Documentation forSolarWinds

Organize your tools with Engineer's Toolset Workspace Studio

After you've found the right tools with Desktop Launch Pad, you can use the Workspace Studio to organize them. Open multiple tools simultaneously, monitor multiple devices, and customize the layout to meet your specific work needs.

In the Workspace Studio interface, you can move and resize objects. The real-time data collected by Workspace Studio is easy to find and manage.

Open Workspace Studio

Click Start > SolarWinds Engineer's Toolset > Workspace Studio.

If you close the Explorer pane (or any other Workspace Studio component) and need to display it again, click View > Explorer Pane.

Manage and organize tabs

Tab layout and design in Workspace Studio is fully customizable. You can create multiple tabs that contain multiple sets of gadgets. You can switch from a tab showing you details on a core switch to a tab showing you discovery information. Tabs can be saved so that you can return to your customized view.

Select tabs

  • To select one tab, click the tab name in the row of tabs. Or click the tab name in the Tabs Explorer in the left pane.

  • To select multiple tabs, hold Shift or Control and click the tab names in the Tabs Explorer in the left pane.

Create, name, and save tabs

  • To create a new tab, click Tabs > New Tab. The tab is created with the name New Tab (n).

  • To give the tab a different name, select the tab and click Tabs > Rename Selected Tab.

    To place the tab in a folder in the Tabs Explorer, enter the path and tab name using the following syntax: folder\tabname.

    You can save your tabs for later use and organize your tabs using any folder structure you want.

  • To save one or more tabs, select the tabs and click Tabs > Save Selected Tabs.

    Unsaved tabs re-open when you restart Workspace Studio.

Create horizontal or vertical groups of tabs

When you create horizontal or vertical groups of tabs, you can move multiple groups of tabs in a split-view on your monitor.

  • To split tabs horizontally, select the tabs and click Tabs > Move Selected tabs to New Horizontal Tab Group.

  • To split tabs vertically, select the tabs and click Tabs > Move Selected tabs to New Vertical Tab Group.

Use the tab rotator

You can use the tab rotator to switch between your tabs. This is helpful when you are using the Workspace Studio to display an overall status view or network operations center (NOC) view.

  1. Click the green arrow in the lower-left corner of the window.

  2. Enter the number of seconds each tab is displayed before the tabs are rotated.

Delete tabs

You can delete individual or a selection of tabs that have been saved.

  1. In the left pane, open the Tabs Explorer.
  2. In the Saved Tabs group, select a tab or group of tabs.
  3. Click Tabs > Delete Selected Tabs.
  4. Click Yes at the confirmation prompt.

Add gadgets

Add gadgets to a tab to create your own customized work space. Your tabs and layout are saved automatically, so the next time you start Workspace Studio, you can start where you left off.

Gadgets can be discovery tools, interface monitors, CLI tools, or response time monitors. You can also add web gadgets to display web pages within the Workspace Studio.

Add a web gadget

Reasons to add web gadgets to the Workspace Studio include:

  • Displaying your SolarWinds Platform Web resources.
  • Accessing web interfaces for your network devices.
  • Showing current weather conditions or forecasts.
  • Accessing local intranet resources.

To add a web gadget to a tab in the Workspace Studio:

  1. Create or open a tab.
  2. In the Gadgets Explorer in the left pane, expand the Tools folder, then expand the Web Gadgets folder, and then drag the Simple WebGadget to the tab.
  3. Enter the Web address in the Browser URL field.
  4. Enter a title and sub-title in the fields.
  5. Click OK.

Add and configure other gadgets

To add a gadget to a tab:

  1. Locate the gadget in the Gadget Explorer in the left pane.

  2. Drag the gadget to a location on the currently open tab.

    You can also drag gadgets from one tab and drop them into another tab.

    You can copy gadgets from one tab to a newly-created tab by dragging the gadget to a blank area next to an existing tab.

  3. Configure the gadget as needed, depending on the gadget.

    Configuring a gadget can mean adding a single device or supplying an IP address range to scan. Some gadgets require you to add devices or interfaces and select which statistics to monitor.

Install optional gadgets from SolarWinds Labs

You can install additional gadgets that are not included in the default installation from SolarWinds Labs.

  1. Click the green test tube near the top right corner of the window.

    The available plug-ins are displayed in the SolarWinds Labs window.

  2. Select the plug-in gadget you want to install, then complete the installation procedure.

Detach gadgets

Detach and view a configured gadget independently from the Workspace Studio. Detaching a gadget creates a copy of your configured gadget in a separate window.

  1. Click Options in the upper-right corner of the gadget.

  2. Click Detach.

When you close the gadget, all settings associated with the detached gadget are lost.

Manage devices

Devices can be added for one-time use or saved for future use. You can also import a list of devices to the Workspace Studio. Login credentials are created and assigned to specific devices.

Add devices

  1. Click Devices > Add New Device.
  2. Enter the IP address or host name of the device.
  3. Select when to display the device status.

When monitoring a large number of devices, it is good practice to set your devices to show the status only when monitored in a gadget to reduce unnecessary overhead.

Manage device properties

You can view and update the properties specified for a device.

  1. In the Devices Explorer in the left pane, select the device.

    The Device Properties pane displays that device's properties.

  2. Click to display the properties as an alphabetized list. Or click to display the properties grouped by category.

    When properties are grouped by category (the default view), you can click the arrow to the left of each category to collapse or expand the category.

  3. To edit a property value, click the line and select or enter the new value.

Discover and remember interfaces

After adding a device, you can discover the interfaces on that device. When the interfaces are known, you can set Workspace Studio to remember the interfaces so they are displayed in the Devices Explorer in the left pane. You can then drag interfaces to interface gadgets without having to go through the add interface process.

  1. Right-click the device that contains the interfaces to be added, and then click Discover Interfaces.
  2. Select the method you want to use to find the interfaces.
  3. To filter your search by name or status, specify the search parameter associated with the filter you choose. For example, select the Interfaces with Status method, and then select Up as the search parameter.
  4. Click Go.
  5. Click Remember.
  6. To remove an interface, click Stop Remembering.
  7. Click OK.

To discover the device credentials based on the existing credential sets, click Discover a Credential, and then click Close.

Manage interfaces

Manage interfaces directly from the Device list.

  • To enable or disable interfaces, right-click the interface or selection of interfaces, and then click Enable/Disable Interfaces.

  • To rename an interface, right-click the interface, click Rename Interface, and then enter the new name.

  • To display the interface details, right-click the interface, and then click Show Interface Information.

Add device credentials

When you add devices or use gadgets, you may be required to assign unique credentials to a device for use within the Workspace Studio. Create multiple credential sets to help you streamline your daily use of the tool. For security, credential sets can be encrypted within the database.

The Workspace Studio supports SNMP (v1, v2c, and v3), SSH1, SSH2, and Telnet communication protocols. For information on the communication protocols your devices support, see the device documentation.

  1. Click File > Manage Devices & Credentials.

  2. Click SNMP Credentials or SSH Credentials.

  3. Click Add New.

  4. Select the communication protocol.

  5. Enter a name for the credential set.

  6. Enter the community string.

    To see the community string as you enter it, click Show.

  7. For SSH credentials, enter the user name and password.

    For SNMP credentials, enter the following details:

    Value Description
    Username The name of the user with access to the device.
    Context A named designation, similar to a group or domain name, to which the user name belongs. Context is mandatory if it has been defined for the object being managed.
    Authentication The authentication to be used when logging in to the device, for example, MD5.
    Authentication Password The password or key that corresponds to the selected authentication.
    Encryption The encryption used when communicating with the device, for example AES (128 bit) encryption.
    Encryption Password The password or key that corresponds to the selected encryption.

  8. To test the SNMP credentials, enter or select the IP address or host name of a device, and then click Test Credential.

  9. To ensure your credential details are secure, select Encrypt Credentials.

  10. Click Apply Changes.

Import devices

You can import a list of devices from a text file, a CSV file, SolarWinds database types, SQL databases, and Access databases. Add devices to the Workspace Studio using an import file.

The import files must contain the IP address of each device listed.

  1. Click Devices > Import Devices.
  2. Select the file to import, and then click Next.

Import from a SolarWinds Platform or SQL database

  1. If you know the connection string, click Enter Connection String Manually, enter the connection string, and then click Next.
  2. In the Server Name or Address field, enter the SQL server name or IP address.
  3. Enter the user name and password.
  4. Select the database you want to import devices from, and then click Next.

Import from any other file format

  1. Browse to the import file, select it, and then click Next.
  2. Assign the columns, and then click Next.
  3. Select the rows to import, and then click Next.
  4. If you want to exclude devices with duplicate IP addresses, select the box on the Select Options window.
  5. Click Finish.

The IP address of the device is used as the device display name when importing static devices if there is no connectivity.

Modify Workspace Studio settings

Modify SNMP, ICMP, polling, or threshold settings.

  1. Go to the Settings menu.
  2. Click File > Settings to access the Workspace Studio settings.