PRTG Manual: INI File Content Check Sensor
This Sensor Type Is Deprecated! |
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This sensor type is deprecated. We provide the documentation in this section for your information only. We removed this sensor type from PRTG with version 16.x.25 (expected in May 2016). Your sensor will then stop monitoring and show a Down status. See the following article for details and possible alternatives for deprecated sensors: Knowledge Base: The PRTG Sensor Cleanup |
The INI File Content Check sensor reads an *.ini file. It indicates if the file exists and if it contains a specified section and field. It will show a Warning status if it cannot find a section or field, and a Down status if it cannot open the file.
- The sensor shows the integer value of the requested field in a channel, or -1 if the field does not contain an integer.
- The sensor message shows [section] field = value, no matter of which type the value is.
INI File Content Check Sensor
Click here to enlarge: http://media.paessler.com/prtg-screenshots/ini_file_content_check.png
- To monitor files on a share, the "LanmanServer" Windows service must run on the target computer.
- Requires Windows credentials in the settings of the parent device.
- We recommend Windows 2012 R2 on the probe system for best performance of this sensor.
- This sensor can have a high impact on the performance of your monitoring system. Use it with care. We recommend that you use no more than 50 sensors of this sensor type on each probe.
The Add Sensor dialog appears when you manually add a new sensor to a device. It only shows the setting fields that are required for creating the sensor. Therefore, you do not see all setting fields in this dialog. You can change (nearly) all settings in the sensor's Settings tab later.
Click the Settings tab of a sensor to change its settings.
Usually, a sensor connects to the IP Address or DNS Name of the parent device on which you created the sensor. See the device settings for details. For some sensors, you can explicitly define the monitoring target in the sensor settings. See below for details on available settings.
Setting |
Description |
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Sensor Name |
Enter a meaningful name to identify the sensor. By default, PRTG shows this name in the device tree, as well as in alarms, logs, notifications, reports, maps, libraries, and tickets. |
Parent Tags |
Shows tags that this sensor inherits from its parent device, group, and probe. This setting is shown for your information only and cannot be changed here. |
Tags |
Enter one or more tags. Confirm each tag with the Spacebar key, a comma, or the 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. You can add additional tags to the sensor. There are default tags that are automatically predefined in a sensor's settings when you add a sensor. It is not possible to enter tags with a leading plus (+) or minus (-) sign, nor tags with parentheses (()) or angle brackets (<>). |
Priority |
Select a priority for the sensor. This setting determines where the sensor is placed in sensor lists. A sensor with a top priority is at the top of a list. Choose from one star (low priority) to five stars (top priority). |
Sensor Specific |
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INI File Name |
Enter the full path to the file that this sensor will monitor. For example, enter C:\Windows\file.txt. to monitor a file on the probe system. If you use a local path, the sensor looks for the target file only on the system on which the parent probe runs, not on the parent device! To monitor a file on the parent device, use the dollar sign ($) like C$\User\johnqpublic\file.txt. If the file is located on a network device, use the Universal Naming Convention (UNC) path without the server part (only enter share\folder\file.txt). The server part (\\server\) is taken from the parent device settings of this sensor. Enter a valid path and file name. Note: To provide any shares, the LanmanServer "Server" Windows service must run on the target computer. |
INI Section |
Define the section inside the .ini file you would like to check. A section within the .ini file is denoted in square brackets [ ]. Enter the section name without the brackets here, for example, enter Mail. This value is not case sensitive. If the section is not found, the sensor will show a Warning status. |
INI Field |
Define the field inside the section you would like to check. In the .ini file, a field name is written before an equal sign =, followed by its value. Enter the field name here, for example, enter Messaging Application Programming Interface (MAPI). This value is not case sensitive. The sensor will return the value of this field, which is the value on the right side of the equal sign. If the field is not found, the sensor will show a Warning status. |
If Value Changes |
Define what the sensor does when the sensor value changes:
|
Setting |
Description |
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Primary Channel |
Select a channel from the list to define it as the primary channel. In the device tree, the last value of the primary channel is always displayed below the sensor's name. The available options depend on what channels are available for this sensor. You can set a different primary channel later by clicking the pin symbol of a channel on the sensor's Overview tab. |
Graph Type |
Define how different channels are shown for this sensor:
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Stack Unit |
This field is only visible if you enable Stack channels on top of each other as Graph Type. Select a unit from the list. All channels with this unit are stacked on top of each other. By default, you cannot exclude single channels from stacking if they use the selected unit. However, there is an advanced procedure to do so. |
By default, all of the following settings are inherited from objects that are higher in the hierarchy and should be changed there if necessary. Often, best practice is to change them centrally in the root group settings. For more information, see section Inheritance of Settings. To change a setting for this object only, disable inheritance by clicking the button next to inherit from under the corresponding setting name. You then see the options described below.
Click to interrupt the inheritance. See section Inheritance of Settings for more information.
Setting |
Description |
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Scanning Interval |
Select a scanning interval (seconds, minutes, or hours). The scanning interval determines the amount of time that the sensor waits between two scans. You can change the available intervals in the system administration on PRTG on premises installations. |
If a Sensor Query Fails |
Define the number of scanning intervals that the sensor has time to reach and check a device again in case a sensor query fails. Depending on the option that you select, the sensor can try to reach and check a device again several times before the sensor shows a Down status. This can avoid false alarms if the monitored device only has temporary issues. For previous scanning intervals with failed requests, the sensor shows a Warning status. Choose from:
Sensors that monitor via Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) always wait at least one scanning interval before they show a Down status. It is not possible to immediately set a WMI sensor to a Down status, so the first option does not apply to these sensors. All other options can apply. If you define error limits for a sensor's channels, the sensor immediately shows a Down status. No "wait" option applies. If a channel uses lookup values, the sensor immediately shows a Down status. No "wait" options apply. |
Schedules, Dependencies, and Maintenance Window
You cannot interrupt the inheritance for schedules, dependencies, and maintenance windows. The corresponding settings from the parent objects are always active. However, you can define additional settings here. They are active at the same time as the parent objects' settings.
Setting |
Description |
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Schedule |
Select a schedule from the list. Schedules can be used to monitor for a certain time span (days or hours) every week. You can create schedules, edit schedules, or pause monitoring for a specific time span. For more information, see section Account Settings—Schedules. Schedules are generally inherited. New schedules are added to schedules that you already set up, so all schedules are active at the same time. |
Maintenance Window |
Specify if you want to set up a one-time maintenance window. During a maintenance window, the selected object and all child objects are not monitored. They are in a Paused status instead. Choose between:
To terminate an active maintenance window before the defined end date, change the time entry in Maintenance Ends to a date in the past. |
Maintenance Begins |
This field is only visible if you enable Set up a one-time maintenance window above. Use the date time picker to enter the start date and time of the maintenance window. |
Maintenance Ends |
This field is only visible if you enable Set up a one-time maintenance window above. Use the date time picker to enter the end date and time of the maintenance window. |
Dependency Type |
Define a dependency type. You can use dependencies to pause monitoring for an object depending on the status of a different object. You can choose from:
To test your dependencies, select Simulate Error Status from the context menu of an object that other objects depend on. A few seconds later, all dependent objects are paused. You can check all dependencies under Devices | Dependencies in the main menu bar. |
Dependency |
This field is only visible if you enable Select a sensor above. Click the Search button and use the object selector to select a sensor on which the current object will depend. |
Dependency Delay (Sec.) |
This field is only visible if you enable Select a sensor above. Define a time span in seconds for dependency delay. After the master sensor for this dependency comes back to an Up status, monitoring of the dependent objects is additionally delayed by the defined time span. This can prevent false alarms, for example, after a server restart, by giving systems more time for all services to start up. Enter an integer value. This setting is not available if you set this sensor to Use parent or to be the Master sensor for parent. In this case, define delays in the parent device settings or in its parent group settings. |
Click to interrupt the inheritance. See section Inheritance of Settings for more information.
Setting |
Description |
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User Group Access |
Define the user groups that have access to the object. You see a table with user groups and group access rights. The table contains all user groups in your setup. For each user group, you can choose from the following group access rights:
To automatically set all child objects to inherit this object's access rights, enable the Revert children's access rights to inherited option. For more details on access rights, see section Access Rights Management. |
To change display settings, spike filtering, and limits, switch to the sensor's Overview tab and click the gear icon of a specific channel. For detailed information, see section Sensor Channel Settings.
Click the Notification Triggers tab to change notification triggers. For detailed information, see section Sensor Notification Triggers Settings.
For more general information about settings, see section Object Settings.
For information about sensor settings, see the following sections: