Network Management

NPM scheduled reports working for PDF but failing on Excel and CSV

This article addresses the issue where scheduled reports that work correctly in PDF format but fail when using MS Excel in a system using HTTPS primarily using SolarWinds self-signed certificate.

First published date

10/24/2018 5:33 PM

Last published date

12/7/2022 7:18 AM

Overview

This article is about scheduled reports that works correctly in PDF format. It however fails when using .csv/.xls in a system using HTTPS with the SolarWinds self-signed certificate.  This can also apply to 3rd party certificates.

Product section

Orion Platform

Cause

This occurs when the Websites table does not contain the server name.

Resolution

  1. Create a Self-Signed Server Certificate in IIS.
  2. Click the Orion Website in IIS and select Bindings.
  3. Select the SSL Website and click Edit.
  4. In the SSL certificate menu, select the new certificate created in Step 1 and click OK.
  5. Open the websites table and manually enter the server name (FQDN) in the ServerName column.
    1. Go to Orion Database Manager.
    2. Select default database.
    3. Expand the tables and scroll down to the "Websites" table, double click this and select "Execute Query".
    4. Click "Enable Table Editing".
    5. Manually enter the server name (FQDN) in the "ServerName" column followed by Carriage Return
    6. Click "Execute Query" and verify the changes have been applied
    7. Click "Enable Table Editing" to exit edit mode
  6. Restart the Orion Module engine.

Workaround:

If you are using a 3rd party certificate, kindly Make sure it is resolving to the correct Name and make sure it is added to the trusted store.

Add certificate to the Trusted store for the Orion Platform


Workaround:
Ensure the CN from the Certificate matches the FQDN in the Websites table

How to get CN from IIS

(Screenshot property of © 2019 Microsoft)

Match to FQDN on websites table


Workaround:

The same behavior is observed when the customer uses an alias to access the Orion website.
If the customer uses an alias Orion, go to the websites table and the FQDN should match the alias as Orion.name.com

Ensure the hosts file (C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc) is updated with the alias details.