Network Management

Expected Behavior When Using Orion.AlertActive/Acknowledge API Verb in the SolarWinds Platform

This article provides information about the expected behavior and limitations when using the Orion.AlertActive/Acknowledge SWIS verb via the SolarWinds API. It addresses confusion regarding which fields are updated, particularly the AcknowledgedNote field, and clarifies the correct payload structure and scope of changes.

First published date

7/18/2025 5:04 PM

Last published date

11/14/2025 9:18 PM

Overview

When acknowledging alerts via API using the SWIS verb Orion.AlertActive/Acknowledge, users may observe that some fields in the database, such as AcknowledgedNote in the AlertActive table, are not updated as expected. This behavior can lead to confusion, especially when custom scripts or integrations rely on the assumption that the note will be stored in AcknowledgedNote.

 

This verb is designed to handle alert acknowledgment actions and supports only a limited, predefined set of input parameters.

 

Supported SWIS Endpoint:

POST https://<solarwindsserver>:17774/SolarWinds/InformationService/v3/Json/Invoke/Orion.AlertActive/Acknowledge

 

Valid Payload Format:

{
  "alertObjectIds": [12345],
  "notes": "Acknowledged via API for tracking"
}

 

Observed Behavior After Invocation:

  • Table: AlertActive
    • Acknowledged: updated to 1
    • AcknowledgedBy: set to the API user
    • AcknowledgedDateTime: set to timestamp of the call
    • AcknowledgedNote: not updated
  • Table: AlertObject
    • AlertNote: updated with the string value from the notes payload

This behavior is confirmed by SolarWinds documentation: Orion SDK Alerts Wiki

 

You can view the officially documented parameters for this verb in the SolarWinds Swagger UI.

Product section

Network Performance Monitor

Cause

The API verb is intentionally limited in scope and functionality. The AcknowledgedNote field is not used or populated by the Orion.AlertActive/Acknowledge SWIS verb. Instead, the note provided in the payload is written to the AlertObject.AlertNote field.

 

This behavior is by design and is documented in SolarWinds’ GitHub-based SDK documentation. Customers expecting AcknowledgedNote to be populated may be referencing outdated or incorrect assumptions about field mappings.

Resolution

To properly acknowledge an alert using the API:

  1. Use the correct endpoint and method:
     
    POST /Invoke/Orion.AlertActive/Acknowledge
  2. Format the payload using only the supported fields:
     
    {
  "alertObjectIds": [12345],
  "notes": "Acknowledged via API"
}
  3. After execution, verify that the AlertActive table has the Acknowledged flag set to 1, and AlertObject.AlertNote contains your note.
    Do     not expect the AcknowledgedNote field to be populated, as it is not used by the API.

 

Support Scope Reminder:

Please note that use of the SolarWinds API and Orion SDK is outside the standard scope of SolarWinds Technical Support. While we assist on a best-effort basis, scripting and API usage are not officially covered.

For API- and SDK-related questions or issues, we recommend visiting the Orion SDK Lab on THWACK. This community includes peer users and SolarWinds developers who can help.

You may also refer to our support policy here:

Support for Orion SDK and other API-related tools