PRTG Manual: Add a Device

Device Name

Enter a meaningful name to identify the device. By default, PRTG shows this name in the device tree, as well as in alarms, logs, notifications, reports, maps, libraries, and tickets.

If the name contains angle brackets (<>), PRTG replaces them with braces ({}) for security reasons. For more information, see the Knowledge Base: What security features does PRTG include?

IP Version

Select the IP protocol that PRTG uses to connect to the device:

• IPv4: Use IP version 4 for all requests to the device.

• IPv6: Use IP version 6 for all requests to the device.

The setting is valid for all sensors that you create on the device.

IPv4 Address/DNS Name

This setting is only visible if you select IPv4 above. Enter the IP address or Domain Name System (DNS) name for the device. Most sensors that you create on this device inherit this setting and try to connect to this address for monitoring.

Some sensors have their own setting for the IP address/DNS name to which they connect.

IPv6 Address/DNS Name

This setting is only visible if you select IPv6 above. Enter the IP address or Domain Name System (DNS) name for the device. Most sensors that you create on this device inherit this setting and try to connect to this address for monitoring.

Some sensors have their own setting for the IP address/DNS name to which they connect.

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.

It is not possible to enter tags with a leading plus (+) or minus (-) sign, nor tags with parentheses (()) or angle brackets (<>).

For performance reasons, it can take some minutes until you can filter for new tags that you added.

Device Icon

Select a device icon. PRTG shows it in the device tree.

Auto-Discovery Level

Select the level of detail for the auto-discovery:

• No auto-discovery: Select this option if you only want to manually create devices and sensors.

• Standard auto-discovery (recommended): Create a set of standard sensors for standard monitoring. This option works fine for most installations.
• Detailed auto-discovery: Create all standard sensors and additional sensors from detailed variants of device templates. As a result, you might get many sensors. This option is suitable for small network segments and whenever you want to monitor the maximum number of sensors available.
• Auto-discovery with specific device templates: Customize the auto-discovery and select or combine standard, detailed, and custom device templates. Select one or more templates from the Device Templates list.

Auto-discoveries can be resource intensive. They are primarily intended for devices on the same network as your probes.

Schedule

This setting is only visible if you select one of the standard, detailed, or custom auto-discovery options above. Define when the auto-discovery runs:

• Once: Perform the auto-discovery only once. For existing devices, this initiates a one-time sensor update for the selected device. If you select this option, you have to start the auto-discovery manually.
• Hourly: Perform the auto-discovery for new sensors every 60 minutes.
• Daily: Perform the auto-discovery for new sensors every 24 hours. The first auto-discovery runs immediately, all other discoveries start at the time defined in the Auto-Discovery settings section under Setup | System Administration | Monitoring.
• Weekly: Perform the auto-discovery for new sensors every 7 days. The first auto-discovery runs immediately, all other discoveries start at the time defined in the Auto-Discovery settings section under Setup | System Administration | Monitoring.

Device Templates

This setting is only visible if you select Auto-discovery with specific device templates above. Select one or more device templates by enabling a check box in front of the template name.

You can also select all items or cancel the selection by using the check box in the table header.

PRTG uses the device templates that you select for the auto-discovery on the device. Choose from:

• ADSL
• Amazon CloudWatch
• Buffalo TeraStation NAS
• Cisco ASA VPN
• Cisco Device (Generic)
• Dell EqualLogic
• Dell MDi Disk
• DNS Server
• Environment Jacarta
• Environment Poseidon
• FTP Server
• Generic Device (Ping Only)
• Generic Device (SNMP Enabled)
• Generic Device (SNMP Enabled, Detailed)
• HTTP Web Server
• Hyper-V Host Server
• IPMI-enabled Device
• Juniper NS Device
• Linux/UNIX Device (SNMP or SSH Enabled)
• Mail Server (Generic)
• Mail Server (MS Exchange)
• Microsoft SharePoint 2010
• NAS LenovoEMC
• NAS QNAP
• NAS Synology
• NetApp
• NTP Server
• Printer (HP)
• Printer (Generic)
• RDP Server
• RMON-compatible Device
• Server (Cisco UCS)
• Server (Compaq/HP Agents)
• Server (Dell)
• Server (Fujitsu)
• Server (IBM)
• SonicWall
• SSL Security Check
• Switch (Cisco Catalyst)
• Switch (Cisco IOS Based)
• Switch (HP Procurve)
• UNIX/Linux Device
• UPS Health (APC)
• UPS Health (Generic)
• UPS Health (Liebert)
• VMware ESXi / vCenter Server
• Web Server
• Windows (Detailed via WMI)
• Windows (via Remote PowerShell)
• Windows (via WMI)
• Windows IIS (via SNMP)
• XenServer Hosts
• XenServer Virtual Machines

Once the auto-discovery is finished, PRTG creates a new ticket and lists the device templates that it used to create new sensors.

Domain or Computer Name

Enter the domain or computer name of the user account with which you want to access the Windows system. PRTG uses this account for Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) sensors and other Windows sensors.

If you want to use a Windows local user account on the target device, enter the computer name. If you want to use a Windows domain user account (recommended), enter the domain name. PRTG automatically adds a prefix to use the NT LAN Manager (NTLM) protocol if you do not explicitly define it. Do not leave this field empty.

User Name

Enter the user name for access to the Windows system. Usually, you use credentials with administrator rights.

Password

Enter the password for access to the Windows system. Usually, you use credentials with administrator rights.

User Name

Enter the user name for access to the Linux/Solaris/macOS system via Secure Shell (SSH) and Web-based Enterprise Management (WBEM). Usually, you use credentials with administrator rights.

Authentication Method

Select the authentication method for login:

• Password: Provide the password for the login.
• Private key: Provide an RSA private key for authentication.

PRTG can only handle keys in the OpenSSH format that are not encrypted. You cannot use password-protected keys.

PRTG only supports RSA keys. It does not support DSA keys.

For details, see section Monitoring via SSH.

Password

This setting is only visible if you select Password above. Enter a password for access to the Linux/Solaris/macOS system via SSH and WBEM. Usually, you use credentials with administrator rights.

Private Key

This setting is only visible if you select Private key above. Paste the entire RSA private key, including the BEGIN and END lines. Make sure that a corresponding public key exists on the target device.

PRTG can only handle keys in the OpenSSH format that are not encrypted. You cannot use password-protected keys.

PRTG only supports RSA keys. It does not support DSA keys.

For details, see section Monitoring via SSH.

If you do not insert a private key for the first time but if you want to change the private key, you need to restart the PRTG core server service for the private key change to take effect.

WBEM Protocol

Select the protocol that you want to use for the connection to the system via WBEM:

• HTTP: Use an unsecure connection for WBEM.
• HTTPS (default): Use a Secure Sockets Layer (SSL)/Transport Layer Security (TLS) secured connection for WBEM.

This setting is only relevant if you use WBEM sensors.

WBEM Port

Select if you want to use one of the default ports for the connection to the system via WBEM or if you want to set a custom port:

• Default: Use one of the default ports. The default port for unsecure connections is 5988 and the default port for secure connections is 5989.
• Custom: Use a custom port.

This setting is only relevant if you use WBEM sensors.

Custom WBEM Port

This setting is only visible if you select Custom above. Enter a custom WBEM port. Enter an integer value.

SSH Port

Enter the port for SSH connections. Enter an integer value. The default port is 22.

By default, PRTG automatically uses this setting for all SSH sensors unless you define a different port number in the sensor settings.

SSH Rights Elevation

Select the rights that you want to use to run the command on the target system:

• Run the command as the connecting user (default): Use the rights of the user who establishes the SSH connection.
• Run the command as a different user using 'sudo' (with password): Use the rights of a different user with a password required for sudo to run commands on the target system, for example, as a root user.
• Run the command as a different user using 'sudo' (without password): Use the rights of a different user without a password required for sudo to run commands on the target system, for example, as a root user.
• Run the command as a different user using 'su': Use the rights of a different user with su to run commands on the target system.

Target System User Name

This setting is only visible if you select an option that includes sudo or su above. Enter a user name to run the specified command on the target system as a different user than the root user. If you leave this field empty, you run the command as a root user. Make sure that you set the Linux password even if you use a public key or a private key for authentication. This is not necessary if the user is allowed to run the command without a password.

Password

This setting is only visible if you select an option that includes sudo or su with password above. Enter the password to run the sudo command or the su command.

SSH Connection Mode

Select the connection mode that you want to use to access data with SSH sensors:

• Default (recommended): This is the default monitoring method for SSH sensors. It provides the best performance and security.
• Compatibility mode (deprecated): Use this mode only if the default mode does not work on the target system. The compatibility mode is the SSH engine that PRTG used in previous versions and it is deprecated.

We strongly recommend that you use the default SSH connection mode.

You can also individually select the SSH connection mode for each SSH sensor in the sensor settings.

User Name

Enter the user name for access to VMware ESXi, vCenter Server, or Citrix XenServer. Usually, you use credentials with administrator rights.

Password

Enter the password for access to VMware ESXi, vCenter Server, or Citrix XenServer. Usually, you use credentials with administrator rights.

Single sign-on (SSO) passwords for vSphere do not support special characters. For details, see the VMware sensors sections.

VMware Protocol

Select the protocol for the connection to VMware ESXi, vCenter Server, or Citrix XenServer:

• HTTPS (recommended): Use a Secure Sockets Layer (SSL)/Transport Layer Security (TLS) secured connection.
• HTTP: Use an unsecure connection.

Session Handling

Select if you want to reuse a session for VMware sensors:

• Reuse a session for multiple scans (recommended): Select this option if you want a VMware sensor to reuse a single session for multiple sensor scans to query data. With this option, the sensor does not need to log in and out for each sensor scan. We recommend that you use this option because it reduces network load and log entries on the target device. This can increase performance.
• Create a new session for each scan: If you select this option, PRTG does not reuse a session and a VMware sensor has to log in and out for each sensor scan. This can decrease performance.

SNMP Version

Select the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) version for the connection to the target SNMP device:

• SNMP v1: Use SNMP v1 for the connection. SNMP v1 only offers clear-text data transmission.
  SNMP v1 does not support 64-bit counters. This might result in invalid data when you monitor traffic via SNMP.
• SNMP v2c (recommended): Use SNMP v2c for the connection. SNMP v2c also only offers clear-text data transmission but it supports 64-bit counters.
• SNMP v3: Use SNMP v3 for the connection. SNMP v3 provides secure authentication and data encryption.
  SNMP v3 has performance limitations because of the use of encryption. The main limiting factor is CPU power. Also keep in mind that SNMP v3, unlike SNMP v1 and v2c, does not scale with more CPU power. Because of this limitation, PRTG can only handle a limited number of requests per second so that you can use only a limited number of sensors using SNMP v3. If you see an increase in Interval Delay or Open Requests with the Probe Health sensor, distribute the load over multiple probes. SNMP v1 and SNMP v2c do not have this limitation.

Community String

This setting is only visible if you select SNMP v1 or SNMP v2c (recommended) above. Enter the community string of your device. This is like a clear-text password for simple authentication.

We recommend that you use the default value.

Authentication Method

This setting is only visible if you select SNMP v3 above. Select the authentication method:

• MD5: Use message-digest algorithm 5 (MD5) for authentication.
• SHA: Use Secure Hash Algorithm (SHA) for authentication.

If you do not want to use authentication but you need SNMP v3, for example, because your device requires context, you can leave the Password field empty. In this case, PRTG uses SNMP_SEC_LEVEL_NOAUTH and it entirely deactivates authentication.

The authentication method you select must match the authentication method of your device.

User Name

This setting is only visible if you select SNMP v3 above. Enter the user name for access to the target SNMP device.

The user name that you enter must match the user name of your device.

Password

This setting is only visible if you select SNMP v3 above. Enter the password for access to the target SNMP device.

The password that you enter must match the password of your device.

Encryption Type

This setting is only visible if you select SNMP v3 above. Select an encryption type:

• DES: Use Data Encryption Standard (DES) as the encryption algorithm.
• AES: Use Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) as the encryption algorithm.

Net-SNMP does not support AES-192 and AES-256. They do not have RFC specifications.

The encryption type that you select must match the encryption type of your device.

Encryption Key

This setting is only visible if you select SNMP v3 above. Enter an encryption key. If you provide a key, PRTG encrypts SNMP data packets with the encryption algorithm that you selected above. Enter a string or leave the field empty.

The encryption key that you enter must match the encryption key of your device. If the encryption keys do not match, you do not get an error message.

Context Name

This setting is only visible if you select SNMP v3 above. Enter a context name only if the configuration of the device requires it. Context is a collection of management information that is accessible by an SNMP device. Enter a string.

SNMP Port

Enter the port for the connection to the SNMP target device. Enter an integer value. The default port is 161.

We recommend that you use the default value.

Timeout (Sec.)

Enter a timeout in seconds for the request. Enter an integer value. The maximum timeout value is 300 seconds (5 minutes).

Port

Select the port that PRTG uses for connections to the monitored databases:

• Default (recommended): PRTG automatically determines the type of the database and uses the corresponding default port to connect. PRTG uses the following default ports:

• Microsoft SQL: 1433
• MySQL: 3306
• Oracle SQL: 1521
• PostgreSQL: 5432

• Custom port for all database sensors: Select this option if your database management systems do not use the default ports. Enter a custom port for database connections below.

PRTG uses this custom port for all database sensors and for connections to all your databases.

Custom Port

Enter a custom port for database connections. Enter an integer value.

PRTG uses this custom port for all database sensors and for connections to all your databases.

Authentication Method

Select the authentication method for the connection to the Structured Query Language (SQL) database:

• Windows authentication with impersonation: PRTG uses the Windows credentials that you define in settings that are higher in the object hierarchy, for example, in the settings of the parent device; for the database connection.
  The user whose credentials PRTG uses needs to have permission to log in to the probe system with a database sensor. This is necessary for the impersonation.
• SQL server authentication: Use explicit credentials for database connections. Enter a user name and password below.

User Name

This setting is only visible if you select SQL server authentication above. Enter the user name for the database connection.

Password

This setting is only visible if you select SQL server authentication above. Enter the password for the database connection.

Timeout (Sec.)

Enter a timeout in seconds for the request. Enter an integer value. The maximum timeout value is 300 seconds (5 minutes).

Access Key

Enter the Amazon Web Services (AWS) access key.

Secret Key

Enter the AWS secret key.

User

Enter the user name for access to the Dell EMC system.

Password

Enter the password for access to the Dell EMC system.

Port

Enter the port for the connection to the Dell EMC system. The default port for secure connections is 443.

API Token

Enter the API token for access to the FortiGate system.

Port

Enter the port for the connection to the FortiGate system. The default port for secure connections is 443.

User

Enter the user name for access to the HPE 3PAR system.

Password

Enter the password for access to the HPE 3PAR system.

Protocol

Select the protocol that you want to use for the connection to the HPE 3PAR system:

• HTTPS (default): Use a Secure Sockets Layer (SSL)/Transport Layer Security (TLS) secured connection.
• HTTP: Use an unsecure connection.

WSAPI Port

Enter the Web Services API (WSAPI) port for the connection to the HPE 3PAR system. The default port for secure connections is 8080 and the default port for unsecure connections is 8008.

For more information, see the Knowledge Base: Where can I find the Web Services API (WSAPI) port for the connection to the HPE 3PAR system?.

SSH Port

Enter the SSH port for the connection to the HPE 3PAR system. The default port for secure connections is 22.

Tenant ID

Enter the Azure AD tenant ID.

A tenant ID must be a 32-digit sequence in hexadecimal notation.

Client ID

Enter the Azure AD client ID.

Client Secret

Enter the Azure AD client secret.

Tenant ID

Enter the Azure AD tenant ID.

A tenant ID must be a 32-digit sequence in hexadecimal notation.

Client ID

Enter the Azure AD client ID.

Client Secret

Enter the Azure AD client secret.

Subscription ID

Enter the Azure AD subscription ID.

Authentication Method

Select if you want to connect without credentials or define credentials for access to the MQTT broker.

• None (default): Connect without credentials.
• User name and password: Define credentials for the connection.

User

This setting is only visible if you select User name and password above. Enter the user name for access to the Message Queue Telemetry Transport (MQTT) broker.

Password

This setting is only visible if you select User name and password above. Enter the password for access to the MQTT broker.

Port

Enter the port for the connection to the MQTT broker. The default port for secure connections is 8883 and the default port for unsecure connections is 1883.

Transport-Level Security

Select if you want to use a Secure Sockets Layer (SSL)/Transport Layer Security (TLS) secured connection:

• Do not use transport-level security: Establish the connection without connection security.
• Use transport-level security: Establish the connection with the strongest SSL/TLS method that the target device provides.

Server Authentication

This setting is only visible if you select Use transport-level security above. Select if you want to use a certificate for server authentication.

• Disable (default): Do not use a certificate for server authentication.
• Enable: Use a certificate for server authentication.

CA Certificate

Paste the certificate authority (CA) certificate for the verification of the MQTT broker.

The certificate must be in Privacy-Enhanced Mail (PEM) format.

Client Authentication

This setting is only visible if you select Use transport-level security above. Select if you want to use a certificate for client authentication.

• Disable (default): Do not use a certificate for client authentication.
• Enable: Use a certificate for client authentication.

Client Certificate

Paste the certificate that you created for authenticating the sensor against the MQTT broker.

The certificate must be in PEM format.

Client Key

Enter the client key for access to the MQTT broker.

The client key must be in PEM format and it must be encrypted using the Client Key Password.

Client Key Password

Enter the password for the client key.

Port

Enter the port for the connection to the OPC Unified Architecture (OPC UA) server. The default port for secure connections is 4840.

Server Path

Enter the path of the OPC UA server endpoint if you run more than one server under the same IP address or DNS name.

Security Mode

Select if you want to use encryption:

• None (default): Do not use encryption.
• Sign: Sign messages between the sensor and the OPC UA server.
• Sign & Encrypt: Sign and encrypt messages between the sensor and the OPC UA server.

Security Policy

This setting is only visible if you select Sign or Sign & Encrypt above. Select if you want to use a security policy and define which policy you want to use:

• None (default): Do not use a security policy.
• Basic256Sha256: Use the Basic256Sha256 security policy.
• Basic256: Use the Basic256 security policy.

Client Certificate

Paste the certificate that you created for authenticating the sensor against the OPC UA server.

The certificate must meet the following requirements:

• The key size must be 2048-bit.
• The secure hash algorithm must be SHA256.
• DataEncipherment must be part of the KeyUsage certificate extension.
• A uniform resource indicator (URI) must be set in subjectAltName.
• The certificate must be in Privacy-Enhanced Mail (PEM) format.

Client Key

Enter the client key for access to the OPC UA server.

The client key must be in PEM format and it must be encrypted using the Client Key Password.

Client Key Password

Enter the password for the client key.

Authentication Method

Select if you want to connect without credentials or define credentials for access to the OPC UA server:

• Anonymous (default): Connect without credentials.
• Username/Password: Define credentials for the connection.

Most OPC UA servers do not support Username/Password authentication without a client certificate. To use Username/Password authentication, select Sign or Sign & Encrypt under Security Mode and Basic256Sha256 or Basic256 under Security Policy and enter the Client Certificate, Client Key, and Client Key Password that you want to use.

User

This setting is only visible if you select Username/Password above. Enter the user name for access to the OPC UA server.

Password

This setting is only visible if you select Username/Password above. Enter the password for access to the OPC UA server.

Authentication Method

Select if you want to connect without credentials or define credentials for access to the Orchestra platform:

• None (default): Connect without credentials.
• Username/Password: Define credentials for the connection.

User

This setting is only visible if you select Username/Password above. Enter the user name for access to the Orchestra platform.

Password

This setting is only visible if you select Username/Password above. Enter the password for access to the Orchestra platform.

Timeout (Sec.)

Enter a timeout in seconds for the request. Enter an integer value. The maximum timeout value is 300 seconds (5 minutes).

Port

Enter the port for the connection to the Orchestra platform. The default port for secure connections is 8443 and the default port for unsecure connections is 8019.

Protocol

Select the protocol that you want to use for the connection to the Orchestra platform:

• HTTPS (default): Use a Secure Sockets Layer (SSL)/Transport Layer Security (TLS) secured connection.
• HTTP: Use an unsecure connection.

User

Enter the user name for access to the Redfish system.

Password

Enter the password for access to the Redfish system.

Protocol

Select the protocol that you want to use for the connection to the Redfish system. Choose between:

• HTTPS (default): Use a Secure Sockets Layer (SSL)/Transport Layer Security (TLS) secured connection.
• HTTP: Use an unsecure connection.

Port

Enter the port for the connection to the Redfish system. The default port for secure connections is 443.

Authentication Method

Select the authentication method for access to the Representational State Transfer (REST) application programming interface (API):

• None (default): Use no authentication.
• Basic authentication: Use basic authentication.
• Bearer authentication: Use an OAuth2 bearer token.

Username

Enter the username for access to the REST API.

Password

Enter the password for access to the REST API.

Bearer Token

Enter a bearer token for access to the REST API.

User

Enter the user name for access to the Veeam Backup Enterprise Manager.

Password

Enter the password for access to the Veeam Backup Enterprise Manager.

Port

Enter the port for the connection to the Veeam Backup Enterprise Manager. The default port for secure connections is 9398.

User Group Access

Select 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:

• Inherited: Inherit the access rights settings of the parent object.
• No access: Users in this user group cannot see or edit the object. The object neither shows up in lists nor in the device tree.
  There is one exception: If a user in this user group has access to a child object, the parent object is visible in the device tree but users in this user group cannot access it.
• Read access: Users in this group can see the object and view its monitoring results. They cannot edit any settings.
• Write access: Users in this group can see the object, view its monitoring results, and edit its settings. They cannot edit its access rights settings.
• Full access: Users in this group can see the object, view its monitoring results, edit its settings, and edit its access rights settings.

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.