PRTG Network Monitor User Manual

Part 6: Ajax Web Interface—Device and Sensor Setup | 2 Create Objects Manually

6.2

Create Objects Manually

We recommend using the auto-discovery

190

function to create a basic monitoring setup for your network. Afterwards, you can manually create devices that could not be discovered, or

arrange

1733

detected devices in groups.

The procedure depends on the kind of object you want to add. Choose between:

§

Add a Group

205

§

Add a Device

211

§

Add a Sensor

220

Add a Remote Probe

Please see

Mult iple Probes and Remot e Probes

2049

section for more information.

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1 Add a Group

6.2.1

Add a Group

Note: This documentation refers to the PRTG Sy st em Administ rat or user accessing the Ajax interface on a master node. For other user accounts, interfaces, or nodes, not all of the options might be available as described. When using a cluster installation, failover nodes are read-only by default.

In order to add a group manually, select Devices | Add Group from the main menu. An assistant will appear, leading you through two steps. For faster setup, you can select Add

Group... in the

context menu

163

of a probe or group to which you want to add the new group. This will skip step 1 and lead you directly to step 2.

§ St ep 1

Please choose a probe or group you want to add the new group to. Click on Cont inue.

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Add Group Assistant Step 2

§ St ep 2

Add group settings as described below.

Add Group Settings

Group Name and Tags

Group Name

Tags

Enter a meaningful name to identify the group. The name will be shown by default in the devices tree and in all alarms.

Enter one or more tags; confirm each tag by hitting the space, comma, or enter key. You can use tags to group objects and use tag-filtered views later on. Tags are not case sensitive. Tags are

automatically inherited

89

.

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1 Add a Group

206

Credent ials for Windows Sy st ems

Domain or Computer

Name

Username

Password

Define the authority for Windows access. This is used for Windows

Management Instrumentation (WMI) and other Windows sensors. If you want to use a Windows local user account on the target device, please enter the computer name here. If you want to use a

Windows domain user account (recommended), please enter the

(Active Directory) domain name here. If not explicitly defined, PRTG will automatically add a prefix in order to use the NT LAN Manager

(NTLM) protocol. Please do not leave this field empty.

Enter the username for Windows access. Usually, you will use credentials with administrator privileges.

Enter the password for Windows access. Usually, you will use credentials with administrator privileges.

Credent ials for Linux/Solaris/Mac OS (SSH/WBEM) Sy st ems

Username

Login

Enter a login name for the access via SSH and WBEM. Usually, you will use credentials with administrator privileges.

Define which authentication method will be used for login. Choose between:

§ Login via Password: Provide a password for login. Enter below.

§ Login via Privat e Key : Provide a private key for authentication.

Note: PRTG can only handle keys in OpenSSH format which are not encrypted. You cannot use password protected keys here. In the text field, please paste the entire private key, including the

"BEGIN" and "END" lines. Please make sure the according public key is provided on the target machine. For details, please see

Monit oring via SSH

1962

.

Password

Private Key

This field is only visible if password login is selected above. Enter a password for the Linux access via SSH and WBEM. Usually, you will use credentials with administrator privileges.

This field is only visible if private key login is selected above. Paste a private key into the field (OpenSSH format, unencrypted). Usually, you will use credentials with administrator privileges. Note: If you do not insert a private key for the first time, but change the private key, you need to restart your PRTG core server service in order for the private key change to take effect! For details, please see


1962

.

For WBEM Use Protocol Define the protocol that will be used for WBEM. This setting is only relevant when using WBEM sensors. Choose between:

§ HTTP: Use an unencrypted connection for WBEM.

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1 Add a Group


For WBEM Use Port

§ HTTPS: Use an SSL-encrypted connection for WBEM.

Define the port that will be used for WBEM. This setting is only relevant when using WBEM sensors. Choose between:

§ Set aut omat ically (port 5988 or 5989): Use one of the standard ports, depending on whether unencrypted or encrypted connection is chosen above.

§ Set manually : Use a custom port. Define below.

WBEM Port

SSH Port

SSH Rights Elevation

This setting is only visible if manual port selection is enabled above.

Enter the WBEM port number.

Define the port number which will be used for SSH connections.

Note: By default, this setting is automatically used for all

SSH sensors

296

, unless you define a different port number in the sensor settings.

Define with which rights the command will be executed on the target system. Choose between:

§ Run t he command as t he user connect ing (default ): Use the rights of the user who establishes the SSH connection.

§ Run t he command as anot her user using 'sudo': Use the rights of another user, for example, the administrator.

§ Run t he command as anot her user using 'su': Use the rights of another target user.

Target Username This field is only visible if sudo or su is enabled above. Enter a username to run the specified command as another user than root.

If you leave this field empty, the command will be run as root.

Ensure that you set the Linux password even you use a public/ private key for authentication. This is not necessary if the user is allowed to execute the command without a password.

Password Target User This field is only visible if su is enabled above. Enter the password for the specified target user.

Credent ials for VMware/X enServer

User Enter a login name for access to VMware and XEN servers. Usually, you will use credentials with administrator privileges.

Password Enter a password for access to VMware and XEN servers. Usually, you will use credentials with administrator privileges.

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1 Add a Group


VMware Protocol Define the protocol used for the connection to VMware and

XenServer. Choose between:

§ HTTPS (recommended): Use an SSL-encrypted connection to

VMware and XenServers.

§ HTTP: Use an unencrypted connection to VMware and

XenServers.

Credent ials for SNMP Devices

SNMP Version

Community String

Authentication Type

Select the SNMP version that will be used for device connection.

Choose between:

§ v1: Use the simple standard v1 protocol for SNMP connections.

This protocol only offers clear-text data transmission, but it is usually supported by all devices.

§ v2c: Use the more advanced v2c protocol for SNMP connections.

Data is still transferred as clear-text, but it supports 64-bit counters.

§ v3: Use the latest v3 protocol for SNMP connections. It provides secure authentication and data encryption.

Note for SNMP v3: Due to internal limitations you can only monitor a limited number of sensors per second using SNMP v3. The limit is somewhere between 1 and 50 sensors per second (depending on the SNMP latency of your network). This means that using an interval of 60 seconds you are limited to between 60 and 3000

SNMP v3 sensors for each probe. If you experience an increased

"Interval Delay" or "Open Requests" reading of the probe health sensor, you need to distribute the load over multiple probes. SNMP v1 and v2 do not have this limitation.

This setting is only visible if SNMP version v1 or v2c are enabled above. Enter the community string of your devices. This is a kind of

"clear-text password" used for simple authentication. We recommend using the default value.

This setting is only visible if SNMP version v3 is enabled above.

Choose between:

§ MD5: Use Message-Digest Algorithm 5 (MD5) for authentication.

§ SHA: Use Secure Hash Algorithm (SHA) for authentication.

The chosen type has to match the authentication type of your device.

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1 Add a Group


User

Password

Encryption Type

Data Encryption Key

Context Name

SNMP Port

SNMP Timeout (sec.)

Note: If you do not want to use authentication, but you need SNMP v3, for example, because your device requires context, you can leave the field password empty. In this case,

SNMP_SEC_LEVEL_NOAUTH will be used and authentication will be deactivated entirely.


Enter a username for secure authentication. This value has to match the username of your device.


Enter a password for secure authentication. This value has to match the password of your device.


Select an encryption type. Choose between:

§ DES: Use Data Encryption Standard (DES) as encryption algorithm.

§ AES: Use Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) as encryption algorithm.

The chosen type has to match the encryption type of your device.


Enter an encryption key here. If you provide a key in this field,

SNMP data packets will be encrypted using the encryption algorithm selected above, providing increased security. The provided key here has to match the encryption key of your device.

Note: If the key entered in this field does not match the key configured in the target SNMP device, you will not get an error message! Please enter a string or leave the field empty.


Enter a context name only if it is required by the configuration of the device. Context is a collection of management information accessible by an SNMP device. Please enter a string.

Enter the port used for SNMP communication. We recommend using the default value.

Enter a timeout in seconds for the request. If the reply takes longer than this value the request is aborted and an error message is triggered.

209


1 Add a Group

Access Right s

User Group Access Define which user group(s) will have access to the object you're editing. A table with user groups and right is shown; it contains all user groups from your setup. For each user group you can choose from the following access rights:

§ Inherit ed: Use the settings of the parent object.

§ None: Users in this group cannot see or edit the object. The object does not show up in lists.

§ Read: Users in this group can see the object and review its settings.

§ Writ e: Users in this group can see the object, as well as review and edit its settings. However, they cannot edit access rights settings.

§ Full: Users in this group can see the object, as well as review and edit its settings and edit access rights settings.

You can create new user groups in the

Sy st em Administ rat ion—

User Groups

1861

settings.

Click on the Cont inue button to store your settings. If you change tabs or use the main menu, all changes to the settings will be lost!

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2 Add a Device

6.2.2

Add a Device


To manually add a device, select Devices | Add Device from the main menu. An assistant will appear, leading you through two steps. For faster setup, you can select Add Device... in the

context menu

163

of a group to which you want to add the new device. This will skip step 1 and lead you directly to step 2.

§ St ep 1

Please choose a group you want to add the new device to. Click on Cont inue.

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Add Dev ic e Assistant Step 2

§ St ep 2

Add device settings as described below.

Add Device Settings

Device Name and Address

Device Name

IP Version

Enter a meaningful name to identify the device. The name will be shown by default in the device tree and in all alarms.

Define which IP protocol PRTG will use to connect to this device.

The setting is valid for all sensors created on this device. Choose between:

§ Connect using IPv4: Use IP version 4 for all requests to this device.

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2 Add a Device

Device Name and Address

IP Address/DNS Name Enter the IP address (either v4 or v6, depending on your selection above) or DNS name for the device. Most sensors created on this device will inherit this setting and they will try to connect to this address for monitoring. Note: There are some sensor types that still have their own setting for IP address/DNS name. Those sensors will use their own settings.

Tags

§ Connect using IPv6: Use IP version 6 for all requests to this device.

Device Icon

Enter one or more tags; confirm each tag by hitting space, comma, or enter key. You can use tags to group sensors and use tagfiltered views later on. Tags are not case sensitive. Tags are

automatically inherited

89

.

Choose a device icon from the list. It will be shown in the device tree.

Device Ty pe

Sensor Management

Discovery Schedule

Select which type of auto-discovery you would like to perform for this device. Choose between:

§ Manual (no aut o-discovery ): Do not auto-discover any sensors, but only add sensors manually.

§ Aut omat ic device ident ificat ion (st andard, recommended):

Use a small set of auto-discovery templates. This will scan your

LAN and usually create a view standard sensors on your device.

§ Aut omat ic device ident ificat ion (det ailed, may creat e many

sensors: Use an extended set of auto-discovery templates. This will scan your LAN and usually create many sensors on your device.

§ Aut omat ic sensor creat ion using specific device t emplat es:

Use specific auto-discovery templates only. Please select templates below. This will scan your LAN and add sensors defined in the template.

This option is only visible if one of the auto-discovery options is selected above. Define when the auto-discovery will be run.

Choose between:

§ Once: Perform auto-discovery only once. For existing devices, this will initiate a one-time sensor update for the current device.

§ Hourly : Perform auto-discovery for new sensors every hour.

§ Daily : Perform auto-discovery for new sensors every day.

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2 Add a Device

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Device Ty pe

Device Template(s)

§ Weekly : Perform auto-discovery for new sensors every week.

This option is only visible if using specific device templates (last option) is enabled above. Please choose one or more templates by adding a check mark in front of the respective template name. You can also select and deselect all items by using the check box in the table head. These will be used for auto-discovery on the current device. Choose from:

§ ADSL

§ Cisco ASA VPN

§ Cisco Device (Generic)

§ Dell MDI

§ DNS Server

§ Environment Jacart a

§ Environment Poseidon

§ Frit zbox

§ FTP Server

§ Generic Device (PING only )

§ Generic Device (SNMP-enabled)

§ Generic Device (SNMP-enabled, Det ailed)

§ HTTP Web Server

§ Hy per V Host Server

§ Linux/UNIX Device (SNMP or SSH enabled)

§ Mail Server (Generic)

§ Mail Server (MS Exchange)

§ Microsoft Sharepoint 2010

§ NAS LenovoEMC

§ NAS QNAP

§ NAS Sy nology

§ Net App

§ NTP Server

§ Print er (HP)

§ RDP Server

§ RMON compat ible device

213


2 Add a Device

Device Ty pe

§ Server (Compaq/HP agent s)

§ Server (Dell)

§ Sever Cisco UCS

§ Server IBM

§ SonicWALL

§ Swit ch (Cisco Cat aly st )

§ Swit ch (Cisco IOS Based)

§ Swit ch (HP Procurve)

§ UNIX /Linux Device

§ UPS (APC)

§ Virt uozzo Server

§ VMware ESX / vCent er Server

§ Windows (Det ailed via WMI)

§ Windows (via Remot e Powershell)

§ Windows (via WMI)

§ Windows IIS (via SNMP)

§ X EN Host s

§ X EN Virt ual Machines

Once the auto-discovery is finished, PRTG will create a new

ticket

149

and list the device templates which were actually used to create new sensors. Templates which were not applied will not be shown in the ticket.


Domain or Computer

Name

Define the authority for Windows access. This is used for Windows

Management Instrumentation (WMI) and other Windows sensors. If you want to use a Windows local user account on the target device, please enter the computer name here. If you want to use a

Windows domain user account (recommended), please enter the

(Active Directory) domain name here. If not explicitly defined, PRTG will automatically add a prefix in order to use the NT LAN Manager

(NTLM) protocol. Please do not leave this field empty.

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2 Add a Device

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Username

Password

Enter the username for Windows access. Usually, you will use credentials with administrator privileges.

Enter the password for Windows access. Usually, you will use credentials with administrator privileges.


Username

Login

Enter a login name for the access via SSH and WBEM. Usually, you will use credentials with administrator privileges.

Define which authentication method will be used for login. Choose between:

§ Login via Password: Provide a password for login. Enter below.

§ Login via Privat e Key : Provide a private key for authentication.

Note: PRTG can only handle keys in OpenSSH format which are not encrypted. You cannot use password protected keys here. In the text field, please paste the entire private key, including the

"BEGIN" and "END" lines. Please make sure the according public key is provided on the target machine. For details, please see


1962

.

Password

Private Key

This field is only visible if password login is selected above. Enter a password for the Linux access via SSH and WBEM. Usually, you will use credentials with administrator privileges.

This field is only visible if private key login is selected above. Paste a private key into the field (OpenSSH format, unencrypted). Usually, you will use credentials with administrator privileges. Note: If you do not insert a private key for the first time, but change the private key, you need to restart your PRTG core server service in order for the private key change to take effect! For details, please see


1962

.

For WBEM Use Protocol Define the protocol that will be used for WBEM. This setting is only relevant when using WBEM sensors. Choose between:

§ HTTP: Use an unencrypted connection for WBEM.

§ HTTPS: Use an SSL-encrypted connection for WBEM.

For WBEM Use Port Define the port that will be used for WBEM. This setting is only relevant when using WBEM sensors. Choose between:

§ Set aut omat ically (port 5988 or 5989): Use one of the standard ports, depending on whether unencrypted or encrypted connection is chosen above.

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2 Add a Device


WBEM Port

§ Set manually : Use a custom port. Define below.

This setting is only visible if manual port selection is enabled above.

Enter the WBEM port number.

SSH Port

SSH Rights Elevation

Define the port number which will be used for SSH connections.

Note: By default, this setting is automatically used for all

SSH sensors

296

, unless you define a different port number in the sensor settings.

Define with which rights the command will be executed on the target system. Choose between:

§ Run t he command as t he user connect ing (default ): Use the rights of the user who establishes the SSH connection.

§ Run t he command as anot her user using 'sudo': Use the rights of another user, for example, the administrator.

§ Run t he command as anot her user using 'su': Use the rights of another target user.

Target Username This field is only visible if sudo or su is enabled above. Enter a username to run the specified command as another user than root.

If you leave this field empty, the command will be run as root.

Ensure that you set the Linux password even you use a public/ private key for authentication. This is not necessary if the user is allowed to execute the command without a password.

Password Target User This field is only visible if su is enabled above. Enter the password for the specified target user.


User

Password

VMware Protocol

Enter a login name for access to VMware and XEN servers. Usually, you will use credentials with administrator privileges.

Enter a password for access to VMware and XEN servers. Usually, you will use credentials with administrator privileges.

Define the protocol used for the connection to VMware and

XenServer. Choose between:

§ HTTPS (recommended): Use an SSL-encrypted connection to

VMware and XenServers.

§ HTTP: Use an unencrypted connection to VMware and

XenServers.

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2 Add a Device


SNMP Version

Community String

Authentication Type

User

Password

Select the SNMP version that will be used for device connection.

Choose between:

§ v1: Use the simple standard v1 protocol for SNMP connections.

This protocol only offers clear-text data transmission, but it is usually supported by all devices.

§ v2c: Use the more advanced v2c protocol for SNMP connections.

Data is still transferred as clear-text, but it supports 64-bit counters.

§ v3: Use the latest v3 protocol for SNMP connections. It provides secure authentication and data encryption.

Note for SNMP v3: Due to internal limitations you can only monitor a limited number of sensors per second using SNMP v3. The limit is somewhere between 1 and 50 sensors per second (depending on the SNMP latency of your network). This means that using an interval of 60 seconds you are limited to between 60 and 3000

SNMP v3 sensors for each probe. If you experience an increased

"Interval Delay" or "Open Requests" reading of the probe health sensor, you need to distribute the load over multiple probes. SNMP v1 and v2 do not have this limitation.

This setting is only visible if SNMP version v1 or v2c are enabled above. Enter the community string of your devices. This is a kind of

"clear-text password" used for simple authentication. We recommend using the default value.


Choose between:

§ MD5: Use Message-Digest Algorithm 5 (MD5) for authentication.

§ SHA: Use Secure Hash Algorithm (SHA) for authentication.

The chosen type has to match the authentication type of your device.

Note: If you do not want to use authentication, but you need SNMP v3, for example, because your device requires context, you can leave the field password empty. In this case,

SNMP_SEC_LEVEL_NOAUTH will be used and authentication will be deactivated entirely.


Enter a username for secure authentication. This value has to match the username of your device.


Enter a password for secure authentication. This value has to match the password of your device.

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2 Add a Device


Encryption Type

Data Encryption Key

Context Name

SNMP Port

SNMP Timeout (sec.)


Select an encryption type. Choose between:

§ DES: Use Data Encryption Standard (DES) as encryption algorithm.

§ AES: Use Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) as encryption algorithm.

The chosen type has to match the encryption type of your device.


Enter an encryption key here. If you provide a key in this field,

SNMP data packets will be encrypted using the encryption algorithm selected above, providing increased security. The provided key here has to match the encryption key of your device.

Note: If the key entered in this field does not match the key configured in the target SNMP device, you will not get an error message! Please enter a string or leave the field empty.


Enter a context name only if it is required by the configuration of the device. Context is a collection of management information accessible by an SNMP device. Please enter a string.

Enter the port used for SNMP communication. We recommend using the default value.

Enter a timeout in seconds for the request. If the reply takes longer than this value the request is aborted and an error message is triggered.

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2 Add a Device

Access Right s

User Group Access Define which user group(s) will have access to the object you're editing. A table with user groups and right is shown; it contains all user groups from your setup. For each user group you can choose from the following access rights:

§ Inherit ed: Use the settings of the parent object.

§ None: Users in this group cannot see or edit the object. The object does not show up in lists and in the device tree.

Exception: If a child object is visible to the user, the object is visible in the device tree, though not accessible.

§ Read: Users in this group can see the object and review its monitoring results.

§ Writ e: Users in this group can see the object, review its monitoring results, and edit the object's settings. They cannot edit access rights settings.

§ Full: Users in this group can see the object, review its monitoring results, edit the object's settings, and edit access rights settings.

You can create new user groups in the

Sy st em Administ rat ion—

User Groups

1861

settings. To automatically set all objects further down in the hierarchy to inherit this object's access rights, set a check mark for the Revert children's access right s t o inherit ed option.

For more details about access rights, please see section

User

Access Right s

94

.

Click on the Cont inue button to store your settings. If you change tabs or use the main menu, all changes to the settings will be lost!

219


3 Add a Sensor

6.2.3

Add a Sensor


In order to add a sensor manually, select Sensors | Add Sensor from the main menu. An assistant will appear, leading you through two steps. For faster setup, you can select Add

Sensor... in the

context menu

163

of a device to which you want to add the new sensor. This will skip step 1 and lead you directly to step 2.

§ St ep 1

Please select Add sensor t o an exist ing device and choose a device you want to add the new sensor to. Click on Cont inue.

220

Add Sensor Assistant

28.05.2014

28.05.2014


3 Add a Sensor

§ St ep 2

The Add Sensor assistant is shown (see screenshot above). Select a sensor you want to add and enter the needed settings. You can filter the listed sensors by type, by target system, and by the used technology. You can choose one aspect per filter. Alternatively or additionally, you can use the live search by typing in a key term (or a substring) in the Search box. PRTG also suggests sensor types to create on the selected device; this recommendation is automatically calculated based on the current user's sensor usage and shows the ten commonest sensor types by default (if enough sensor types are already in use). The chosen filter also applies to the recommendation. See section More if you want to adjust the number of most used sensor types which are shown here or to hide this option completely.

For more information about a sensor type, please see the manual section of the respective

sensor. See

List of Available Sensor Ty pes

291

section to find detailed information about every sensor type.

More

Knowledge Base: How can I change the number of entries in most used sensor types?

§ http://kb.paessler.com/en/topic/59788

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PRTG Network Monitor User Manual

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