PRTG Manual: HTTP IoT Push Data Advanced Sensor
The HTTP IoT Push Data Advanced sensor displays data from messages that are received from IoT-capable devices (for example, Sigfox devices) and that are pushed via an HTTPS request to PRTG. It provides a URL that you can use to push messages to the probe system via HTTPS (TLS 1.2 encrypted). This sensor is especially useful when you want to push data to a PRTG hosted by Paessler instance.
The sensor can show the following:
- Received values
- Message encoded in valid Extensible Markup Language (XML) or JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) in multiple channels
For details about the return value format, see section Custom Sensors.
Dutch: HTTP Push Data geavanceerd, French: Données avancées Push HTTP IoT, German: HTTP IoT Push-Daten (Erweitert), Japanese: HTTP IoT プッシュデータ(アドバンスト), Portuguese: Dados de IoT HTTP Avançado via Push, Russian: HTTP: Данные push-объекта IoT (Расширенный), Simplified Chinese: HTTP IoT 高级推送数据据, Spanish: HTTP Push de datos IoT Avanzado
This sensor is in beta status. The operating methods and the available settings can change at any time. Do not expect that all functions work properly, or that this sensor works as expected at all. Be aware that this sensor can be removed from PRTG at any time.
- You cannot use this sensor in cluster mode. You can only set it up on a local probe or a remote probe but not on a cluster probe.
- This sensor has a fixed port (5051). You cannot change it.
- This sensor has a fixed SSL version (HTTPS (TLS 1.2 only)). You cannot change it.
- If you use this sensor with multiple channels, we recommend that you simultaneously push the data for all your channels to the PRTG server. You can push data to only one of your sensor channels but, in this case, all other channels record the value of 0 for this push message.
- This sensor may result in false alerts if the probe on which the sensor runs disconnects from the core server. In this case, the sensor shows the error message: The latest push message that the sensor received is older than the specified time threshold allows. (code: PE222).
- For details about the usage, see section HTTP IoT Push Data Advanced Sensor—How to Use.
This function is known as a webhook. Basically, a webhook works like a push notification. Webhooks are usually triggered by an event (for example, a new comment on a blog post) and send according information to a specified URL. The HTTP IoT Push Data Advanced sensor then displays the data of pushed and received messages.
The data that is pushed to this sensor must be valid XML or JSON.
For details about the return value format, see section Custom Sensors.
The HTTP IoT Push Data Advanced sensor uses the following URLs depending on the type of HTTPS request.
- GET requests: https://<probe_ip>:5051/<token>?content=<valid XML_or_JSON>
The XML-encoded value of the content parameter has to match the format defined in section Custom Sensors. - POST requests: https://<probe_ip>:5051/<token>
This HTTPS request method sends the XML-encoded or JSON-encoded HTTPS body as POST data. The body has to match the format defined in section Custom Sensors. We strongly recommend the HTTPS content type application/xml or application/json.
Replace the parameters <probe_ip>, <token>, and <valid XML_or_JSON> (for GET requests) with the corresponding values:
- For PRTG on premises, the probe IP is the IP address of the probe system on which this sensor runs. For PRTG hosted by Paessler instances, the probe IP is the Domain Name System (DNS) name of the instance.
- The port number is always 5051. You cannot change this.
- You can define identification token in the sensor settings.
- The content of GET requests has to be valid XML or JSON in the PRTG API format.
The content has to be URL encoded (for example, the whitespaces in the sample URL below). Most browsers do the URL-encoding automatically.
Minimum example for the GET method that returns one static channel value:
https://127.0.0.1:5051/XYZ123?content=<prtg><result><channel>MyChannel</channel><value>10</value></result><text>this%20is%20a%20message</text></prtg>
By default, values within the <value> tags in the returned XML or JSON must be integers for them to be processed. If float values are returned, you have to explicitly define this value type as defined in section Custom Sensors with <float> tags, otherwise the sensor shows 0 values in affected channels. Example:
https://127.0.0.1:5051/XYZ123?content=<prtg><result><channel>MyChannel</channel><value>10.45</value><float>1</float></result><text>this%20is%20a%20message</text></prtg>
You can use several sensors with the same port and identification token. In this case, push message data is shown in each of these sensors.
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.
On the details page of a sensor, click the Settings tab 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.
Basic Sensor Settings |
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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. |
Parent Tags |
Shows Tags that this sensor inherits from its parent device, group, and probe. This setting is shown for your information only and cannot be changed here. |
Tags |
Enter one or more Tags, separated by spaces or commas. You can use tags to group sensors and use tag–filtered views later on. Tags are not case sensitive. We recommend that you use the default value. There are default tags that are automatically predefined in a sensor's settings when you add a sensor. See section Default Tags below. You can add additional tags to the sensor if you like. Other tags are automatically inherited from objects further up in the device tree. These are visible above as Parent Tags.
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Priority |
Select a priority for the sensor. This setting determines where the sensor is placed in sensor lists. A sensor with a top priority is at the top of a list. Choose from one star (low priority) to five stars (top priority). |
pushsensor, pushdata, httppushsensor, iot, sigfox
SSL Settings |
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SSL Settings |
The security of the incoming HTTPS push requests.
This setting is shown for your information only and cannot be changed. |
SSL Port |
The number of the port on which this sensor listens for incoming HTTPS requests. This is always 5051. This setting is shown for your information only and cannot be changed. |
HTTP Push Authentication |
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Identification Token |
This is the token that is used to find the matching sensor for the incoming message. When you create the sensor, this token is {__guid__}. This token is replaced with an automatically generated token after you have completed the sensor creation. If you want to use a different identification token, you can edit it during or after sensor creation.
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HTTP Push Data |
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No Incoming Data |
Define which status the sensor shows if it has not received a push message for at least two sensor scans:
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Time Threshold (Minutes) |
This field is only visible if you enable Switch to down status after x minutes above. Enter a time threshold in minutes. If this time elapses, the sensor shows a Down status if it has not received a push message within this time span. Enter an integer value. The maximum threshold is 1440 minutes. |
Sensor Display |
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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 field 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 and should be changed there if necessary. Often, best practice is to change them centrally in the Root group's settings. For more information, see section Inheritance of Settings. To change a setting for this object only, disable inheritance by clicking the button next to inherit from under the corresponding setting name. You then see the options described below.
Scanning Interval |
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Click |
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Scanning Interval |
Select a scanning interval (seconds, minutes, or hours). The scanning interval determines the amount of time that the sensor waits between two scans. You can change the available intervals in the system administration on PRTG on premises installations. |
If a Sensor Query Fails |
Define the number of scanning intervals that the sensor has time to reach and check a device again in case a sensor query fails. Depending on the option that you select, the sensor can try to reach and check a device again several times before the sensor shows a 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 a Warning status. Choose from:
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Schedules, Dependencies, and Maintenance Window |
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Schedule |
Select a schedule from the list. Schedules can be used to monitor for a certain time span (days or hours) every week.
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Maintenance Window |
Specify if you want to set up a one-time maintenance window. During a maintenance window, the current object and all child objects are not monitored. They are in a Paused status instead. Choose between:
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Maintenance Begins |
This field 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 maintenance window. |
Maintenance Ends |
This field 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 maintenance window. |
Dependency Type |
Define a dependency type. You can use dependencies to pause monitoring for an object depending on the status of another object. You can choose from:
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Dependency |
This field is only visible if you enable Select a sensor above. Click the Search button and use the object selector to select a sensor on which the current object will depend. |
Dependency Delay (Sec.) |
This field is only visible if you enable Select a sensor above. Define a time span in seconds for dependency delay. After the master sensor for this dependency comes back to an Up status, monitoring of the dependent objects is additionally delayed by the defined time span. This can help avoid false alarms, for example, after a server restart, by giving systems more time for all services to start up. Enter an integer value.
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Access Rights |
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Click |
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User Group Access |
Define the user groups that have access to the selected object. A table with user groups and types of access rights is shown. It contains all user groups from your setup. For each user group, you can choose from the following access rights:
You can create new user groups in the System Administration—User Groups settings. To automatically set all objects further down in the hierarchy to inherit this object's access rights, set a check mark for the Revert children's access rights to inherited option.
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Knowledge Base: How can I monitor Sigfox Geolocation with PRTG?
Knowledge Base: How can I monitor the Sigfox API with PRTG?
Knowledge Base: How can I monitor Sigfox Callbacks with PRTG?
Knowledge Base: My HTTP sensors don't work. What can I do?
To change display settings, spike filtering, and limits, switch to the sensor's Overview tab and click the gear icon of a specific channel. For detailed information, see section Sensor Channel Settings.
Click the Notification Triggers tab to change notification triggers. For detailed information, see section Sensor Notification Triggers Settings.
For more general information about settings, see section Object Settings.
For information about sensor settings, see the following sections: