Troubleshoot the WHD upgrade

Below are issues you may encounter during the upgrade and how to troubleshoot each issue.

General

• If you experience issues and you are not running the latest product versions, SolarWinds recommends completing a full upgrade.
• Check our Success Center for troubleshooting. Search for the product name, version number, any error codes or messages displayed, and the general issue you found.
• Check your Customer Portal for any new hot fixes.

Error messages

• If WHD displays Error 404 after the upgrade, the installer was not unlocked properly or WHD cannot load a specific JAR file. See this article for details.
• If WHD displays Error 404 after you change the default port to port 80, see this article for troubleshooting.
• If WHD displays 403 Forbidden error when you access the WHD console, see this article for troubleshooting.
• If WHD displays An update to the help desk is in progress, verify that your database update is completed. See this article for details.
• If WHD displays a java.lang.IllegalStateException error after the upgrade, the application may require additional max heap memory than the JVM memory default. See this article for details.

Other issues

• If your FAQs fail to load after the upgrade, you may be running outdated Apache Tomcat libraries. See this article for details.
• If you cannot access WHD using your current Web browser, see this article for troubleshooting.
• If LDAP fails to connect when initiating a connection from the WHD server to the LDAP server, see this article for troubleshooting.
• If you have an issue that requires additional help, contact SolarWinds Technical Support. SolarWinds recommends creating a screenshot of the issue and collecting any error codes you receive. Attach and add this information to your ticket. You may also want to gather additional diagnostics on the system hosting WHD.

Database

Restore the PostgreSQL database

If you need to restore your embedded PostgreSQL database on a new server after the upgrade, see this article for details.

Unable to log in to WHD after upgrading the PostgreSQL database

When you upgrade WHD with a PostgreSQL 13.3 database, the upgrade procedure deletes the default whd user. If you do not change the default PostgreSQL database credentials prior to the upgrade, you cannot log in to WHD after the upgrade.

To resolve this issue, restore the whd user role in the PostgreSQL database to an alternate role on the WHD server running Microsoft Windows, Linux, or macOS.

Microsoft Windows

Perform the following steps to restore the whd user role to an alternate role on a WHD server running a Windows operating system.

1. Close WHD.

2. Open File Explorer and navigate to the PostgreSQL data folder located at:

   <WebHelpDesk>>\pgsql13\data

3. Locate and open the pg_hba.conf file in a text editor (such as Notepad).

4. Locate the following line in the file:

   host  all  all  127.0.0.1/21  md5

5. Change md5 to trust.

   host  all  all  127.0.0.1/21  trust

6. Save and close the file.

7. Restart the PostgreSQL 13.3 service.

   Open a command prompt window and execute:

   net stop PostgreSQL13ServiceWHD && net start PostgreSQL13ServiceWHD

8. Log in to the PostgreSQL database.

   In the command prompt window, execute:

   <WebHelpDesk>>\pgsql13\bin\psql -h 127.0.0.1 -p 20293 -U whd postgres

   The current PostgreSQL database version displays, along with information on how to access help.

   A new prompt displays, indicating that you are logged in to the database.

   postgres=#

9. Set a new password for the whd role.

   In the command prompt window, execute: 

   ALTER ROLE "whd" WITH PASSWORD '[Password]';

   where [Password] is your chosen whd role password.

   If the password change is successful, the following message displays:

   ALTER ROLE

10. Exit the PostgreSQL database.

    In the command prompt window, execute:

    \q

11. Open File Explorer and navigate to the PostgreSQL data folder located at:

    <WebHelpDesk>>\pgsql13\data

12. Locate and open the pg_hba.conf file in a text editor (such as Notepad).

13. Locate the following line:

    host  all  all  127.0.0.1/21  trust

14. Change trust back to md5.

    host  all  all  127.0.0.1/21  md5

15. Restart the PostgreSQL service.

    Open a command prompt window and execute:

    net stop PostgreSQL13ServiceWHD && net start PostgreSQL13ServiceWHD

16. Restart WHD.

    Open a command prompt window and execute:

    <WebHelpDesk>>\WHD stop && <WebHelpDesk>>\WHD start

17. Open WHD.

18. If the wizard does not display, go to the next step.

    If the wizard displays, enter the username, admin name, and corresponding passwords.

    1. In the Database Name field, enter whd.

    2. In the Username field, enter whd.

    3. In the Password field, enter the whd password you configured in a previous step.

    4. In the Admin username field, enter whd.

    5. In the Admin password field, enter the whd password you configured in a previous step.

19. Click Next.

    WHD connects to the PostgreSQL database using the whd user credentials.

    If successful, the loading page displays.

    The upgrade is completed.

Linux

Perform the following steps to restore the whd user role to an alternate role on a WHD server running a Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), CentOS, or Fedora operating system.

1. Log out of WHD

2. Log in to the WHD server as root.

3. Open a Command window and navigate to the PostgreSQL data folder located at:

   <WebHelpDesk>>/bin/pgsql13/data

   The default location is:

   /usr/local/webhelpdesk/bin/pgsql13/data

4. Locate and open the pg_hba.conf file in a text editor (such as Notepad).

5. Locate the following line in the file:

   host  all  all  127.0.0.1/21  md5

6. Change md5 to trust.

   host  all  all  127.0.0.1/21  trust

7. Save and close the file.

8. Restart the PostgreSQL 13.3 service.

   In the Command window, execute:

   sudo systemctl stop PostgreSQL13ServiceWHD.service

   sudo systemctl start PostgreSQL13ServiceWHD.service

9. Log in to the PostgreSQL database.

   In the Command window, execute:

   <WebHelpDesk>>/pgsql13/bin/psql -h 127.0.0.1 -p 20293 -U whd postgres

   The current PostgreSQL database version displays, along with information on how to access help.

   A new prompt displays on the screen, indicating that you are logged in to the database.

   postgres=#

10. Set a new password for the whd role.

    In the Command window, execute: 

    ALTER ROLE "whd" WITH PASSWORD '[Password]';

    where [Password] is your chosen whd role password.

    If the password change is successful, the following message displays on the screen:

    ALTER ROLE

11. Exit the PostgreSQL database.

    In the Command window, execute:

    \q

12. Navigate to the PostgreSQL data folder.

    <WebHelpDesk>>\pgsql13\data

13. Locate and open the pg_hba.conf file in a text editor (such as Notepad).

14. Locate the following line:

    host  all  all  127.0.0.1/21  trust

15. Change trust back to md5.

    host  all  all  127.0.0.1/21  md5

16. Restart the PostgreSQL service.

    In the Command window, execute:

    sudo systemctl stop PostgreSQL13ServiceWHD && net start PostgreSQL13ServiceWHD

17. Restart WHD.

    In the Command window, execute:

    <WebHelpDesk>>\WHD stop && <WebHelpDesk>>\WHD start

18. Open WHD.

19. If the wizard does not display, go to the next step.

    If the wizard displays on the screen, enter the username, admin name, and corresponding passwords.

    1. In the Database Name field, enter whd.

    2. In the Username field, enter whd.

    3. In the Password field, enter the whd password you configured in a previous step.

    4. In the Admin username field, enter whd.

    5. In the Admin password field, enter the whd password you configured in a previous step.

20. Click Next.

    WHD connects to the PostgreSQL database using the whd user credentials.

    If successful, the loading page displays on the screen.

    The upgrade is completed.

macOS

Perform the following steps to restore the whd user role to an alternate role on a WHD server running a macOS operating system.

1. Log out of WHD.

2. Log in to the WHD server as root.

3. In the Terminal window, navigate to the PostgreSQL data folder located at:

   <WebHelpDesk>>/pgsql13/data

   The default location is:

   /usr/local/webhelpdesk/pgsql13/data

4. Locate and open the pg_hba.conf file in a text editor (such as Notepad).

5. Locate the following line in the file:

   host  all  all  127.0.0.1/21  md5

6. Change md5 to trust.

   host  all  all  127.0.0.1/21  trust

7. Save and close the file.

8. Restart the PostgreSQL 13.3 service.

   In the Terminal window, execute:

   sudo <WebHelpDesk>> pg stop && sudo <WebHelpDesk>>/pg start

9. Log in to the PostgreSQL database.

   In the Terminal window, execute:

   <WebHelpDesk>>/pgsql13/bin/psql -h 127.0.0.1 -p 20293 -U whd postgres

   The current PostgreSQL database version displays on the screen, along with information on how to access help.

   A new prompt displays as well, indicating that you are logged in to the database.

   postgres=#

10. Set a new password for the whd role.

    In the Terminal window, execute: 

    ALTER ROLE "whd" WITH PASSWORD '[Password]';

    where [Password] is your chosen whd role password.

    If the password change is successful, the following message displays on the screen:

    ALTER ROLE

11. Exit the PostgreSQL database.

    In the Terminal window, execute:

    \q

12. Navigate to the PostgreSQL data folder.

    <WebHelpDesk>>\pgsql13\data

13. Locate and open the pg_hba.conf file in a text editor (such as Notepad).

14. Locate the following line:

    host  all  all  127.0.0.1/21  trust

15. Change trust back to md5.

    host  all  all  127.0.0.1/21  md5

16. Restart the PostgreSQL service.

    In the Terminal window, execute:

    sudo systemctl stop PostgreSQL13ServiceWHD && net start PostgreSQL13ServiceWHD

17. Restart WHD.

    In the Terminal window, execute:

    <WebHelpDesk>>\WHD stop && <WebHelpDesk>>\WHD start

18. Open WHD.

19. If the wizard does not display, go to the next step.

    If the wizard displays on the screen, enter the username, admin name, and corresponding passwords.

    1. In the Database Name field, enter whd.

    2. In the Username field, enter whd.

    3. In the Password field, enter the whd password you configured in a previous step.

    4. In the Admin username field, enter whd.

    5. In the Admin password field, enter the whd password you configured in a previous step.

20. Click Next.

    WHD connects to the PostgreSQL database using the whd user credentials.

    If successful, the loading page displays on the screen.

    The upgrade is completed.