Network Management

TFTP transfer issues in NCM - Cannot start SolarWinds TFTP server

This article addresses an issue that causes the SolarWinds TFTP server to fail and generate the following errors: SolarWinds.NCM.Transfer.IndirectTFTPTransfer - NCMTransfer Cannot start SolarWinds TFTP Server: System.ArgumentNullException: Value cannot be null. SolarWinds.Cirrus.BusinessLayer.TransferExtensions - Unable to convert '${GlobalConfigTransferProtocol}' to CommandProtocol.

First published date

10/15/2018 8:21 PM

Last published date

3/6/2025 11:19 AM

Overview

This article describes a possible cause and solution to the following TFTP error messages:

SolarWinds.NCM.Transfer.IndirectTFTPTransfer - NCMTransfer Cannot start SolarWinds TFTP Server: System.ArgumentNullException: Value cannot be null.

SolarWinds.Cirrus.BusinessLayer.TransferExtensions - Unable to convert '${GlobalConfigTransferProtocol}' to CommandProtocol

 

Product section

Network Configuration Manager

Cause

  • The SolarWinds TFTP server may not have been installed correctly or may have been corrupted by upgrading.
  • The user may not have administrative rights on the machine hosting the TFTP server.

Resolution

  1. Stop all Orion Services.
  2. Open a command prompt window.
  3. Execute this command (with quotation marks): 
    "C:\Program Files (x86)\SolarWinds\Orion\NCM\regasm.exe" "C:\Program Files (x86)\SolarWinds\TFTP Server\TFTPServerEx.dll" /codebase /tlb
    where C:\Program Files (x86)\ is the default installation directory.
  4. Start the Orion Services with the Orion Service Manager.


If the error still occurs, perform the following steps:

  1. Go to Control Panel > Programs > Programs and Features.
  2. Uninstall SolarWinds TFTP Server.
  3. Remove all remaining files in the TFTP installation folder. The default installation folder is C:\Program Files (x86)\SolarWinds\TFTP Server.
  4. Reinstall SolarWinds TFTP Server from C:\ProgramData\SolarWinds\Installers.


If the customer just upgraded to 2019.4, try the steps below:

      1. Open web console and go to Centralized Settings page (<server>/Orion/Admin/AdvancedConfiguration/Global.aspx)
      2. Uncheck the “Use64Bit” option under NCM.Poller section.
      3. Press the Save button.
      4. Restart Orion services on Orion service manager on Orion server (Also Reboot the NCM Server if the issue persists).

NCM 2019.4 Hotfix 1 has fixed the following issue:
Config backup jobs work as expected when configs are transferred via TFTP and 64 bit is selected.
Source: NCM-2019-4-Hotfix-1

Upgrade to NCM 2020.2.6 -  NCM will have an option to use a Third-Party TFTP server.