PRTG Manual: EXE/Script Advanced Sensor

Remote PowerShell

This sensor requires that Remote PowerShell is enabled on the target system and PowerShell 3.0 on both the probe system and the target system.

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 information, see the Knowledge Base: How do I enable and use remote commands in Windows PowerShell?

File storage

The sensor requires the executable or script file to be stored on the probe system. In a cluster, copy the file to every cluster node.

.NET 4.7.2 or later

This sensor requires .NET 4.7.2 or later from Microsoft on the probe system. In a cluster, install it on every cluster node.

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

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

Windows Server

We recommend Windows Server 2016 on the probe system for best performance of this sensor.

Channels

This sensor does not officially support more than 50 channels.

IPv6

This sensor supports IPv6.

Performance impact

This sensor has a medium performance impact.

Knowledge Base

• Knowledge Base: What is the Mutex Name in the EXE/Script sensor settings?
• Knowledge Base: How can I test if parameters are correctly transmitted to my script when using an EXE/Script sensor?
• Knowledge Base: How can I show special characters with EXE/Script sensors?
• Knowledge Base: Why do I have to store SQL sensor queries and custom scripts in files on the probe computer?
• Knowledge Base: How can I use meta-scans for custom EXE/Script sensors?

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.

Custom scripts on Windows Consumer Editions

To run a script in PRTG on this sensor, you have to open Windows PowerShell with administrator rights and enter the following command: powershell.exe Set-ExecutionPolicy -ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned -Scope LocalMachine

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

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

You cannot change this value after sensor creation.

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.

This setting poses a security risk because sensitive information in the parameters appear in the sensor log. Use placeholders like %windowspassword or %scriptplaceholder1 to encrypt sensitive information and enable PowerShell Security Enhancement under Setup | Monitoring | Experimental Features to increase your security.

You cannot use environmental variables in this setting. Define environmental variables directly in your script or update the environmental variable values on your system.

You need to escape special characters and whitespaces in your parameters and surround them with double quotation marks ("). 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: Define if command-line parameters of PRTG are also available as environment parameters in your executable or script. For example, you can 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 exposed in several variables. It is not possible to use the environment variables in the parameters setting for batch scripts (.bat) for security reasons.

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 PRTG probe service: Run the file under the same Windows user account that the probe system runs under. By default, this is the Windows system user account.
• Use Windows credentials from 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 (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.
• Store result in case of error: Store the last sensor result only if the sensor shows the Down status.

Select 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, 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.

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