Network Management

"The passed sql identifier contains invalid characters or is too long" error in Cortex during initialization and Nodes assigned to a specific APE are not polled in SolarWinds Platform

Nodes assigned to a specific Additional Polling Engine (APE) fail to be polled due to a Cortex error. However, when these nodes are moved to the Main Polling Engine, polling works as expected.

First published date

8/7/2025 11:54 AM

Last published date

8/7/2025 3:26 PM

Overview

  • Historical performance charts (e.g., CPU, memory availability) do not load for nodes monitored by a specific APE.
  • Moving the affected nodes to the Primary server or another APE resolves the issue.
  • Cortex Persistence logs on the affected APE show errors indicating failure during initialization.

 

ERROR Persistence.SolarWinds.Cortex.Internal.Persistence.PersistenceSubsystem - Initialization of Persistence failed: System.ArgumentException: The passed sql identifier contains invalid characters or is too long (maximum of 100 characters): ElementId
Parameter name: identifiers

ERROR SolarWinds.ServiceHost.Internal.ServiceLifetimeTracker - Service SolarWinds.Cortex.Persistence - (Cortex) crashed. Going to restart service in 00:00:30

Product section

Orion Platform

Cause

The issue occurs because the affected APE is running on an unsupported system language/locale, which impacts Cortex and other services when writing data to the database.
Example:
  • System Locale: tr; Turkish
  • Input Locale: tr; Turkish
Currently, SolarWinds officially supports only the following languages/locales for APE deployments:
  • English
  • German
  • Japanese
  • Simplified Chinese

Resolution

  1. Change System and Input Locale on the Affected APE
    • Update the system locale and input locale to a supported language, preferably English (United States).
    • This change must be applied not only for the current user but also for all service accounts running SolarWinds services on the APE.
  2. Use msinfo32.exe to Verify and Change Locale
      • Run msinfo32.exe on the APE server.
      • Confirm the locale is set to US English or change it accordingly.
  3. Database Cleanup and Configuration
    • Truncate the Cortex_Document table in the SolarWinds database to clear corrupted or incompatible data.
    • Run the SolarWinds Configuration Wizard on the affected APE to reinitialize services and complete configuration.

After applying the locale changes and running the Configuration Wizard, monitor the Cortex Persistence logs to confirm the error no longer occurs. Verify that nodes assigned to the APE are polled correctly and historical charts load as expected. If issues persist, ensure all SolarWinds services on the APE are restarted properly.