PRTG Manual: SSH Load Average Sensor

The SSH Load Average sensor monitors the load average of a Linux/Unix system using Secure Shell (SSH).

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

Sensor in Other Languages

Dutch: SSH Gemiddelde belasting
French: Charge moyenne (SSH)
German: SSH Durchschnittliche Last
Japanese: SSH 負荷平均
Portuguese: Carga média (SSH)
Russian: Средняя загрузка по SSH
Simplified Chinese: SSH 负载平均值
Spanish: Promedio de carga (SSH)

Remarks

Consider the following remarks and requirements for this sensor:

Remark	Description
Credentials	This sensor requires credentials for Linux/Solaris/macOS (SSH/WBEM) systems in the settings of the parent device.
Distributions	This sensor does not support all Linux/Unix and macOS distributions.
Performance impact	This sensor has a medium performance impact.
IPv4	This sensor only supports IPv4.
Knowledge Base	Knowledge Base: Which encryption algorithms do PRTG SSH sensors support? Knowledge Base: SSH and SFTP sensors in Unknown status

Basic Sensor Settings

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

sshloadavgsensor

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

SSH Specific

Setting	Description
Connection Timeout (Sec.)	Define a timeout in seconds for the connection. This is the time that the sensor waits to establish a connection to the host. Keep this value as low as possible. Enter an integer. The maximum timeout value is 900 seconds (15 minutes). Make sure that the connection timeout is a value that is higher than the shell timeout to avoid potential errors.
Shell Timeout (Sec.)	Define a timeout in seconds for the shell response. This is the time in seconds the sensor waits for the shell to return a response after it has sent its specific command (for example, cat /proc/loadavg). The maximum value is 300 seconds (5 minutes). Enter an integer. Make sure that the shell timeout is a value that is lower than the connection timeout to avoid potential errors.
SSH Port Inheritance	Define which port this sensor uses for the SSH connection: Inherit port from parent device (default): Use the port number as defined in the Credentials for Linux/Solaris/macOS (SSH/WBEM) Systems section of the parent device settings. Do not inherit port (enter a custom SSH port): Define a custom port number below and do not use the port number from the parent device settings.
Custom SSH Port	This setting is only visible if you select Do not inherit port (enter a custom SSH port) above. Enter the port number (between 1 and 65535) that this sensor uses for the SSH connection. Enter an integer.
SSH Engine	Select the SSH engine that you want to use to access data with this SSH sensor: Inherit from parent device (default): Use the SSH engine that you defined in the parent device settings or higher up in the object hierarchy. If you have not changed the SSH engine, this is the recommended option. Default: This is the default SSH engine. It provides the best performance and security. It is set by default in objects that are higher up in the hierarchy, so usually you can keep the Inherit from parent device (default) option. Compatibility mode (deprecated): Use this only if the default SSH engine does not work on a target device. The compatibility mode is the SSH engine that PRTG used in previous versions. It is deprecated. We will remove this legacy mode soon, so try to get your SSH sensors to run with the default SSH engine. We strongly recommend that you use the default SSH engine. The option you select here overrides the selection of the SSH engine in a higher object: a parent device, group, probe, or root.
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, Result of Sensor [ID].Data.txt, and Result of Sensor [ID] (SSHv2).txt. This setting is for debugging purposes. PRTG overwrites these files with each scanning interval. Store result in case of error: Store the last sensor result only if the sensor shows the Down status. This option is not available when the sensor runs on the hosted probe of a PRTG Hosted Monitor instance. 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
1 Minute	The average system load within a 1-minute interval This channel is the primary channel by default.
5 Minutes	The average system load within a 5-minute interval
15 Minutes	The average system load within a 15-minute interval
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.