An unknown issue occurred, the environment is corrupted somehow, there is no time for investigation, The SolarWinds Platform deployment simply needs to be back up and running within the hour.

Common scenarios include:

• SolarWinds Platform Folders are missing files
• SolarWinds Platform Folders have duplicate files
• SolarWinds Platform Folders have incorrect files
• SolarWinds Platform Folders contain bad data  

As a result, you need to uninstall all SolarWinds Platform Products from the affected server and perform a fresh installation on that very same server.

• A failed or incomplete install/upgrade
• SolarWinds Platform High Availability issues
• Product Version Mismatch

To remove SolarWinds Platform products from a server, remove the product(s) through the Windows Control Panel and clean out SW remnants from the Registry and SolarWinds Platform folders. If you have deployed additional polling engines, additional web servers, or High Availability pairs, repeat these instructions on all appropriate servers.

Task 1: Preparation

Prior to uninstalling, SolarWinds recommends the following preparation:

	Back up the existing database.	To preserve your data, back up your database(s). If you need help with backups, check your vendor's site for documentation and instructions. If you have your database on a VM, create a snapshot or copy of your VM. If you need software to perform backups and maintenance for Microsoft SQL databases, you can install SQL Management Studio Express for your specific version of Microsoft SQL on your database server. Use one of the following links to download the installation:   SQL Management Studio Express 2016 SQL Management Studio Express 2014 SQL Management Studio Express 2012 SQL Management Studio Express 2008 (no longer available)
	Back up product folders.	Create copies and backups of your product folders. You may have customizations in these folders specific to your installations. For example, you may have a custom code or Report Writer reports to save. Folders: C:\Program Files (x86)\SolarWinds C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\SolarWinds C:\inetpub\SolarWinds C:\ProgramData\SolarWindsAgentInstall C:\ProgramData\Solarwinds
	Back up SolarWinds Platform SQL Connection Strings File	C:\Program Files (x86)\Solarwinds\Orion\SWNetPerfmon.DB
	Back up SQL credentials for LA and NTA	If you have LA installed, back up the credentials for the SolarWindsOrionLog Database, by making a backup of the following file: C:\ProgramData\SolarWinds\OLM\LogStorage\LogConfig.config If you have NTA installed, back up the credentials for the NTAFlowStorage Database by making a backup of the following file: C:\ProgramData\SolarWinds\NTA\FlowStorage\Config.xml

Task 2: Remove product licenses

You can skip this task as long as you do not delete licensing data files, the installed products will be relicensed automatically after you reinstall them. License information is stored in License.dat and lease.dat in C:\ProgramData\Solarwinds. 

1. In the SolarWinds Platform Web Console, select Settings > All Settings > and click License Manager.

2. In the web-based License Manager, select the license to remove.

3. Click Deactivate. This removes the license activation and server assignment.

   With the license deactivated, it is parked, or available but unused.

4. Repeat this for any other SolarWinds Platform Modules installed on that server.

Task 3: Uninstall SolarWinds products

SolarWinds Platform 2019.2 and later

SolarWinds Platform 2019.2 includes an -uninstall parameter that uninstalls all SolarWinds Platform products, removes all SolarWinds Platform folders, and removes SolarWinds Platform registry settings. 

Note: This command removes your entire SolarWinds Platform deployment from the server on which it runs. Do not use this option if you want to remove only one module.

1. Create a backup of your C:\ProgramData\Solarwinds directory. (The uninstallation command removes this directory.)

2. Locate the installer file you used to install SolarWinds Platform products on the server. If necessary, you can download the SolarWinds Platform installer from the Customer Portal. Note the installer file name and path. For example:
   /ProgramData/Solarwinds/Installers/SolarWinds-Orion-SAM.exe.

3. Open a command prompt, and run the following command:
   'pathToInstaller'\installerFileName -uninstall
   For example:
   C:/ProgramData/Solarwinds/Installers/SolarWinds-Orion-SAM.exe -uninstall

4. Follow the onscreen instructions to complete the uninstallation.

Task 4: Reinstall your SolarWinds Platform products

1. Restart the server.
   Once it has restarted, you are ready to begin reinstalling your SolarWinds products.

2. Re-create the SolarWinds Platform installation folder:
   C:\Program Files (x86)\Solarwinds\Orion\

3. Place the backed up SQL Connection Strings File into:
   C:\Program Files (x86)\Solarwinds\Orion\SWNetPerfmon.DB

4. To reinstall your SolarWinds Platform products on the main polling engine, run the SolarWinds Platform installer. 
   See the installation guide for more information.

5. To reinstall an additional polling engine (APE) or additional Web server (AWS), do one of the following:

   • For SolarWinds Platform 2017.3 (NPM 12.2) or later, use the SolarWinds Platform Installer:

     1. In the SolarWinds Platform Web Console, click Settings > Polling Engines.

     2. Click Download Installer Now.

     3. Run the SolarWinds Platform Installer to reinstall everything.

Task 5: License your products

1. Navigate to the backup of the C:\ProgramData\SolarWinds directory you created prior to uninstalling.

2. Copy the License.dat and Lease.dat files into C:\ProgramData\SolarWinds for the new install.
3. Open SolarWinds Platform Service Manager from the SolarWinds Platform folder of the start menu.
4. Stop and restart all SolarWinds Platform services to allow the services to read the license information in the copied files.

To confirm the licenses are registered correctly:

1. Log in to the SolarWinds Platform Web Console as an admin.
2. Navigate to Settings > All Settings > License Manager.
3. Verify the expected licenses are displayed and show Assigned to <Your Polling Engine>.

Verify that the SolarWinds Platform is polling

To verify that your SolarWinds Platform is fully back up and polling, check the charts for nodes on each polling engine and verify that it is polling node, interface, volume, and module statistical data after reinstallation.

For example:

1. Go to Manage Nodes and select polling engines in the left pane.

2. For each polling engine, check that node data is appearing.

3. Check the Node Details page and Interface Details charts and verify that data has been populated in the last few minutes.

Other resources

After you uninstall, you can reinstall modules anytime. For example, use this guide for installation instructions, and get the latest installer from the Customer Portal.