PRTG Manual: SMTP&POP3 Round Trip Sensor

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.

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

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).

From

Specify the address that the sent emails will contain in the from field. Please enter a valid email address.

To

Specify the address that PRTG sends the emails to. Please enter a valid email address.

HELO Ident

Enter a server name for the HELO part of the mail protocol. For some mail servers the HELO identifier must be the valid principal host domain name for the client host. See SMTP RFC 2821.

In this step, you configure how PRTG sends the emails. As SMTP server, the sensor uses the IP-Address/DNS Name of the device you add this sensor to.

Port

Enter the number of the port that the sensor uses to send an email via SMTP.

For non-secure connections usually port 25 is used, for SSL/TLS connections port 465 or 587. The actual setting depends on the server you connect to.

If you do not get a connection, try another port number.

Please enter an integer value. We recommend that you use the default value.

Timeout for SMTP Connection (Sec.)

Enter a timeout in seconds for the request. If the reply takes longer than this value defines, the sensor will cancel the request and show a corresponding error message. Please enter an integer value. The maximum value is 900 seconds (15 minutes).

SMTP Authentication Type

Define if you want to use an authentication for the SMTP connection. Choose between:

• None: Do not use any authentication method.
• Username/Password: Authenticate at the SMTP server via username and password.

Username

This field is only visible if you enable SMTP authentication above. Enter a username for SMTP authentication. Please enter a string.

Password

This field is only visible if you enable SMTP authentication above. Enter a password for SMTP authentication. Please enter a string.

Additional Text for Email Subject

The subject part of the round trip email is created automatically by PRTG. It consists of the string PRTG Roundtrip Mail:, followed by a unique GUID to correctly identify the email in the POP3 mailbox, for example, PRTG Roundtrip Mail: {5E858D9C-AC70-466A-9B2A-55630165D276}.

Use this field to place your custom text before the automatically created text.

Sensor Specific

Define the security level for the sensor connection. Choose between:

• Use Transport-Level Security if available using StartTLS (default): Choose this option to try to connect to the server using TLS and StartTLS. If the server does not support this, the sensor will try to connect without encryption.
• Use Transport-Level Security if available: Choose this option to try to connect to the server using TLS. If the server does not support this, the sensor will try to connect without encryption.
• Enforce Transport-Level Security using StartTLS: Choose this option to try connecting to the server using TLS and StartTLS. If the server does not support this, the sensor will show a Down status.
• Enforce Transport-Level Security: Choose this option to try to connect to the server using TLS. If the server does not support this, the sensor will show a Down status.

If the sensor connects to a server via StartTLS, the connection is established unencrypted first. After the connection is established, the sensor sends a certain command (StartTLS) over the unencrypted connection to negotiate a secure connection via the SSL/TLS protocol.

If the sensor uses TLS without StartTLS, the negotiation of a secure connection happens immediately (implicitly) so that no commands are sent in unencrypted plain text. If there is no secure connection possible, no communication will take place.

In this step, you configure how to receive the sent emails.

IP Address/DNS Name

Specify the POP3 server. Enter a valid IP address or DNS name.

Port

Specify the port that the sensor uses for the POP3 connection.

For non-secure connections usually port 110 is used, for SSL/TLS connections port 995. The actual setting depends on the server you are connecting to.

If you do not get a connection, please try another port number.

Please enter an integer value. We recommend that you use the default value.

Connection Interval (Sec.)

Enter the number of seconds the sensor will wait between two connections to the IMAP server. PRTG will continuously check the mailbox in this interval until the email arrives. Please enter an integer value.

Maximum Trip Time (Sec.)

Enter the number of seconds an email may take to arrive in the IMAP mailbox. PRTG will continuously check the mailbox in the interval that you specify above until the email arrives. If it does not arrive within the maximum trip time, the sensor will trigger an error message. Please enter an integer value.

POP3 Authentication Type

Select the kind of authentication for the POP3 connection. Choose between:

• Without Login: Monitor the connection to the POP3 server only.
• Username and Password: Log in into the POP3 server with username and password (simple login, non-secure).
• 128-bit MD5 hash value (APOP): Send the password in an encrypted form using APOP. This option must be supported by the POP3 server you connect to.

Username

This field is only visible if you select an option with login above. Enter a username for POP3 authentication. Please enter a string.

Password

This field is only visible if you select an option with login above. Enter a username for POP3 authentication. Please enter a string.

Sensor Specific

Define the security level for the sensor connection. Choose between:

• Use Transport-Level Security if available using StartTLS (default): Choose this option to try to connect to the server using TLS and StartTLS. If the server does not support this, the sensor will try to connect without encryption.
• Use Transport-Level Security if available: Choose this option to try to connect to the server using TLS. If the server does not support this, the sensor will try to connect without encryption.
• Enforce Transport-Level Security using StartTLS: Choose this option to try connecting to the server using TLS and StartTLS. If the server does not support this, the sensor will show a Down status.
• Enforce Transport-Level Security: Choose this option to try to connect to the server using TLS. If the server does not support this, the sensor will show a Down status.

If the sensor connects to a server via StartTLS, the connection is established unencrypted first. After the connection is established, the sensor sends a certain command (StartTLS) over the unencrypted connection to negotiate a secure connection via the SSL/TLS protocol.

If the sensor uses TLS without StartTLS, the negotiation of a secure connection happens immediately (implicitly) so that no commands are sent in unencrypted plain text. If there is no secure connection possible, no communication will take place.

Sensor Result

Define what PRTG will do with the sensor results. Choose between:

• Discard sensor result: Do not store the sensor result.
• Write sensor result to disk (Filename: "Result of Sensor [ID].txt"): Store the last result received from the sensor to the Logs (Sensor) directory in the PRTG data folder on the probe system the sensor is running on (on the Master node if in a cluster). File names: Result of Sensor [ID].txt and Result of Sensor [ID].Data.txt. This is for debugging purposes. PRTG overwrites these files with each scanning interval.
  For more information on how to find the folder used for storage, see section Data Storage.

This option is not available when the sensor runs on the Hosted Probe of a PRTG hosted by Paessler instance.

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.

You can set another primary channel later by clicking the pin symbol of a channel in the sensor's Overview tab.

Graph Type

Define how different channels will be shown for this sensor.

• Show channels independently (default): Show an own 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 will generate an easy-to-read graph that visualizes the different components of your total traffic.
  This option cannot be used in combination with manual Vertical Axis Scaling (available in the Sensor Channels Settings settings).

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.

Click to disrupt the inheritance. See section Inheritance of Settings for more information.

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:

• Set sensor to "down" immediately: The sensor will show an error immediately after the first failed request.
• Set sensor to "warning" for 1 interval, then set to "down" (recommended): After the first failed request, the sensor will show a yellow warning status. If the following request also fails, the sensor will show an error.
• Set sensor to "warning" for 2 intervals, then set to "down": Show an error status only after three consecutively failed requests.
• Set sensor to "warning" for 3 intervals, then set to "down": Show an error status only after four consecutively failed requests.
• Set sensor to "warning" for 4 intervals, then set to "down": Show an error status only after five consecutively failed requests.
• Set sensor to "warning" for 5 intervals, then set to "down": Show an error status only after six consecutively failed requests.

Sensors that monitor via Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) always wait at least one scanning interval until they show an error. It is not possible to set a WMI sensor to "down" immediately, so the first option will not apply to these sensor types. All other options can apply.

If a sensor has defined error limits for channels, it will always show a Down status immediately, so no "wait" option will apply.
 

If a channel uses lookup values, it will always show a Down status immediately, so no "wait" options will apply.

Inheritance for schedules, dependencies, and maintenance windows cannot be interrupted. The corresponding settings from the parent objects will always be active. However, you can define additional settings here. They will be active at the same time as the parent objects' settings.

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.

Schedules are generally inherited. New schedules will be added to existing ones, so all schedules are active at the same time.

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:

• Not set (monitor continuously): No maintenance window will be set and monitoring will always be active.
• Set up a one-time maintenance window: Pause monitoring within a maintenance window. You can define a time span for a monitoring pause below and change it even for a currently running maintenance window.

To terminate a current maintenance window before the defined end date, change the time entry in Maintenance Ends field to a date in the past.

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:

• Use parent: Pause the current sensor if the device, where it is created on, is in Down status, or is paused by another dependency.
• Select object: Pause the current sensor if the device, where it is created on, is in Down status, or is paused by another dependency. Additionally, pause the current sensor if a specific other object in the device tree is in Down status, or is paused by another dependency. Select below.
• Master object for parent: Make this sensor the master object for its parent device. The sensor will influence the behavior of the device, where it is created on: If the sensor is in Down status, the device will be paused. For example, it is a good idea to make a Ping sensor the master object for its parent device to pause monitoring for all other sensors on the device in case the device cannot even be pinged. Additionally, the sensor will be paused if the parent group of its parent device is in Down status, or if it is paused by another dependency.

Testing your dependencies is easy! Simply choose Simulate Error Status from the context menu of an object that other objects depend on. A few seconds later all dependent objects should be paused. You can check all dependencies in your PRTG installation by selecting Devices | Dependencies from the main menu bar.

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.

This setting is not available if you choose this sensor to Use parent or to be the Master object for parent. In this case, please define delays in the parent Device Settings or in the superior Group Settings.

Click to disrupt the inheritance. See section Inheritance of Settings for more information.

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:

• Inherited: Use the access rights settings of the parent object.
• None: Users in this group cannot see or edit the object. The object neither shows up in lists nor in the device tree. Exception: If a child object is visible to the user, the object is visible in the device tree, though not accessible.
• Read: Users in this group can see the object and review its monitoring results.
• Write: Users in this group can see the object, review its monitoring results, and edit the object's settings. They cannot edit access rights settings.
• Full: Users in this group can see the object, review its monitoring results, edit the object's settings, and edit access rights settings.

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.

For more details on access rights, see the section User Access Rights.