Configure monitored values in API pollers

For each value monitored by an API poller, you can define:

• How the value is stored, which controls whether or not a SAM license is consumed.
• The name used for the value when displayed in the SolarWinds Platform Web Console.
• Warning and critical thresholds used for SolarWinds Platform alerting.

To configure a value for an API poller, you can take either of the following actions:

• Click the Monitor () icon next to a new value you're adding to an API poller.

  

• Click the Edit () icon for an existing value in an API poller.

  

The following dialog box appears:

Options include:

• How should we store this value?
  • Keep the default setting, "New monitored value," to save the value as historical, time series data that consumes a SAM license.
  • Select "Use as a variable in subsequent request" to save a value for later use in the same API poller without consuming another license. For example, to capture a user ID and use it to get more data about a specific account. This is helpful for APIs that require authentication tokens in headers; the first request retrieves a token that is then passed to subsequent requests as a variable in headers. See Chain multiple API requests in a single API poller in SAM for details.
• SolarWinds Platform display name
• Type

  • Adjust the default setting, Numeric, if returned values will be in string format (for example, Up, Down, True, or False). If you select String, additional fields appear where you can convert expected values to numeric values so you can set thresholds for alerting. For example, map "True" to 1 and "False" to 2, and then use the numeric values in the Threshold fields.

    

• Thresholds. Set warning and critical thresholds for API poller alerts.

Want to learn more about chaining API requests and monitoring string values? Watch API Pollers: When SNMP Won't Cut It.