PRTG Manual: Hyper-V Virtual Network Adapter Sensor

The Hyper-V Virtual Network Adapter sensor monitors virtual network adapters that run on a Microsoft Hyper-V host server via Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) or Windows performance counters, as configured in the Windows Compatibility Options of the parent device.

For a detailed list and descriptions of the channels that this sensor can show, see section Channel List.

Sensor in Other Languages

Dutch: Hyper-V Virtuele Netwerk Adapter
French: Hyper-V carte réseau virtuelle
German: Hyper-V Virtueller Netzwerkadapter
Japanese: Hyper-V 仮想ネットワークアダプター
Portuguese: Adaptador de rede virtual Hyper-V
Russian: Виртуальный сетевой адаптер Hyper-V
Simplified Chinese: Hyper-V 虚拟网络适配器
Spanish: Adaptador de red virtual Hyper-V

Remarks

Consider the following remarks and requirements for this sensor:

Remark	Description
Performance impact	This sensor has a high performance impact. We recommend that you use no more than 200 of this sensor on each probe.
Windows version	This sensor requires at least Windows Server 2008 R2 on the probe system (on every cluster node, if on a cluster probe). WoW64 must be installed on target systems that run Windows Server 2016. This allows 32-bit applications to be run on 64-bit systems. This is necessary because the PRTG probe service only runs with 32-bit support. Without it, WMI sensors do not work.
Remote Registry Windows service	This sensor requires that the Remote Registry Windows service runs on the target system. If this service does not run, a connection via performance counters is not possible. However, WMI connections might still work. To enable the service, log in to the respective system and open the services manager (for example, via services.msc). In the list, find the respective service and set its Start Type to Automatic.
Parent device	This sensor requires that the parent device is a Windows server that runs Hyper-V.
Credentials	This sensor requires credentials for Windows systems. We recommend that you use Windows domain credentials. If you use local credentials, make sure that the same Windows user accounts (with the same user name and password) exist on both the probe system and the target system. Otherwise, a connection via performance counters is not possible. However, WMI connections might still work.
IPv6	This sensor supports IPv6.
Renaming VMs	We recommend that you do not rename virtual machines (VM) once you have set up monitoring. Renaming VMs also changes the internal virtual network adapter names, so monitoring might be interrupted. For more information about VM naming, see the Knowledge Base: Why don't my Hyper-V sensors work after changing names?
Hosted probe	You cannot add this sensor to the hosted probe of a PRTG Hosted Monitor instance. If you want to use this sensor, add it to a remote probe device.

Hybrid Approach: Performance Counters and WMI

By default, this sensor uses WMI to request monitoring data. You can change the default behavior to a hybrid approach in the Windows Compatibility Options of the parent device's settings on which you create this sensor: if you choose this option, the sensor first tries to query data via Windows performance counters and uses WMI as a fallback if performance counters are not available. When running in fallback mode, the sensor tries to connect via performance counters again after 24 hours.

Sensors that use the WMI protocol have a high impact on the system performance. Try to stay below 200 WMI sensors per probe. Above this number, consider using multiple remote probes for load balancing.

For a general introduction to the technology behind WMI, see section Monitoring via WMI.

Basic Sensor Settings

The sensor has the following default tags that are automatically predefined in the sensor's settings when you add the sensor:

wmihypervvirtualnetworkadapter

For more information about basic sensor settings, see section Sensor Settings.

Hyper-V Virtual Network Adapter Settings

Setting	Description
Virtual Network Adapter	The name of the virtual network adapter that this sensor monitors.
Result Handling	Define what PRTG does with the sensor result: Discard result (default): Do not store the sensor result. Store result: Store the sensor result and the last response in the \Logs\sensors subfolder of the PRTG data directory on the probe system. The file names are Result of Sensor [ID].txt and Result of Sensor [ID].Data.txt. This setting is for debugging purposes. PRTG overwrites these files with each scanning interval. In a cluster, PRTG stores the result in the PRTG data directory of the master node.

Setting

Description

Virtual Network Adapter

The name of the virtual network adapter that this sensor monitors.

Result Handling

Define what PRTG does with the sensor result:

Discard result (default): Do not store the sensor result.
Store result: Store the sensor result and the last response in the \Logs\sensors subfolder of the PRTG data directory on the probe system. The file names are Result of Sensor [ID].txt and Result of Sensor [ID].Data.txt. This setting is for debugging purposes. PRTG overwrites these files with each scanning interval.

In a cluster, PRTG stores the result in the PRTG data directory of the master node.

Sensor Display

Setting	Description
Primary Channel	Select a channel from the list to define it as the primary channel. In the device tree, PRTG displays the last value of the primary channel 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 below a channel gauge on the sensor's Overview tab.
Graph Type	Define how this sensor shows different channels: Show channels independently (default): Show a graph for each channel. Stack channels on top of each other: Stack channels on top of each other to create a multi-channel graph. This generates a graph that visualizes the different components of your total traffic. You cannot use this option in combination with manual Vertical Axis Scaling (available in the channel settings).
Stack Unit	This setting is only visible if you select Stack channels on top of each other above. Select a unit from the list. PRTG stacks all channels with this unit 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.

Setting

Description

Primary Channel

Select a channel from the list to define it as the primary channel. In the device tree, PRTG displays the last value of the primary channel 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 below a channel gauge on the sensor's Overview tab.

Graph Type

Define how this sensor shows different channels:

Show channels independently (default): Show a graph for each channel.
Stack channels on top of each other: Stack channels on top of each other to create a multi-channel graph. This generates a graph that visualizes the different components of your total traffic.
You cannot use this option in combination with manual Vertical Axis Scaling (available in the channel settings).

Stack Unit

This setting is only visible if you select Stack channels on top of each other above.

Select a unit from the list. PRTG stacks all channels with this unit 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.

Inherited Settings

By default, all of these settings are inherited from objects that are higher in the hierarchy. We recommend that you change them centrally in the root group settings if necessary. To change a setting for this object only, click under the corresponding setting name to disable the inheritance and to display its options.

For more information, see section Inheritance of Settings.

Channel List

Which channels the sensor actually shows might depend on the target device, the available components, and the sensor setup.

Channel	Description
Broadcast Packets Received	The number of broadcast packets received
Broadcast Packets Sent	The number of broadcast packets sent
Bytes	The number of bytes transferred in total This channel is the primary channel by default.
Bytes Received	The number of received bytes
Bytes Sent	The number of sent bytes
Directed Packets Received	The number of directed packets received
Directed Packets Sent	The number of directed packets sent
Downtime	In the channel table on the Overview tab, this channel never shows any values. PRTG uses this channel in graphs and reports to show the amount of time in which the sensor was in the Down status.
Multicast Packets Received	The number of multicast packets received
Multicast Packets Sent	The number of multicast packets sent
Packets	The number of packets transferred in total
Packets Received	The number of packets received
Packets Sent	The number of packets sent