Network Management

Scheduled Report PDF Attachments Show Blank Page After Upgrade to SolarWinds Platform 2025.2

This article provides information about an issue where scheduled reports in PDF format appear as blank when received via email after upgrading the SolarWinds Platform to version 2025.2.

First published date

6/20/2025 12:21 AM

Last published date

4/15/2026 8:11 PM

Overview

After upgrading to SolarWinds Platform 2025.2, some users may experience issues where scheduled PDF report exports appear blank or fail to generate properly. This behavior is caused by a new security enhancement: certificate validation is now enabled by default for PDF-related actions to improve platform security.
 

Observed Symptoms

  • Scheduled report emails contain blank PDF attachments.
  • PDF exports fail silently without an error message or produce empty files.
  • Relevant error messages appear in logs.

 

Example Log Messages:

If this issue is occurring, you may find the following entries in the logs at C:\ProgramData\SolarWinds\Logs:

 

OrionWebPdf logs

ERROR ExportToPdfCmd.HTMLExporter - Certificate error 'CertificateCommonNameInvalid' occurred for 'https://<YourSolarWindsServer>/Orion/Report.aspx?ReportID=...'
INFO  ExportToPdfCmd.HTMLExporter - ExportToPdf OK C:\ProgramData\SolarWinds\Orion\<randomfilename>.qhr

 

Core Business Layer logs

INFO  SolarWinds.Orion.Security.ProcessRunner - stdout: Input file does not exist --url https://<YourSolarWindsServer>:443/Orion/Report.aspx?ReportID=...
Try read settings explicitly from command line args.
SUCCESS: C:\ProgramData\SolarWinds\Orion\<filename>.qhr: Title: OrionExport

 

Product section

Network Performance Monitor

Cause

Starting with SolarWinds Platform 2025.2, the platform enforces strict certificate validation for all actions involving external content, including PDF generation (EOPDF-based). The following certificate-related issues can cause blank or failed PDF exports:
  • Common Name (CN) mismatch between the certificate and the server's Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN).
  • Missing or incomplete certificate chain (e.g., intermediate certificates not installed).
  • Revocation check failure (unable to verify certificate revocation status).

Resolution

Important Security Note

Disabling certificate validation is a temporary workaround only. The recommended and secure approach is to use a properly configured, valid certificate.

Option 1: Use a Valid Certificate

Ensure that the certificate used for the PDF-exported content (e.g. referenced URLs, resources) is:

  • Issued by a trusted CA
  • Has a CN matching the resource’s FQDN
  • Has a complete chain
  • Has a valid revocation path

Important:

Implementing and managing valid certificates is outside the scope of SolarWinds support. This task should be handled by your system administrator or IT security team, especially in environments with custom CA or internal PKI requirements.

 

Option 2: Modify Centralized Settings

To bypass this issue, disable strict certificate checks used during the PDF export process:

  1. Navigate to the Advanced Configuration (Centralized Settings) page on the SolarWinds Platform server:
    https://<SolarWindsServerIP>/orion/admin/advancedconfiguration/global.aspx
  2. Search for the following settings under:
    ExportToPdfCmd.ExportToPdfSettings
  3. Disable the following options by unchecking their boxes:
    • CheckOnCertificateChainErrors
    • CheckOnCertificateChainErrorsAndNameMismatch
  4. Save the changes.

  5. Search for the following settings under:
    SolarWinds.Orion.Core.Actions.Settings.ActionSettings

  6. Disable the following options by unchecking their boxes:

    • WebPageCheckOnCertificateNameMismatch

    • WebPageCheckOnCertificateChainErrors

  7. Save the changes.