PRTG Manual: DHCP Sensor

Network Interfaces

Select the network adapters that you want to add a sensor for. You see a list with the names of all items that you can monitor. Add check marks in front of the respective lines to select the desired items. You can also use the check box in the table header to select all items or cancel the selection.

PRTG creates one sensor for each selection.

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.

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

There are default tags that are automatically predefined in a sensor's settings when you add a sensor. See section Default Tags below.

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).

MAC

Shows the MAC address of the network adapter that is used to send the broadcast message to the network. Once you have created the sensor, you cannot change this value. It is shown for reference purposes only. If you need to change this value, add the sensor anew.

Client IP

Specify if you want to check the returned client IP with a regular expression (regex):

• Do not check the IP using a regular expression: The IP only appears in the sensor message without further processes.
• Check the IP using a regular expression: Enter the regex that you want to use below.

Client IP Must Include

This field is only visible if you enable Check the IP using a regular expression above. In the response of the DHCP server, search by using a regex. If the answer for the client IP does not contain the defined string, the sensor shows a Down status.

For example, enter 10\.0\.5\..* to make sure that any answering DHCP server returns any client IP address starting with "10.0.5.". If it does not, the sensor shows a Down status. Leave empty to not use this field.

PRTG supports Perl Compatible Regular Expression (PCRE) regex. For more details, see section Regular Expressions.

Client IP Must Not Include

This field is only visible if you enable Check the IP using a regular expression above. In the response of the DHCP server, search by using a regex. If the answer for the client IP contains the defined string, the sensor shows a Down status. See the example above. Leave empty to not use this field.

PRTG supports Perl Compatible Regular Expression (PCRE) regex. For more details, see section Regular Expressions.

Server IP

Specify if you want to check the returned server IP with a regex:

• Do not check the IP using a regular expression: The IP only appears in the sensor message without further processes.
• Check the IP using a regular expression: Enter the regex that you want to use below.

Server IP Must Include

This field is only visible if you enable Check the IP using a regular expression above. In the response of the DHCP server, search by using a regex. If the answer for the server IP does not contain the defined string, the sensor shows a Down status. See the example above. Leave empty to not use this field.

PRTG supports Perl Compatible Regular Expression (PCRE) regex. For more details, see section Regular Expressions.

Server IP Must Not Include

This field is only visible if you enable Check the IP using a regular expression above. In the response of the DHCP server, search by using a regex. If the answer for the server IP contains the defined string, the sensor shows a Down status. See the example above. Leave empty to not use this field.

PRTG supports Perl Compatible Regular Expression (PCRE) regex. For more details, see section Regular Expressions.

Timeout (Sec.)

Enter a timeout in seconds for the request. If the reply takes longer than this value, the sensor cancels the request and shows a corresponding error message. Enter an integer value. The maximum value is 900 seconds (15 minutes).

DHCP Server Change

If there is more than one DHCP server in the network that can answer to the broadcast message, the sensor can receive an answer from a different DHCP server, compared to the last scan of the sensor. In this case, PRTG can write an entry to the system logs. Specify how PRTG handles DHCP server changes:

• Ignore: Do not write a log entry if the DHCP server changes.
• Write log entry: Write an entry to the system logs whenever the DHCP server changes between two sensor scans.

Regardless of this setting, those entries are always added to the sensor log.

Offered IP Change

If the IP address offered by the DHCP server changes between two sensor scans, PRTG can write an entry to the system logs. Specify how PRTG handles IP address changes:

• Ignore: Do not write a log entry if the offered IP address changes.

• Write log entry: Write an entry to the system logs whenever the DHCP server offers a different IP address compared to the last sensor scan.

Regardless of this setting, those entries are always added to the sensor log.

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:

• 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.
  This option cannot be used in combination with manual Vertical Axis Scaling (available in the channel settings).

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.

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:

• Set sensor to down immediately: Set the sensor to a Down status immediately after the first failed request.
• Set sensor to warning for 1 interval, then set to down (recommended): Set the sensor to a Warning status after the first failed request. If the following request also fails, the sensor shows an error.
• Set sensor to warning for 2 intervals, then set to down: Set the sensor to a Down status only after three consecutively failed requests.
• Set sensor to warning for 3 intervals, then set to down: Set the sensor to a Down status only after four consecutively failed requests.
• Set sensor to warning for 4 intervals, then set to down: Set the sensor to a Down status only after five consecutively failed requests.
• Set sensor to warning for 5 intervals, then set to down: Set the sensor to a Down status only after six consecutively failed requests.

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.

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:

• Not set (monitor continuously): No maintenance window is set and monitoring is always active.
• Set up a one-time maintenance window: Pause monitoring within a maintenance window. You can define a time span for a monitoring pause below and change it even for an active maintenance window.

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:

• Use parent: Use the dependency type of the parent object.
• Select a sensor: Use the dependency type of the parent object. Additionally, pause the current object if a specific sensor is in a Down status or in a Paused status caused by another dependency.

• Master sensor for parent: Make this sensor the master object for its parent device. The sensor influences the behavior of its parent device: If the sensor is in a Down status, the device is paused. For example, it is a good idea to make a Ping sensor the master object for its parent device to pause monitoring for all other sensors on the device in case the device cannot even be pinged. Additionally, the sensor is paused if the parent group is paused by another dependency.

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.

User Group Access

Define the user groups that have access to the sensor. 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 sensor. The sensor neither shows up in lists nor in the device tree.
• Read access: Users in this group can see the sensor and view its monitoring results. They cannot edit any settings.
• Write access: Users in this group can see the sensor, view its monitoring results, and edit its settings. They cannot edit its access rights settings.
• Full access: Users in this group can see the sensor, view its monitoring results, edit its settings, and edit its access rights settings.

For more details on access rights, see section Access Rights Management.