Documentation forSolarWinds Observability SaaS

Monitor device configurations

When a Network Collector or Platform-connected SolarWinds Observability Self-Hosted poll configuration data, you can see the configurations in SolarWinds Observability SaaS.

  • Configuration Management - Overview: A tab in the network area overview and in the device entity details view.

  • Config Explorer: A tab in the network area overview lists all monitored configurations (startup and running configurations and their conflicts) that changed within the specified time frame.

Configurations are displayed only for "NCM nodes". If no configurations for a node are displayed in the Config Management tab, log in to the web console for your Network Collector or Platform-connected SolarWinds Observability Self-Hosted and ensure that the node is an "NCM node". See Set up configuration monitoring (Network Collector) or Add nodes as NCM nodes.

Every 45 minutes, the system checks for outdated configurations. Configurations older than 30 days are deleted.

See individual sections:

Review configuration changes and conflicts

  1. In SolarWinds Observability, click Network and then click Configuration Explorer.

  2. Use the filter and time drop-down to review configuration changes on monitored devices.

    The Config Explorer lists devices that received any metrics within the specified time. As a result, the list might include devices that do not have any config data as they received some metrics in the specified time.

    If there is a conflict of a startup and running config, you can see Conflict in the Startup vs Running column.

  3. Click the conflict to compare the startup and running config in an Inspector Panel.

View configurations

  1. In the Entity Explorer, find a device for which you are gathering configurations.

  2. Click the Config Management tab to see available configurations. They are saved and named after the time stamp when they were downloaded.

  3. To view a configuration, click the download time.

Compare configurations

  1. On the Config Management tab, select two items and click Compare.

  2. Review the changes and click Close to close the content comparison.

Download configurations

  1. In the Entity Explorer, find a device for which you are gathering configurations.

  2. Click the Config Management tab to see available configurations. They are saved and named after the time stamp when they were downloaded.

  3. To download a configuration, click the Download button.

    • To download the configuration the device started with, click Download Startup Config.

    • To download the configuration that is currently applied on the device, click Download Running Config.

      Downloading the configuration starts. Click the Events link in the message to follow the download progress.

Schedule and manage configuration jobs

Schedule configuration jobs to automate the management of network devices and configuration files. Configuration jobs include regular downloads of device configurations.

You can define and run configuration jobs either in SolarWinds Observability SaaS, on the Network Collector/Platform-connected SolarWinds Observability Self-Hosted, or in both places.

SolarWinds Observability SaaS

  • Supported job types: Download Configurations
  • There are no pre-defined jobs.

Network Collector /Platform-connected SolarWinds Observability Self-Hosted

  • Supported job types: Download Configs from Devices, Upload Change to Devices, Execute Command Script on Devices. See NCM job types for a comprehensive list.
  • There are pre-defined daily jobs.

Before you create a new job in SolarWinds Observability SaaS, check whether a similar job already exists on the Network Collector/Platform Connect SolarWinds Observability Self-Hosted. If you find the job there, consider disabling the job to avoid duplication.

Create a configuration job

  1. In SolarWinds Observability SaaS, go to Settings > Job Management.

  2. Click Create.

  3. Name the job.

  4. Select a Job Type.

  5. On the Schedule screen, specify when the job runs. Select the frequency (Daily, Weekly, Monthly, or Specific Date) and complete the schedule definition.

  6. Select the nodes to target with this job, and click Next.

  7. Specify how you want to be notified about the job:

    • Select an available email configuration. See Email notifications

      Custom Trigger Notifications and Custom Reset Notifications are not supported. If you select a configuration where these options are enabled, the job will run but you will not receive any notification.

    • Click Add a new configuration, provide a name for the email configuration and enter recipients. Optionally, enter a description for the email configuration.

  8. Configure job-specific details and click Next.

    If you are creating a Download Configuration job, select the configuration to be downloaded - Startup or Running.

  9. Review the summary and save the job. The job is added to the Job List. By default, new configuration jobs are enabled and run as scheduled. Review the Status column.

Enable/disable configuration jobs

Configuration jobs must be enabled to run. Jobs that are not enabled will not start.

  1. In SolarWinds Observability SaaS, go to Settings > Job Management.

  2. Find the job you want to enable/disable, click the vertical ellipsis and select Enable/Disable.

Edit configuration jobs

  1. In SolarWinds Observability SaaS, go to Settings > Job Management.

  2. Find the job you want to edit, click the vertical ellipsis and select Edit. This starts the Update Job wizard, where you can change the name, schedule, nodes, notification and job-specific details. See Create a configuration job for details about the wizard.

Monitor job execution

Review job details

  1. In SolarWinds Observability SaaS, go to Settings > Job Management.

  2. Click a job to display more details in the Inspector Panel.

  3. Click the Logs tab in the Inspector Panel to see the transfer history. If there are no records, select a longer time range in the Show drop-down list.

Review transfer status

  1. In SolarWinds Observability SaaS, go to Network > Configuration Management.

  2. Click the Transfer Status tab in the lower part of the screen. The tab displays all transfers for all jobs. Use the filters to find a specific job, or access the Transfer Status tab from a specific job.

    If there are no records, select a longer time range in the upper right corner.

  3. To view downloaded configurations for a specific job, click the vertical ellipsis for the job and select View Details.