IP Address Manager (IPAM)

Getting Your SolarWinds IPAM License Activated

A SolarWinds IPAM license is what you need to activate IP address management, DHCP/DNS integration, and subnet allocation capabilities on the Orion Platform. After you purchase it, everything gets managed through the SolarWinds License Manager, essentially your command center for handling registration, tracking, and assignment of all licenses. Each record contains the usual information: customer account details, subscription dates, edition specifics, licensed IP node counts, and polling engine allocations. Most admins let the license assign itself automatically to the Orion server, but if you’re running a larger, distributed deployment with multiple polling engines, you can distribute capacity manually to fit your setup.

Working in an air-gapped or restricted environment? Offline activation is available using a UDI file (Unique Device Identifier). The process is straightforward: generate the UDI on your Orion server, take it to a machine with internet access, upload it to the SolarWinds Customer Portal, and download the key file they provide. Import that key back into your License Manager and you’re done, no direct internet connection needed on your production network.

The licensing runs on a subscription model with a fixed term, giving you continued access to updates, feature improvements, and technical support during that period. If your network grows and you need more capacity, license stacking lets you combine multiple entitlements in a single environment. Once your SolarWinds IPAM license is activated, you’ve got advanced IP address tracking, DHCP/DNS management, and automated IP utilization monitoring for better network visibility and control.

What SolarWinds IPAM Does for Your Network

Once SolarWinds IPAM is running, you get robust IP address management designed to simplify and automate the tedious parts of network administration. It provides a centralized view of all your IP address spaces, helping you allocate, reclaim, and monitor IPs in real time. The platform gives you detailed visibility into both IPv4 and IPv6 subnets, so you can quickly find unused addresses, catch conflicts before they cause problems, and prevent those annoying allocation errors that always seem to happen at the worst time.

One of the more useful aspects is the integration with DHCP and DNS servers. Updates and configuration changes sync automatically, which cuts down on manual work and reduces the chance of misconfigurations. Built-in alerting keeps you informed about issues like IP exhaustion, duplicate addresses, or lease failures, all the stuff that can quietly break things if you’re not watching.

SolarWinds IPAM also includes subnet discovery, role-based access control, and historical tracking for when you need audit trails or compliance documentation. The dashboards and reports give you real-time visibility into address utilization trends, which is helpful when you’re planning for future capacity needs and trying to avoid running out of IP space unexpectedly. When you integrate it with other Orion modules, you can correlate IP data with network and performance insights, which makes troubleshooting faster and gives you better operational visibility overall.

The main benefit here is having IP address tracking, DHCP/DNS administration, and reporting all in one place instead of scattered across multiple tools. It reduces operational complexity, improves network reliability, and helps you plan resources more effectively.

Pricing and Buying SolarWinds IPAM

When you’re ready to purchase SolarWinds IPAM, start by figuring out how many IP nodes and subnets you need to manage. You can request a quote through the official SolarWinds store or work with an authorized reseller or partner. To get accurate pricing, it helps to have these details ready: edition level, node counts, polling engine requirements, what support tier makes sense for your team, and how long you want the subscription to run.

The SolarWinds IPAM price depends on a few things: edition type, IP address capacity, subscription length, and any optional integrations you add. Volume purchases and multi-year terms often get you more favorable pricing, which is worth considering if you’re budgeting long-term. As your network expands, license stacking lets you scale capacity without redeploying new environments, much simpler than starting from scratch.

Once you complete the purchase, the entitlement appears in your License Manager. You can activate it online right away, or if you’re in a secure environment, use the UDI offline activation method we covered earlier. After activation wraps up, IP address management capabilities are fully enabled and the system syncs node allocations across your deployment.

Thinking about trying it first? Free trials are available for organizations that want to evaluate the solution before committing. The SolarWinds IPAM Types page provides details on available editions and capacity tiers if you want to compare options. For pricing information, check the SolarWinds IPAM price page or get quotes from official partners. The pricing model is transparent, so you can plan your network management investment without any surprises.