Network Management

SolarWinds Agent Connected but not collecting performance stats after auto-upgrade from old agent version in VM Template

Agent-polled Windows nodes show Up status and Response Time but report 0% or "Data is not available" for CPU, Memory, Disk, Interface, and Asset Inventory when the SolarWinds Agent was deployed from a VM image template containing an old agent version that was subsequently auto-upgraded by the Platform to the current version.

First published date

7/10/2026 8:52 PM

Last published date

7/10/2026 9:26 PM

Overview

Symptoms

  • Agent-polled Windows nodes show Up status and Response Time chart has data

  • CPU Load: 0%, Memory Used: 0%

  • Disk Volumes: 0 B Size, 0 B Space Used, 0%

  • All Min/Max/Average performance widgets: "Data is not available"

  • Interface statistics (In/Out bps, Percent Utilization, Errors/Discards): "Data is not available"

  • Asset Inventory: not populated

  • Multiple nodes affected — all sharing the same OS version and similar creation timeframe

  • Other Windows operating systems in the same OU (same GPOs) are not affected

Environment

  • SolarWinds Platform 2025.2 or earlier

  • Agent-polled Windows nodes (observed on Windows Server 2025 but may affect other versions)

  • Nodes deployed from a VM image template that contains an old SolarWinds Agent version

 

How to Identify This Issue

Key question to ask early in the investigation:

"How was the SolarWinds Agent originally deployed/installed on these servers — via the web console, GPO, manual installer, or VM image template?"

If the answer is VM image template, ask: "What version of the SolarWinds Agent installer is in the template?"

Pattern to look for:

  • All affected nodes share the same OS version

  • All affected nodes were created in a similar timeframe

  • Working nodes of the same OS version but deployed differently (e.g., agent installed via web console) do not have this issue

  • WBEMTest run locally on the affected server returns valid, non-zero data for all WMI classes (confirming the Windows OS side is healthy)

  • Performance counters are not disabled in the registry

Diagnostic indicators in SWDiagnostics:

  • WindowsConnectionUsed = NULL in NodesData.csv for the affected nodes

  • TotalMemory = 0 or -2

  • BiosUUID = NULL, MachineUUID = NULL

  • MachineType shows generic "Windows" instead of the specific version (e.g., "Windows 2025 Server")

  • IOSVersion = empty

  • Collector plugin logs show zero entries for the affected node

  • cortex.DataCollection.log (in Agent Diagnostics) shows "Loaded 0 tactics from cache"

Product section

Network Performance Monitor

Cause

A VM image template contains an old version of the SolarWinds Agent (e.g., a 2023 version). When a new VM is deployed from this template, the Platform auto-upgrades the agent to the current version (e.g., 2025.2.1). However, polling for performance statistics does not function after the auto-upgrade from the old version.

The agent auto-upgrade feature masks the original installer version in all diagnostic files. Agent logs, SolarWindsInstallation.csv, and cortex logs all show the current upgraded version — there is no log entry recording the original version or the upgrade history.

Resolution

Update the VM image template to include the current SolarWinds Agent installer version, then deploy new VMs from the corrected template.

Steps:

  1. Obtain the current SolarWinds Agent installer from the web console (Settings > All Settings > Manage Agents > Download Agent)

  2. Replace the old agent installer in the VM image template with the current version

  3. Deploy new VMs from the corrected template

  4. Verify on the Node Details page that CPU, Memory, Disk, and Interface statistics populate after 10-15 minutes

This is the only confirmed resolution. Deploying from a corrected template with the current agent version allows the agent to complete the onboarding process properly from the start.