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Solarwinds and PowerBi Dashboard?

Hi all,

Has anyone used PowerBI to produce a dashboard containing Solarwinds data?

The connection to the DB is standard but to build something on top of it is becoming a nightmare, anyone does this that might have some advice?

Just to get the weekly availability of groups is a struggle...

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kenosmith3

I have used to PowerBI to create some status reports by querying Solarwinds DB..PowerBI can be complex but it's super powerful and so much quicker than what I use to do. I use to export a Solarwinds report to Excel then create a Pivot table..

I'll see if I can create (in my spare time LOL) an group availability report in PowerBI and report back to you..

Ken

domagaj

Hi,

Did you manage to create right queries in PowerBI? Could you show the steps and query itself?

mattyc88

I've spent a bit of time on working this out this year and am now able to produce some really useful dashboards for our executives when request.

The trick with PowerBI is not just connected it direct to the DB but to actually import only the data you need from the Database into PowerBi itself using a SQL query.

This makes creating the visuals soooo much easier and means the hardest bit really is working out the ocrrect query for the data you want. Once you understand the lay of the land of the SW SQL database this becomes much easier too.

Below is a few dashboard views i've created recently so that we can keep an eye on the amount of remote users we have and the bandwidth they use.

RAS Connections.png

**The SQL data used to populate the below graphs is the exact same as used in the Performance Analyzer function of Solarwinds, THE SQL was a nightmare to figure out but now is utterly repeatable for most metrics available in Performance Anlayzer.

RAS Historic.png

**This dashboard is actually a mixture of both Airwatch and Solarwinds Data cobined to create a single high level dashboard, a perfect example of what makes PowerBI so useful.

If I get time i'm going to write up a post on how I've managed to achieve all of this with some of the SQL queries that some might find useful for the basics. Might take me a few weeks to find the time atm

mattyc88

Hi,

With the attached query you should be able to create a dashboard view similar to this in PBI.

Group Status.png

Query.txt

ruth.delacruz

Hello, normally what table is needed?. thank you

mattyc88

It really depends what data you are wanting to present.

If you give me an idea of what you want to achieve i'll try point you in the right direction.

TheRealITGuy

Wow this looks great! Nice job.

I look forward to your write up on the SQL queries you used.

djreil9

@mattyc88 did you use a regular SQL connector or set up a separate connector for SWQL? I'm having issues with initial set up.

mattyc88

@djreil9 Apologies for the late response, i've moved jobs so don't really use SW anymore and missed the email

I used the default connect to sql database option.

As long as it can connect to the SQL DB and Authenticate it should be striaght forward.

sankara.padmanathan

I am new to Solarwinds. I am able to access the server status in Solarwinds. Don't know how and where the data is stored. Can you please throw some light on how to connect to the Solarwinds DB.

Raj4

Hello Matt,

Thank you so much for your insight on solarwinds DB, i am new to solarwinds could you please also provide me the DB table to query for interface bandwidth utilization.

Thanks in advance,

Raj B

Raj4

Hello Matt,

Thank you so much for your insight on solarwinds DB, i am new to solarwinds could you please provide me the DB table to query interface bandwidth utilization(in %).

Thanks in advance,

Raj B

m_roberts

You are advised to use the Orion API (SWQL) method, as this will abstract SQL database schema changes. If you do direct SQL be aware upgrades may mean your queries need to be updated to match the new DB schema

mulambo

Hi @m_roberts

Do you have an idea on how to connect to the Solarwinds API from PowerBI?

I am running into an issue with the connection when I select Get data -> Web.

Then I provide an URL: https://myserver:17778/SolarWinds/InformationService/v3/Json/Query?query=SELECT+caption+FROM+Orion.Nodes

An error pops up when I try to connect:

We encountered an error while trying to connect.
Details: "The underlying connection was closed: Could not establish trust relationship for the SSL/TLS secure channel."