SolarWinds Platform Troubleshooting Installations

7/17/2019 7:13 PM

5/11/2026 10:54 PM

Objectives  

 In this document you will learn:

• How to communicate with the customer efficiently
• The installation process broken down
• Which logs to examine for installation issues
• How to scope and narrow down the root of the problem
• What steps to take to resolve the issue

Description  

There are many factors related to installation issues, so it is important that you understand how to address this issue in a logical manner. 
 

Scoping the Issue  

Here are a few questions to ask before jumping into the problem. You don't have to stop at these questions. Different scenarios might need you to probe differently, but this is a good starting point.

• How\When was the installation first attempted?
  • What time did they begin the installation and what time exactly did it fail?
  • Can you describe the section of install they saw it had gone wrong and what happened?
  • Did you use a local server administrator account or a domain admin account?
  • Did you do anything yourself after to try and resolve this?
  • Have you attempted 2 or more times to install? Did it also fail at the same point?

• Understand the environment
  • What are the SolarWinds Platform server specs? Remote SQL server specs? (are they under-spec?)
  • Did you ever install any SolarWinds products on this server before?
  • Is the server pending a reboot? Since the issue will occur during a change window, this might be worth a go for all kinds of environmental reasons.
  • Check the disk space, disk queue length, CPU and Memory usage on both Orion and SQL server.
  • Is there any internet access on this server?

• Narrow the focus
  • Do you see an Install failure at MSI> Connection to the database > Error during configuration wizard, > services down > or is the issue that the SolarWinds Platform website is down.
    Specific Narrowing Example:
    An issue occurred during an MSI install. It failed, It did not get as far as configuration wizard. The server does not have internet access. You investigate the msi log file and find a couple of components being downloaded by MS website.
  • Are you in a strict lockdown environment with tightly enforced GPO’s?
  • Is there 3rd party scanning or security software on the server? Has it been configured for on-access file scans?
  • Does the error look to be permissions related?
  • Do you have a firewall in place on the server?

Orion Platform

Installation Process - The Installation process broken down
 

Planning for the install

Steps	Description	Links
Application Server	Server hardware, OS	System Requirements
IIS Role	IIS Server Role	IIS components
SQL Server	SQL Server	SQL Requirements
Orion Products	Products	Prepare for Install

 

Beginning the Install

Steps	Description	Links
Download Install	Manual install	Download install
Deployment	Centralized install	Centralized Deployment