Network Management

PSU alerts in SolarWinds are generating false critical alarms

Issue with FortiGate firewalls reporting a "Critical" hardware status due to PSU warnings and even though the devices appear to be functioning normally on your end.

First published date

8/25/2025 4:29 PM

Last published date

8/25/2025 4:29 PM

Overview

You may see “Critical” hardware health alerts in SolarWinds for multiple FortiGate devices; however, within your environment, no corresponding alarms or hardware logs are observed on the firewalls themselves.

Product section

Network Performance Monitor

Cause

Empty or unconnected PSU slots are being detected and flagged as failures by SolarWinds hardware health monitoring, generating false critical alerts.

Resolution

Troubleshooting Steps:

1. Verify on the FortiGate Device

- Log in via PuTTY to the server where the affected FortiGate device is assigned.
- Run the following commands to confirm the actual PSU status:

get system status
get hardware status

- This will verify whether the PSU status is genuinely problematic.

2. Suppress the Unwanted Sensor in SolarWinds

- Access the affected firewall node in SolarWinds.
- Navigate to: Settings > Manage Hardware Health Sensors.
- Locate the unconnected power supply Example: (PS1/PS2).
- "Disable" or set the sensor to "Unmanaged" (permanently or for a defined duration).
- Save the changes.

In conclusion: Suppressing the alert for the unconnected power supply helps prevent false alarms in cases where single PSU operation is intentional.