PRTG Manual: HTTP Full Web Page Sensor

The HTTP Full Web Page sensor monitors the full download time of a web page including assets such as images. In the background, it opens the web page in a browser instance to perform the measurement. It does not follow links.

i_round_redBe careful with this sensor because it can generate a considerable amount of internet traffic if you use it with a short scanning interval.

HTTP Full Web Page Sensor

HTTP Full Web Page Sensor

i_square_cyanFor a detailed list and descriptions of the channels that this sensor can show, see section Channel List.

Sensor in Other Languages

  • Dutch: HTTP Volledige Webpagina
  • French: Page web complète (HTTP)
  • German: HTTP (Komplette Webseite)
  • Japanese: HTTP 完全ウェブページ監視
  • Portuguese: Página completa HTTP
  • Russian: HTTP: Полное время загрузки веб-страницы
  • Simplified Chinese: HTTP 完整网页
  • Spanish: Página web completa HTTP

Remarks

  • This sensor has a very high performance impact. We recommend that you use no more than 50 of this sensor on each probe.
  • This sensor does not support Secure Remote Password (SRP) ciphers.
  • This sensor supports IPv6.

i_podYou 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.

Basic Sensor Settings

Basic Sensor Settings

Basic Sensor Settings

Setting

Description

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.

i_round_blueIf 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

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

i_round_blueThis 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.

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

i_round_blueFor 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:

  • httpfullsensor

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 (i_priority_1) to the highest priority (i_priority_5).

Full Web Page Download Settings

Full Web Page Download Settings

Full Web Page Download Settings

Setting

Description

Timeout (Sec.)

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

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

URL

Enter the address of the web page that the sensor loads. If you enter an absolute URL, the sensor uses this address independently of the IP Address/DNS Name setting of the parent device.

i_round_redThe URL must be URL encoded.

i_square_cyanPRTG uses a smart URL replacement with which you can use the parent device's IP address or Domain Name System (DNS) name setting as part of the URL. For more information, see section Smart URL Replacement.

Browser Engine

Define which browser engine this sensor uses to load the web page:

  • Chromium (default): Use the WebKit engine that is delivered with PRTG to measure the loading time. With each scanning interval, PRTG loads the URL in an instance of Chromium and measures the time it takes to fully load the page. This is the recommended setting.
    i_round_blueChromium does not support TLS 1.2-only connections. In this case, we recommend that you use the PhantomJS engine or Internet Explorer instead.
  • PhantomJS (Headless WebKit): Use the PhantomJS engine. This engine can have a high impact on the probe system's CPU and memory load but additional options for result handling are available.
  • Internet Explorer: With each scanning interval, the URL is loaded in the background in an instance of Internet Explorer. PRTG uses the Internet Explorer of the probe system.
    i_round_redFor full functionality, we strongly recommend that you install at least Internet Explorer 11 on the probe system.
    i_round_redIf you select Internet Explorer as browser engine, you might face issues with the creation of temporary files. In this case, we recommend that you use the Chromium or the PhantomJS browser engines. For more information, see the Knowledge Base: Why is my HTTP Full Web Page sensor generating so many temporary files?

i_round_blueAll browser engines use the proxy settings from the Windows user account that the probe runs under (this is usually the local Windows "system" user account). To use a proxy, adjust the settings accordingly on the probe system (on all cluster nodes, if in a cluster). For more information, see the Knowledge Base: How can I access proxy settings for the HTTP Full Web Page sensor?

Security Context

Define the Windows user account that this sensor uses to run the browser engine:

  • Use security context of PRTG probe service (default): Run the browser engine under the same Windows user account that the probe system runs under. By default, this is the local Windows "system" user account.
  • Use Windows credentials of parent device: Use the Windows user account from the parent device settings.
    i_round_blueWe recommended that you use this setting if you use Chromium (default) as your browser engine.

Result Handling

This setting is only visible if you select PhantomJS (Headless WebKit) above.

Specify how the browser engine handles the web page result:

  • Discard result (default): Do not store the sensor result.
  • Render and store a screenshot of most recent result as JPG: Render and store the web page result in the \Logs\sensors subfolder of the PRTG data directory on the probe system. The file name is Fullpage of Sensor (ID).jpg. This setting is for debugging purposes. PRTG overwrites the file with each scanning interval.
  • Render and store screenshots of all results as JPGs (requires lots of disk space): Render and store one new screenshot of the web page with each sensor scan, and store the screenshots in the \Screenshots (Fullpage Sensor) subfolder of the PRTG data directory on the probe system. You can use this option to create a visual history of the web page.
    i_round_redDepending on the monitored website and the scanning interval of the sensor, this option can create a very high amount of data. Use this option with care and make sure you set appropriate data purging limits in the Core & Probes settings.

i_square_cyanIf necessary, you can change the window size of the rendered screenshots. For more information, see the Knowledge Base: How can I change the size of PhantomJS full web page screenshots?

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

Authentication

This setting is only visible if you select PhantomJS (Headless WebKit) above.

Define if the monitored web page needs authentication for access:

  • Web page does not need authentication: Access to the web page is granted without authentication.
  • Web page needs authentication: PRTG automatically tries to use HTTP basic authentication (BA) or Windows NT LAN Manager (NTLM) to access the web page with authentication. Enter the credentials below.
    i_round_blueBasic access authentication forwards the credentials in plain text.

User Name

This setting is only visible if you select PhantomJS (Headless WebKit) above.

Enter the user name for the web page.

Password

This setting is only visible if you select PhantomJS (Headless WebKit) above.

Enter the password for the web page.

Sensor Display

Sensor Display

Sensor Display

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.

i_round_blueYou can set a different primary channel later by clicking b_channel_primary 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.
    i_round_redYou 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. 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.

Inherited Settings

By default, all of these settings are inherited from objects that are higher in the hierarchy. We recommend that you change them centrally in the root group settings if necessary. To change a setting for this object only, click b_inherited_enabled under the corresponding setting name to disable the inheritance and to display its options.

i_square_cyanFor more information, see section Inheritance of Settings.

Scanning Interval

Scanning Interval

Scanning Interval

i_square_cyanFor more information, see section Root Group Settings, section Scanning Interval.

Schedules, Dependencies, and Maintenance Window

i_round_blueYou 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.

Schedules, Dependencies, and Maintenance Window

Schedules, Dependencies, and Maintenance Window

i_square_cyanFor more information, see section Root Group Settings, section Schedules, Dependencies, and Maintenance Window (default).

Access Rights

Access Rights

Access Rights

i_square_cyanFor more information, see section Root Group Settings, section Access Rights.

Smart URL Replacement

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/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/

i_round_redSmart URL replacement does not work for sensors that run on the probe device.

Channel List

i_round_blueWhich channels the sensor actually shows might depend on the target device, the available components, and the sensor setup.

Channel

Description

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 state

Loading Time

The loading time of the full web page

i_round_blueThis channel is the primary channel by default.

More

i_square_blueKNOWLEDGE BASE

What to do when I see a CreateUniqueTempDir() error message for my HTTP Full Web Page sensor?

HTTP Full Web Page sensor is unable to navigate. What can I do?

How can I change the size of PhantomJS full web page screenshots?

Why is my HTTP Full Web Page sensor generating so many temporary files?

Which HTTP status code leads to which HTTP sensor state?

What security features does PRTG include?

What is the difference between "HTTP" and "HTTP Full Web Page" web server sensors?

How can I access proxy settings for the HTTP Full Web Page sensor?

My HTTP sensors don't work. What can I do?