Documentation Plugins SolarWinds Troubleshooting

Troubleshoot the SolarWinds data source

This document provides solutions to common issues you might encounter when you configure or use the SolarWinds data source. For configuration instructions, refer to Configure the SolarWinds data source.

Installation errors

These issues occur when the plugin doesn’t appear or can’t be installed.

SolarWinds doesn’t appear in the plugin catalog or data source list

Symptoms:

• The plugin doesn’t appear when you search the plugin catalog.
• The plugin appears but there’s no Install button.
• SolarWinds isn’t listed when you add a new data source.

Possible causes and solutions:

Plugin and UI issues

These issues occur when the plugin’s pages don’t render correctly.

Configuration page is blank

Symptoms:

• The SolarWinds data source configuration page renders blank.
• You can’t view or edit the data source settings.
• You can’t query the data source in Explore.

Possible causes and solutions:

Check and upgrade the plugin version

Keeping the plugin up to date resolves many rendering and compatibility issues.

On Grafana Cloud, plugins are updated automatically, but you can confirm the version:

1. Navigate to Administration > Plugins and data > Plugins.
2. Search for SolarWinds and select the plugin.
3. Review the installed version. If an update is available, click Update.

On self-managed Grafana, update the plugin through the catalog or with Grafana CLI:

1. Navigate to Administration > Plugins and data > Plugins.
2. Search for SolarWinds and select the plugin.
3. If an update is available, click Update.

Alternatively, update the plugin with Grafana CLI, then restart Grafana:

Bash Copy

grafana-cli plugins update grafana-solarwinds-datasource

Connection and TLS errors

These errors occur when Grafana can’t reach your SolarWinds instance or can’t verify its certificate.

“Connection refused”, “i/o timeout”, or timeout errors

Symptoms:

• Save & test times out or fails with a network error.
• The error mentions i/o timeout, often while running the health check query SELECT TOP 1 Uri FROM Orion.Pollers.
• Queries fail with connection errors.

Possible causes and solutions:

To test connectivity from the Grafana server to the SWIS API, refer to Verify connectivity to the SWIS API.

Verify connectivity to the SWIS API

To confirm that the Grafana server can reach the SolarWinds SWIS API, run these commands from the Grafana server.

1. Test that the port is open, replacing the host with your SolarWinds server:

   Bash Copy

   nc -vz <SOLARWINDS_HOST> 17774

2. Test the SWIS API endpoint with your credentials. A 200 response confirms connectivity and authentication:

   Bash Copy

   curl -u '<USERNAME>:<PASSWORD>' \
     'https://<SOLARWINDS_HOST>:17774/SolarWinds/InformationService/v3/Json/Query?query=SELECT%20TOP%201%20Uri%20FROM%20Orion.Pollers'

   If your SolarWinds server uses a self-signed certificate, add the -k flag to skip certificate verification for the test.

A connection timeout indicates a port or firewall problem. A 401 response indicates an authentication problem. A 500 response often indicates an incorrect URL or a SWIS API configuration issue.

“Unable to verify TLS certificate” or other TLS certificate errors

Symptoms:

• Save & test fails with Health check failed: Unable to verify TLS certificate.
• The error mentions an unknown authority or a certificate that can’t be verified.

Possible causes and solutions:

“x509: negative serial number”

Symptoms:

• Save & test fails with an x509: negative serial number error.
• The error persists even after you enable Skip TLS certificate validation.

Cause:

The SolarWinds server presents a certificate with a negative serial number. The Go runtime that the Grafana backend uses rejects these certificates because they don’t comply with the certificate standard. This is why curl -k can succeed on the same machine while Grafana fails.

Solutions:

1. Reissue the SolarWinds server certificate with a positive serial number.
2. Install the reissued certificate on the SolarWinds server.
3. If the certificate is self-signed, enable Add self-signed certificate in the data source settings and provide the new CA certificate.
4. Click Save & test to confirm the connection succeeds.

Authentication errors

These errors occur when credentials are invalid, missing, or lack the required permissions.

“401 Unauthorized” or “Access denied”

Symptoms:

• Save & test fails with a 401 or authorization error.
• Queries return access-denied messages.

Possible causes and solutions:

Server errors

These errors occur when Grafana reaches the SolarWinds server but the request fails.

“500 Internal Server Error”

Symptoms:

• Save & test or a query fails with a 500 error.

Possible causes and solutions:

Query errors

These errors occur when you run SWQL queries against the data source.

SWQL syntax errors

Symptoms:

• The query fails with a syntax or parsing error.
• The error references an invalid entity or property.

Solutions:

1. Verify the query uses valid SWQL syntax accepted by the SolarWinds API.
2. Confirm that the entity and property names exist, for example Orion.Nodes and CPULoad.
3. Test the query in the SolarWinds SWQL Studio before using it in Grafana.

“No data” or empty results

Symptoms:

• The query runs without error but returns no data.
• Panels show a “No data” message.

Possible causes and solutions:

Template variable errors

These errors occur when you use template variables with the data source.

Variables return no values

Solutions:

1. Verify the data source connection works by testing it in the data source settings.
2. Confirm the SWQL variable query returns rows when run in the query editor.
3. Check that parent variables, for cascading variables, have valid selections.
4. Confirm the account has permission to read the requested entities.

Enable debug logging

To capture detailed error information for troubleshooting:

1. Set the Grafana log level to debug in the configuration file:

   ini Copy

   [log]
   level = debug

2. Review logs in /var/log/grafana/grafana.log or your configured log location.

3. Look for SolarWinds data source entries that include request and response details.

4. Reset the log level to info after troubleshooting to avoid excessive log volume.

Get additional help

If you’ve tried the previous solutions and still encounter issues:

1. Check the Grafana community forums for similar issues.
2. Consult the SolarWinds Query Language (SWQL) documentation for query-specific guidance.
3. Contact Grafana Support if you’re an Enterprise, Cloud Pro, or Cloud Advanced user. Open a support ticket through your Grafana support channel.
4. When you report an issue, include:
   • Grafana version and plugin version.
   • Error messages, with sensitive information redacted.
   • Steps to reproduce the issue.
   • Relevant configuration, with credentials redacted.