Using SolarWinds API to Check if a Device Already Exists Before Adding It via Ansible

venkatr

I am working on automating device onboarding using Ansible and the SolarWinds SWIS API.

Before attempting to add a node, I would like to verify whether the device already exists in SolarWinds (preferably by IP address or hostname) to avoid duplicate entries.

I found that querying Orion. Nodes using SWQL seems to be the right approach, for example

SELECT NodeID, Caption, IPAddress
FROM Orion.Nodes
WHERE IPAddress = ip

Has anyone implemented this check in Ansible? Is querying Orion.Nodes the recommended and most efficient method, or is there a better API endpoint or approach for validating node existence before creating a new node?

Any sample playbooks, scripts, or best practices would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

mr.castaneda

Your Orion.Nodes query is the right approach. I’d make it parameterized and use the IP address as the primary check, with the hostname as a secondary match if that’s how it’s stored in your environment:

SELECT TOP 1 NodeID, Caption, IPAddress, UriFROM Orion.NodesWHERE IPAddress = @ip    OR Caption = @hostname 

In Ansible, query SWIS first and only run the create-node call when the query returns no row. Avoid building the SWQL by string concatenation, and if you’re checking both values, treat an IP match as authoritative to avoid false positives. The Orion SDK examples are a good reference for calling SWIS from your playbook.