Root Groups Disappeared

We have a weird situation with our root groups. We used to have 10-15 "root groups" which contained a mixture of nodes and lower level groups.

Suddenly one day all these groups stopped being root groups. Nothing had changed, there are now only 2 "root" groups meaning that we can't just view at root level, we have to view all groups on our summary dashboard.

Anyone else come across this situation? - Cannot upload screenshots.

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Accepted answers

stuartd

Hmm, well support would definitely suggest you upgrade if not to the latest, at least a more recent version.

And avoid 2025.1 as it had a fair few bugs which I believe were mostly fixed in 2025.1.1

All comments

stuartd

You don't say what version of SW you're running, but we also have an issue with groups. It's not quite the same as yours, and in our case some lower level groups also appear as root groups. This is on ver 2024.4.0 and it was identified as a bug. So, if you are running the same version then the advice from support was to upgrade.

I say all this to suggest it might be best you open a ticket.

LucyMarie19

We're on version 2024.1.0

stuartd

Hmm, well support would definitely suggest you upgrade if not to the latest, at least a more recent version.

And avoid 2025.1 as it had a fair few bugs which I believe were mostly fixed in 2025.1.1

vinay.by

Hmm that's strange, i do know that they were issue with the default group views but I didnt see anything with respect to root groups being disappeared so far. @stuartd is absolutely correct they started off in 2024.4.X but that isnt the case with you, raise a support case probably its something different i guess.

@stuartd - I saw a similar bug in 2024.4.X where root level groups page wasnt moving ahead, I mean in manage groups - view mode - root level groups I cant navigate to the next page - this was registered as a bug and it isnt fixed in 2025.2 as well, probably it would be fixed in the upcoming versions i suppose.

ronan.tonilon

Disclaimer:
The content posted herein are provided as a suggestion or recommendation to you for your internal use. The information set forth herein may come from third party website or customers. SolarWinds is not liable for any downtime or any issue that may occur if you perform the following suggestions on the link provided. Your organization should internally review and assess to what extent, if any, such custom scripts or recommendations will be incorporated into your environment.
Please try this first in a lab environment, before implementing to your production.

This specific situation has been reported by other SolarWinds users, especially those using custom groups with nested structures. What you're describing—where previously top-level "root groups" suddenly appear as nested or orphaned—can happen due to one of the following:

1. Accidental Parent Assignment

A root group might have inadvertently been assigned a parent group (even via a UI lag or API).
This reclassifies it as a child, and it no longer appears at root level.

2. Group Definition Changes or Corruption

If group definitions (in Orion.Container or Orion.ContainerMembers) were altered—manually or by an import—the hierarchy can break.
SolarWinds does not validate for cycles or orphaned groups well in older versions.

3. Upgrade or Patch Side Effect

In some older versions (pre-2022), upgrades would sometimes "reset" group hierarchies or re-evaluate group definitions—especially dynamic groups with auto-matching logic.

4. Group Object Deletion

If one or more top-level containers were deleted or renamed, their former children can become misassigned or ungrouped.

What can be done (Investigation and fix/possible workaround):

1. Run a SWQL to Check Group Hierarchy

This will show which groups have a parent group assigned:

<span><span class="hljs-keyword">SELECT</span><br />&nbsp; c.ContainerID,<br />&nbsp; c.Name <span class="hljs-keyword">AS</span> GroupName,<br />&nbsp; c.ParentContainerID,<br />&nbsp; pc.Name <span class="hljs-keyword">AS</span> ParentGroup<br /><span class="hljs-keyword">FROM</span><br />&nbsp; Orion.Container c<br /><span class="hljs-keyword">LEFT</span> <span class="hljs-keyword">JOIN</span><br />&nbsp; Orion.Container pc <span class="hljs-keyword">ON</span> c.ParentContainerID <span class="hljs-operator">=</span> pc.ContainerID<br /><span class="hljs-keyword">ORDER</span> <span class="hljs-keyword">BY</span><br />&nbsp; c.ParentContainerID<br /><br /></span>

</code></div></div><ul data-start="1570" data-end="1735"><li data-start="1570" data-end="1645"><p data-start="1572" data-end="1645">Look for groups that used to be root groups but now have a <code data-start="1631" data-end="1644">ParentGroup

You can then reset their parent in the GUI (or with a direct update via API if needed).

2. Manually Reassign Root Groups

For any affected group:

Go to Settings → Manage Groups → Edit Group
If it shows a “Parent Group” selected, clear it to promote it back to a root-level group.

3. Check Audit Events (if enabled)

If you have Audit Logs enabled, check:

Settings → Audit Events
Filter by Group modified / container modified
You might see if a parent-child relationship was created.

4. Recreate Critical Root Groups (If Corrupt)

If a group is behaving strangely (not appearing, not linkable):

Create a new group with the same logic and members
Assign no parent group
Delete the problematic group

Best Practice:

Practice	Benefit
Avoid deeply nested dynamic groups	Easier to troubleshoot
Use naming conventions (e.g., [ROOT] prefix)	Easy identification
Use SWQL to monitor parent-child structure	Detect accidental nesting
Backup `Orion.Container` definitions regularly	Protects against accidental changes

Sample but usable script that automatically checks and flags groups that used to be root groups but now have a parent (based on last modified date). It's purpose is, it:

Lists all groups that:
- Have a parent group (i.e., are not root anymore)
- Were modified in the last 30 days (likely changed recently)
Shows: GroupName, ParentGroup, LastUpdate, and Definition

You can run this in SWQL Studio or a custom table widget to identify which groups may have accidentally lost their root status.

Here is a suggested SWQL script:

-- This SWQL query identifies groups that:
-- - Currently have a ParentGroup assigned (i.e., not a root group)
-- - Were likely root groups before (based on modification time and/or naming)

SELECT
c.ContainerID,
c.Name AS GroupName,
c.ParentContainerID,
pc.Name AS ParentGroup,
c.LastUpdate,
c.Definition AS GroupDefinition
FROM
Orion.Container c
LEFT JOIN
Orion.Container pc ON c.ParentContainerID = pc.ContainerID
WHERE
c.ParentContainerID IS NOT NULL
AND DATEDIFF(DAY, c.LastUpdate, GETUTCDATE()) <= 30
ORDER BY
c.LastUpdate DESC

Hope this helps.