Nodes.Description field not updating via API

I don't know why we are update/use this field but I really wonder the answer for this question about "description" field.

I am actually doing the Create/Orion.Nodes call and the Description field is populating the MachineType and the Description fields is being set to NULL.

I have even tried updating the Description field with the Update directive, but it is still not updating.

I'm sure that many people would like to help but you have not followed the standard litany: FGA: Please follow the standard litany when giving a problem report.

a) what does your code look like; post the actual code

b) what makes you think it is sending what you think it is to the solarwinds server; have you run wireshark/tcpdump to capture the traffic in-flight and compare it to what you think you are sending? can you include that in your report?

c) what responses does the solarwinds server actually make.

from your last message it sounds to me like you have an off-by-one error and your argument lists are not lining up (without the code no-one can confirm that)

I have actually opened a ticket with tech support, and they are raising the issue with Development.  I know it is not ordering, as this worked with the previous version prior to NPM 11.

Hi Charles,

I think I have your ticket.

I'm not aware of any change at this field between NPM 10.7 and NPM 11, but here are some facts (valid for some years).

- For historical reasons the property Description=MachineType (has the same storage in DB). Because of this you can use only one of them in the Node property bag (hashtable with properties). This can't be changed directly in product because of backward compatibility with other Orion Platform components/modules.

- The Description as you can see in the Node Details resource is in fact NodeDescription, so if you wan't to specify it or modify the description, you need to use this property.

I hope it helps at least a bit to clarify the problematics.

Regards,

Honza

Then when I look in the Nodes table, why does the Nodes.Description field be NULL for all devices that are added with the API, but those nodes added through the GUI are populated with empty string which allows the Node Details to display?

Are you sure that is the reason? My code that adds nodes doesn't set Nodes.Description in any way (NPM 9.x through 11.0.1) and they all display correctly.

Here is my literal code:

        my $AddedNode=$swis->Create('Orion.Nodes',

                {'Caption'=>$ip,

                'IPAddress'=>$ip,

                'IPAddressguid' => ip2guid($ip),

                'DynamicIP'=>0,

                'UnManaged'=>0,

                'EngineID'=>1,

                'Status'=>1,

                'Allow64BitCounters'=>1,

                'ObjectSubType'=>'SNMP',

                'SNMPVersion'=>2,

                'Community'=>$rocid,

                'Comments'=>'Added by noc',

                'AssetTag'=>$tagno,

                'SysObjectID'=>$oid,

                'MachineType'=>$MachineType,

                'Vendor'=>$Vendor,

                'VendorIcon'=>$VendorIcon,

                'Building'=>"$bldg",

                'Room'=>"$room",

                'Sector'=>"$sector",

                'RT_Sector'=>"$rtsector",

                'RT_Severity'=>3,

                'BufferNoMemThisHour'=>-2,

                'BufferNoMemToday'=>-2,

                'BufferSmMissThisHour'=>-2,

                'BufferSmMissToday'=>-2,

                'BufferMdMissThisHour'=>-2,

                'BufferMdMissToday'=>-2,

                'BufferBgMissThisHour'=>-2,

                'BufferBgMissToday'=>-2,

                'BufferLgMissThisHour'=>-2,

                'BufferLgMissToday'=>-2,

                'BufferHgMissThisHour'=>-2,

                'BufferHgMissToday'=>-2,

                'PercentMemoryUsed'=>-2,

                'TotalMemory'=>-2,

                'SNMPV2Only'=>0,

                'External'=>0,

                'DNS'=>'',

                'IOSImage'=>'',

                'IOSVersion'=>'',

                'RWSNMPv3AuthKeyIsPwd'=>1,

                'RWSNMPV3AuthKey' => 'None',

                'RWSNMPV3AuthMethod'=> 'None',

                'RWSNMPV3Context' => 'None',

                'RWSNMPv3PrivKeyIsPwd'=>1,

                'RWSNMPV3PrivKey' => 'None',

                'RWSNMPv3PrivMethod'=> 'None',

                'RWSNMPV3Username' => 'None',

                'SNMPv3AuthKeyIsPwd' => 1,

                'SNMPV3AuthKey' => 'None',

                'SNMPv3AuthMethod' => 'None',

                'SNMPV3Context' => 'None',

                'SNMPv3PrivKeyIsPwd' => 1,

                'SNMPv3PrivKey' => 'None',

                'SNMPv3PrivMethod'=> 'None',

                'SNMPV3Username' => 'None'

                                });

the italicised ones are the custom properties local to here.

/RjL

You are doing the swis call.  I am using the REST calls.

I will try updating the NodeDescription field and see if that makes a difference.

The reason is, that the unitialized properties  (don't have value in the property bag) have NULL value. If you use Description, you set MachineType in real (that's what I explained above) and the Description storage remains untouched. For this use the NodeDescription.

We prepare a bit smarter autoinitialization logic for upcoming release, so I hope you'll like it.

Thanks.