URL monitoring

Question

I am looking for a solution that can log in to a web page/application, validate that the login is successful, and then verify that the post-login page loads correctly by checking for specific text on the page.

I have already tested the HTTP(S) Monitor, which allows me to search for a string on the login page. However, I also need the ability to authenticate to the application and validate content on the page after the login process is completed.

mr.castaneda · Answer

Hi @ptak,

That error (Exception has been thrown by the target of an invocation) is an underlying .NET reflection error from SAM's component parser. You're running into this because of how the SolarWinds Orion login page is built.

A couple of reasons why this happens here:

* ASP.NET WebForms & ViewState: The SAM HTTP(S) Form Login Monitor is designed for basic, static HTML <form> logins. The Orion console (Login.aspx) is an ASP.NET WebForms application that relies heavily on dynamic tokens (__VIEWSTATE, __EVENTVALIDATION), session cookies, and JavaScript. When SAM's form-parser tries to inspect and submit against it during the test, it chokes and throws that invocation exception.
* Query String & SSL: The encoded query parameter (?ReturnUrl=%2f) can sometimes trip up the test parser. Additionally, if the Orion server uses an internal or self-signed certificate that the polling engine doesn't explicitly trust, the invocation will fail.

What to do instead:

* Use Web Performance Monitor (WPM) for this: If your goal is to log in and verify a specific page/string after authentication, WPM is specifically built for this. It drives a real browser session, so it handles ASP.NET ViewState, redirects, and session cookies automatically without breaking.
* If you're just testing the Form Login template: Try testing it against a simple internal web app with standard HTML form inputs (username/password POST without dynamic tokens).
* If you only need to know if the SolarWinds Web Console is up: You don't actually need to log in. A standard HTTPS Monitor pointing to https://Solarwinds.ad.sannet.gov/Orion/Login.aspx checking for an HTTP 200 OK (or matching text like "SolarWinds" on the login page itself) will tell you immediately if the web console is healthy.

ptak · Answer

i am testing and trying to configure it on solarwinds url but getting error. https://Solarwinds.ad.sannet.gov/Orion/Login.aspx?ReturnUrl=%2f

Exception has been thrown by the target of an invocation.

mr.castaneda · Answer

Hi @ptak,

For this exact workflow, the go-to tool in the SolarWinds ecosystem is Web Performance Monitor (WPM) (or Synthetic Transaction Monitoring if you are running SolarWinds Observability).

The standard HTTP(S) Monitor in SAM is limited to a single request/response check, which is why it stops at the initial landing page. Here is how you can handle it depending on what modules you have:

* Web Performance Monitor (WPM) – Recommended:* Use the WPM Web Transaction Recorder to record the full flow in a real browser session: navigate to the URL, enter your credentials, and click login.
* On the post-login page, add a Text Match action targeting the specific string you want to verify.
* Once saved, assign the transaction to a WPM Player location to run on your desired polling schedule. This handles redirects, session cookies, and JavaScript seamlessly.

* If you only have SAM (without WPM):* Check out the HTTP(S) Form Login Monitor template. It allows passing credentials via a POST request and validating text in the response. It works well for legacy/basic HTML form authentication, though it won't handle modern JavaScript-heavy login flows, multi-factor auth, or complex redirects.
* If your app uses token/API-based auth or needs custom header handling, another common workaround in SAM is writing a simple PowerShell Script Monitor (using Invoke-WebRequest or Invoke-RestMethod with a WebSession) to authenticate and grep for the text string.

If the application has dynamic UI or single-sign-on, WPM will give you the most reliable results by far. Hope this points you in the right direction!