Adding network devices directly from SolarWinds Observability requires Network Collector 2024.2.10 or later. See Upgrade the Network Collector.

1. In SolarWinds Observability SaaS, click Add Data at the top.

2. On the Add Data dialog, click the Network tab and click Network Device.

3. On Select Network Collector, select Use existing Network Collector and select the collector you want to poll the new network device by.

   You can only select a Network Collector version 2024.2.10 and later which is Connected. Earlier versions of the collector do not support adding devices and adding devices requires an active connection.

   If you don’t find a suitable collector, deploy a new one or upgrade an existing collector to 2024.2.10.

   

4. On Define Node, specify the network device you want to monitor in SolarWinds Observability SaaS and click Next.

   1. Type a hostname or IP address.

   2. If the device has a dynamic IP address that might change occasionally, select Dynamic IP Address. Selecting the box mean that the IP or hostname lookup must return a complete IP-hostname pair to continue.

      Optional settings

      • To identify the device in SolarWinds Observability SaaS, specify a display name.
      • To add a custom tag to the device, click Add Tag and specify the key and the value for the tag. You can also add tags to the device later on the device details page, in the Overview tab.

      

   3. Select how you want to poll the network device.

      Select ICMP to monitor the health by polling the device and comparing the results to predefined threshold values. ICMP pools device status, average response time, or packet loss percentage.

      Select SNMPv2 to get more details by querying the management information base and performance indicators tied to specific object identifiers

   4. If you select SNMP, specify the SNMP version, port, and specify SNMP credentials for polling.

      • To use existing credentials, select Existing and then select a credentials set from the list.

        

      • To use new credentials, select New and provide the display name and community string.

        

        Clicking Next tests the credentials.

5. On Choose Resources, select metrics and resources to be monitored on the devices and click Next. For example, you can monitor status and response time, topology, and selected interfaces.

6. On Summary, review the information and click Submit.

7. When the network device is added for monitoring, you will be redirected to the Network Overview and will see the new device within a couple of minutes.