Regarding SolarWinds API for the custom database

Shanmuga

Hi,

   We are running SolarWinds 2025.1.1, I have question regarding the SolarWinds API, we created new database called SolarWinds Reporting under that we have created many custom views. My question is how to access these custom views using API. When I search in google , I see to pull the caption from the SolarWindsOrion database it has select caption from orion.nodes and it works. But at the same time when I want to access the custom view , I am unable to access it let say - SELECT caption FROM solarwindsReporting.NCP_Nodes.

Can someone please help me how to achieve this?.  Appreciate your help.

Thanks.

mesverrum

The API is pretty strict, you can't just add tables or databases to it normally.

The one workaround is there is a command in the API that will run raw SQL, but its kind of locked up because it doesn't provide any validation or permissions and if someone was feeling dangerous a malicious query could delete your db and it would show up in the SQL logs as the SW service account doing it to itself.  Only admins have access to it when its enabled, but its still something to be treated carefully.

This article describes how to enable the executesql capability, and then you would work with a DBA to ensure the service account your Orion instance uses has the necessary permissions to access your custom database (ideally on the same sql instance would be easier).

https://solarwindscore.my.site.com/SuccessCenter/s/article/Custom-SQL-reports-fail-after-the-upgrade-to-2023-2-Error-executing-SQL-database-SolarWindsOrion?language=en_US

Cannot stress this enough for people who try to do this, you would be giving an account that allows anyone with an admin account in orion to execute whatever sql they want under the Orion svc account, so there is some risk in enabling this and thats why they locked it all up and turned it off a few years ago.

Alternatively there are tons of tools unrelated to solarwinds that act as an API for SQL Server that you could stand up that would allow more granular control of tokens and service accounts to not expose yourself to this potential risk of reusing the orion database account.