This article applies to PRTG Network Monitor 7.x and 8

Unfortunately, it's not possible to add custom channels to existing Packet Sniffer / xFlow sensors. But there is another solution:

Creating a Custom Packet Sniffer / xFlow Sensor With Standard Channels Plus Your Own Definitions

You can create a new custom sensor that uses the the default channels plus your own channel definitions:

Step 1: Create a custom sensor

• Depending on what you need create a custom Packet Sniffer or custom NetFlow / sFlow sensor in the PRTG web interface.
• When using NetFlow, fill in the required fields "Netflow Port" and "Active Flow Timeout"

Step 2: Copy the required default channels

Copy the required default channels (see below) into the "Channel Definition" box. There are two sets, the "Group" and the "Detail" definitions.

Group definitions:

#3001:WWW
(Protocol[TCP] and ( SourcePort[80] or DestinationPort[80] or SourcePort[8080] or DestinationPort[8080])) OR (Protocol[TCP] and (SourcePort[443] or DestinationPort[443]))

#3002:FTP/P2P
(Protocol[TCP] and (DestinationPort[20-21] OR SourcePort[20-21]))

#3003:Mail
((Protocol[TCP] or Protocol[UDP]) and ( DestinationPort[143] or SourcePort[143] or DestinationPort[220] or SourcePort[220] or DestinationPort[993] or SourcePort[993] )) OR (Protocol[TCP] and (SourcePort[110] or DestinationPort[110] or SourcePort[995] or DestinationPort[995])) OR (Protocol[TCP] and (SourcePort[25] or DestinationPort[25]))

#3004:Chat
(Protocol[TCP] and (SourcePort[6667] or DestinationPort[6667])) OR (Protocol[TCP] and (SourcePort[5190] or DestinationPort[5190]))

#3005:Remote Control
(Protocol[TCP] and (SourcePort[3389] or DestinationPort[3389])) OR (Protocol[TCP] and (SourcePort[22] or DestinationPort[22])) OR (Protocol[TCP] and (SourcePort[23] or DestinationPort[23])) OR (Protocol[TCP] and (SourcePort[5800] or DestinationPort[5800] or SourcePort[5900] or DestinationPort[5900]))

#3007:Infrastructure
(Protocol[UDP] and ((SourcePort[68] and DestinationPort[67]) or (SourcePort[67] and DestinationPort[68]) )) OR ((Protocol[TCP] or Protocol[UDP]) and (SourcePort[53] or DestinationPort[53])) OR (Protocol[TCP] and (SourcePort[113] or DestinationPort[113])) OR (Protocol[ICMP]) OR (Protocol[TCP] and (SourcePort[161-162] or DestinationPort[161-162]))

#3008:NetBIOS
((Protocol[TCP] OR Protocol[UDP]) AND (DestinationPort[137-139] OR SourcePort[137-139]))

#3009:Various
(Protocol[UDP]) OR (Protocol[TCP])

Detail definitions:

#1001:HTTP
Protocol[TCP] and ( SourcePort[80] or DestinationPort[80] or SourcePort[8080] or DestinationPort[8080])

#1023:HTTPS
Protocol[TCP] and (SourcePort[443] or DestinationPort[443])

#1024:FTP (Control)
Protocol[TCP] and (DestinationPort[20-21] OR SourcePort[20-21])

#1006:IMAP
(Protocol[TCP] or Protocol[UDP]) and ( DestinationPort[143] or SourcePort[143] or DestinationPort[220] or SourcePort[220] or DestinationPort[993] or SourcePort[993] )

#1008:POP3
Protocol[TCP] and (SourcePort[110] or DestinationPort[110] or SourcePort[995] or DestinationPort[995])

#1011:SMTP
Protocol[TCP] and (SourcePort[25] or DestinationPort[25])

#1007:IRC
Protocol[TCP] and (SourcePort[6667] or DestinationPort[6667])

#1025:AIM
Protocol[TCP] and (SourcePort[5190] or DestinationPort[5190])

#1009:RDP
Protocol[TCP] and (SourcePort[3389] or DestinationPort[3389])

#1014:SSH
Protocol[TCP] and (SourcePort[22] or DestinationPort[22])

#1016:Telnet
Protocol[TCP] and (SourcePort[23] or DestinationPort[23])

#1017:VNC
Protocol[TCP] and (SourcePort[5800] or DestinationPort[5800] or SourcePort[5900] or DestinationPort[5900])

#1003:DHCP
Protocol[UDP] and ((SourcePort[68] and DestinationPort[67]) or (SourcePort[67] and DestinationPort[68]) )

#1004:DNS
(Protocol[TCP] or Protocol[UDP]) and (SourcePort[53] or DestinationPort[53])

#1005:Ident
Protocol[TCP] and (SourcePort[113] or DestinationPort[113])

#1018:ICMP
Protocol[ICMP]

#1012:SNMP
Protocol[TCP] and (SourcePort[161-162] or DestinationPort[161-162])

#3008:NetBIOS
((Protocol[TCP] OR Protocol[UDP]) AND (DestinationPort[137-139] OR SourcePort[137-139]))

#1021:OtherUDP
Protocol[UDP]

#1022:OtherTCP
Protocol[TCP]

Step 3: Add your own channels

Add your own channels to the default definitions in the "Channel Definition" box.

• Usually your own channels are more specific and therefore these channel definitions should be inserted before the more generic definitions. Any traffic is only accounted in the first channel that matches the filter.
• Make sure that you use unique channel numbers when adding your sensors!

Step 4: Save and Test

Click on "Continue" to create the sensor and test it.

See also

How do the channel definitions for custom Packet Sniffing or xFlow (NetFlow/sFlow) sensors work?