this interval is 120 seconds.
Default Volume Poll Interval
Volumes are regularly polled to determine status and response time on this
designated interval. By default, this interval is 120 seconds.
Default Rediscovery Interval
Your entire network is polled on this interval to detect any re-indexed
devices. Monitored network devices are also checked for IOS upgrades
permitting EnergyWise support. By default, this interval is 30 minutes.
Lock custom values

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Polling Statistics Intervals

This option is enabled by default. Enabling this option automatically saves
any polling customizations made on the SolarWinds Polling Settings view.

Polling Statistics Intervals

The following settings configure default polling intervals for device statistics. To
apply poller settings, click ReApply Polling Statistic Intervals.
Default Node Statistics Poll Interval
Device performance statistics are regularly polled on this interval. By
default, this interval is 10 minutes.
Default Volume Statistics Poll Interval
Volume performance statistics are regularly polled on this interval. By
default, this interval is 15 minutes.

Network
The following settings configure ICMP and SNMP requests.
ICMP Timeout
All ICMP (ping) requests made by the SolarWinds poller time out if a
response is not received within the period designated. By default, this
period is 2500ms.
ICMP Data
This string is included within all ICMP packets sent by SolarWinds.
SNMP Timeout
All SNMP requests made by the SolarWinds poller time out if a response is
not received within the period designated. By default, this period is 2500ms.
SNMP Retries
If a response to an SNMP poll request made by the SolarWinds poller is not
received within the configured SNMP Timeout, the SolarWinds poller will
conduct as many retries as designated by this value. By default, this value is
2.

Calculations & Thresholds

The following settings designate methods for calculating availability and
transmission rate baselines, select the SolarWinds SAM node warning level and

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counter type, and indicate security preferences for community strings and other
potentially sensitive information in the web console.
Availability Calculation (advanced)
This setting designates the type of calculation SolarWinds SAM performs to
determine device availability. For more information, see Calculating Node
Availability on page313.
Baseline Calculation (advanced)
Upon startup, SolarWinds can calculate a baseline for the transmission
rates of the various elements of your network. This baseline is used as a
starting point for any comparison statistics. For more information, see
Calculating a Baseline on page314.
Allow Secure Data on Web (advanced)
In the interest of security, sensitive information about your network is not
viewable in the SolarWinds Web Console. However, if your network is
properly secured, you may check this option to allow the viewing of
community strings and other potentially sensitive information within the web
console.
Note: This setting does not affect the display of custom reports that you
export to the web. For more information see Creating and Viewing Reports
on page1.
Node Warning Level
Devices that do not respond to polling within this designated period of time
display as Down in the web console. By default, this value is 120 seconds.
Counter Rollover
This option sets the type of counter SolarWinds SAM is to use. For more
information, see Handling Counter Rollovers on page189.

Calculating Node Availability

The Availability Calculation setting on the SolarWinds Polling Settings view
provides a choice between the following two methods for determining device
availability.

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Node Status:
Node Status:
The default method is based upon the historical up or down status of the selected
node. The selected node is polled for status on the Default Node Poll Interval
defined on the SolarWinds Polling Settings view. For more information, see
SolarWinds Polling Settings.
If the selected node responds to a ping within the default interval, the node is
considered up, and a value of 100 is recorded in the Response Time table of the
Orion database. If the node does not respond to a ping within the default interval,
the node is considered down and a value of 0 is recorded in the Response Time
table of the Orion database. To calculate node availability over a selected time
period, the sum of all Response Time table records for the selected node over the
selected time period is divided by the selected time period, providing an average
availability over the selected time period.
Percent Packet Loss:
The second method is a more complicated calculation that effectively bases the
availability of a selected node on its packet loss percentage. As in the Node
Status method, the selected node is polled for status. If it responds within the
Default Node Poll Interval defined on the SolarWinds Polling Settings view, a
value of 100 is averaged with the previous 10 availability records. For more
information, see SolarWinds Polling Settings.
The result of the Percent Packet Loss calculation is a sliding-window average. To
calculate node availability over a selected time period, the sum of all results in the
Response Time table for the selected node over the selected time period is
divided by the selected time period, providing an average availability over time.
Note: The Percent Packet Loss method introduces a historical dependency into
each availability node record. In general, it is best to leave calculations based on
Node Status unless you specifically need node availability based on packet loss.

Calculating a Baseline
Much of the raw data that SolarWinds SAM polls from nodes is provided initially
as counter values. If you do not need statistics immediately, or if you do not want
SolarWinds SAM to calculate a baseline at startup, disable baseline calculation
at startup by setting the Baseline Calculation option on the SolarWinds Polling
Settings view to False. For more information, see Configuring Polling Engine
Settings.

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Note: Baseline calculation requires significant data gathering and processing.
Until baseline calculation is completed, both SolarWinds SAM server
performance and the CPU performance of some of network routers may be
adversely affected.

Using the Polling Engine Load Balancer

The Polling Engine Load Balancer is a useful tool for reassigning nodes to a new
polling engine, deleting an unused polling engine, and performing load balancing
between multiple polling engines. The tool is available within the Monitor Polling
Engines application, which is an advanced feature of SolarWinds SAM.
Reassigning nodes to new polling engines may be required in the following
situations:
l
l

Moving or renaming your SolarWinds SAM server

Merging two or more SolarWinds servers

If these or any other conditions present the need for reassignment, complete the
following procedure to reassign nodes to a new polling engine.
To reassign nodes to a different polling engine:
1. Click Start> All Programs> SolarWinds > Advanced Features>
SolarWinds Service Manager.
2. Click Shutdown Everything.
Note: Confirm that you stop the SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor
Service on all polling engines.
3. Click Start> All Programs> SolarWinds > Advanced Features> Monitor Polling Engines.
4. Click Servers> Poller Load Balancing.
5. Select the nodes you want to reassign.
Note: Use Shift+click to highlight multiple consecutive rows, and use
Ctrl+click to highlight multiple non-consecutive rows.
6. Click Polling Engines> Move Selected Nodes to *, substituting the target
polling engine for *. The node is reassigned, and it reflects the name of the
polling engine in the polling engine column.
7. Click Start> All Programs> SolarWinds > Advanced Features>
SolarWinds Service Manager to restart SolarWinds services.

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Setting the Node Warning Level

Setting the Node Warning Level

A device may drop packets or fail to respond to a poll for many reasons. Should
the device fail to respond, the device status is changed from Up to Warning. On
the SolarWinds Polling Settings view, you can specify the Node Warning Level,
which is the length of time a device is allowed to remain in the Warning status
before it is marked as Down. During the interval specified, the service performs
"fast polling" (ICMP) to continually check the node status.
Note: You may see events or receive alerts for down nodes that are not actually
down. This can be caused by intermittent packet loss on the network. Set the
Node Warning Interval to a higher value to avoid these false notifications. For
more information about packet loss reporting, see Managing Packet Loss
Reporting on page316.
To set the Node Warning Level:
1. Log in to the SolarWinds Web Console using an account with administrative
rights.
2. Click Settings in the upper right of the web console, and then click Polling
Settings in the Settings group of the SolarWinds Website Administration
view.
3. In the Calculations and Thresholds group, set the Node Warning Level to an
appropriate interval, in seconds.
Note: The default Node Warning Level interval is 120 seconds.
4. Click Submit.

Managing Packet Loss Reporting

To manage the amount of network-wide packet loss reported by SolarWinds,
configure the Response Time Retry Count for your polling engine. This setting
designates the number of times SolarWinds retries ICMP pings on a monitored
device before packet loss is reported.
Note: This configuration change requires an insertion into your Orion database. If
possible in your environment, SolarWinds recommends installing and using the
SQL Server Management Studio to perform this insertion.
To configure the Response Time Retry Count for your polling engine:
1. Create a full backup of your Orion database.
2. On your SolarWinds server, click Start> All Programs> SolarWinds >
Advanced Features> SolarWinds Service Manager.

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3. Click Shutdown Everything.
4. On your Orion database server, click Start> All Programs> Microsoft
SQL Server> SQL Server Management Studio.
5. Select your Orion database Server name.
6. Select an appropriate Authentication type, provide any required credentials, and then click Connect.
7. Expand Databases> SolarWindsDatabaseName> Tables.
8. Click New Query.
9. Type the following query into the empty SQL query field:
Note: Specify your own custom values for Maximum, CurrentValue, and
[Link] INTO [SolarWindsDatabaseName].[dbo].[Settings] (SettingID, Name, Description, Units, Minimum, Maximum, CurrentValue, DefaultValue) VALUES (SWNetPerfMon-Settings-Response
Time Retry Count, Response Time Retry Count, Number of times
SolarWinds retries ICMP pings on a monitored device before reporting
packet loss, , 1, Maximum, CurrentValue, DefaultValue)
10. Click Execute.
11. Close SQL Server Management Studio.
12. On your SolarWinds server, click Start > Run, type regedit, and then click
OK.
13. Expand HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE > SOFTWARE> [Link]>
SWNetPerfMon.
14. Right-click Settings, and then click New> String Value.
15. Enter Response Time Retry Count as the New Value.
16. Right-click Response Time Retry Count, and then click Modify.
17. In the Value data field, enter the CurrentValue provided in the query above,
and then click OK.
18. Close the Registry Editor.
19. Click Start> All Programs> SolarWinds > Advanced Features>
SolarWinds Service Manager.
20. Click Start Everything.

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Virtualization
SolarWinds Integrated Virtual Infrastructure Monitoring (IVIM) built into
SolarWinds SAM lets you monitor today's modern network fabric of virtual
networks, virtualized data centers, and private clouds. The deep visibility into your
virtualized environments helps you ensure that network performance helps and
not hinders your virtualization projects
SAM is capable of monitoring VMware ESXi and ESX Servers versions 3.5 and
higher as well as Microsoft's Hyper-V up to and including Hyper-V 2012 R2.

Note: A node can either be a VMware ESX/vCenter server or Hyper-V server, not
both.

VMware Monitoring
Monitor your entire VMware virtual infrastructure from the highest to the lowest
level: vCenter datacenter cluster ESX hosts individual virtual

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machines. Track availability and performance metrics including CPU, memory,
storage, and network bandwidth utilization
Virtual Machine Auto-Summary
Automatically discover identify and monitor new virtual machines added to any
VMware host server or updated during vMotion.
Virtualization Alerting and Reporting
SolarWinds' native alerting and reporting capabilities extend seamlessly to your
virtual infrastructure.
Refer to the following sections for more information:
l
l
l
l
l
l

Requirements for Monitoring ESXi and ESX Servers

Managing VMware Credentials in the Web Console
Adding Virtual Servers for Monitoring
Virtualization Summary
Viewing ESX Host Details
Changing Polling Orders for ESX Servers

Requirements for Monitoring ESXi and ESX Servers

The following table provides minimal requirements for effectively using
SolarWinds SAM to monitor your VMware ESXi and ESX Servers.
Note: SolarWinds SAM uses the VMware API to poll most performance data from
devices running ESX Server versions 3.5 and 4.0. Before SAM can start polling
ESX Servers, you must ensure that you have created credentials on your ESX
Servers for the SAM polling engines. Information on how to do this can be found
here: KB Article 2177.
Credentials created for the SAM polling engines must have read-only rights, at
minimum.
Requirement

Description

SNMP

SolarWinds SAM uses SNMP to

monitor all ESXi and ESX Servers. For
more information about enabling
SNMP, refer to the following sections:
l

Enabling SNMP on VMware

ESXi

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Requirements for Monitoring ESXi and ESX Servers

Enabling SNMP on ESX Server

Version 3.5
Enabling SNMP on ESX Server
Version 4.0
Creating ESX Server Credentials
for SolarWinds SAM

VMware API

SolarWinds SAM uses the VMware

API to poll most performance data from
devices running ESXi and ESX Server
versions 3.5 and 4.0. For more
information about creating required
credentials, see Creating ESX Server
Credentials for SolarWinds SAM on
page326.

VMware Tools

VMware Tools must be installed on all

ESXi and ESX Servers you intend to
monitor. VMware Tools is not required
on virtual machines running on
monitored ESXi and ESX servers, but
additional information, including IP
addresses, are made available when
VMware Tools is installed on virtual
machines hosted by monitored ESXi
and ESX Servers.

The following table provides a summary of the methods used by SolarWinds SAM
to monitor VMware ESX Servers.
Notes:
l

Both SAM and NPM share the same VIM module, so their monitoring methods are identical.
VIM gathers Network utilization information via VMware API, but not individual interfaces (e.g. Interfaces under List Resources) or interface status
(Up/Down). Interface status is only available via SNMP, which is part of
NPM.

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3.5

3i

4i

5i

Detection as ESX Server VMware API

Volumes

SNMP N/A SNMP N/A

SNMP

Interfaces

SNMP N/A SNMP SNMP (partial) SNMP

CPU

SNMP N/A SNMP SNMP

Memory

SNMP N/A SNMP SNMP

Total Memory

VMware API

Guest VM List

VMware API

Enabling SNMP on VMware ESXi and ESX Servers

SolarWinds SAM uses SNMP to poll performance data from VMware ESXi and
ESX Servers. In order to make this performance data available to SolarWinds
SAM, you must enable SNMP on your VMware ESXi and ESX Servers, as
described in the following sections:
Note: VMware only makes a limited amount of information available to SNMP
queries for VMware ESXi and ESX Servers version 4.0 and higher. To access
additional information on these versions, SolarWinds SAM utilizes the VMware
API.

Enabling SNMP on VMware ESXi

The following procedure enables SNMP on VMware ESXi:
Note: The following procedure to enable SNMP requires the vSphere command
line interface (CLI). The vSphere CLI is not packaged with your ESXi Server by
default, so you will need to download it from VMware, as indicated.
To enable SNMP on VMware ESXi:
1. Download and install the VMware vSphere command line interface from the
VMware Download Center ([Link]
2. Use the vSphere CLI to view your ESXi server SNMP settings, as indicated
in the following procedure:

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To enable SNMP on VMware ESXi:

a. In the Perl\bin directory of your vSphere installation, execute the following script:
perl ..\..\bin\[Link] --server ip_address s
Notes:
C:\Program Files\VMware\VMware vSphere CLI\Perl\bin is
the default location of the vSphere Perl\bin directory.
l Replace ip_address with the IP address of your ESXi server,
and replace cstring with the community string you are adding.
For most environments, the community string public should be
sufficient.
b. Enter an appropriate user name at the prompt.
l

Note: For most environments, root should be sufficient.

c. Enter the associated password at the prompt.
3. Use the vSphere CLI to enable SNMP on your ESXi server, as indicated in
the following procedure:
a. In the Perl\bin directory of your vSphere installation, execute the following script to add an appropriate community string:
perl ..\..\bin\[Link] --server ip_address -c cstring
Note: Replace ip_address with the IP address of your ESXi server,
and replace cstring with the community string you are adding. For
most environments, the community string public should be sufficient.
b. Enter an appropriate user name at the prompt.
Note: For most environments, root should be sufficient.
c. Enter the associated password at the prompt.
d. In the Perl\bin directory of your vSphere installation, execute the following script to enable SNMP:
perl ..\..\bin\[Link] --server ip_address E
Note: Replace ip_address with the IP address of your ESXi server.
e. Enter an appropriate user name at the prompt.
Note: For most environments, root should be sufficient.
f. Enter the associated password at the prompt.
4. Reboot your ESXi server to allow settings to take effect.

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Enabling SNMP on ESX Server Version 3.5

The following procedure enables SNMP on ESX Server version 3.5.
Note: For more information about ESX Server 3.5 and ESX Server MIBs, see the
VMware document, Basic System Administration - ESX Server 3.5, ESX Server
3i version 3.5, VirtualCenter 2.5.
To enable SNMP on ESX Server version 3.5:
1. Log in to your ESX Server using an account with administrative privileges.
2. Open [Link] in a text editor.
Notes:
l

The default location for [Link] is

root/etc/snmp/[Link].
To use the default text editor, nano, in a default ESX Server version
3.5 environment, enter nano /etc/snmp/[Link] at the prompt.

3. Locate the rocommunity setting and replace the default community string
public with an appropriate read-only community string for your
environment.
Note: Use commas to separate multiple community strings.
4. Save [Link], and then close your editor.
Note: If you are using nano, press Ctrl+X to close nano, and then enter Y
to save [Link].
5. Enter chkconfig snmpd on to enable SNMP when you reboot your ESX
Server.
6. Enter esxcfg-firewall -e snmpd to allow SNMP through the ESX Server
firewall.
7. Enter service snmpd start to start the SNMP service.
8. Confirm that SNMP polling is enabled on your ESX Server by entering the
following command:
snmpwalk -v1 -c cstring localhost .[Link].4.1.6876 | grep 6876.1
Note: Replace cstring with the community string you provided above.
9. After entering the snmpwalk command, your ESX Server should return
information similar to the following:

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Enabling SNMP on ESX Server Version 4.0

SNMPv2-SMI::enterprises.6876.1.1.0 = STRING: "VMware ESX Server"
SNMPv2-SMI::enterprises.6876.1.2.0 = STRING: "3.5.0"
SNMPv2-SMI::enterprises.6876.1.3.0 = OID: SNMPv2SMI::enterprises.6876.[Link].0
SNMPv2-SMI::enterprises.6876.1.4.0 = STRING: "153875"
Note: The MIB OID SNMPv2-SMI::enterprises.6876.1.4.0 returns the
build number for your product, so it may not be the same as the build
number displayed above.

Enabling SNMP on ESX Server Version 4.0

The following procedure enables both the system default SNMP daemon snmpd
and the proprietary VMware SNMP daemon vmware-hostd on VMware ESX
Server version 4.0:
Note: For more information about ESX Server 4.0 and ESX Server MIBs, see the
VMware document, vSphere Basic System Administration - Update 1, ESX 4.0,
ESXi 4.0, vCenter Server 4.0.
To enable SNMP on ESX Server version 4.0:
1. Log in to your ESX Server using an account with administrative privileges.
2. Open [Link] in a text editor.
Notes:
l
l

The default location for [Link] is root/etc/vmware/[Link].

To use the default text editor, nano, in a default ESX Server version
4 environment, enter nano /etc/vmware/[Link] at the prompt.

3. Locate the communities tag, and then replace the default community
string public with an appropriate read-only community string for your
environment.
Note: Use commas to separate multiple community strings.
4. Locate the enable tag, and then confirm it is set to true.
5. Locate the port tag and confirm it is set to 171.
6. Locate the targets tag and confirm it is set to [Link]@162/cstring.
Note: Replace cstring with the community string you provided above.
7. Save [Link], and then close your editor.

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Note: If you are using nano, press Ctrl+X to close nano, and then enter Y
to save [Link].
8. Enter service snmpd stop to confirm that the SNMP service is stopped.
9. Open [Link] in a text editor.
Notes:
l

The default location for [Link] is

root/etc/snmp/[Link].
To use the default text editor, nano, in a default ESX Server version
4 environment, enter nano /etc/snmp/[Link] at the prompt.

Edit [Link] to include the following two lines:

10. view systemview included .[Link].4.1.6876
proxy -v 1 -c cstring [Link]:171 .[Link].4.1.6876
Note: Replace cstring with the community string you provided above.
11. Save [Link], and then close your editor.
Note: If you are using nano, press Ctrl+X to close nano, and then enter Y
to save [Link].
12. Enter service mgmt-vmware restart to restart the mgmt-vmware service.
13. Enter service snmpd start to start the SNMP service.
14. Enter chkconfig snmpd on to enable SNMP when you reboot your ESX
Server.
15. Enter esxcfg-firewall -e snmpd to allow SNMP through the ESX Server
firewall.
16. Confirm that SNMP polling is enabled on your ESX Server by entering the
following command:
snmpwalk -v1 -c cstring localhost .[Link].4.1.6876 | grep 6876.1
Note: Replace cstring with the community string you provided above.
17. After entering the snmpwalk command, your ESX Server should return
information similar to the following:
SNMPv2-SMI::enterprises.6876.1.1.0 = STRING: "VMware ESX"
SNMPv2-SMI::enterprises.6876.1.2.0 = STRING: "4.0.0"
SNMPv2-SMI::enterprises.6876.1.4.0 = STRING: "208167"

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Creating ESX Server Credentials for SolarWinds SAM

Note: The OID SNMPv2-SMI::enterprises.6876.1.4.0 returns your product
build number, so it may not be the same as the build number above.

Creating ESX Server Credentials for SolarWinds SAM

SolarWinds SAM uses the VMware API to poll most of its performance data from
devices running ESX Server versions 3.5 and 4.0. You must create credentials on
your ESX Servers for the SolarWinds SAM polling engine, as shown in the
following procedure:
Note: Credentials created for the SolarWinds SAM polling engine must have
read-only rights as a minimum.
To create ESX Server credentials for SolarWinds SAM:
1. Log in to your ESX Server using an account with administrative privileges.
Note: Typically, the root user name and password is sufficient.
2. If you are prompted with an untrusted SSL certificate warning, click
Ignore to continue using the current SSL certificate.
3. Open the Users & Groups tab, and then click Users.
4. Right-click the Users view, and then click Add.
5. On the Add New user window, complete the following procedure:
Note: The User Name and Password provided in this step must be
provided either in your initial network discovery or whenever you use Web
Node Management to add the current ESX Server to SolarWinds SAM for
monitoring.

6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.

a. Provide both a Login and a User Name for the SolarWinds SAM
polling engine.
b. Enter and confirm a Password.
c. Click OK.
Open the Permissions tab.
Right-click the Permissions view, and then click Add Permission.
On the Assign Permissions window, click Add.
Select the user you just created, and then click Add.
Click OK on the Select Users and Groups window.
Select an appropriate role in the Assigned Role area, and then click OK on
the Assign Permissions window.

The credential you have created is now available to use for monitoring your ESX
Server. For more information about adding your ESX Server to the Orion
database for monitoring, see Managing VMware Credentials in the Web Console.

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Managing VMware Credentials in the Web Console

If you have to update the user name or password of a VMware credential, you can
do so from the VMware Credentials Library tab.
To update a VMware credential:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Log in to the web console.

Click Settings.
Click Virtualization Settings in the Node & Group Management section.
Click the VMware Credentials Library tab.
Check the credential you need to update, and then click Edit Credential.
Make the necessary updates, and then click OK.

Adding Virtual Servers for Monitoring

VMware Vcenter, ESX servers, and Hyper-V virtual machines are added to the
Orion database in the same ways other devices are added for monitoring in the
SolarWinds Web Console
Polling for VMware nodes Using the Network Sonar Wizard
The Network Sonar Wizard is the recommended method for adding VM Servers
for monitoring in the SolarWinds Web Console. With Network Sonar Discovery,
you can define all required credentials at once on the Local ESX Credentials for
Vmware view. For more information, see "Virtualization Discovery" on page 266.
Adding VMs from the Virtualization Assets Resource
1. Log in to the web console.
2. Point to the Virtualization tab and then click Virtualization Summary.
3. Click the [+] next to any ESX or Vcenter server listed in the Virtualization
Assets resource to expand the list of virtual machines.
4. Click a virtual machine that is not currently managed by SolarWinds.
Unmanaged VMs are listed in italic type.
5. Click Yes, Manage this Node.
6. If the VM is not running, manually enter the IP address of the VM in the
Hostname or IP Address field.
7. Check any additional options required to monitor the VM, and then click
Next.
8. Follow the remainder of the Add Node wizard to completion, and then click
OK, Add Node.

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Virtualization Summary

Virtualization Summary
The Virtualization Summary view shows the overall status of your virtualized
infrastructure.
To view the Virtualization Summary:
1. Log in to the SolarWinds Web Console.
2. Point to the Virtualization tab and then click Virtualization Summary.
The Virtualization Summary view is pre-configured to display the following
resources:
Top XX Hosts by CPU Load

Top XX Hosts by Number of Running

VMs

Top XX Hosts by Percent Memory

Used

Top XX Hosts by Network Utilization

VMware Assets

VMware Asset Summary

Hyper-V Assets

Hyper-V Asset Summary

To change the properties or contents of any resource, click Edit in the resource
box.

Viewing ESX Host Details

The ESX Host Details page is displayed when you click an ESX Host server in
the Virtualization Summary. This page is pre-configured to display the following
resources:
Active Alerts on this Node

Availability Statistics

Average Response Time & Packet

Loss Graph

Average Response Time & Packet

Loss Gauge

CPU Load & Memory Utilization Gauge Disk Volumes

ESX Host Details

Event Summary

List of Virtual Machines

Min/Max AverageCPU Load Graph

Node Details

Polling Details

Virtual Machine CPU Consumption

Virtual Machine Memory Consumption

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Virtual Machine Network Traffic

To change the properties or contents of any resource, click Edit in the resource
box.

Changing Polling Orders for ESX Servers

If your VMware ESX hosts are controlled by VMware vCenter servers,
SolarWinds obtains the status of the ESX hosts from the vCenter server instead of
polling the ESX hosts directly.
To poll the ESX servers directly you must change the Poll Through setting of the
ESX host from the Virtualization Settings page. From this page, you can also
disable and enable polling for ESX hosts and vCenter servers.
To poll a vCenter-managed ESX Host from the SolarWinds server:
1.
2.
3.
4.

Log in to the web console.

Click Settings.
Click Virtualization Settings in the Node & Group Management section.
Point to any column heading, click the upside-down triangle, and then click
Columns > Polling Through.
5. Select the ESX hosts you want to poll directly.
6. Click Poll Through > Poll ESX server directly.

Troubleshooting ESX Hardware Monitoring

When an ESX server returns the message, Unable to connect to remote server,
check the following:
l

Ensure CIM is enabled on the ESX server. To enable CIM on ESX/ESXi,

refer to the following section: "Hardware Monitoring and VMware" on page
1077.
Ensure port 5989 is opened on the firewall

If the ESX server returns the message, Unable to establish session with all
provided credentials, check the following:
l
l

Verify the VMware credentials in the VIM are correct

Verify the account belongs to the root user group

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Hyper-V Monitoring

Hyper-V Monitoring
SAM natively supports monitoring of Microsoft's Hyper-V server and its guests.
By default, the statistic collection interval is set to ten minutes.
Note: A node can either be a VMware ESX/vCenter server or Hyper-V server, not
both.

Requirements for Monitoring Hyper-V Servers

The following table provides minimal requirements for effectively using
SolarWinds SAM to monitor your Hyper-V Servers:
Requirement

Description

Hyper-V version

All versions of Hyper-V are

supported, up to and
including Hyper-V 2012 R2.

WMI

SolarWinds SAM uses WMI

to monitor all Hyper-V
Servers. SNMP is not
supported when monitoring
Hyper-V servers. For more
information about enabling
WMI, refer to the following
section: Testing Local WMI
Services on page 1576.
Note: If switching from SNMP
to WMI to monitor a Hyper-V
server, certain previously
monitored data will be lost as
a result of the protocol
change.
For example: If you have
NPM installed and are
monitoring an interface via

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SNMP, switching to WMI to

monitor Hyper-V will cause
the interface's historical data
to be lost. You can either
monitor Hyper-V via WMI or
an interface via SNMP, not
both.
Number of Virtual
Machines

SolarWinds recommends
fewer than 1,000 virtual
machines running on any one
Hyper-V server.

Configuring Hyper-V Servers for Discovery

For data collection and inspection of Microsoft Windows Hyper-V hosts through
Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI), each server running Hyper-V
requires:
1. A user account with elevated credentials
2. Changes to the firewall
The following table lists the discovery requirements in detail.
Item

Need

User
Account

Depending on your implementation, supply one of the following as

credentials for the credentials database:
l

For domain-based authentication, a domain account with

membership in the Administrators group on the monitored
application server.
For workgroup authentication, a built-in administrator
account on the monitored application server
For workgroup authentication, a local user account with membership in the Administrators group and the User Account
Control (UAC) setting "Run all administrators in Admin
Approval Mode" disabled on the monitored application
server.

Windows Ensure that core networking, Windows Management

Firewall
Instrumentation (WMI), and RPC traffic can traverse the firewall.

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Modifying the Windows Firewall

Modifying the Windows Firewall
You must allow core networking, WMI, and RPC traffic through the firewall of the
monitored server. The following procedure walks you through allowing this traffic
through the Windows Firewall on Windows 2008 R2.
Notes:
l

If you have restricted the range of dynamic RPC ports, you must ensure that
each host is able to access that port range.
If you are connecting to Hyper-V hosts through a DMZ or hardware firewall,
you must open the corresponding rules and ports on the hardware.

To allow the correct traffic through the Windows firewall, you must perform the
following steps:
1. Ensure the core networking rules are enabled
2. Enable the Windows Management Instrumentation (DCOM-In) rule
3. Create a new rule to open the RPC ports
Ensure the Core Networking rules are enabled
You must ensure that the core networking rules are enabled to collect information
successfully from Hyper-V hosts.
Note: If the rule has a green icon with a checkmark in front of it, the rule is
enabled.
To allow core networking traffic through the Windows Firewall on Windows
2008 R2:
1. Log on to the computer you want to monitor with an administrator account.
2. Navigate to Start> Administrative Tools>Windows Firewall with
Advanced Security.
3. Click Inbound Rules in the left navigation pane.
4. Ensure that all Core Networking rules are enabled. If not, select the disabled rule and then click Enable Rule in the Action menu.
Enable the Windows Management Instrumentation (DCOM-In) rule
You must ensure that the Windows Management Instrumentation (DCOM-In)
rule is enabled to collect information successfully from Hyper-V hosts.
Note: After enabling the Windows Management Instrumentation (DCOM-In) rule,
common WMI checks indicate that WMI is not enabled. This is expected behavior.

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To allow WMI traffic through the Windows Firewall on Windows 2008 R2:
1. Log on to the computer you want to monitor with an administrator account.
2. Navigate to Start> Administrative Tools>Windows Firewall with
Advanced Security.
3. Click Inbound Rules in the left navigation pane.
4. Click Windows Management Instrumentation (DCOM-In), and then click
Enable Rule in the Action menu.
Create a new firewall rule to open the RPC ports
You must open the RPC ports to collect information successfully from Hyper-V
hosts. This is best done by creating a new firewall rule.
To open the RPC ports on Windows 2008 R2:
1. Log on to the computer you want to monitor with an administrator account.
2. Navigate to Start> Administrative Tools> Windows Firewall with
Advanced Security.
3. Click Inbound Rules in the left navigation pane.
4. Click Actions > New Rule
5. In Rule Type, select Custom and click Next.
6. Select This program path and enter %SystemRoot%\System32\[Link] in the text box.
7. In Services, click Customize to ensure that Apply to all programs and services is selected, and click OK.
8. Click Next
9. In Protocol type, select TCP.
10. In Local port, select RPC Dynamic Ports.
11. In Remote port, select All Ports.
12. Click Next.
13. Apply to any local and remote IP addresses and click Next.
14. In Action, ensure that Allow the connection is selected and click Next.
15. Select all profiles (Domain, Private, and Public) and click next.
16. Enter a name, such as SAM WMI Dynamic Ports.
17. Click Finish
The new rule will now appear in the list of inbound rules.

Enabling and Disabling Hyper-V Monitoring

Hyper-V monitoring is automatically enabled on WMI nodes after a Network
Sonar Discovery is run. For information on enabling WMI, see "Testing Local WMI

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List Resources Method:

Services" on page 1576.
There are two ways to toggle Hyper-V monitoring; via the Manage Nodes page,
and through the Virtualization Summary resource.
Warning: If Hyper-V polling is disabled, all historical data will be lost. To retain
historical data, use the Virtualization Summary method and select Unmanage.
List Resources Method:
1. From the web console, click Settings in the upper right-hand corner of the
screen.
2. In the Node & Group Management resource, click Manage Nodes.
3. Select the desired node by checking it, and then click List Resources.
4. Check or uncheck Hyper-V, if available.

Virtualization Summary Method:

Warning: If Hyper-V polling is disabled, historical data will be lost. To retain
historical data, select Unmanage. When you choose to remanage the node, all
historical data will be available.
1. In the web console, click the Virtualization tab.

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2. In the Virtualization Assets resource. Click Virtualization Settings.

3. In Virtualization Settings, click the Hyper-V tab.

4. Click List Resources.

Note: You can temporarily enable/disable polling of Hyper-V by selecting a

node from the list and clicking either Disable Hyper-V Polling or Enable
Hyper-V Polling. If you check a disabled node, the Enable Polling button
will become enabled. The converse is also true.
5. Check or uncheck Hyper-V and then click Submit.

Accessing Hyper-V Details

Hyper-V is incorporated into multiple resources found in SAM's web console on
the Virtualization tab. Following is just one example:

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Virtualization Assets:
Virtualization Assets:
With Hyper-V being native to SAM, you can drill down to the Node Details page
from this view. If the node in this view is not managed, you will be prompted to go
to the Add Node wizard to have this node managed.
Clicking Edit will allow you to filter the vendors that are shown in this view.

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Chapter 13:
Building Component Monitors and
Templates
The following diagram illustrates the work flow involved in creating an application
to be monitored by SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor.

337

Chapter 13: Building Component Monitors and Templates

Refer to the following sections for more information:

l
l
l
l
l

Understanding Component Monitors and Application Monitor Templates

Choosing Component Monitors and Templates Based on Protocol
Requirements for Component Monitors and Templates that use WMI
Monitoring External Nodes
Understanding the Credentials Library

338

Certificate Credentials Library

l
l
l
l
l

l
l
l

Using Application Monitor Templates

Managing Assigned Application Monitors
Working with Component Monitors
Scripting Custom Component Monitors
Custom Application Monitor Template Example: Creating a SolarWinds
SAM Template
Conversion Value
Available Data Transformations
Certificate Credentials Library

Certificate Credentials Library

The Certificate Credentials Library allows you to import and store certificates for
use at a later time.
Typically, you need to associate credentials with component monitors and
templates to enable them to retrieve application data. For added security, SAM
offers the ability to store certificates in the Certificate Credentials Library.
Certificates can be used for authentication with Linux devices monitored in SAM.
Linux, Unix, and Nagios script monitors also support certificate based
authentication.
The PEM format (OpenSSH) is supported.

Adding a Certificate to the Library

To add a certificate to the library:
1. From the Web Console, navigate to Settings > SAM Settings > Certificate
Credentials Library.
2. Click Add New Credential.
3. Enter a name in the Credential Name field.
4. Enter a User Name in the User Name field.
5. Click Browse to load a private key from a file.
6. Enter a password in the Private key content password field.
7. Select the Private key type: either RSA or DSA.
8. Click Submit to save the certificate credential to the library.

Assigning Certificate Credentials

There are two ways to assign Certificate Credentials; when assigning a template
to a node, and when editing a template directly.
Which method should I use?

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If every node uses unique private keys, then editing the application after it
has been assigned is the best option. Use method A.
If most or all of your nodes use the same private key, then you should edit
the credentials directly in the template. Use method B.

A.) When Assigning a Template to a Node:

1. Assign a template to a node.
2. When asked to choose credentials, select the Inherit credentials from template option.
3. Click Assign Application Monitors.
4. Edit the template by clicking Edit next to the name of the template, as
shown below.

5. From here, you can select one or more Linux/Unix/Nagios script component
monitors to edit by checking the boxes to the left of each monitor and then
clicking Multi-Edit.
6. Check the Authentication Type box and select Username and PrivateKey
from the drop down menu.
7. Check the Credential for Monitoring box and select the credentials you
want to use from the drop down menu, and then click Save.
B.) Editing a Template Directly:
1. Select the template you want to edit.
2. Change the Authentication Type option to Username and PrivateKey for
each component monitor that should use this authentication type.
3. From the Credential for Monitoring field drop down menu, select the credentials you want to use with your monitors, and then click Submit.

Understanding the Credentials Library

You typically need to associate credentials with component monitors to enable
them to retrieve application data. For example, to use a WMI monitor, you must
provide valid domain or computer credentials. Or, if your web server requires

340

To set up a user account on a SQL server

credentials, you must provide the appropriate credentials to access the protected
sections of your site.
You can work with credentials by:
l

Adding credentials to the Credentials Library for use later. See the section
Adding Credentials to the Credentials Library.
Creating credentials on the spot (Quick Credentials) when editing templates
and component monitors. See the section Using Quick Credentials.
Editing credentials. See the section Editing Credentials in the Credentials
Library.
Deleting credentials. See the section Deleting Credentials from the Credentials Library.

To set up a user account on a SQL server

1. Open Enterprise Manager.
2. In the console tree, double-click Microsoft SQL Servers, click SQL Server
Group, and then SQLComputerName (WindowsNT).
3. Double-click Databases, and then double-click your database of choice.
4. Right-click Users, and then click the New Database User menu.
5. Next to Login name, type:
domain\username
6. Next to User name, type your user name.
7. Select the Public check box, and then select all of the following objects:
l
l
l
l
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l
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db_owner
db_accessadmin
db_securityadmin
db_ddladmin
db_datareader
db_datawriter
db_backupoperator

Important:
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Do not select db_denydatareader or db_denydatawriter. These objects

allow members to deny Read or Write permissions to data in the database.

For more information, see [Link]

Notes:

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Chapter 13: Building Component Monitors and Templates

l
l

SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor uses the same SNMP credentials
that you entered during node discovery. There is no need to specify additional credentials for SNMP operations.
SolarWinds SAM stores credentials encrypted in the database.
The ability to Inherit Windows credentials from node is available in the
drop down list.

Adding Credentials to the Credentials Library

Perform the following to add credentials for later use.
To add credentials from the Credential Library page:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Log on to your SolarWinds Web Console with an Administrator account.

Click the Applications tab.
Click SAM Settings.
Click Credentials Library.
Click Add New Credential.
Provide a friendly name for the credential set. SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor displays this name in the Credential for Monitoring field of
monitors that accept credentials.
7. Provide the user name and password, and then confirm the password and
click Submit. If you are providing windows credentials for accessing and
harvesting information through WMI, ensure you provide the account name
in the following syntax: domainOrComputerName\userName for domain
level authentication or userName for workgroup level authentication.
You can assign credentials to all the associated components of a template or
Application Monitor.

Editing Credentials in the Credentials Library

Perform the following to edit credentials for later use.
To edit an existing credential from the Credential Library page:
1. Click Edit for the desired credential.
2. Modify the information as needed.
3. Then click Submit.

Deleting Credentials from the Credentials Library

Perform the following to delete credentials from the Credentials Library.

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To delete an existing credential from the Credential Library page:

To delete an existing credential from the Credential Library page:
1. Navigate to the Credentials Library: Admin > Settings > SAM Settings >
Credentials Library.
2. Click Delete for the desired credential.
3. Click OK to confirm the deletion.

Using Quick Credentials

Perform the following to use Quick Credentials:
To create and assign credentials using Quick Credentials when editing a
template or Application Monitor:
1. If the credential you want to assign does not exist, create it by following
these instructions:
a. Select <New Credential> in the Choose Credential field.
b. Type a name for the new credential in the Credential Name field.
c. Type the user name for the credential in the User Name field.
d. Type the password in the Password field, and type it again in the Confirm Password field.
2. If you want to assign an existing credential, select the credential from
the Choose Credential field.
3. Click Set Component Credentials to set this credential as the credential
for all the components in the Application Monitor or template.
Note: The ability to Inherit Windows credentials from node is available in
the drop down list. Anywhere you have the option to specify credentials for
an application template or component monitor, you also have the the
option to utilize the existing WMI credentials already used to manage the
host.

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Managing Assigned Application Monitors

You can manage Assigned Application Monitors by referring to the following
sections:
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Application Discovery
Add Application Monitors
Editing an Assigned Application Monitor
Unmanaging Assigned Application Monitors
Remanaging Assigned Application Monitors
Deleting Assigned Application Monitors

Editing an Assigned Application Monitor

You can override the template inheritance relationship by editing the components
of an assigned Application Monitor. Any modifications you make to an
applications components or component properties are independent from the
template, including: adding new components and removing existing components
New components that you add to the application are not governed by the original
template used to create the application. Modified component properties override
the original template settings.
To edit an individual application:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

Log on to your SolarWinds Web Console with an Administrator account.

Click the Applications tab.
Click SAM Settings.
Click Manage Application Monitors.
Click the group containing the application you want to edit.
Check the application you want to edit, and then click Edit Properties.
If you want to turn on extended debug information to assist Customer
Support, expand Advanced, set Debug logging On, and specify the Number of log files to keep.
Here you can also select either 32bit or 64bit from the drop down list
entitled, Platform to run polling job on.
Note: Do not turn on Debug logging unless directed by Customer Support.
8. Click Override Template for each polling setting and specify the new
value.
9. Expand the component you want to modify, and then click Override Template and specify new values.

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Unmanaging Assigned Application Monitors

10. If you want to add components unique to this specific application,
click Add Component Monitor.
Note: You can select multiple component monitors of the same type to be
added by entering a number in the field next to the check box for the component monitor and then checking the check box.
11. Click Submit to apply your changes.
Note: Custom Properties on Assigned Applications can be defined when
editing the Assigned Application, as shown below:

Unmanaging Assigned Application Monitors

If you need to deactivate assigned application monitors for a period of time, you
can do so by unmanaging them. Changes you make to the managed or
unmanaged status of an application take affect after the next polling cycle.
To unmanage assigned Application Monitors:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

Log on to your SolarWinds Web Console with an Administrator account.

Click the Applications tab.
Click SAM Settings.
Click Manage Application Monitors.
Click the group containing the application you want to unmanage.
Check the application(s) you want to unmanage, and then click Unmanage.
Specify the date / time when you want to begin the period when the application is unmanaged.
8. Specify the date / time when you want to end the period when the application is unmanaged.
9. Then click OK.
-or-

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1. Log on to your SolarWinds Web Console with an Administrator account.
2. Click the Applications tab.
3. Click an assigned Application Monitor in any resource to view its SAM
Application Details View page.
4. Click Unmanage in the Application Details section.
5. Set the duration of the unmanaged state, and then click OK.
Note: Unmanaging a node in SolarWinds SAM automatically unmanages
its assigned SolarWinds SAM applications for the same duration.

Remanaging Assigned Application Monitors

Remanage an assigned Application Monitor in order to immediately resume
monitoring an unmanaged application.
To remanage assigned Application Monitors:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Log on to your SolarWinds Web Console with an Administrator account.

Click the Applications tab.
Click SAM Settings.
Click Manage Application Monitors.
Click the group containing the application you want to remanage.
Check the application(s) you want to remanage, and then click Remanage.

-or1. Log on to your SolarWinds Web Console with an Administrator account.

2. Click the Applications tab.
3. Click an assigned Application Monitor in any resource to view its SAM
Application Details view page.
4. Click Remanage in the Application Details section.

Deleting Assigned Application Monitors

Delete an assigned Application Monitor if you have no further need of it.
To delete assigned Application Monitors:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

Log on to your SolarWinds Web Console with an Administrator account.

Click the Applications tab.
Click SAM Settings.
Click Manage Application Monitors.
Click the group containing the application you want to delete.
Check the application(s) you want to delete, and then click Delete.
You are prompted whether you want to delete the selected Application Monitors. Click Yes to perform the delete operation.

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Application Monitor Thresholds

Application Monitor Thresholds

In general, thresholds are markers that indicate certain levels have been reached.
Many component monitors used in SAM applications have thresholds that can be
adjusted and set.
Once set, thresholds can act as trigger points. For example, if you are monitoring
CPU usage, having a Critical threshold set at 90% would be typical. You can then
use this threshold as a trigger to send an email alert to inform you of the Critical
status once that threshold has been breached.
Normally, an administrator would need to monitor his applications for several
weeks in order to collect enough data to be used as a baseline. Once a baseline
has been established, the administrator can then make an educated guess as to
how he should set his Warning and Critical thresholds for his component
monitors. With this is mind, if thresholds are set too low, the administrator would
be getting alerts all the time. If set too high, problems can occur without the
administrator's knowledge.
Baseline data, as well as Warning and Critical thresholds for application
monitors, can be gathered and calculated automatically. The option to enter
thresholds manually remains available.
Note: By default, I/O thresholds of Windows Service Monitors are not set.
For more information, refer to the following sections:
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Inheriting Thresholds
Automatic Calculation of Baseline Data
Applying Baseline Thresholds at the Template Level
Applying Baseline Thresholds at the Application Level
Latest Baseline Details
Understanding Latest Baseline Details
Understanding Sustained Thresholds

Inheriting Thresholds
Thresholds can be adjusted at the template level or on the individual component
monitor level of an application.

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Chapter 13: Building Component Monitors and Templates

Threshold Adjustments at the Template Level
If adjusting thresholds on the template level, either manually entered or calculated
using baseline data, any changes made will trickle down to the component
monitor level for applications based on this template. This means the component
monitors within the application inherit the changes made in the template.

Threshold Adjustments at the Component Monitor Level

If you change thresholds at the component monitor level, only thresholds of the
individual component monitor will be affected. Thresholds on the parent template,
or other applications based on that parent template, will not be affected.

Automatic Calculation of Baseline Data

In general, baseline data is calculated on demand; however, seven days of data
is the recommended minimum amount of data needed for baseline calculations to
be considered accurate.

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To Change the Amount of Data Used in Baseline Calculations:

Baseline data for macros, such as ${USE_BASELINE}, are automatically calculated
during nightly database maintenance.
Once thresholds are calculated and applied to component monitors, the
thresholds remain static until manually re-applied. This is not a moving baseline
that is calculated nightly based on the last seven days of data. A moving baseline
would mask data spikes and other anomalies that need to be highlighted.
Note: Thresholds set manually may yield more desirable results if you are
familiar with the nuances of your environment.
To Change the Amount of Data Used in Baseline Calculations:
1. From the web console, navigate to Settings > SAM Settings > Data &
Database Settings.

2. Enter a number of days, and then click Submit.

Note: The value for the Baseline Data Collection Duration field cannot exceed
the value defined for the Detail Statistics Retention field (located at the top of the
Data & Database Settings section).
For more information, see:
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Baseline Threshold Macros .

Understanding Sustained Thresholds.

Multi-value Scripts and Thresholds

The format for using the Threshold macros with multi-value scripts is as follows:
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${[Link]}
${[Link]}

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Applying Baseline Thresholds at the Template Level

Applying Baseline Thresholds at the Template Level

Applying and editing thresholds at the template level will affect any and all
applications that are based on that template.
To Edit and Apply Baseline Thresholds for a Template:
1. From the web console, navigate to Settings > SAM Settings > Manage
Templates.
2. Check a template and click Edit from the toolbar.

3. If selecting only one component monitor, click [+] to expand the monitor
details.
a. Click Use Latest Baseline Thresholds, as shown:

Note: Once this box is checked, the Warning and Critical fields will
automatically populate with the macro, ${USE_BASELINE}.
b. Select the options for sustained thresholds, if desired:
Note: For more information, see Understanding Sustained
Thresholds.

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Chapter 13: Building Component Monitors and Templates

4. If selecting more than one component monitor, select the monitors you
want by checking the boxes next to their names.
a. Click Multi-Edit.
Note: Multi-Edit will only become available when the selected component monitors are of the same type.

b. Check the Statistic Threshold check box on the pop-up window,

then check the Use thresholds calculated from baseline data
check box.
Note: The Use thresholds calculated from baseline data check
box will not become available until the Statistic Threshold check
box has been checked.

Note: Once the Use thresholds calculated from baseline data

box is checked, the Warning and Critical fields will automatically
populate with the macro, ${USE_BASELINE}.
c. Click Save.
5. When done, click Submit.

Applying Baseline Thresholds at the Application Level

Applying and editing thresholds at the application level will only affect the
component monitors of the current application.

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To Edit and Apply Baseline Thresholds for an Application:

To Edit and Apply Baseline Thresholds for an Application:
1. From the web console, click the Applications tab.
2. In the All Applications resource, expand the tree and then click an application.
3. From the Application Details resource, click Edit Application Monitor.

4. If selecting only one Component Monitor, click [+] to expand the monitor
details.
a. Click Override Template.
Note: The current values for the thresholds will appear in the Warning and Critical fields
b. Click Use Latest Baseline Thresholds, as shown:

c. When applied, the values will change and a blue icon will appear
indicating that baseline thresholds are being used.

5. If selecting more than one component monitor, use the check boxes to
select the monitors you want to edit, and then click Multi-Edit.
a. Click Multi-Edit.
Note: Multi-Edit will only become available when the selected

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Chapter 13: Building Component Monitors and Templates

component monitors are of the same type.

b. Check the Statistic Threshold check box on the pop-up window,

then check the Use thresholds calculated from baseline data
check box.

Note: Once the second box is checked, the Warning and Critical
fields will automatically populate with the macro, ${USE_BASELINE}.
For more information, see "Understanding Latest Baseline Details"
on page 355.
c. Click Save.
6. When done, click Submit.
For more information, see Understanding Sustained Thresholds.

Latest Baseline Details

Details about how baseline data, as well as Warning and Critical thresholds are
calculated, can be found on the Latest Baseline Details page. This page details
the data collection and calculation process using several graphs and tables.
To View the Latest Baseline Details Page:
1. From the web console, click the Applications tab.
2. In the All Applications resource, expand the tree and then click an application.

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Understanding Latest Baseline Details

3. From the Application Details resource, click Edit Application Monitor.

4. Find a component monitor in the list and click [+] to expand the monitor
details.
5. Click Override Template.
6. Click Latest Baseline Details.

Understanding Latest Baseline Details

The two tabbed charts and table below them detail how baseline statistics and
thresholds are calculated for individual component monitors based on the
collected data.

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Note: Clicking Use Recommended Thresholds will not affect the chart.
Understanding the Occurrences Chart
The horizontal (X) axis displays the range of values collected by the current
component monitor during the data collection period. The vertical (Y) axis
displays the frequency of each value collected during the data collection period.
The three colors of the chart show the values of the component monitor during
different time periods: Day, Night, and All Hours. You can show or hide these
time periods by checking and un-checking their respective boxes in the legend.
You can have the chart show a specific time range by dragging the mouse over a
small area of the chart. Hovering over any area of the chart will provide a tooltip
with detailed information about that area of the chart.

356

Understanding the Metric Over Time Chart

If you zoom in, a Reset Zoom button will appear.

The yellow and red shading of the chart indicates the recommended Warning and
Critical thresholds, respectively. These shaded areas are taken from the values
recorded in the Latest Baseline Statistics table.
Note: The ability to check and un-check the boxes in the legend is for visual
purposes only and will not affect the values generated for calculated thresholds.
Understanding the Metric Over Time Chart
The horizontal (X) axis displays the time period for when the values were
collected for the current component monitor. The vertical (Y) axis displays the
range of all the values collected during the charted time.
In other words, the light blue bars show the range of values for the statistics
collected during the charted time period. The bottom of the bars indicates the
lowest statistic collected, or the minimum. The top of the bars indicates the
highest statistic collected, or the maximum. The blue line of the chart shows the
average values of the component monitor through time.
Using the legend, you can show or hide these statistics by checking and unchecking their respective boxes.
You can have the chart show a specific time range by dragging the mouse over a
small area of the chart or by using the sliders located at the bottom of the chart.
Hovering over any area of the chart will provide a tooltip with detailed information
about that area of the chart.

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The yellow and red of the chart indicates the recommended Warning and Critical
thresholds, respectively. These shaded areas are taken from the values recorded
in the Latest Baseline Statistics table.
Note: The ability to check and un-check the boxes in the legend is for visual
purposes only and will not affect the values generated for calculated thresholds.
Understanding the Latest Baseline Statistics Table
Along with the minimum and maximum values displayed, the Latest Baseline
Statistics table at the bottom of the display shows the average baseline statistics
surrounded by three levels of standard deviation for both day and night data. This
table highlights the recommended Warning and Critical thresholds in yellow and
red, respectively.

In addition to using the recommended threshold values, you can hover the mouse
over any value in the table to bring up a tooltip dialog. The tooltip dialog allows
you to visualize, but not change, the value for the Warning or Critical threshold to
the value you are hovering over by simply clicking either link in the dialog.
Visualizing a value in this way will affect the chart above the table by
repositioning the shading indicating the Warning and Critical threshold areas.

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Understanding Baseline Details and Setting Thresholds

Understanding Baseline Details and Setting Thresholds
The right column of this view provides information about the data's calculation
and usage and allows you to set thresholds.

In the Current Thresholds Settings area, you can manually change the values for
both the Warning and Critical thresholds, or use the recommended values by
clicking Use Recommended Thresholds.
Additionally, you can add logic for these thresholds by selecting an operator from
the drop down list such as Greater Than, Less Than, Equal To, and so on. The
logical operator selected will apply to both the Warning and Critical thresholds
and cannot be separated. For example, if you select the Greater Than or Equal
to operator with a Warning threshold value of 80 and a Critical threshold of 90,
the thresholds will be considered met if the returned value for the current
performance counter meets or exceeds 80 for Warning or 90 for Critical.

Understanding Sustained Thresholds

The highlighted fields in the following illustration are available for configuring
sustained thresholds:

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Chapter 13: Building Component Monitors and Templates

The following two tables demonstrate possible sustained threshold conditions

based on the illustration above and how the Warning and Critical conditions are
met:

Working with Component Monitors

Component monitors are the building blocks of SolarWinds SAM. Each monitors
the status and performance of a different aspect of an application.

360

Viewing the Component Monitor Library

You can perform the following activities to manage components using the
commands on the SAM Settings page:
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Viewing the Component Monitor Library

Managing Assigned Component Monitors
Managing Component Monitors within Templates

Viewing the Component Monitor Library

The component monitors in the library are grouped by monitor type in the tree
view display. For each component monitor, two numbers are displayed.
l

The first number represents the number of Application Monitor templates

that contain the specified component monitor.
The second number represents the number of Application Monitors that contain the specified component monitor.

Expanding a component monitor shows two categories:

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Application Monitor templates that contain the specified component monitor

Application Monitors that contain the specified component monitor

Expanding a category displays the names of the templates or Application

Monitors for the category, respectively. Clicking the name of a template or
Application Monitor takes you to a page where you can edit that item.

Managing Assigned Component Monitors

You can manage individual component monitors that have been assigned to
collect data on a single object such as a process, port, or performance counter.
Management operations are described in the following sections:
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Creating a New Template with Assigned Component Monitors

Assigning Component Monitors to a Node
Copying Assigned Component Monitors to an Assigned Application Monitor
Copying Assigned Component Monitors to an Application Monitor Template
Editing Assigned Application Monitors
Deleting Assigned Application Monitors

Creating a New Template with Assigned Component Monitors

To quickly create a new template with assigned component monitors:
1. Log on to your SolarWinds Web Console with an Administrator account.
2. Click the Applications tab.
3. Click SAM Settings.

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4. Click Manage Assigned Component Monitors.
5. Select the desired component type or assigned Application Monitor whose
component monitors you want to list.
6. Select the desired component monitor(s) to add to the new template.
7. Click Create New Template, specify the information for the new template,
and then click Submit.
Refer to the section Creating New Templates on page396 for details
about specifying the template information.
8. To add additional component monitor(s) to add to the new template, click
Add Component Monitor.
9. Expand the component groups and check all the additional component
monitors you want to add.
Note: You can select multiple component monitors of the same type to be
added by entering a number in the field next to the check box for the component monitor and then checking the check box.
10. Click Submit.
11. Configure the component monitor settings, and then click Submit.
The new template is added to the list of all Application Monitor Templates.
Assigning Component Monitors to a Node
To quickly assign component monitors to a node:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.

Log on to your SolarWinds Web Console with an Administrator account.

Click the Applications tab.
Click SAM Settings.
Click Manage Assigned Component Monitors.
Select the desired component type or assigned Application Monitor whose
component monitors you want to list.
Select the desired component monitor(s) to assign to a node.
Click Assign to Node.
Enter the name for the application, polling frequency, and polling timeout.
If you want to turn on extended debug information to assist Customer
Support, expand Advanced, set Debug logging On, and specify the Number of log files to keep. Here you can also select either 32bit or 64bit from
the drop down list entitled, Platform to run polling job on.
Note: Do not turn on Debug logging unless directed by Customer
Support.

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Copying Assigned Component Monitors to an Assigned Application Monitor

10. Click Next.
11. Select the nodes to which you want to assign the Application Monitor, and
then click Next.
12. If suitable credentials already exist, choose the credential from the
Choose Credential list.
13. If suitable credentials do not exist, choose <New Credential> from the
Choose Credential list, and then add the new credential by filling out the
credential details.
14. Click Test to test the credentials and component monitors against the test
node.
15. If the test fails, troubleshoot the problem based on the error messages,
and then retest the node.
16. If the test passes, click Assign Application Monitors.
Copying Assigned Component Monitors to an Assigned Application Monitor
To quickly copy component monitors to an assigned Application Monitor:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.

Log on to your SolarWinds Web Console with an Administrator account.

Click the Applications tab.
Click SAM Settings.
Click Manage Assigned Component Monitors.
Select the desired component type or assigned Application Monitor whose
component monitors you want to list.
Select the desired component monitor(s) to copy to an assigned Application Monitor.
Click Copy to Assigned Application Monitor.
Select the desired Application Monitor(s) to copy to and click Submit.
Click OK to acknowledge the successful copy.

Copying Assigned Component Monitors to an Application Monitor Template

To quickly copy component monitors to an Application Monitor template:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Log on to your SolarWinds Web Console with an Administrator account.

Click the Applications tab.
Click SAM Settings.
Click Manage Assigned Component Monitors.
Select the desired component type or assigned Application Monitor whose
component monitors you want to list.
6. Select the desired component monitor(s) to copy to an assigned Application Monitor.

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7. Click Copy to Application Monitor Template.
8. Select the desired template(s) to copy to and click Submit.
9. Click OK to acknowledge the successful copy.
Editing Assigned Application Monitors
To edit the assigned Application Monitor for a component monitor:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Log on to your SolarWinds Web Console with an Administrator account.

Click the Applications tab.
Click SAM Settings.
Click Manage Assigned Component Monitors.
Select the desired component type or assigned Application Monitor whose
component monitors you want to edit.
6. Select the desired component monitor whose assigned Application Monitor you want to edit.
7. Click Edit Assigned Application Monitor.
8. Edit the desired settings and then click Submit. The edited Application
Monitor is displayed in the list of Assigned Application Monitors.
Deleting Assigned Application Monitors
To delete an assigned component monitor:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Log on to your SolarWinds Web Console with an Administrator account.

Click the Applications tab.
Click SAM Settings.
Click Manage Assigned Component Monitors.
Select the desired component type or assigned Application Monitor whose
component monitor(s) you want to delete.
6. Select the desired component monitor(s) that you want to delete.
7. Click Delete.
8. Click Yes to confirm the deletion of the component monitor(s).

Managing Component Monitors within Templates

You can manipulate and manage the component monitors that are inside the
Application Monitor templates in several ways:
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Listing the Component Monitors Defined in a Template

Creating a New Template from Existing Component Monitors
Creating Assigned Application Monitors from Existing Component Monitors
Copying a Component Monitor

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Listing the Component Monitors Defined in a Template

Listing the Component Monitors Defined in a Template
To quickly see the different component monitors within your templates:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Log on to your SolarWinds Web Console with an Administrator account.

Click the Applications tab.
Click SAM Settings.
Click Manage Templates.
Click Manage Component Monitors (within Templates), near the top right
corner of the window.
6. Select Template in the Group by list.
7. Select the desired template whose component monitors you want to list.
Creating a New Template from Existing Component Monitors
To create a new template that contains copies of existing component monitors:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Log on to your SolarWinds Web Console with an Administrator account.

Click the Applications tab.
Click SAM Settings.
Click Manage Templates.
Click Manage Component Monitors (within Templates), near the top right
corner of the window.
6. Check the check box next to the component monitors you want in the new
template.
7. Click Create New Template, specify the information for the new template,
and then click Submit.
Refer to the section Creating New Templates on page396 for details about
specifying the template information.
Creating Assigned Application Monitors from Existing Component Monitors
To create assigned Application Monitors from existing component monitors:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Log on to your SolarWinds Web Console with an Administrator account.

Click the Applications tab.
Click SAM Settings.
Click Manage Templates.
Click Manage Component Monitors (within Templates), near the top right
corner of the window.

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Chapter 13: Building Component Monitors and Templates

6. Check the check box next to the component monitors you want in the
assigned Application Monitors.
7. Click Assign to Node.
8. Specify the name for the application, polling frequency, and polling timeout.
9. If you want to turn on extended debug information to assist Customer
Support, expand Advanced, set Debug logging On, and specify the Number of log files to keep. Here you can also select either 32bit or 64bit from
the drop down list entitled, Platform to run polling job on.
Note: Do not turn on Debug logging unless directed by Customer Support.
10. Click Next.
11. Select the nodes for which you want to create the assigned Application Monitors, and then click Next.
12. If suitable credentials already exist, choose the credential from the
Choose Credential list.
13. If suitable credentials do not exist, choose <New Credential> from the
Choose Credential list, and then add the new credential by filling out the
credential details.
14. Click Test to test the credentials and component monitors against the test
node.
15. If the test fails, troubleshoot the problem based on the error messages, and
then retest the node.
16. If the test passes, click Assign Application Monitors.
Copying a Component Monitor
To copy a component monitor to a template or an assigned Application Monitor:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.

Log on to your SolarWinds Web Console with an Administrator account.

Click the Applications tab.
Click SAM Settings.
Click Manage Templates.
Click Manage Component Monitors (within Templates), near the top right
corner of the window.
Check the check box next to the component monitors you want to copy.
Click Copy to.
If you want to copy to an assigned Application Monitor, click Copy to
Assigned Application Monitor.
If you want to copy to a template, click Copy to Application Monitor
Template.

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Choosing Component Monitors and Templates Based on Protocol

10. Check the check boxes next to the template or assigned Application Monitors to which you wish to copy the component monitors, and then click Submit.

Choosing Component Monitors and Templates

Based on Protocol
If you have a choice between components or templates that return the needed
value using different protocols, consider the following guidelines for making your
choice, based on the protocol:
1. SNMP is the best protocol to use from the reliability and speed perspective.
It is much faster and more reliable than both Performance counters and
WMI, and it has lowest impact on system performance.
2. WMI calls can sometimes take a relatively long time, and they have a significant overhead.
RPC vs. WMI
The reason some SAM templates only use RPC is primarily customer demand.
RPC is generally considered more reliable. It also uses less overheard making it
faster than WMI and it is firewall friendly. There are distinct advantages and
disadvantages to both RPC and WMI, which is why SAM utilizes both methods
forretrievinginformation.
For more information, see Agents.

Web Service Monitoring

For custom web services that need to be monitored, SAMoffers the ability to
utilize the following technologies:
l

JSON: JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) is an open standard format that

uses human-readable text to transmit data objects consisting of attribute
value pairs. It is used primarily to transmit data between a server and web
application, as an alternative to XML.
Note: Inserted JSONcontent cannot exceed 1MB in size.
SOAP: Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) is a protocol used for
exchanging information in the implementation of web services in computer
networks. It relies on XML for its message format, and usually relies on other
application layer protocols. The SOAPmonitor is useful if you have custom

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Chapter 13: Building Component Monitors and Templates

web services that need to be monitored.
Note: Currently, the SOAPmonitor within SAMcan return a status of either
Up or Down, or return a status of Warning or Critical based on response
time thresholds. This monitor also has the ability to search for the presence
of a string.
For more information, see:
l
l
l
l
l

Component Monitor Types

SOAP Monitor
HTTP Monitor
HTTPS Monitor
JSON

JSON
JSONis accepted in the HTTPmonitor and HTTPS monitor, as shown below.
Following is an example of JSONcode:
{
"firstname": "Kate"
"lastname": "Asaff"
"age" : 29
"city" : "Austin"
}

Notes:
l
l

Inserted JSONcontent cannot exceed 1MB in size.

SolarWinds Technical Support does not provide support for custom scripts.

For more information, see:

l
l

HTTP Monitor
HTTPS Monitor

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SOAP Monitor

SOAP Monitor
This page provides general information concerning the SOAPmonitor and how it
works. For information concerning the individual fields of the SOAPmonitor, see
SOAP Component Monitor.
Note: Currently, the SOAPmonitor within SAMcan return a status of either Up or
Down, or return a status of Warning or Critical based on response time
thresholds. This monitor also has the ability to search for the presence of a string.
Definitions:
l

SOAP: (Simple Object Access Protocol) is a protocol used for exchanging

information in the implementation of web services in computer networks. It
relies on XML for its message format, and usually relies on other application
layer protocols, most notably Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP).
WSDL: (Web Services Description Language). The Web Services Description Language is an XML-based interface description language that is used
for describing the functionality offered by a web service.
XML: Extensible Markup Language is a markup language that defines a set
of rules for encoding documents in a format that is both human-readable
and machine-readable.

About the SOAPMonitor

Currently, the SOAPmonitor within SAMcan return a status of either Up or Down,
or return a status of Warning or Critical based on response time thresholds. This
monitor also has the ability to search for the presence of a string. You can test the
SOAP monitor in Edit mode. If the test poll throws a web exception (indicating
that there was a problem on the target) the response content is extracted and you
will be able to view the message to help identify the issue.
For more information, see Configuring the SOAP Monitor.

Configuring the SOAP Monitor

The are two ways to configure the SOAPmonitor:
l
l

Loading a WSDL file.

Manually entering XML.

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Chapter 13: Building Component Monitors and Templates

Loading WSDLFiles
The SOAPmonitor within SAM currently supports the WSDL schema, which must
be exposed on a URL. Once the WSDL file is successfully loaded, the file will be
parsed automatically and the fields, highlighted below, will populate.
Once the WSDLfile has been successfully loaded, you can specify values for the
available arguments. There are two types of arguments, simple, and complex.
A simple argument is one where you can define the value directly. A
[Link] (e.g. structures, classes, list, and so on) must be user-defined
in the XML format. It is recommended that complex arguments be used only by
experienced users.
Note:The Advanced Settings are read-only and displays additional information.
Because the SOAP envelope is based on the WSDL schema, the Advanced
Settings values should not be changed.
The SOAP XML field contains the SOAP envelope which is generated by the
WSDL and dynamically changes as you make changes to the SOAP settings. In
this field you can check what will be sent to the web service.
Important: If changes are made to any of the base SOAP settings, the content of
the SOAP XML will be re-generated and your changes will be lost.

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Loading WSDLFilesThe SOAPmonitor within SAM currently supports the WSDL

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Chapter 13: Building Component Monitors and Templates

Manually Entering XML
The following is an example of a Complex argument and would be placed in the
Parameters field. SAMwill automatically take the code and place it where it
belongs in the envelope:
<tempPhoneNumber xmlns:ns2="[Link] xsi:type="ns2:Array"
ns2:arrayType="ns1:TemporaryPhoneNumber[3]">
<item xsi:type="ns1:TemporaryPhoneNumber">
<startDate xsi:type="xsd:int">37060</startDate>
<endDate xsi:type="xsd:int">37064</endDate>
<phoneNumber xsi:type="xsd:string">+1-212-5551234</phoneNumber>
</item>
<item xsi:type="ns1:TemporaryPhoneNumber">
<startDate xsi:type="xsd:int">37074</startDate>
<endDate xsi:type="xsd:int">37078</endDate>
<phoneNumber xsi:type="xsd:string">+1-212-5554321</phoneNumber>
</item>
<item xsi:type="ns1:TemporaryPhoneNumber">
<startDate xsi:type="xsd:int">37088</startDate>
<endDate xsi:type="xsd:int">37092</endDate>
<phoneNumber xsi:type="xsd:string">+1-212-5557890</phoneNumber>
</item>
</tempPhoneNumber>

XML can also be entered manually by typing or pasting XML.

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Scripting Custom Component Monitors

For more information, see:

l
l

Web Service Monitoring

SOAP Component Monitor

Scripting Custom Component Monitors

Ten output pairs can be returned when using script monitors. This new ability
greatly improves flexibility in the way information is returned.
A usage example using the PowerShell script monitor might go something like
this:
Imagine you have an Exchange PowerShell script. With multiple values returned,
you can get a mail traffic report broken down by day, hour, message size, and
number of recipients.
Note: If you exceed the maximum number of allowed output pairs of ten, the
remainder above the tenth output pair will simply be ignored.
The following sections provide information and guidance to help you create some
of the more complicated types of component monitors.
l
l

Creating a Linux/Unix Script Monitor

Creating a Windows Script Monitor

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Chapter 13: Building Component Monitors and Templates

l
l

Creating a Nagios Script Monitor

Creating a Windows PowerShell Monitor

For general information about the settings for each component monitor, click the
More Information help link in the SolarWinds SAM component monitor
description.
Note: SolarWinds fully supports scripts written and provided by the company;
however, we do not provide customer support for custom scripts written by outside
sources. SolarWinds does provide sample scripts that we do support located at:
C:\Program Files\SolarWinds\Orion\APM\Sample-Script Monitors.
For information on using Data Transformations, refer to the following sections:
l
l

Conversion Value
Available Data Transformations

Creating a Linux/Unix Script Monitor

Linux/Unix Script component monitors allow you to execute a command line
script that can return statistical data. When collecting information for this monitor,
Server & Application Monitor runs the script with the credentials you define with
the Credential Library.
Note: A maximum of 10 output pairs can be returned. If you exceed the maximum
allowed, remove the excess output pairs or they will simply be ignored.
To adapt an existing Perl script to a Linux/Unix Script component monitor in
a new template:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Log on to your SolarWinds Web Console with an Administrator account.

Click the Applications tab.
Click SAM Settings.
Click Create a new template underneath Application Monitor Templates.
Type a name for your template in the Template Name field.
If you want to turn on extended debug information to assist Customer
Support, expand Advanced, set Debug logging On, and specify the Number of log files to keep.
Here you can also select either 32bit or 64bit from the drop down list
entitled, Platform to run polling job on.
Note: Do not turn on Debug logging unless directed by Customer Support.
7. Click Add Component Monitor.
8. Expand the Custom Component Monitors group, and then check
Linux/Unix Script Monitor.

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To adapt an existing Perl script to a Linux/Unix Script component monitor in a

9. Click Submit.
10. Select credentials with SSH permissions in the Credential for Monitoring
field.
11. Type a valid working directory in the Script Working Directory field
12. Click Edit to open the script dialog and enter your script into the Script
Body field.
13. Type the Linux command that runs the script in the Command Line field. It
should be similar to the following: perl ${SCRIPT} arg1 arg2.
Note: {SCRIPT} is replaced by the actual file name of the script after
its deployed to the target node. (A temporary file is created in temp
directory for the script).
14. Click Get Script Output. SAM will then test the script by executing it and
parse its output, then return the values.
15. Click Save.
16. Specify the critical and warning thresholds.
17. Click Submit.
Here is a sample Perl script using the Linux/Unix component monitor returning
multiple output pairs, in this case, two: Note: The code in red shows where the
output pairs are defined.
#!/usr/bin/perl
if (@ARGV[0] =~ /\bhelp\b/)
{
print "[Link] SNMPver community hostname\n";
print "SNMPver - version of SNMP protocol\n";
print "community - community name of SNMP protocol\n";
print "hostname - Target host\n"; exit 1;
}
# Get hostname and trim newline
$localhost = `hostname`;
$localhost =~ s/\s*$//g;
$hostname = shift || $localhost;
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Chapter 13: Building Component Monitors and Templates

$community = shift || "public";
$version = shift || "v1";
$results = "";
$MIB_TotalMemory = "UCD-SNMP-MIB::memTotalReal.0";
#$MIB_TotalMemory = "UCD-SNMP-MIB::memTotalReal.0";
$outres = "snmpget -$version -c $community $hostname $MIB_
TotalMemory |";
open(OUTMEM,$outres) || die "Unable read pipe\n";
while ($line = <OUTMEM>) {
if ($line =~ /\bINTEGER\b/) {
$indval = index($line,"=");
$indval=inde($line,":",$indval);
$val = substr($line,$indval+1,length($line) - $indval);
$val =~ s/[a-zA-Z\/\n ]//
print "Message.1: Available memory at host \"$hostname\": $val
in kB\n";
print "Statistic.1: $val\n";
print "Message.2: Again, the available memory at host \"$hostname\": $val in kB\n";
print "Statistic.2: $val \n";
exit 0;
}
}
print "Statistic: 0\n";
exit 1;
Below is the output from this script:

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Linux/Unix Scripts

Linux/Unix Scripts
Linux/Unix scripts are uploaded by SSH and then run on the target node using
the string from the Command Line field.
You can use the following variable in the command line field:
${SCRIPT}
Replaced with the script body.
You can use the following variables in the script body field:
${IP}
Replaced with the target nodes IP address.
${USER}
Replaced with the user name from the credential.
${PASSWORD}
Replaced with the password from the credential.
Example Scripts
There are several sample scripts installed with SolarWinds SAM you can use to
create Linux/Unix script component monitors. These sample scripts are installed
on your SolarWinds SAM server, in the folder:
C:\ProgramFiles\SolarWinds\Orion\APM\SampleScriptMonitors\LinuxScript
s
Scripts Must Report Status Through Exit Codes
Scripts must report their status by exiting with the appropriate exit code:
Exit Code

Meaning

Up

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Chapter 13: Building Component Monitors and Templates

Down

Warning

Critical

Any other value Unknown

For example, if you want to inform SolarWinds SAM that a Script reports Up
status, you would exit the script using code similar to the following, where 0
reports Up:
[Link](0)
Scripts with Text Output
Scripts report additional details by sending text to the scripts standard output.
In APM 4.0.2 and earlier, each line of output contained a single detail in the
following format:
DetailType:Value
# Script output comment
Message: The directory contains too many files.
Statistic: 5
While this is still true, SAM now supports multiple values returned by a script
using the following format.
Statistic.Name1: xMessage.Name1: abc
Statistic.Name2: yMessage.Name2: abc
Detail
Type

Required Meaning

Statistic

Yes

A numeric value used to determine how the monitor

compares to its set thresholds. This must be an integer
value, (negative numbers are supported).
Statistic.Name1: 123Statistic.Name2: 456

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Creating a Windows Script Monitor

Message No

An error or information message to be displayed in the

monitor status details. Note: Multi-line messages are
supported. To use this functionality print each line using
a separate command. For example:
Message.Name1: abc
Message.Name2: def

There is a limit of ten Statistic and Message pairs for the script. These can
be placed anywhere in the script output. The Statistic and Message names
you give must contain valid letters and/or numbers.
Note: A maximum of 10 output pairs can be returned. If you have exceeded the
maximum allowed, remove the excess output pairs or they will simply be ignored.
Sample output:
# Script comment: This shows two pairs. Ten pairs are possible.
[Link]: 31.08
[Link]: [Link] cpu usage
[Link]: 1234.56
[Link]: [Link] ram usage
For information on creating a Nagios Script Monitor, see " Creating a Nagios
Script Monitor" on page 386.

Creating a Windows Script Monitor

This component monitor runs a Windows script on the SolarWinds SAM server
and then processes the script's exit code and text output. This monitor has the
ability to return up to ten pairs, i.e.: 10 statistic values + 10 [optional] messages.
This is best used in conjunction with the "Multiple Statistic Chart."
Note: A maximum of 10 output pairs can be returned. If you exceed the maximum
allowed, remove the excess output pairs or they will simply be ignored.
Statistic
The statistic for this component monitor is the value returned by the script.
Script Monitor Formatting:

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Chapter 13: Building Component Monitors and Templates

At least one message and statistic is required. The statistic must be a
valid integer and be able to be converted to double, otherwise it is
handled as Not as Number (NaN)There is no maximum length for the
message; however, only alphanumeric characters and the underscore
are allowed.
Field Descriptions
Description
This field provides a default description of the monitor. You have the ability
to override the default description by adding to or replacing the text, which
will then be automatically saved. The variable to access this field is
${UserDescription}. For more information, see Configuring SolarWinds
SAM Alerts"
Component Type
This describes the type of monitor you are using.
Enable Component
This option determines whether or not the component is enabled. Disabling
this component leaves it in the application as deactivated and does not
influence application availability or status.
Credential for Monitoring
Select a Windows credential that is both a user who can log on to the
SolarWinds SAM server, and has sufficient rights on the target node (which
may be the SAM server itself, depending upon your application) to do
whatever the script needs to do. For example, if the script does something
with WMI, the credentials also need WMI rights on the target node. If the
credential you need is not already present in the credentials list, use the
Quick Credentials section to add a new credential.
Script Engine
This field allows you to specify the scripting language to be used. The
default value is vbscript. Below is a list of scripting engines that the
Windows Script Host supports:
Name

File Extensions Availability

VBScript

.vbs

Installed by default

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Field Descriptions

JScript

.js

Installed by default

PerlScript

.pls

Freeware

ooRexxScript

.rxs

Freeware

PythonScript

.pys

Freeware

TclScript

.tcls

Freeware

ActivePHPScript

.phps

Freeware

RubyScript

.rbs

Freeware

Object Rexx engine

Commercial

Delphi scripting engine

Commercial

Note: VBscript runs locally on the SAM server only. PowerShell uses
WINRM that runs over TCP ports5985 and 5986. All Linux, Unix, and
Nagios script monitors use SSH over TCP Port 22.
Roll-Up
This option allows you to choose how you would like the monitor to report
the returned results based on the output provided by the script. With the
ability to have multiple values returned, selecting how your scripts report
back to you offers more flexibility. The default selection is Show worst
status. For more information, see Managing the Display of Group Status on
page 291.
Script
This field allows you to enter the script you want to run on the target node.
To enter your script, click the Edit button that reveals the script editing
window.
Script Arguments
This field is in the script editing window and allows you to specify
arguments to pass to the script. You may include the variables ${IP},
${USER}, and ${PASSWORD}, which are replaced respectively by the IP
address of the target node, the credential user name, and the credential
password.
Body

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Chapter 13: Building Component Monitors and Templates

This field is in the script editing window and allows you to enter your script
via typing or pasting.
User Notes
This field allows you to add notes for easy reference. You can access this
field by using the variable, ${UserNotes}. For more information, see
Configuring SolarWinds SAM Alerts"
Creating a Windows Script Monitor
You can create a Windows Script monitor to have SolarWinds SAM run a script
using Windows Script Host. Windows Script Host comes with VBScript and
Jscript, but can be extended with other scripting languages.
Scripts run on the SolarWinds SAM server and use the credentials you specify.
The script must both return an exit code and output a text string containing a
statistic value conforming to the specifications described later in this section.
Note: Format the Statistic value to use the same decimal separator as the
SolarWinds SAM server. The SolarWinds SAM server uses the decimal separator
set by its Microsoft Windows regional settings.
To adapt an existing Visual Basic script to a Windows Script Monitor in a
new template:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Log on to your SolarWinds Web Console with an Administrator account.

Click the Applications tab.
Click SAM Settings.
Click Create a New Template underneath Application Monitor Templates.
Type a name for your template in the Template Name field.
If you want to turn on extended debug information to assist Customer
Support, expand Advanced and then set Debug loggingOn and specify
the Number of log files to keep. Here you can also select either 32bit or
64bit from the drop down list entitled, Platform to run polling job on.
Note: Do not turn on Debug logging unless directed by Customer
Support.

7. Click Add Component Monitor.

8. Expand the Custom Component Monitors group, and then check WindowsScript Monitor.
9. Click Submit.

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Macros for Script Arguments

10. Select credentials with the appropriate permissions to run the script on the
SolarWinds SAM server, and that also has appropriate permissions to do
whatever else the script requires.
11. Copy the Visual Basic script into the Script Body field.
12. Type any script arguments into the Script Arguments field.
13. Specify the critical and warning thresholds.
14. Click Submit.
Macros for Script Arguments
Specify script arguments in the Script Arguments field if needed. You can use the
following variables as script arguments:
${IP}
This is replaced with the target nodes IP Address.
${USER}
This is replaced with the user name from the credential set.
${PASSWORD}
This is replaced with the password from the credential set.
Scripts Must Report Status Through Exit Codes
Scripts must report their status by exiting with the appropriate exit code:
Exit Code

Meaning

Up

Down

Warning

Critical

Any other value Unknown

For example, if you want to inform SolarWinds SAM that a VBScript reports Up
status, you would exit the script using code similar to the following, where 0
reports Up:
[Link](0)

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Chapter 13: Building Component Monitors and Templates

Scripts with Text Output
Scripts report additional details by sending text to the scripts standard output.
SAM supports multiple values returned by a script using the following format.
Statistic.Name1: xMessage.Name1: abc
Statistic.Name2: yMessage.Name2: abc
Detail
Type

Required Meaning

Statistic

Yes

Message No

A numeric value used to determine how the monitor

compares to its set thresholds. This must be an integer
value, (negative numbers are supported).
Statistic.Name1: 123Statistic.Name2: 456
An error or information message to be displayed in the
monitor status details. Note: Multi-line messages are
supported. To use this functionality print each line using
a separate command. For example:
Message.Name1: abc
Message.Name2: def

There is a limit of ten Statistic and Message pairs for the script. These can be
placed anywhere in the script output. The Statistic and Message names you give
must contain valid letters and/or numbers.
Sample output:
# Script comment: This shows two pairs. Ten pairs are possible.
[Link]: [Link]: [Link] cpu usage
[Link]: [Link]: [Link] ram usage
Example Scripts
Below is a sample vbscript that returns two values; the total number of files in a
folder, and twice the total number of files in the same folder. The code that
represents these two values are bold, To use this script, copy and paste the

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Example Scripts
following code into the Script Body field. In the Scripts Arguments field, type in
C:\Windows, or any other folder you want to monitor.
Option Explicit
On Error Resume Next
Dim lstArgs, path, fso, objDir, objFiles, objFiles2
Set lstArgs = [Link]
If [Link] = 1 Then
path = Trim(lstArgs(0 ))
Else
[Link] "Message: Usage: [Link] [Link] [pathToFiles]"
&vbCRLF &"[pathToFiles] Local or UNC Path"
[Link] "Statistic: 0"
[Link] "Message: Usage: [Link] [Link] [pathToFiles]"
&vbCRLF &"[pathToFiles] Local or UNC Path"
[Link] "Statistic: 0"
[Link](1 )
End If
Set fso = [Link]("[Link]" )
If [Link](path ) Then
Set objDir = [Link](path )
If(IsEmpty(objDir ) = True ) Then
[Link] "Message: Object Not Initialized"
[Link] "Statistic: 0"

[Link](1 )

End If
Set objFiles = [Link]
If(IsEmpty(objFiles ) = true) Then
[Link] "Message: Object Not Initialized"
[Link] "Statistic: 0"
[Link](1 )
End If

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Chapter 13: Building Component Monitors and Templates

[Link] "[Link]: " & CInt([Link] ) & " files in this
folder."
[Link] "[Link]: " & CInt([Link] )
[Link] "[Link]: " & CInt([Link]*2 ) & " = twice the
number of files in this folder."
[Link] "[Link]: " & CInt([Link]*2 )
[Link](0 )
Else
[Link]("Message: Folder Not Found" )
[Link] "Statistic: 0"
[Link](1 )
End If
There are several examples of Windows Script component monitors included in
templates. These include: File Count, File Modified, LDAP Connection Monitor,
Run 3rd Party Application, and Windows Event Log Count.
Sample scripts are installed on your SolarWinds SAM server, in the folder:
C:\ProgramFiles\
SolarWinds\Orion\APM\SampleScriptMonitors\WindowsScripts
For another example of a Windows Script component monitor, see Monitoring
Large Directories on page 161.

Creating a Nagios Script Monitor

This component uses SSH to upload a Nagios script to a Linux/Unix server, runs
the Nagios script on the server and then processes the script's exit code and text
output. This monitor has the ability to return multiple values.
Note: A maximum of 10 output pairs can be returned. If you exceed the maximum
allowed, remove the excess output pairs or they will simply be ignored.
Return Codes
Nagios determines the status of a host or service by evaluating the return code.
The following table shows a list of valid return codes, along with their
corresponding service or host states.

386

Field Descriptions

Return Code Service State Host State

0

OK

Up

Warning

Up or Down/Unreachable

Critical

Down/Unreachable

Unknown

Down/Unreachable

___________________
If the Use Aggressive Host Checking option is enabled, return codes of 1 will result in a host

state of DOWN, otherwise return codes of 1 will result in a host state of UP.

Your Nagios script must exit with a valid return code and a line of text output. The
exit code determines the status of the component. If the exit code is 0 (OK), the
component status may be further modified by thresholds from the optional
statistics. To return up to ten optional statistics, separate the statistics from the
status message with the pipe (|) symbol using the following syntax:
statusMessage [|'statisticName'=value]
Below is an example of valid output with a status message and two statistics:
The script ran. | 'CPU%'=75.2 'MemoryRemainingInKB'=600784
Statistic
The statistic for this component monitor is the value returned by the script. For
more information, see [Link]
Field Descriptions
Description
This field provides a default description of the monitor. You have the ability
to override the default description by adding to or replacing the text, which
will then be automatically saved. The variable to access this field is
${UserDescription}. For more information, see Configuring SolarWinds
SAM Alerts"
Component Type
This describes the type of monitor you are using.
Enable Component

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This option determines whether or not the component is enabled. Disabling
this component leaves it in the application as deactivated and does not
influence application availability or status.
Authentication Type
Select Username and Password or Username and Private Key. For more
information, see "Certificate Credentials Library" on page 339.
Credential for Monitoring
Select a credential that can access the Linux or Unix server over SSH and that
has sufficient rights to run scripts. If the credential you need is not already present
in the credentials list, use the Quick Credentials section to add a new credential.
Certificates are also supported. For more information, see "Certificate Credentials
Library" on page 339.
Port Number
This field allows you to specify the port number used for the SSH
connection. The default value is 22.
Script Working Directory
This field allows you to specify the working directory of the script process.
Check Type
This determines how the return code is evaluated.
Status Roll-Up
This option allows you to choose how you would like the monitor to report
based on the output provided by the script. The default selection is Show
worst status. For more information, see Managing the Display of Group
Status" on page 291.
Command Line
This field is in the script editing window and allows you to specify the shell
command run after the SSH connection is established. The default
command line value perl ${SCRIPT} arg1 arg2 attempts to run in a Perl
interpreter the script defined in the Body field using the parameters arg1
arg2.
Note: The length of the Command Line field is limited to 266 characters for
Solaris systems, minus the length of the ${SCRIPT} variable after being
resolved to a file name such as the following: APM_937467589.pl. Since
the length of the file name will typically be around 16 characters, this means

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Creating a Windows PowerShell Monitor

that the actual user Command Line input cannot be longer than 266 16, or
250 characters (not including the length of the 9 characters for the
${SCRIPT} variable itself). If you need to pass a longer command line to
the target node, you can create a shell script on the target node (for
example: [Link]) that contains the long command line and place the
call to this script in the Command Line field, for example: /opt/sw/[Link]
Body
This field is in the script editing window and allows you to enter your script
via typing or pasting.
User Notes
This field allows you to add notes for easy reference. You can access this
field by using the variable, ${UserNotes}. For more information, see
Configuring SolarWinds SAM Alerts"

Creating a Windows PowerShell Monitor

With this, you can create a monitor that runs a Windows PowerShell script to
monitor specific performance information for troubleshooting a Windows process
that may be having issues.
Note: A maximum of 10 output pairs can be returned. If you exceed the maximum
allowed, remove the excess output pairs or they will simply be ignored.
What needs to be monitored:
The process you want to monitor is [Link], which enforces security on the
system for users who are logging on, changing passwords, and so forth. In
particular, you want to monitor the average number of read operations performed
to check for spikes.
You decide to use the Windows PowerShell monitor to run a PowerShell script
that uses the Get-WmiObject call to measure the average ReadOperationCount
for the [Link] process and monitor its value.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Log on to your SolarWinds Web Console with an Administrator account.

Click the Applications tab.
Click SAM Settings.
Click Create a New Template underneath Application Monitor Templates.
Type a name for your template in the Template Name field, for example
[Link] PowerShell Monitor.
6. If you want to turn on extended debug information to assist Customer
Support, expand Advanced and then set Debug logging On and specify

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7.
8.
9.
10.

11.

12.

the Number of log files to keep.

Here you can also select either 32bit or 64bit from the drop down list
entitled, Platform to run polling job on.
Note: Do not turn on Debug logging unless directed by Customer Support.
Click Add Component Monitor.
Expand the Custom Component Monitors group, and then check Windows PowerShell Monitor.
Click Add..
Select the Credential for Monitoring with appropriate permissions to run
the script on the SolarWinds SAM server, and that also has appropriate permissions to do whatever else the script requires (in our case, to get the
average number of read operations performed on the target node).
Select the Execution Mode to use:
l Local Host can run scripts only locally, that is, on the SolarWinds
SAM server.
l Remote Host can execute scripts remotely (on the remote target
node to which the Windows PowerShell monitor is assigned) using
the Windows Remote Management (WRM) system component. WRM
should be configured separately to get it working with the Windows
PowerShell monitor.
Copy the following PowerShell script, which uses the Get-WmiObject call
to measure the average ReadOperationCount for the [Link] process,
into the Script Body field:
$avg = Get-WmiObject win32_process -ComputerName '${IP}' Credential '${CREDENTIAL}' |Where-Object {$_.Name -eq
"[Link]" } | Measure-Object -property ReadOperationCount Average;
Write-Host 'Statistic: ' $[Link](0)
The PowerShell code does the following:
a. Reads the average ReadOperationCount information for the process
[Link] from the computer whose IP address is specified by the variable ${IP}using the credential specified by the variable
${CREDENTIAL}.
Note: The user name from the Credential for Monitoring that is
specified is stored automatically in the ${CREDENTIAL} variable by
the monitor. Therefore the ${CREDENTIAL} variable should not be

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What needs to be monitored:

placed in the Script Arguments field, since it is set automatically.
When the script is run by powershell, since no password has been
provided, it prompts for a password and the password from the
Credential for Monitoring that is specified is provided automatically by
the Windows Powershell monitor.
b. Writes the statistic information gathered by the script.
c. Exits the script.
Note: The script does no error checking.
13. Enter the following Script Arguments:
Use the token ${IP}and the IP address will be filled in with the IP address
of the target node. You can then access the value in the script body using
the variable ${IP}.
For example, if you type the following for Script Arguments:
${IP}
the PowerShell script will be able to access the IP address for the target
node using the variable ${IP} in the script body.
14. Select Run the script under specified account to enable impersonation
with the component's credentials. (This works only in local script execution
mode.)
15. Select Count Statistic as Difference to change the statistic to be the difference in query values between polling cycles.
16. Change the Statistic Warning Threshold to greater than 800.
17. Change the Statistic Critical Threshold to greater than 1000.
18. Click Set test node.
19. Browse the tree view, select the desired target node for the PowerShell
script, and then click Select.
20. Click Test.
21. If the test fails, see Troubleshooting the [Link] PowerShell Monitor.
22. If the test passes, click Submit.
23. Click All in the Select tag to filter by list.
24. Locate the [Link] PowerShell Monitor. Beneath the listed templates,
locate the Page control. Click the right arrow twice to scroll to page 3.
25. Click the check box next to [Link] PowerShell Monitor.
26. Click Assign to Node.
27. Expand the tree view and select the target node which you tested the script
with in step 18.
28. Click Next.

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29. Since you already assigned credentials and tested them in the template,
check the check box next to Inherit credentials from template.
30. Click Test to confirm the credentials and component monitor against the
test node.
31. Click Assign Application Monitors.
32. Click Done.
Troubleshooting the [Link] PowerShell Monitor
Verify that you are entering the user name and password of an administrator-level
account. If you think you have entered an incorrect credential, correct the mistake
and then retest.
Make sure that the RPC server is available and that the Windows PowerShell
execution policy is not set to Restricted (the default setting). You can check the
execution policy by entering the following command at the PowerShell command
prompt:
Get-ExecutionPolicy
If you are having trouble using the Windows PowerShell Monitor, see the
following KB article for some useful tips:
[Link]

Using Application Monitor Templates

This section discusses the many operations you can perform in SolarWinds SAM
regarding the use and management of Application Monitor templates. The topics
include:
l
l
l
l
l
l
l
l

Scanning Nodes for Applications

Manually Assign Application Monitors
Creating New Templates
Copying Templates
Exporting and Importing Templates Locally or Using Thwack
Deleting Templates
Managing Component Monitors within Templates
Tagging Templates

Scanning Nodes for Applications

SolarWinds SAM can scan nodes for you and automatically assign the
Application Monitors it deems suitable for each scanned node. You control the

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To use the application discovery:

nodes to be scanned, the application templates used in the scan, and the
scanning parameters that determine a match.
To use the application discovery:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.

Log on to your SolarWinds Web Console with an Administrator account.

Click the Applications tab.
Click SAM Settings.
Click Scan Nodes for Applications.
Follow the instructions in the Select Nodes Wizard.
Follow the instructions in the Select Applications Wizard.
Follow the instructions in the Enter Credentials Wizard.
Follow the instructions in the Review & Start Scan Wizard.
Follow the instructions in the Add UX Monitors Wizard.

Select Nodes
Click [+] in the list to expand the node groups and to select the nodes you want to
scan.
Select Applications
To keep the time it takes to scan to a minimum, we recommend you initially scan
for only a limited number of application templates. To see more application
templates, select a different template group from the Show Only list.
To adjust the template assignment criteria, expand Advanced Scan Settings
and move the slider to the desired setting:
Exact Match
All the components must match to assign the template.
Strong Match
Most of the components must match to assign the template.
Partial Match
Some of the components must match to assign the template.
Minimal Match
At least one component must match to assign the template.

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Enter Credentials
Some application templates require credentials either to access restricted
resources, or to run within the context of a specific user. To scan for these
templates, add the necessary credentials to the list. If a template you are scanning
for requires credentials, the credentials in this list are tried in the order in which
they appear.
Warning: Credentials are tried several times over the course of a scan, so an
incorrect password is likely to lock out an account. To avoid potential account
lockouts that affect actual users, we recommend you create and use service
accounts. A service account is an account that is created specifically for the
purpose of providing credentials to use for SolarWinds monitoring. With service
accounts, no actual user is affected by an account lockout if a password should
be entered incorrectly.
If you have domains sharing user names with different passwords, we
recommend you run separate application discoveries for each domain.
Review & Start Scan
Review the summary for the scan. If the automatic discovery matches templates
that are already assigned to the node, by default the template is not assigned a
second time. If you want to assign duplicate templates, select Yes, Assign
Anyway from the Do you want to assign duplicates list.
Click Start Scan to begin the scan. The scan runs in the background. You are
notified by a message near the top of the window when scanning is completed.
Click View results to see the results of the scan.
Add UX Monitors
You cannot scan for user experience (UX) monitors, but you can assign them to
nodes manually. Adding monitors from this page does not affect your scan.

Manually Assign Application Monitors

The quickest way to assign Application Monitors to nodes is through the Add
New Application Monitors Wizard, but you can also assign them through the
Manage Templates page.
To assign a template using the wizard:
1. Log on to your SolarWinds Web Console with an Administrator account.
2. Click the Applications tab.

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To assign a template through the Manage Application Monitor Templates page:

3. Click SAM Settings.
4. Click Manually Assign Application Monitors.
5. Select the Application Monitor template you want to apply, and then click
Next.
6. Select the server node or nodes to which you want to apply the Application
Monitor template, and then click Next.
7. If suitable credentials already exist, choose the credential from the
Choose Credential list.
8. If suitable credentials do not exist, choose <New Credential> from the
Choose Credential list, and then add the new credential by filling out the
credential details.
9. Click Test to test the credentials and component monitors against the test
node.
10. If the test fails, troubleshoot the problem based on the error messages, and
then retest the node.
11. If the test passes, click Assign Application Monitors.
To assign a template through the Manage Application Monitor Templates
page:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.

11.
12.
13.
14.

Log on to your SolarWinds Web Console with an Administrator account.

Click the Applications tab.
Click SAM Settings.
Click Manage Templates.
Select the tag by which to filter the templates.
Check the check box next to the template you want to assign.
Click Assign to Node.
Select the server node or nodes to which you want to apply the Application
Monitor template, and then click Next.
If suitable credentials already exist, choose the credential from the
Choose Credential list.
If suitable credentials do not exist, choose <New Credential> from the
Choose Credential list, and then add the new credential by filling out the
credential details.
Click Test to test the credentials and component monitors against the test
node.
If the test fails, troubleshoot the problem based on the error messages, and
then retest the node.
If the test passes, click Assign Application Monitors.
Review the information for the assigned Application Monitor and then click
Done.

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Creating New Templates

SolarWinds SAM allows you to create new templates by bundling component
monitors together. There are two ways of creating a template from scratch. The
traditional method allows you to create any kind of template. The browsing
method only creates templates monitoring services, processes, and performance
counters.
Creating New Templates Using the Traditional Method:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Log on to your SolarWinds Web Console with an Administrator account.

Click the Applications tab.
Click SAM Settings.
Click Create a new template.
Type a name for your template in the Template Name field.
Specify the values for the Polling Frequency and Polling Timeout fields.
Note: Setting a polling frequency below 30 seconds can result in erratic
monitor behavior.
7. If you want to turn on extended debug information to assist Customer
Support, expand Advanced and then turn Debug logging On and specify
the Number of log files to keep. Here you can also select either 32bit or
64bit from the drop down list entitled, Platform to run polling job on.
Note: Do not turn on Debug logging unless directed by Customer
Support.
8. Click Add Component Monitor.
9. Expand the component groups and check all the component monitors you
want to add.
Note: You can select multiple component monitors of the same type to be
added by entering a number in the field next to the check box for the
component monitor and then checking the check box.
10. Click Submit.
11. Configure the component monitor settings, and then click Submit.
Creating New Templates Using the Browsing Method:
1.
2.
3.
4.

Log on to your SolarWinds Web Console with an Administrator account.

Click the Applications tab.
Click SAM Settings.
Click Component Monitor Wizard.

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Managing Templates
5. Select the component monitor type that you want to browse, then click
Next.
6. Type the IP address of the node you want to browse, or click Browse and
select the node from the list.
7. If suitable credentials already exist, choose the credential from the
Choose Credential list.
8. If suitable credentials do not exist, choose <New Credential> from the
Choose Credential list, and then add the new credential by filling out the
credential details.
9. Click Next.
10. If you selected a performance counter monitor type, select a performance object from Performance Object to populate the list.
11. Check the check boxes next to one or more found items to add as a component monitor.
12. Click Next.
13. Configure the component monitor properties, and then click Next.
Note: You can specify the name of a specific process to monitor by
entering the name in the Process Name field.
14. Select New Application Monitor Template.
15. Type a name for your template in the Application Monitor Template
Name field.
16. Click Next.
17. If you want to assign the template to nodes, select the nodes.
18. If you only want to create the template, do not select any nodes.
19. Click Next, and then click OK, Create.

Managing Templates
You can create a new template or manage existing templates by using the
commands on the SAM Settings page:
l
l
l
l
l
l
l

Creating Templates
Assign to Node
Editing Templates
Copying Views
Exporting and Importing Templates Locally or Using Thwack
Deleting Templates
Tagging Templates

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Chapter 13: Building Component Monitors and Templates

Creating Templates
You can create a new template by specifying the name of the template and then
adding the desired component monitors.
To create an application template:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Log on to your SolarWinds Web Console with an Administrator account.

Click the Applications tab.
Click SAM Settings.
Click Manage Templates.
Click Create New Template.

See Creating New Templates Using the Traditional Method for information on
completing the new template.
Assign to Node
You can create an assigned Application Monitor by assigning template(s) to
nodes.
To create an assigned Application Monitor by assigning template(s) to
nodes:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.

10.
11.
12.

Log on to your SolarWinds Web Console with an Administrator account.

Click the Applications tab.
Click SAM Settings.
Click Manage Templates.
Check the check box for the template(s) you want to assign.
Click Assign to Node.
Specify the node(s) to monitor and then click Next.
If suitable credentials already exist, choose the credential from the
Choose Credential list.
If suitable credentials do not exist, choose <New Credential> from the
Choose Credential list, and then add the new credential by filling out the
credential details.
Click Test to test the credentials and component monitors against the test
node.
If the test fails, troubleshoot the problem based on the error messages, and
then retest the node.
If the test passes, click Assign Application Monitors.

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Editing Templates
Editing Templates
You can modify an existing template by adding or removing its component
monitors. You can then save it to a new template by changing the template name
if desired.
To edit an application template:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Log on to your SolarWinds Web Console with an Administrator account.

Click the Applications tab.
Click SAM Settings.
Click Manage Templates.
Check the application template you want to edit, and then click Edit.
If you are creating a new template by modifying an existing template,
specify the name for your new template in the Template Name field.
7. Specify the values for the Polling Frequency and Polling Timeout fields.
Note: Setting a polling frequency below 30 seconds can result in erratic
monitor behavior.
8. To turn on extended debug information to assist Customer Support,
expand Advanced and then set Debug logging On and specify the Number of log files to keep. Here you can also select either 32bit or 64bit from
the drop down list entitled, Platform to run polling job on.
Note: Do not turn on Debug logging unless directed by Customer
Support.
9. Click Add Component Monitor.
10. Expand the component groups and check all the component monitors you
want to add.
Note: You can select multiple component monitors of the same type to be
added by entering a number in the field next to the check box for the
component monitor and then checking the check box.
11. Click Submit.
12. Remove component monitors if desired by clicking Delete.
13. Configure the component monitor settings, and then click Submit.

Multi-Edit Templates
Multiple component monitors within a template can be edited simultaneously. As
indicated by the toolbar, multiple monitors can be selected to: Assign
Credentials, Test, Set Test Node, Disable, and Delete. The monitors selected

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do not to be of the same type when performing a multiple monitor edit. When
performing a multiple monitor edit, the correct buttons will become enabled and/or
disabled based on your selection.
The Multi-Edit button allows you to change the options of two or more monitors of
the same type, simultaneously. To enable the Multi-Edit button, two or more
monitors of the same type must be selected. Once multiple monitors of the same
type are selected, the Multi-Edit button becomes enabled. In the illustration
below, three monitors (Services) are checked and the Multi-Edit button is
enabled:

Once the Multi-Edit button is pressed, a pop-up window is dispalyed with editing
options specific to the type of monitor selected. For example, the Fetching Method
for the three Services selected can be changed from RPC to WMI, as shown
below:

Note: Different types of monitors will have different options available for editing.
Ordering Components
Beginning in SAM 5.5, you now have the ability to re-order the components within
a template. When editing a template, the green arrows to the right of each
component monitor, highlighted below, will allow you to change the order of each
monitor. This new order is respected only on the All Applications resource and
the Application Details resource.

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Copying Templates

Copying Templates
After successfully creating a complicated template, instead of having to recreate it
over for a similar application, consider copying the template. This will allow you to
only modify those properties that differ.
To copy an application template:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Log on to your SolarWinds Web Console with an Administrator account.

Click the Applications tab.
Click SAM Settings.
Click Manage Templates.
Check the application template you want to copy, and then click Copy.

Exporting and Importing Templates Locally or Using Thwack

You can export and import templates to and from your file system for your own
use, or to the SolarWinds community site ([Link]) where templates can be
shared with the network engineering community.
Note: [Link] import and export operations require Internet connectivity to
[Link] and [Link]. In addition, thwack export
operations require a valid [Link] user account.
To export a template:
1. Log on to your SolarWinds Web Console with an Administrator account.
2. Click the Applications tab.
3. Click SAM Settings.

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4. Click Manage Templates.
5. If you want to export a template to a file, complete the following procedure:
a. Check the application template you want to export, and then click
Import/Export > Export as File.
b. Confirm that you want to save the file by clicking Save.
c. If you are prompted for a path, specify or browse to one and then click
Save.
6. If you want to export the template to [Link], complete the following procedure:
a. Click Share Now to open a browser to the Application Monitor Templates area of thwack, where you can upload your newly exported
application template.
b. Click Sign in and then type your [Link] user name and password.
c. Click Upload a File and then specify the file pathname to your newly
exported application template.
To import a template from a file:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

Log on to your SolarWinds Web Console with an Administrator account.

Click the Applications tab.
Click SAM Settings.
Click Manage Templates.
Click Import/Export > Import.
Click Browse and select the template file, then click Open.
Click Submit.
Note: If you import a template with the same name as one of your existing
templates, the name of the imported template is modified by appending (n)
to the name, where n is an integer. For example, assume you save the template named Tomcat Server Template (shipped with SAM) to a file. If you
then import the saved template Tomcat Server Template from the file, the
imported template is renamed as Tomcat Server Template (1). If you
import the same template again, the next imported template is named Tomcat Server Template (2), and so on. This renaming protects you from accidentally overwriting an existing template.

To import a template from thwack:

1.
2.
3.
4.

Log on to your SolarWinds Web Console with an Administrator account.

Click the Applications tab.
Click SAM Settings.
Click Shared thwack templates.

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Deleting Templates
5. Check the template(s) you want to import, and then click Import. Then enter
your thwack User Name and Password and click Log In.
6. A dialog is displayed informing you that the import operation was successful. Click Close to close the dialog or click View Imported Templates
to view the results.
Note: If you import a template with the same name as one of your existing
templates, the name of the imported template is modified by appending (n)
to the name, where n is an integer. For example, assume you save the template named Tomcat Server Template (shipped with SAM) to a file. If you
then import the saved template Tomcat Server Template from the file, the
imported template is renamed as Tomcat Server Template (1). If you
import the same template again, the next imported template is named Tomcat Server Template (2), and so on. This renaming protects you from accidentally overwriting an existing template.
Deleting Templates
If you no longer need a template, you can delete it. Deleting a template also
deletes all the data associated with it, so ensure you no longer need either the
template or the associated data before deleting the template.
Notes:
l Deleting a template also deletes all of its assigned applications, both modified and unmodified.
l To speed user interface interaction, data is not immediately removed from
the database, but systematically updated every few minutes in the background.
To delete a template:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Log on to your SolarWinds Web Console with an Administrator account.

Click the Applications tab.
Click SAM Settings.
Click Manage Templates.
Check the template(s) you want to delete, and then click Delete.
Confirm you want to delete the template(s) by clicking Yes.

Tagging Templates
Tags are descriptive labels that help you classify and sort your application
templates on the Manage Application Monitor Templates page. The application
templates included in SolarWinds SAM have already been tagged with several
descriptive labels you can modify as you see fit.

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To add tags:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

Log on to your SolarWinds Web Console with an Administrator account.

Click the Applications tab.
Click SAM Settings.
Click Manage Templates.
Select the templates you want to tag.
Click Tags.
If you want to add existing tags, follow these instructions:
d. Click Add existing tag(s).
e. Select the tags from the list.
8. If you want to add new tags, follow these instructions:
a. Click Add new tag(s).
b. Type the tags in the Add new tag(s) field, separating multiple tag
entries with commas.
9. Click Submit.
To remove tags:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.

Log on to your SolarWinds Web Console with an Administrator account.

Click the Applications tab.
Click SAM Settings.
Click Manage Templates.
Select the templates you want to tag.
Click Tags.
Click Remove tag(s).
Select the tags from the list.
Click Submit.

Understanding Component Monitors and Application Monitor Templates

The following terms are used throughout this guide to describe the SolarWinds
SAM concepts that allow you to monitor your applications.
Component Monitors
Component monitors are the building blocks of SolarWinds SAM. Each
monitors the status and performance of a different aspect of an application.
There are several different types of component monitors, each containing
settings that define what is monitored and how to monitor it.

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Understanding Component Monitors and Application Monitor Templates

Some types of component monitors allow you to set threshold conditions on
the monitored parameters. You can set separate thresholds to indicate
warning and critical conditions. For example, if you are monitoring the
percentage of free space remaining on a volume, you can set a warning
threshold at 15%, and a critical condition at 5%.
As an analogy, pretend SolarWinds SAM is monitoring a car. You would
have component monitors to check tire pressure, engine RPM, water
temperature, battery voltage, and other important subsystems of that vehicle.
You can set alerts to give notification if the water gets too hot, or if the
battery voltage drops too low.
Application Monitor Templates
A template is a group of component monitors modeling the total availability
and performance level of an application. A complicated application such as
Windows Server may require dozens of component monitors to accurately
assess its current status and performance.
Instead of creating component monitors one-by-one for every application
server, you can assign a pre-made template. The template can either be
one included with SolarWinds SAM, or a custom template you make
yourself. For example, you can assign the included Microsoft Windows
Server 2003-2008 template to your Windows 2003 and Windows 2008
computers and obtain vital statistics on all of them.
A template is only a blueprint and does not perform any monitoring on its
own. Only after assigning the template to a server node are active assigned
component monitors created.
To continue the car analogy, pretend you want to monitor a fleet of 50, 2010,
blue Dodge Charger automobiles. Instead of defining the component
monitors for 50 cars, you can define all the component monitors in a Dodge
Charger template.
Assigned Component Monitors
Assigned component monitors are created by assigning Application Monitor
templates to server nodes. Each actively monitors its assigned node
according to its settings. Component monitors inherit these initial settings
from the template. If you make a change to a template, that same change is
rolled out to all assigned Application Monitors based on the template.
You can override the template settings at any time, breaking the inheritance
relationship between the component monitor and its template. For example,

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Chapter 13: Building Component Monitors and Templates

the user name and password usually differ for each node, and you would
select a different credential for each assigned Application Monitor, thus
overriding the template setting for the Credentials field.
To restore the inheritance relationship between a component monitor and
its template, click Inherit From Template next to the setting.
Continuing the car analogy, when you assign the Dodge Charger template
to a Dodge Charger vehicle, you now have a set of assigned component
monitors for monitoring the vehicles tire pressures, engine RPM, and so
forth.
Assigned Application Monitors
An assigned Application Monitor runs its assigned component monitors at
regular intervals, and then uses the status results from the component
monitors to determine an overall status for the application.
If some of the component monitors are up and others are down, the
Application Monitor follows the Status Rollup Mode setting in the
SolarWinds Web Console Settings to show either the worst status of the
group or a warning status.
The difference between an assigned Application Monitor and a template is
that the template is only a blueprint and does not perform any monitoring on
its own. Only after assigning the template to a server node does SolarWinds
SAM