PRTG Manual: HTTP Transaction Sensor
The HTTP Transaction sensor monitors an interactive website, such as a web shop, by performing a transaction using a set of Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) URLs. The sensor monitors whether logins or shopping carts work properly.
- It shows the loading time of single URLs and of the complete transaction.
Dutch: HTTP (Transactie), French: Transaction HTTP, German: HTTP (Transaktion), Japanese: HTTP トランザクション, Portuguese: Transação HTTP, Russian: Транзакция HTTP, Simplified Chinese: HTTP 处理, Spanish: HTTP Transacción
- Supports Smart URL Replacement.
- Knowledge Base: Configuration Tips for HTTP Transaction Sensors
- Knowledge Base: Which user agent should I use in the HTTP Advanced sensor's settings?
- This sensor type does not support Secure Remote Password (SRP) ciphers.
- If you need to use SRP ciphers, choose the Alternate/ Compatibility Mode in the sensor settings.
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 will 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 where you created this sensor. See the Device Settings for details. For some sensor types, you can define the monitoring target explicitly in the sensor settings. Please 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. 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. Top priority is at the top of a list. Choose from one star (low priority) to five stars (top priority). |
HTTP Specific |
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Timeout (Sec.) |
Enter a timeout in seconds for all HTTP requests. If the complete transaction takes longer than this value defines, the sensor cancels the request and shows an according error message. Please enter an integer value. The maximum value is 900 seconds (15 minutes). |
Single URL Timeout (Sec.) |
Enter a timeout in seconds for one single HTTP request. If the reply of any single request takes longer than this value defines, the sensor cancels the transaction and shows an according error message. Please enter an integer value. The maximum value is 900 seconds (15 minutes). |
HTTP Engine |
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Monitoring Engine |
If you encounter unexpected errors with the standard method that is used to monitor a URL, try to use the compatibility mode, which is based on .NET. Choose between:
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SSL Specific (when using Compatibility Mode) |
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SSL Method |
When using the compatibility mode, the SSL specific settings are a bit different to the default (automatically used) SSL settings. You can choose between:
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Check SSL Certificates |
Specify if the sensor will check the certificate of the monitored URL. Choose between:
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This sensor type implicitly supports Server Name Identification (SNI), an extension to the TLS protocol.
Advanced Sensor Data |
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Limit Download (kb) |
Enter a maximum amount of data that is transferred per every single request. If you set content checks below, please be aware that the sensor can only check the content downloaded within this limit for certain search expressions. |
Cookie Management |
Select if cookies are used for the transaction. Choose between:
We recommend that you use the default value. |
User Agent |
Choose which user agent string the sensor sends when connecting to the defined URLs. Choose between:
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Custom User Agent |
This field is only visible if you enable the Use a Custom String option above. Enter a string that the sensor uses as user agent when connecting to the URL specified above. |
Result Handling |
Define what PRTG will do with the web page loaded at the given URL. Choose between:
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Authentication |
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Authentication |
Define if the web page at the configured URL needs authentication. Choose between:
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User |
This field is only visible if you enable authentication above. Enter a username. Please enter a string. |
Password |
This field is only visible if you enable authentication above. Enter a password. Please enter a string. |
Authentication Method |
This field is only visible if enable authentication above. Select the authentication method the given URL is protected with. Choose between:
We recommend that you use the default value. |
Transaction URL |
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Enter settings for at least one transaction URL. You can use as many steps as needed and disable the other steps. |
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Transaction Step #x |
This setting is available for URL #2 through #10. Define if you want to use this step for your transaction check. Choose between:
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URL |
Enter the URL the sensor will connect to. It has to be URL encoded! If you enter an absolute URL, this address will be independent from the IP Address/DNS Name setting of the device this sensor is created on. PRTG uses a smart URL replacement that allows you to use the parent device's IP address/DNS name setting as part of the URL. For more information, see section Smart URL Replacement below. |
Request Method |
The request method determines how the given URL is requested.
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Postdata |
This field is only active if you choose POST in the Request Method setting above. Enter the data part for the post request here.
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Check For Existing Key Words (Positive) |
Define whether the result at the configured URL will be checked for keywords. Choose between:
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Response Must Include |
Define which string must be part of the web at the given URL. If the data does not include this string, the sensor will show an error status and display this string along with the affected URL in the sensor message. Please enter a string.
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Check For Existing Key Words (Negative) |
Define whether the the result at the configured URL will be checked for keywords. Choose between:
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Response Must Not Include |
Define which string must not be part of the web at the given URL. If the data does include this string, the sensor will show an error status and display this string along with the affected URL in the sensor message. Please enter a string.
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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 will always be 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 will be shown for this sensor.
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Stack Unit |
This setting is only available if stacked graphs are selected above. Choose a unit from the list. All channels with this unit will be 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 following settings are inherited from objects 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, see section Inheritance of Settings for more information. To change a setting only for this object, disable inheritance by clicking the button next to inherit from under the corresponding setting name. You will then see the options described below.
Proxy Settings for HTTP Sensors |
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Click |
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HTTP Proxy Settings |
The proxy settings determine how a sensor connects to a given URL. You can enter data for an HTTP proxy server that sensors will use when connecting via HTTP or HTTPS.
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Name |
Enter the IP address or DNS name of the proxy server to use. If you leave this field empty, no proxy will be used. |
Port |
Enter the port number of the proxy. Often, port 8080 is used. Please enter an integer value. |
User |
If the proxy requires authentication, enter the username for the proxy login.
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Password |
If the proxy requires authentication, enter the password for the proxy login.
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Scanning Interval |
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Click |
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Scanning Interval |
Select a scanning interval (seconds, minutes, or hours) from the list. The scanning interval determines the time 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 a sensor has time to reach and check a device again in case a sensor query fails. The sensor can try to re-reach and check a device several times, depending on the option you select here, before it will be set to a Down status. This helps you avoid false alarms if the monitored device has only temporary issues. For previous scanning intervals with failed requests, the sensor will show a Warning status. Choose between:
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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, hours) every week. With the period list option it is also possible to pause monitoring for a specific time span. You can create new schedules and edit existing ones in the account settings.
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Maintenance Window |
Specify if you want to set up a one-time maintenance window. During a "maintenance window" period, this object and all child objects will not be monitored. They will be in a paused state instead. Choose between:
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Maintenance Begins |
This field is only visible if you enabled the 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 enabled the 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. Dependencies can be used to pause monitoring for an object depending on the status of another. You can choose between:
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Dependency |
This field is only visible if the Select object option is enabled above. Click on the reading-glasses and use the object selector to choose an object on which the current sensor will depend. |
Dependency Delay (Sec.) |
Define a time span in seconds for a dependency delay. After the master object for this dependency goes back to Up status, PRTG will start monitoring the depending objects after this extra delayed. This can help to avoid false alarms, for example, after a server restart, by giving systems more time for all services to start up. Please enter an integer value.
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Access Rights |
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Click |
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User Group Access |
Define which user group(s) will have access to the object you're editing. 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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Instead of entering a complete address in the URL field of an HTTP sensor, you can merely enter the protocol followed by colon and three slashes (that means you can enter either http:/// or https:/// or even a simple slash / as equivalent for http:///). PRTG will fill in the parent device's IP address or DNS name in front of the third slash automatically.
Whether this results in a valid URL or not depends on the IP address or DNS name of the device where this HTTP sensor is created on. In combination with cloning devices, the smart URL replacement makes it easy to create many like devices.
For example, if you create a device with DNS name www.example.com and you add an HTTP sensor to it, you can provide values the following ways:
- Providing the value https:/// in the URL field, PRTG will automatically create the URL https://www.example.com/
- Using the value /help in the URL field, PRTG will automatically create and monitor the URL http://www.example.com/help
- It is also possible to provide a port number in the URL field, which will be taken over by the device's DNS name and internally added, for example, http://:8080/
Smart URL replacement does not work for sensors running on the Probe Device.
Knowledge Base: Configuration Tips for HTTP Transaction Sensors needed
To change display settings, spike filter, and limits, switch to the sensor's Overview tab and click the gear icon of a specific channel. For detailed information, see the Sensor Channels Settings section.
Click the Notifications tab to change notification triggers. For detailed information, see the Sensor Notifications Settings section.
For more general information about settings, see the Object Settings section.
For information about sensor settings, see the following sections: