PRTG Manual: Hyper-V Virtual Machine Sensor
The Hyper-V Virtual Machine sensor monitors a virtual machine running on a Microsoft Hyper-V host server via Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) or Windows Performance Counters, as configured in the Windows Compatibility Options of the parent device.
It can show the following:
- CPU usage in percent of guests, hypervisor, total
- IDE disk read speed (bytes per second)
- IDE disk write speed (bytes per second)
Which channels the sensor actually shows might depend on the monitored device and the sensor setup.
Hyper-V Virtual Machine Sensor
Dutch: Virtuele Hyper-V-Machine, French: Machine virtuelle Hyper V, German: Hyper-V Virtuelle Maschine, Japanese: Hyper-V 仮想マシン, Portuguese: Hyper-V Máquina Virtual, Russian: Виртуальная машина Hyper-V, Simplified Chinese: Hyper-V 虚拟机, Spanish: Máquina virtual Hyper-V
- Requires credentials for Windows systems to be defined for the device you want to use the sensor on.
- Requires Windows Server 2008 R2 or later on the probe system.
- Requires the Remote Registry Windows service to be running on the target computer.
- The parent device for this sensor must be a Hyper-V server.
- The sensor does not support Live Migration.
- Can use a hybrid approach with Windows Performance Counters and WMI as fallback to query data. Please stay below 200 WMI sensors per probe!
- To monitor a virtual machine with this sensor, disable User Account Control (UAC) in the control panel of the Windows operating system that is running on this virtual machine. Otherwise, the sensor might switch into a Down status with the error message The virtual machine is not running or is powered off.
- Knowledge Base: Why don't my Hyper-V sensors work after changing names?
You cannot add this sensor type to the Hosted Probe of a PRTG hosted by Paessler instance. If you want to use this sensor type, please add it to a remote probe device.
Requirement: Windows Credentials
Requires credentials for Windows systems to be defined for the device you want to use the sensor on. In the parent device's Credentials for Windows Systems settings, please prefer using Windows domain credentials.
If you use local credentials, please make sure the same Windows user accounts (with same username and password) exist on both the system running the PRTG probe and the target computer. Otherwise, a connection via Performance Counters will not be possible. However, WMI connections may still work.
Hybrid Approach: Performance Counters and WMI
By default, this sensor type uses Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) to request monitoring data. You can change the default behavior to a hybrid approach in the Windows Compatibility Options of the parent device's settings on which you create this sensor: if you choose this option, the sensor will first try to query data via Windows Performance Counters and use WMI as a fallback if Performance Counters are not available. When running in fallback mode, the sensor will re-try to connect via Performance Counters after 24 hours.
Sensors using the Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) protocol have high impact on the system performance! Try to stay below 200 WMI sensors per probe. Above this number, please consider using multiple Remote Probes for load balancing.
For a general introduction to the technology behind WMI, see section Monitoring via WMI.
In order for this sensor to work with Windows Performance Counters, please make sure a Windows version 2008 or later is installed on the computer running the PRTG probe: This is either on the local system (on every node, if on a cluster probe), or on the system running a remote probe.
WoW64 (Windows 32-bit on Windows 64-bit) must be installed on target systems that run Windows Server 2016. This allows 32-bit applications to be run on 64-bit systems. This is necessary because the probe service only runs with 32-bit support. Without it, WMI sensors will not work.
Requirement: Remote Registry Service
In order for this sensor to work with Windows Performance Counters, please make sure the Remote Registry Windows service is running on the target computer. If you fail to do so, a connection via Performance Counters will not be possible. However, WMI connections may still work.
To enable the service, please log in to the respective computer and open the services manager (for example, via services.msc). In the list, find the respective service and set its Start Type to Automatic.
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.
Select the virtual machines you want to monitor. PRTG creates one sensor for each VM you choose in the Add Sensor dialog. The settings you choose will be valid for all sensors that you create when you finish this dialog.
The following settings for this sensor differ in the Add Sensor dialog in comparison to the sensor's Settings tab.
Virtual Machine Settings |
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Virtual Machine |
Select the virtual machines (VMs) you want to add a sensor for, including the ones that are not running. You see a list with the names of all items that are available to monitor. Add check marks in front of the respective lines to select the desired items. PRTG creates one sensor for each selection. You can also use the check box in the table head to select and deselect all items.
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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. 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). |
Virtual Machine Settings |
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GUID |
Shows the Globally Unique Identifier (GUID) of the virtual machine that this sensor monitors. Once a sensor is created, you cannot change this value. It is shown for reference purposes only. If you need to change this, please add the sensor anew. |
Name |
Shows the name of the virtual machine that this sensor monitors. Once a sensor is created, you cannot change this value. It is shown for reference purposes only. If you need to change this, please add the sensor anew. |
Description |
Shows information about the virtual machine. Once a sensor is created, you cannot change this value. It is shown for reference purposes only. If you need to change this, please add the sensor anew. |
Powered Off VMs |
Define how to react to a virtual machine that is powered off. Choose between:
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Sensor Result |
Define what PRTG will do with the sensor results. Choose between:
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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.
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 status 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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Knowledge Base: Why don't my Hyper-V sensors work after changing names?
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 Channel Settings section.
Click the Notification Triggers tab to change notification triggers. For detailed information, see the Sensor Notification Triggers Settings section.
For more general information about settings, see the Object Settings section.
For information about sensor settings, see the following sections:
