SolarWinds 2FA: how to set up an authenticator app
By the Novaz team · Updated October 29, 2026
Novaz steps checked against version 1.0.5
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SolarWinds runs two kinds of cloud sign-in. SolarWinds Observability SaaS has its own user account at swo.cloud.solarwinds.com. Pingdom, Loggly, AppOptics and Papertrail share one account called SolarWinds Unified Login, at my.solarwinds.cloud (SolarWinds, SolarWinds). Both handle multi-factor authentication (MFA, also called 2FA) the same way, and both use an authenticator app for it.
What's unusual is who decides. SolarWinds' documentation doesn't describe a switch you can flip for your own account. The organization owner turns MFA on for the whole organization, and from then on every member, owners included, has to set up an authenticator app at their next sign-in (SolarWinds). The steps below use Authenticator App - Novaz on iPhone. Any authenticator app works the same way.
How we checked this guide: the SolarWinds steps come from SolarWinds' own documentation, linked below, which we read on October 21, 2026. We haven't tested them on a SolarWinds account, so a label may differ slightly. The Novaz steps are checked against the app, version 1.0.5.
If you're the organization owner
In SolarWinds Observability SaaS, the documented path is (SolarWinds):
- Click Settings, select Organization Settings, then click Security.
- Click Multi-Factor Authentication.
- Click the Multi-factor Authentication Configuration toggle, then Confirm.
Everyone is signed out, and members get an email asking them to reset their password before they set up MFA.
In Pingdom and the other Unified Login products, the path starts at Settings and the organization's Security option, with the same toggle (SolarWinds). Warn your team first: nobody can sign in afterwards without setting up MFA.
Set up your authenticator app
Once MFA is on for your organization, SolarWinds walks you through this when you next sign in (SolarWinds, SolarWinds):
- Sign in with your email address and password. The Set up Multi-factor authentication page opens.
- In Novaz, tap +, then Scan QR code, and point the camera at the QR code. If the code is on your iPhone's own screen, take a screenshot and use Choose a photo instead. See scanning a QR code on the same iPhone.
- No camera handy? Click Show secret key for manual configuration. In Novaz, tap +, then Enter key manually, and type that key as the Setup key. See What is a 2FA setup key?
- Back on the SolarWinds page, click Next.
- On the Two-factor authentication page, enter two codes in a row. SolarWinds asks you to wait for a fresh code before typing the first one, then wait for the next code for the second field.
- To skip codes on this computer for a while, check Remember this device for 30 days. Then click Log in.
SolarWinds says its codes have 6 digits but doesn't say how often they change. Scan the QR code if you can, since it carries the exact settings. In Novaz, the account may appear as solarwinds.com, which is the name SolarWinds tells you to look for at sign-in.
Save your recovery codes
SolarWinds gives you recovery codes, and each one works only once (SolarWinds). To see them, open your user Profile, click Show next to MFA Recovery Codes, enter your password and click Confirm. Codes you've already used are struck through. From there you can Copy or Download them, and Regenerate gives you a new set and cancels the old one.
Keep them away from the device you sign in on. Unless you've made a Novaz backup, its keys exist only on your iPhone, so these codes are your way back in if that iPhone is gone. See 2FA backup codes.
When SolarWinds asks for a code
You type a code from your app every time you sign in, unless you're on a device you chose to remember for 30 days. Your Profile lists those trusted devices. Click the Delete icon next to one, then Remove, and that device needs a code again (SolarWinds).
If SolarWinds rejects your code
SolarWinds notes that codes expire quickly, so type the code before the timer runs out, or wait for the next one (SolarWinds).
If codes keep failing, check your iPhone's clock: Settings > General > Date & Time > Set Automatically. Novaz warns you when the clock is 15 seconds or more off. More causes are in Authenticator code not working?
Changing phones
SolarWinds' tool for this is Reset MFA setup in your Profile. It deletes your recovery codes and trusted devices, stops your old app codes from working, and signs you out. At your next sign-in, you set up MFA from scratch (SolarWinds). Do it while you can still sign in, then add the new QR code on the new phone. If you use Novaz's iCloud backup or a backup file, you don't need the reset: restore your accounts on the new iPhone instead. See How to transfer your authenticator app to a new iPhone.
If you lose your authenticator
Sign in with one of your recovery codes, then use Reset MFA setup to start over with a new phone. Without recovery codes, SolarWinds' documentation doesn't describe a recovery process. Its sign-in pages point to SolarWinds support for account access problems (SolarWinds, SolarWinds), but they don't say what proof support asks for or how long it takes. More in Lost the phone with your authenticator app?
Turning MFA off
As a member, you can't. The only documented control is the organization owner's Multi-factor Authentication Configuration toggle, and SolarWinds' pages describe it only for turning MFA on.
