--- title: "Network Monitoring with the SolarWinds SDK | heureka e-Business GmbH" canonical_url: "https://heureka.com/en/resources/blog/individuelle-netzwerkueberwachung-mit-dem-solarwinds-sdk" last_updated: "2026-09-04T20:10:15.414Z" meta: author: "heureka e-Business GmbH" description: "Practical examples using the SolarWinds Orion SDK, SWIS, SWQL, PowerShell, CRUD operations, and SWIS verbs for monitoring automation." "og:description": "Practical examples using the SolarWinds Orion SDK, SWIS, SWQL, PowerShell, CRUD operations, and SWIS verbs for monitoring automation." "og:title": "Network Monitoring with the SolarWinds SDK" "twitter:description": "Practical examples using the SolarWinds Orion SDK, SWIS, SWQL, PowerShell, CRUD operations, and SWIS verbs for monitoring automation." "twitter:title": "Network Monitoring with the SolarWinds SDK" --- [Back to Resources](https://heureka.com/en/resources) **Blog** 2017-09-01 3 min read Kai Bosch # **Custom Network Monitoring with the SolarWinds SDK** Query, extend, and automate SolarWinds Orion with SWIS, SWQL, PowerShell, and SWIS verbs. The Software Development Kit for SolarWinds Orion is a collection of tools for extending the monitoring platform. It primarily supports custom solutions in PowerShell and Python, but it can also be used independently through SOAP and REST. The [Orion SDK is available on GitHub](https://github.com/solarwinds/OrionSDK/). ## Simple Data Manipulation with SWIS The SolarWinds Information Service (SWIS) is a central interface for querying and modifying Orion data. It provides the SolarWinds Query Language (SWQL), a SQL-like query language. The underlying [SWIS data schema is documented online](https://solarwinds.github.io/OrionSDK/schema/index.html). The following PowerShell example finds applications containing a component monitor named `get mountpoints`. It then identifies the associated nodes and displays their names and IDs: ``` Add-PSSnapin SwisSnapin; $swis = Connect-Swis; # Name of the application monitor $ComponentName = "get mountpoints"; # Get application IDs for applications containing the component monitor [string]$sAppIDs = Get-SwisData $swis "SELECT ApplicationID FROM Orion.APM.Component WHERE Name = @name" @{name = $ComponentName}; $aAppIDs = $sAppIDs.Split(" "); Write-Output "Found $($aAppIDs.Length) Application(s) with Component"; ForEach ($sAppID in $aAppIDs) { # Get its node ID and name $nodeID = Get-SwisData $swis "SELECT NodeID FROM Orion.APM.Application WHERE ApplicationID = @AppID" @{AppID = $sAppID}; $NodeName = Get-SwisData $swis "SELECT NodeName FROM Orion.Nodes WHERE NodeID = @node;" @{node = $nodeID}; Write-Output "Node ID: $($nodeID) Name: $($NodeName)"; } ``` The PowerShell snap-in must be installed before the script runs. The Orion SDK's [PowerShell documentation](https://github.com/solarwinds/OrionSDK/wiki/PowerShell) explains the setup. SWIS uses SolarWinds credentials and honors the permissions of the relevant user. The interface also isolates clients from direct database-schema changes, helping provide a consistent data model for integrations. The SDK installation includes SWQL Studio for building queries. ![SWQL Studio showing the schema and a query against Orion data](https://heureka.com/media/resources/blog/swql-studio.png) In addition to read-only SWQL queries, SWIS exposes functions for CRUD operations. They can be called through the PowerShell snap-in, Python client, SOAP, or REST, although they are not implemented for every Orion data type. SWIS functions use a SWIS URI to select an object: ``` $swisUri = 'swis://localhost/Orion/Orion.Nodes/NodeID=$nodeID/Volumes/VolumeID=$volumeId'; ``` ## Automating SolarWinds Management with SWIS Verbs SWIS verbs execute common Orion actions directly from scripts. The following example temporarily removes a node from monitoring. First, SWQL is used to find the node ID: ``` SELECT NodeID, Caption, Status, StatusDescription FROM Orion.Nodes WHERE Caption LIKE '%Test%'; ``` Example result: ``` NodeID Caption Status StatusDescription 78 Testserver 1 Node status is Up. ``` The ID is then supplied to `Invoke-SwisVerb`. The dates from the historical example are intentionally retained: ``` Add-PSSnapin SwisSnapin; $swis = Connect-Swis; [datetime]$timestampNow = "01.09.2017"; [datetime]$timestampLater = "12.09.2017"; Invoke-SwisVerb $swis Orion.Nodes Unmanage @("N:78", $timestampNow, $timestampLater, "false"); ``` The node is removed from monitoring at the first timestamp and added again at the second. Running the query again reports status `9`, “Unmanaged.” The arguments accepted by a verb can be queried from metadata in SWQL Studio: ``` SELECT EntityName, VerbName, Position, Name, Type, IsOptional FROM Metadata.VerbArgument WHERE VerbName = 'Unmanage' AND EntityName = 'Orion.Nodes'; ``` ![Arguments of the Unmanage SWIS verb in SWQL Studio](https://heureka.com/media/resources/blog/swis-verb-properties.png) Another SWQL query lists the verbs supported by a particular installation: ``` SELECT Name, EntityName FROM Metadata.Verb; ``` ## Documentation and Community The [Orion SDK wiki](https://github.com/solarwinds/OrionSDK/wiki) is the main starting point for productive use of the tools. The [SWIS schema](https://solarwinds.github.io/OrionSDK/schema/index.html) and [THWACK community](https://thwack.solarwinds.com/) provide additional reference material and support. ## **Ready to move forward?** Talk to our experts about your specific challenges. 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