Entity drill-down widget fails to display data when custom property name contains an underscore in the SolarWinds Platform

* Product: SolarWinds Observability Self-Hosted (formerly Orion Platform)
* Version: 2025.4 and later (Entity Drill-Down Widget was introduced in 2025.4)
* Component: Modern Dashboards - Entity Drill-Down Widget
* Feature: Node Custom Properties used as grouping levels in the Entity Drill-Down Widget
* Not applicable to: Legacy dashboards, Manage Groups, classic All Nodes tree widget

The Entity Drill-Down Widget's internal SWQL query engine incorrectly parses custom property names that contain underscores (_). The engine treats the underscore as a delimiter or separator and truncates the property name at the first underscore when building the navigation property reference against Orion.NodesCustomProperties.

This results in a failed property lookup because the truncated name (e.g., Business) does not match any registered custom property, causing the widget to throw a RunQuery failed error and return no data.

This issue is addressed in SolarWinds Platform 2026.1. Consider upgrading your environment. If you can't upgrade, follow the steps below.

Step 1: Confirm the Root Cause

Verify that the failing custom property contains an underscore in its name:

1. Navigate to Settings > All Settings > Manage Custom Properties
2. Identify the custom property assigned to the failing level in the widget
3. Check the Property Name field and if it contains an underscore (e.g., Business_Unit), this article applies

You can also run the following query in the web-based SWQL tool (https://<OrionServer>/Orion/admin/swis.aspx) to retrieve all node custom property names:

-- Scripts are not supported under any SolarWinds support program or service.
-- Scripts are provided AS IS without warranty of any kind. SolarWinds further
-- disclaims all warranties including, without limitation, any implied warranties
-- of merchantability or of fitness for a particular purpose. The risk arising
-- out of the use or performance of the scripts and documentation stays with you.
-- In no event shall SolarWinds or anyone else involved in the creation,
-- production, or delivery of the scripts be liable for any damages whatsoever
-- (including, without limitation, damages for loss of business profits, business
-- interruption, loss of business information, or other pecuniary loss) arising
-- out of the use of or inability to use the scripts or documentation.



SELECT Name, DataType, Description
FROM Orion.NodeCustomPropertyDef

Confirm the exact name as stored and note that Property Name fields are case-sensitive and the widget resolves them exactly as stored.

Step 2: Check for Dependencies Before Making Changes

Before modifying the custom property, audit all existing dependencies that reference the property by its current name. These may include:

* Alerts - Any alert conditions referencing the custom property name
* Reports - Any report columns or filters using the property
* Views and Filters - Any node views or group-by filters using the property
* SWQL Queries - Any custom queries referencing CustomProperties.[PropertyName]
* Other Widgets - Any other dashboard widgets referencing the property

Note: Renaming or deleting a custom property will break all existing references to the old name. These must be manually updated after the change.

Step 3: Resolve the Underscore Issue

Since custom property names cannot be renamed from the web GUI (the Property Name field is greyed out in the Edit Custom Property screen), there are two options:

Option A: Delete and Recreate the Custom Property (Recommended if Dependencies Are Minimal)

1. Export the existing custom property values:

- Navigate to Settings > All Settings > Manage Custom Properties
- Select the affected property and use the Export option to download current node values

2. Delete the existing custom property:

- Select the property and click Delete
- Confirm the deletion

3. Recreate the custom property with the corrected name (no underscore):

- Click Add Custom Property
- Enter the new name without an underscore example, (BusinessUnit instead of Business_Unit)
- Set the same Entity type (Nodes), Format (Text), and any defined values

4. Re-import the node values:

- Use Import or manually reassign values via Manage Nodes > Edit Properties
- Alternatively, use a bulk import via the SolarWinds API or SDK if the node count is large

5. Update all dependencies identified in Step 2 to reference the new property name

6. Re-configure the Entity Drill-Down Widget to select the new property name at the affected level

Option B: Accept Limitation and Use Alternative Approach (If Dependencies Are Extensive)

If you have too many dependencies on the existing property name to safely delete and recreate it, advise them to use the Nested Dynamic Groups approach as an alternative hierarchy display method, with the caveat that the classic All Nodes tree widget on the dashboard only renders up to 3 visible levels.

Step 4: Verify the Fix

After recreating the custom property and reconfiguring the widget:

1. Open the Modern Dashboard containing the Entity Drill-Down Widget
2. Confirm that the affected level now displays custom property values example, (business unit names) instead of an error or empty state
3. Drill down through all configured levels to confirm the full hierarchy is rendering correctly

Run the following query to verify node data is correctly associated with the new property name:

-- Scripts are not supported under any SolarWinds support program or service.
-- Scripts are provided AS IS without warranty of any kind. SolarWinds further
-- disclaims all warranties including, without limitation, any implied warranties
-- of merchantability or of fitness for a particular purpose. The risk arising
-- out of the use or performance of the scripts and documentation stays with you.
-- In no event shall SolarWinds or anyone else involved in the creation,
-- production, or delivery of the scripts be liable for any damages whatsoever
-- (including, without limitation, damages for loss of business profits, business
-- interruption, loss of business information, or other pecuniary loss) arising
-- out of the use of or inability to use the scripts or documentation.



SELECT n.Caption, n.CustomProperties.BusinessUnit
FROM Orion.Nodes n
WHERE n.CustomProperties.BusinessUnit IS NOT NULL

Additional Notes

Entity Drill-Down Widget and Background

* Introduced in SolarWinds Observability Self-Hosted 2025.4 as the native replacement for the legacy All Nodes tree widget.

* Supports up to 5 grouping levels using node custom properties or group properties.

* Configured via the widget's right-hand settings panel on a Modern Dashboard and grouping levels must be explicitly assigned via dropdown; the widget does not auto-detect custom properties.

* Requires custom properties to be scoped to Nodes (not Interfaces or Volumes) in Manage Custom Properties.

* If a custom property name does not appear in the Level dropdown, verify the property's Entity type is set to Nodes.

Legacy Widget Limitation (Pre-2025.4)

* Versions prior to 2025.4 do not have access to the Entity Drill-Down Widget.

* The classic All Nodes tree widget is hard-coded to a maximum of 3 grouping levels and this is a known platform design constraint and a confirmed "won't do" for the legacy widget.

* If you are running pre-2025.4 and require multi-level hierarchy, the recommended path is to upgrade to 2026.1 or later.