PRTG Manual: HTTP Data Advanced Sensor
The HTTP Data Advanced sensor accesses a web server and retrieves Extensible Markup Language (XML) encoded or JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) encoded data.
For a detailed list and descriptions of the channels that this sensor can show, see section Channel List.
- Dutch: HTTP Data Geavanceerd
- French: Données avancées HTTP
- German: HTTP Daten (Erweitert)
- Japanese: HTTP データアドバンスト
- Portuguese: Dados HTTP Avançado
- Russian: HTTP: Данные (Расширенный)
- Simplified Chinese: HTTP 数据高级
- Spanish: Datos HTTP avanzados
- The requested web server must return XML-encoded or JSON-encoded data that matches the format as defined in section Custom Sensors.
- This sensor does not support Secure Remote Password (SRP) ciphers.
- This sensor supports smart URL replacement.
- This sensor supports the IPv6 protocol.
- This sensor has a medium performance impact.
- For best sensor performance, we recommend that you specify the content type on the target server, which is application/xml or application/json.
- See the Knowledge Base: Which HTTP status code leads to which HTTP sensor status?
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 |
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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.
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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.
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 ( |
Setting |
Description |
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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). |
URL |
Enter the URL that the sensor connects to. It has to be URL encoded. If you enter an absolute URL, the sensor uses this address independently from the IP Address/DNS Name setting of the parent device. You can enter the URL of a web page (to measure the loading time of the page's source code), or enter the URL of an image or of a page asset to measure this element's availability and loading time.
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Request Method |
Select an HTTP request method to determine how the sensor requests the URL:
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Postdata |
This setting is only visible if you enable POST above. Enter the data part for the POST request.
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Content Type |
This setting is only visible if you enable POST above. Define the content type of a POST request:
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Custom Content Type |
This setting is only visible if you enable Custom above. Define the custom content type, for example, XML, JavaScript Object Notation (JSON), or HTTP. |
Server Name Indication |
Shows the Server Name Identification (SNI) that the sensor automatically determined from the host address of the parent device or the target URL of the sensor. The SNI has to be a fully qualified domain name (FQDN). Make sure that it matches the configuration of the target server.
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SNI Inheritance |
Define if you want to inherit the SNI from the parent device:
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Result Handling |
Define what the sensor does with the data loaded at the URL:
|
Setting |
Description |
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Protocol Version |
Define the HTTP protocol version that the sensor uses when connecting to the target URL:
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User Agent |
Choose which user agent string the sensor sends when connecting to the target URL:
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Custom User Agent |
This setting is only visible if you enable Use a custom string above. Enter the string to be used as the user agent when connecting to the target URL. |
HTTP Headers |
Define if you want to send custom HTTP headers to the target URL:
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Custom HTTP Headers |
This setting is only visible if you enable Use custom HTTP headers above. Enter a list of custom HTTP headers and values that you want to transmit to the URL, each pair in one line. The syntax of a header-value pair is header1:value1
|
Setting |
Description |
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Authentication |
Define if authentication is necessary on the web page at the configured URL:
|
User |
This setting is only visible if you enable Web page needs authentication above. Enter a username. Enter a string. |
Password |
This setting is only visible if you enable Web page needs authentication above. Enter a password. Enter a string. |
Authentication Method |
This setting is only visible if you enable Web page needs authentication above. Select the authentication method that the URL is protected with:
|
Setting |
Description |
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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.
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Graph Type |
Define how different channels are shown for this sensor:
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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.
Proxy Settings for HTTP Sensors
Click to interrupt the inheritance.
The proxy settings determine how a sensor connects to a URL. You can enter data for an HTTP proxy server that sensors use when they connect via HTTP or HTTPS.
This setting only applies to HTTP sensors and how they monitor. To change the proxy settings for the PRTG core server, see section Core & Probes.
Setting |
Description |
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Name |
Enter the IP address or Domain Name System (DNS) name of the proxy server. If you leave this field empty, HTTP sensors do not use a proxy. |
Port |
Enter the port number of the proxy. The default is 8080. Enter an integer value. |
User |
If the proxy requires authentication, enter the username for the proxy login.
|
Password |
If the proxy requires authentication, enter the password for the proxy login.
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Click to interrupt the inheritance.
Setting |
Description |
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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:
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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:
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Schedules, Dependencies, and Maintenance Windows
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 |
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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:
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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.
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Click to interrupt the inheritance.
Setting |
Description |
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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:
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Click to interrupt the inheritance.
Setting |
Description |
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Channel Unit Types |
For each type of channel, select the unit in which PRTG displays the data. If you define this setting on probe, group, or device level, these settings can be inherited to all sensors underneath. You can set units for the following channel types (if available):
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Instead of entering a complete address in the URL field of an HTTP sensor, you can only enter the protocol followed by a colon and three forward slashes (this means that you can enter either http:/// or https:///, or even a simple forward slash / as the equivalent for http:///). PRTG automatically fills in the parent device's IP address or DNS name in front of the third forward slash.
Whether this results in a valid URL or not depends on the IP address or Domain Name System (DNS) name of the parent device. In combination with cloning devices, you can use smart URL replacement to create many similar devices.
For example, if you create a device with the DNS name www.example.com and you add an HTTP sensor to it, you can provide values in the following ways:
- If you enter https:/// in the URL field, PRTG automatically creates the URL https://www.example.com/
- If you enter /help in the URL field, PRTG automatically creates and monitor the URL http://www.example.com/help
- It is also possible to provide a port number in the URL field. It is taken over by the device's DNS name and is internally added, for example, http://:8080/
Smart URL replacement does not work for sensors that run on the probe device.
Which channels the sensor actually shows might depend on the monitored device, the available components, and the sensor setup.
Channel |
Description |
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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 in percent. |
[Value] |
The values that the web server returns in several channels
|
KNOWLEDGE BASE
Which HTTP status code leads to which HTTP sensor status?
What security features does PRTG include?
My HTTP sensors fail to monitor websites which use SNI. What can I do?
My HTTP sensors don't work. What can I do?
For more information about sensor settings, see the following sections: