Simple Automation Example using Orion SDK

A few months ago, I really stated digging into the Orion SDK and I wanted to know more about ways to automate adding nodes to Orion.  Sure, I can wait for the Network Discovery to kick off, but I’m impatient.  I’ve gotten many of the parts together over time, but this is my first post where I put everything together.  For this version, I use the PowerShell Snap-In.  I will add an additional post later using the PowerOrion Module.

Normally I lay out each step, but I’ll just start with some pseudo-code to explain the steps.

<#
In this example we will be adding a Windows 2016 server and using a different monitored server as the "source" for the pollers to use.
#>

#region Automation Example
<#
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Variables - at a minimum, we need
 * IP                 - IP Address of the node to add
 * Caption            - name to give the device
 * CredentialName     - Credential name as stored in Orion
 * ObjectSubType      - External/ICMP/SNMP/WMI (Agent handled differently)
 * PollerSourceNodeID - Similar type of node
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
#>

$IP                 = "10.1.100.27"
$Caption            = "Test-WinCore"
$CredentialName     = "Orion (Demo.Lab)"
$ObjectSubType      = "WMI"
$PollerSourceNodeID = "38"

<#
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Setup Connection
 - connect to SolarWinds Information Service
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
#>

# Do we already have the connection?  No, then set one up.
if ( -not $SwisConnection )
{
    $SwisConnection = Connect-Swis -Hostname "10.196.3.50" -Credential ( Get-Credential -UserName "admin" -Message "Enter your Orion Credentials" )
}

<#
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Collect Data from Orion
 - Get the ID's for the Credential, the Polling Engine, and the Pollers
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
#>
# Credential ID
$CredID         = Get-SwisData -SwisConnection $SwisConnection -Query "SELECT ID FROM Orion.Credential WHERE CredentialOwner = 'Orion' AND Name = '$CredentialName'"

# Polling Engine ID
$EngineID       = Get-SwisData -SwisConnection $SwisConnection -Query "SELECT EngineID FROM Orion.Engines WHERE ServerTYpe = 'Primary'"

# Pollers to Use
$SwisPollers    = Get-SwisData -SwisConnection $SwisConnection -Query "SELECT PollerType FROM Orion.Pollers WHERE NetObject = 'N:$PollerSourceNodeID' AND Enabled = 'True'"

<#
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Steps to Create a Node
1) Create a "shell" node (basically a placeholder)
2) Assign the credentials to the node
3) Add the pollers to the device
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
#>

<#
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Create Shell SWIS Object
We need the IP, the Engine, the ObjectSubType, the Caption, and the Type
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
#>

$ShellProps = @{
    IPAddress     = $IP
    EngineID      = $EngineID
    ObjectSubType = $ObjectSubType
    Caption       = $Caption
    EntityType    = 'Orion.Nodes'
}

# Create the new 'shell' node
$NodeUri        = New-SwisObject -SwisConnection $SwisConnection -EntityType "Orion.Nodes" -Properties $ShellProps
# Capture the 'shell' node's properties
$NodeProperties = Get-SwisObject -SwisConnection $SwisConnection -Uri $NodeUri


<#
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Assign Credentials (which is a setting)
 For the ID of the 'shell' node, we ask it about itself, then add the 
 type of credential (in this case WMI) and the value (the ID of the
 credential.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
#>
$Settings = @{
    NodeID = $NodeProperties["NodeID"]
    SettingName = "WMICredential"
    SettingValue = $CredID
} 

# Assign this setting
New-SwisObject -SwisConnection $SwisConnection -EntityType "Orion.NodeSettings" -Properties $Settings


<#
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Add Pollers
 This is a little more complex, but the gist is: using the list of pollers
 that we are using for another similar device, add those pollers to this
 device as well.
 Normally this follows "MachineType" designations
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
#>
ForEach ( $SwisPoller in $SwisPollers )
{
    Write-Host "Adding $( $SwisPoller ) to NodeID $( $NodeProperties["NodeID"] )"
    $Poller = @{
        NetObjectType = "N"
        NetObjectID   = $nodeProperties["NodeID"]
        NetObject     = "N:$( $nodeProperties["NodeID"] )"
        PollerType    = $SwisPoller
    }

    New-SwisObject -SwisConnection $SwisConnection -EntityType "Orion.Pollers" -Properties $Poller

}

<#
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Poll it now!
 This is equivalent of clicking "poll now" button.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
#>

Invoke-SwisVerb -SwisConnection $SwisConnection -EntityName "Orion.Nodes" -Verb "PollNow" -Arguments "N:$( $NodeProperties["NodeID"] )"

#endregion Automation Example

I personally, prefer this way (instead of PowerOrion) due to some functionality that I can leverage using these lower level functions.