PRTG Manual: Packet Sniffer (Custom) Sensor
The Packet Sniffer (Custom) sensor monitors the headers of data packets that pass a local network card using a built-in packet sniffer. You can define your own channels. There are no predefined channels for this sensor. This sensor analyzes only header traffic.
The sensor can show the following:
- Customized traffic by type
Which channels the sensor actually shows might depend on the monitored device and the sensor setup.
- Dutch: Packet Sniffer (Aangepast)
- French: Packet Sniffer (personnalisé)
- German: Packet Sniffer (Benutzerdef.)
- Japanese: パケットスニファー(カスタム)
- Portuguese: Sniffer de pacotes (Customizado)
- Russian: Анализатор пакетов (нестандартный)
- Simplified Chinese: 数据包嗅探程序 (自定义)
- Spanish: Examen de paquetes (personalizado)
- This sensor can have a high impact on the performance of your monitoring system. Use it with care. We recommend that you use no more than 50 sensors of this sensor type on each probe.
- By default, this sensor works only on a probe device.
- This sensor supports the IPv6 protocol.
- This sensor has a very high performance impact.
- This sensor does not officially support more than 50 channels. Depending on the data used with this sensor, you might exceed the maximum number of supported channels. In this case, PRTG tries to display all channels. Be aware, however, that you experience limited usability and performance.
By default, you can only monitor traffic passing the probe system where the probe device with the sensor is set up. To monitor other traffic in your network, you can configure a monitoring port (if available) that the switch sends a copy of all traffic to. You can then physically connect this port to a network card of the probe system (either local probe or remote probe system). This way, PRTG can analyze the complete traffic that passes through the switch. This feature of your hardware might be called Switched Port Analyzer (SPAN), port mirroring, or port monitoring.
You cannot add this sensor to the hosted probe of a PRTG hosted by Paessler instance. If you want to use this sensor, add it to a remote probe device.
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 |
---|---|
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 the sensor inherits from its parent device, parent group, and parent probe. This setting is shown for your information only and cannot be changed here. |
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 ( |
For detailed information on filters, see section Filter Rules.
Setting |
Description |
---|---|
Include Filter |
Define if you want to filter any traffic. If you leave this field empty, all traffic is included. To include specific traffic only, define filters using a special syntax. |
Exclude Filter |
First, the filters defined in the Include Filter field are considered. From this subset, you can explicitly exclude traffic, using the same syntax. |
Channel Definition |
Enter a channel definition to divide the traffic into different channels. Write each definition in one line. All traffic for which no channel is defined is accounted to the default channel named Other.
|
Network Adapters |
Define the network adapters that this sensor monitors. You see a list of names with all adapters available on the probe system. To select an adapter, enable the check box in front of the respective name. You can also select all items or cancel the selection by using the check box in the table header. |
Stream Data Handling |
Define what PRTG does with the stream and packet data:
|
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.
|
Graph Type |
Define how different channels are shown for this sensor:
|
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. |
Setting |
Description |
---|---|
Primary Toplist |
Define which Toplist is your primary Toplist:
|
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.
Click to interrupt the inheritance.
Setting |
Description |
---|---|
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:
|
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:
|
Schedules, Dependencies, and Maintenance Window
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 |
---|---|
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:
|
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.
|
Click to interrupt the inheritance.
Setting |
Description |
---|---|
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:
|
Click to interrupt the inheritance.
Setting |
Description |
---|---|
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):
|
For all xFlow (NetFlow, jFlow, sFlow, IPFIX) and Packet Sniffer sensors, Toplists are available on the sensor's Overview tab. Using Toplists, you can review traffic data for small time periods in great detail.
For more information, see section Toplists.
The following filter rules apply to all xFlow (NetFlow, jFlow, sFlow, IPFIX) and Packet Sniffer sensors.
For more information, see section Filter Rules for xFlow, IPFIX, and Packet Sniffer Sensors.
Field |
Possible Filter Values |
---|---|
IP |
IP address or Domain Name System (DNS) name |
Port |
Any number |
SourceIP |
IP address or Domain Name System (DNS) name |
SourcePort |
Any number |
DestinationIP |
IP address or Domain Name System (DNS) name |
DestinationPort |
Any number |
Protocol |
Transmission Control Protocol (TCP), User Datagram Protocol (UDP), Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP), Open Shortest Path First (OSPF), any number |
ToS |
Type of Service (ToS): any number |
DSCP |
Differentiated Services Code Point (DSCP): any number |
The following filter rules apply to Packet Sniffer sensors only.
Field |
Possible Filter Values |
---|---|
MAC |
Physical address |
SourceMAC |
Physical address |
DestinationMAC |
Physical address |
EtherType |
IPV4, ARP, RARP, APPLE, AARP, IPV6, IPXold, IPX, any number |
VlanPCP |
IEEE 802.1Q VLAN Priority Code Point |
VlanID |
IEEE 802.1Q VLAN Identifier |
TrafficClass |
IPv6 Traffic Class: corresponds to TOS used with IPv4 |
FlowLabel |
IPv6 Flow Label |
PRTG MANUAL
- Filter Rules for xFlow, IPFIX, and Packet Sniffer Sensors
- Channel Definitions for xFlow, IPFIX, and Packet Sniffer Sensors
KNOWLEDGE BASE
Where is the volume line in graphs?
For more information about sensor settings, see the following sections: