PRTG Manual: EXE/Script Advanced Sensor

.NET 4.7.2 or later

This sensor requires .NET 4.7.2 or later to be installed on the probe system (on every cluster node, if on a cluster probe).

If the framework is missing, you cannot create this sensor.

For more information, see the Knowledge Base: Which .NET version does PRTG require?

Remote PowerShell

This sensor uses PowerShell commands. To monitor devices with this sensor, Remote PowerShell access must be enabled on the target computer. Also make sure that you have at least PowerShell 3.0 installed on both the probe system and the target system.

If you receive an error message regarding issues with the WinRM connection, make sure that remote commands have been enabled in PowerShell. For more details, see the Knowledge Base: How do I enable and use remote commands in Windows PowerShell?

EXE/Script

Select an executable file from the list. The sensor executes it with every scanning interval.

The list contains all files in the corresponding \Custom Sensors\EXE subfolder of the PRTG program directory on the probe system. For a file to appear in this list, store the file ending in .bat, .cmd, .exe, .ps1, or .vbs into this subfolder.

To show the expected values and sensor states, your files must return the expected XML or JSON format to standard output. Values and message must be embedded in the XML or JSON.

If you use a PowerShell script (.ps1) and if the PowerShell Security Enhancement experimental feature is enabled, scripts that use the write-host cmdlet to provide their output to PRTG do not work. Use the write-output cmdlet instead.

If you use custom sensors on the cluster probe, copy your files to every cluster node.

For detailed information on how to create custom sensors and for the return format, see section Custom Sensors.

Sensor Name

Enter a 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.

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?

Parent Tags

Shows tags that the sensor inherits from its parent device, parent group, and parent probe.

This setting is for your information only. You cannot change it.

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.

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

▪xmlexesensor

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 () to the highest priority ().

Placeholder 1 Description

Enter a description for Placeholder 1, for example information about the purpose or content of the placeholder.

Placeholder 1

Enter a value for the placeholder. PRTG inserts the value for the script execution if you add %scriptplaceholder1 in the argument list. PRTG does not display the value in the sensor log or the sensor's settings.

Placeholder 2 Description

Enter a description for Placeholder 2, for example information about the purpose or content of the placeholder.

Placeholder 2

Enter a value for the placeholder. PRTG inserts the value for the script execution if you add %scriptplaceholder2 in the argument list. PRTG does not display the value in the sensor log or the sensor's settings.

Placeholder 3 Description

Enter a description for Placeholder 3, for example information about the purpose or content of the placeholder.

Placeholder 3

Enter a value for the placeholder. PRTG inserts the value for the script execution if you add %scriptplaceholder3 in the argument list. PRTG does not display the value in the sensor log or the sensor's settings.

Placeholder 4 Description

Enter a description for Placeholder 4, for example information about the purpose or content of the placeholder.

Placeholder 4

Enter a value for the placeholder. PRTG inserts the value for the script execution if you add %scriptplaceholder4 in the argument list. PRTG does not display the value in the sensor log or the sensor's settings.

Placeholder 5 Description

Enter a description for Placeholder 5, for example information about the purpose or content of the placeholder.

Placeholder 5

Enter a value for the placeholder. PRTG inserts the value for the script execution if you add %scriptplaceholder5 in the argument list. PRTG does not display the value in the sensor log or the sensor's settings.

EXE/Script

Shows the executable or script file that the sensor executes with each sensor scan.

PRTG shows this value for reference purposes only. If you need to change this value, add the sensor anew.

Parameters

If your executable or script file catches command-line parameters, you can define them here. You can use placeholders as well. Enter a string or leave the field empty.

For a full list of all placeholders, see section Custom Sensors.

You need to escape special characters and whitespaces in your parameters and surround them with double quotes. See section Escape Special Characters and Whitespaces in Parameters for details.

Environment

Select whether PRTG command-line parameters are also available as environment parameters:

▪Default environment: Do not provide values of PRTG placeholders in the environment. Select this secure option if you are not sure.

▪Set placeholders as environment values: From within your executable or script, the values of the PRTG command-line parameters are available via environment variables. For example, you can then read and use the current host value of the parent device from within your script. This option can pose a security risk because credentials are provided in several variables as well.

For a full list of all available variables, see section Custom Sensors.

Security Context

Define the Windows user account that the sensor uses to run the executable or script file:

▪Use security context of probe service: Run the file under the same Windows user account that the probe runs under. By default, this is the Windows system user account.

▪Use Windows credentials of parent device: Use the Windows user account in the parent device settings.

Mutex Name

Define a mutual exclusion (mutex) name for the process. Enter a string or leave the field empty.

PRTG executes all EXE/Script sensors that have the same mutex serially, not simultaneously. This is useful if you use a lot of sensors and you want to avoid high resource usage caused by simultaneously running processes.

See the Knowledge Base: What is the Mutex Name in the EXE/Script sensor settings?

Timeout (Sec.)

Enter a timeout in seconds for the request. Enter an integer. The maximum timeout value is 900 seconds (15 minutes).

If the reply takes longer than this value, the sensor cancels the request and shows a corresponding error message.

Result Handling

Define what the sensor does with the result that the executable file gives back:

▪Discard result: Do not store the sensor result.

▪Store result: Store the last sensor result 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.

▪Store result in case of error: Store the last sensor result only if the sensor shows the Down status.

Enable this option if you do not want failures to be overwritten by a following success of the script.

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

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 below a channel gauge 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.
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 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.

The Stack Unit setting for stacking graphs only works if you explicitly define the same <unit> for at least two channels. For detailed information about sensor settings, see section Custom Sensors.

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

[Value]

The values that the executable file or script file returns in several channels

For details about the return value format, see section Custom Sensors.