PRTG Manual: Event Log (Windows API) Sensor
The Event Log (Windows API) sensor monitors Event Log entries using the Windows application programming interface (API).
The sensor can show the following:
- Number of new records per second (speed)
- Dutch: Event Log (Windows API)
- French: Log des événements (Windows API)
- German: Ereignisprotokoll (Windows API)
- Japanese: イベントログ(Windows API)
- Portuguese: Log de Eventos do Windows (API)
- Russian: Журнал событий (API Windows)
- Simplified Chinese: 事件日志 (Windows API)
- Spanish: Registro de eventos (Windows API)
- 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.
- This sensor supports the IPv6 protocol.
- This sensor has a very high performance impact.
- See the Knowledge Base: My Event Log sensor ignores changes in the event log. What can I do?
- See the Knowledge Base: How can I configure sensors using speed limits to keep the status for more than one interval?
You cannot add this sensor to the hosted probe of a PRTG hosted by Paessler instance. If you want to use this sensor, add it to a remote probe device.
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 |
---|---|
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 the sensor inherits from its parent device, parent group, and parent 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.
The sensor has the following default tags that are automatically predefined in the sensor's settings when you add the sensor:
|
Priority |
Select a priority for the sensor. This setting determines the position of the sensor in lists. The highest priority is at the top of a list. Choose from the lowest priority ( |
Windows API Event Log Specific
Setting |
Description |
---|---|
Logfile |
Specify the logfile that this sensor monitors. The Windows event log provides several different logfiles:
|
Setting |
Description |
---|---|
Event Type |
Specify the type of event that this sensor processes:
|
Filter by Source |
Filter all received events for a certain event source:
|
Filter Type |
This setting is only visible if Filter by Source is enabled above. Select the filter type:
|
Match String (Event Source) |
This setting is only visible if Filter by Source is enabled above. Enter an event source that you want to filter for. Depending on the kind of filter, the event source is processed (Include filter option) or not processed (Exclude filter option). Enter a string. |
Filter by ID |
Filter all received events for a certain event ID:
|
Filter Type |
This setting is only visible if ID filtering is On above. Select a filter type:
|
Match Values (Event ID) |
This setting is only visible if Filter by ID is enabled above. Enter an event ID that you want to filter for. Depending on the kind of filter, the event ID is processed (Include filter option) or not processed (Exclude filter option).
|
Filter by Category |
Filter all received events for a certain event category:
|
Filter Type |
This setting is only visible if Filter by Category is enabled above. Select a filter type:
|
Match String (Event Category) |
This setting is only visible if Filter by Category is enabled above. Enter a category that you want to filter for. Depending on the kind of filter, the event category is processed (Include filter option) or not processed (Exclude filter option). Enter a string. |
Filter by User |
Filter all received events for a certain event user:
|
Filter Type |
This setting is only visible if Filter by User is enabled above. Select a filter type:
|
Match String (Event User) |
This setting is only visible if Filter by User is enabled above. Enter a username that you want to filter for. Depending on the kind of filter, the event user is processed (Include filter option) or not processed (Exclude filter option). Enter a string. |
Filter by Computer |
Filter all received events for a certain event computer:
|
Filter Type |
This setting is only visible if Filter by Computer is enabled above. Select a filter type:
|
Match String (Event Computer) |
This setting is only visible if Filter by Computer is enabled above. Enter a computer name that you want to filter for. Depending on the kind of filter, the event computer is processed (Include filter option) or not processed (Exclude filter option). Enter a string. |
Filter by Message |
Filter all received events for a certain event message:
|
Filter Type |
This setting is only visible if Filter by Message is enabled above. Select a filter type:
|
Match String (Event Message) |
This setting is only visible if message filtering is On above. Enter a message that you want to filter for. Depending on the kind of filter, the event message is processed (Include filter option) or not processed (Exclude filter option). Enter a string.
|
Setting |
Description |
---|---|
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.
|
Graph Type |
Define how different channels are shown for this sensor:
|
Stack Unit |
This setting 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. You should 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. You then see the options described below.
For more information, see section Inheritance of Settings.
Click to interrupt the inheritance.
Setting |
Description |
---|---|
Scanning Interval |
Select a scanning interval from the dropdown list. The scanning interval determines the amount of time that the sensor waits between two scans. Choose from:
|
If a Sensor Query Fails |
Select the number of scanning intervals that the sensor has time to reach and to check a device again if a sensor query fails. Depending on the option that you select, the sensor can try to reach and to check a device again several times before the sensor shows the 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 the Warning status. Choose from:
|
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 schedules, dependencies, and maintenance windows. They are active at the same time as the parent objects' settings.
Setting |
Description |
---|---|
Schedule |
Select a schedule from the list. You can use schedules to monitor during a certain time span (days or hours) every week. Choose from:
|
Maintenance Window |
Select if you want to set up a one-time maintenance window. During a maintenance window, monitoring stops for the selected object and all child objects. They show the Paused status instead. Choose between:
|
Maintenance Begins |
This setting 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 one-time maintenance window. |
Maintenance Ends |
This setting 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 one-time maintenance window. |
Dependency Type |
Select 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:
|
Dependency |
This setting is only visible if you enable Select a sensor above. Click |
Dependency Delay (Sec.) |
This setting is only visible if you enable Select a sensor above. Define a time span in seconds for the dependency delay. After the master sensor for this dependency returns to the Up status, PRTG additionally delays the monitoring of the dependent objects by the time span you define. This can prevent false alarms, for example, after a server restart or to give systems more time for all services to start. Enter an integer value.
|
Click to interrupt the inheritance.
Setting |
Description |
---|---|
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:
|
KNOWLEDGE BASE
My Event Log sensor ignores changes in the event log. What can I do?
How can I configure sensors using speed limits to keep the status for more than one interval?
For more information about sensor settings, see the following sections: