Security Compliance
SolarWinds Update Catalog fails repeatedly while other catalogs synchronize successfully in Patch Manager
The SolarWinds Update Catalog will show repeated failures, but other catalogs will update successfully. Manual synchronization will not succeed.
First published date
Last published date
Overview
Patch Manager uses its installed license when it accesses the SolarWinds Update Catalog. The license on the Patch Manager server must match a current, active Patch Manager license in the SolarWinds Customer Portal. If the server is using an old, expired, inactive, or evaluation license, the SolarWinds Update Catalog can fail even when other vendor catalogs synchronize successfully.
Symptoms
- Synchronization of the SolarWinds Update Catalog fails, sometimes with a different message or identifier each time.
- Other third-party catalogs may synchronize successfully.
- The license key installed on the Patch Manager server may differ from the current key in the Customer Portal, or the installed license may be inactive or expired.
- The issue can be confirmed by attempting a manual download of the catalog using the following URL based on the license key:
https://3pupcontent.solarwinds.com/Content/Fetch/<license key>, example https://3pupcontent.solarwinds.com/Content/Fetch/1212-3434-5656-7878-9090-1212-2323-4545. - A valid license will download the EWUpdateCatalog.cab file after a brief delay
- An expired license will give an error:
“This XML file does not appear to have any style information associated with it. The document tree is shown below.”
Product section
Cause
Patch Manager uses its installed license when it accesses the SolarWinds Update Catalog. The license on the Patch Manager server must match a current, active Patch Manager license in the SolarWinds Customer Portal. If the server is using an old, expired, inactive, or evaluation license, the SolarWinds Update Catalog can fail even when other vendor catalogs synchronize successfully.
A changing error identifier or a successful synchronization of catalogs such as Dell does not by itself rule out a Patch Manager licensing mismatch. Patch Manager version is not relevant to this licensing issue.
Resolution
Resolution
1. Sign in to the SolarWinds Customer Portal.
2. Go to Licenses > Manage Licenses and locate the Patch Manager license for the applicable deployment. Confirm that it is the current license and that its status and maintenance are valid.
3. On the Patch Manager Primary Application Server, open SolarWinds Licensing from the Windows Start menu, or open SolarWinds License Manager. Run the application as an administrator.
4. Activate Patch Manager with the current activation key from the Customer Portal. Do not continue using a stale key that is expired or no longer matches the portal. If the server is disconnected, follow the offline activation procedure in Activate the Patch Manager license.
5. In the licensing application, verify that the installed license is the intended Patch Manager license and that its status and maintenance expiration are current.
6. In the Patch Manager console, go to Administration and Reporting > Software Publishing and run Synchronize Now for the SolarWinds Update Catalog.
Verify the fix
Confirm that the SolarWinds Update Catalog synchronization completes successfully. If the catalog still fails, record the full error and timestamp, confirm which Patch Manager server and license were checked, and verify outbound HTTPS connectivity to 3pupcontent.solarwinds.com on port 443. If the license cannot be activated or the portal indicates that it is already activated, contact SolarWinds Support for assistance.
Additional troubleshooting
If the installed license is confirmed to match the current active portal license and the catalog still cannot synchronize, investigate connectivity, proxy, firewall, SSL inspection, and catalog-service availability separately. Collect the synchronization history, complete error message, and diagnostic logs for Support.