vCenter VMware polling: validation succeeds but no data is displayed in the SolarWinds Platform (maximum XML depth exceeded)

3/11/2026 4:07 PM

3/11/2026 4:07 PM

Symptoms in the SolarWinds UI

• vCenter node is configured with Poll for VMware.

• Test in VMware settings is Successful.

• vCenter summary shows:

  • Status: Unknown

  • 0 datacenters / 0 clusters / 0 hosts / 0 VMs

• VMware / Virtualization charts display “Data is not available”.

• Removing and re‑adding the vCenter node does not change the behavior.

Symptoms in the logs

In the VMware collector jobs log (for example, VIM.Collector.Jobs_[5476].log):

• The generic VMware poller fails on ContinueRetrievePropertiesEx:

  Poller N.VMware.VMwareService.Generic for Entity:VMVC:<ID> execution failed ... 
  Error in deserializing body of reply message for operation 'ContinueRetrievePropertiesEx'.
  The maximum read depth (256) has been exceeded because XML data being read has more levels of nesting than is allowed by the quota.
  

In the VMware statistics API log (for example, VIM.VMwareVCenter.Statistics.Api.log):

• Result processing is skipped:

  Skipping result processing: PollerResult is null ... PollerType=N.VMware.VMwareService.Generic, NetObject=VMVC:<ID>
  Can't find the VMware result in the property bag for entity VMVC:<ID>.
  

Because the poller result is null after the XML depth error, no vCenter inventory data is written to the database, so the vCenter remains empty in the UI.

Orion Platform

• SolarWinds successfully authenticates to vCenter and initiates the VMware inventory API calls.

• When vCenter returns the full inventory via RetrievePropertiesEx / ContinueRetrievePropertiesEx, the XML/SOAP response is:

  • Very large and

  • Deeply nested (many nested objects, often due to:

    • VMs with large snapshot chains, and/or

    • VMs with a high number of virtual disks (VMDKs)).

• The .NET XML deserializer used by the VMware poller enforces a maximum depth limit (256).

• The response exceeds this max depth (256), resulting in the error:

  The maximum read depth (256) has been exceeded because XML data being read has more levels of nesting than is allowed by the quota.

• As a result:

  • The VMware poller (N.VMware.VMwareService.Generic) fails for the vCenter.

  • PollerResult for the vCenter (VMVC:<ID>) is null.

  • No datacenters, clusters, hosts, or VMs are persisted to the SolarWinds database.

  • The vCenter remains Unknown with 0 objects in the UI.

Important:
This is not caused by incorrect SolarWinds configuration or vCenter permissions. The credential and “Poll for VMware” setup can be correct, while the inventory poll still fails due to this XML depth limitation.

Step 1 – Increase MaxNestedNodeDepthOfVMwareResponse

On the SolarWinds server / polling engine that polls the vCenter:

1. Log in to the SolarWinds Platform web console as an administrator.

2. In a browser, open the Advanced Configuration page:

   https://<YourOrionServer>/Orion/Admin/AdvancedConfiguration/Global.aspx
   

3. On the Global tab, locate the setting:

   • MaxNestedNodeDepthOfVMwareResponse

4. Note the current value (typically 256).

5. Change the value to 512.

6. Click Save.

This increases the allowed maximum XML nesting depth for VMware responses, so the vCenter’s inventory can be fully deserialized.

Step 2 – Restart SolarWinds services

1. On the same SolarWinds server / polling engine, restart all SolarWinds services (or reboot the server).

2. Wait for all services to start and stabilize.

This ensures the updated MaxNestedNodeDepthOfVMwareResponse value is loaded by the VMware polling components.

Step 3 – Re‑poll the vCenter

1. In the SolarWinds Platform web console, go to Settings > Manage Nodes.

2. Open the Node Details for the vCenter node.

3. In the VMware / Virtualization section, click Poll Now.

4. Wait a few minutes and refresh the vCenter summary page.

Expected result:

• vCenter status changes from Unknown to a healthy state (for example, Up).

• Inventory counts begin to populate:

  • Non‑zero datacenters, clusters, hosts, and VMs.

• VMware charts start to display data instead of “Data is not available.”

Step 4 – (Optional) vSphere housekeeping

To reduce the likelihood of hitting XML depth limits in the future, VMware administrators may:

• Identify VMs with:

  • Very large snapshot chains, and/or

  • An unusually high number of attached VMDKs.

• Consolidate disks and remove unnecessary/old snapshots in accordance with VMware best practices.
  
  

  You can reference the public Success Center articles that document this behavior and setting:

  Newly added VCenter is not polled
  Access the Advanced Configuration settings in the SolarWinds Platform Web Console