PRTG Manual: SNMP Cisco ASA VPN Users 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.

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.

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

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).

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.

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

Graph Type

Define how different channels are shown for this sensor:

• Show channels independently (default): Show a 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 generates a 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 Channel Settings settings).

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.

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

SNMP Version

Select the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) version for the device connection:

• v1: Use the simple v1 protocol for SNMP connections. This protocol only offers clear-text data transmission, but it is usually supported by all devices.
  SNMP v1 does not support 64-bit counters. This may result in invalid data when monitoring traffic via SNMP.
• v2c (recommended): Use the more advanced v2c protocol for SNMP connections. This is the most common SNMP version. Data is still transferred as clear text, but SNMP v2c supports 64-bit counters.
• v3: Use the v3 protocol for SNMP connections. It provides secure authentication and data encryption.

When using SNMP v3, you can only monitor a limited number of sensors per second because of internal limitations. The limit is somewhere between 1 and 50 sensors per second (depending on the SNMP latency of your network). This means that using an interval of 60 seconds limits you to between 60 and 3000 SNMP v3 sensors for each probe. If you experience an increased Interval Delay or Open Requests with the Probe Health sensor, distribute the load over multiple probes. SNMP v1 and v2 do not have this limitation.

Community String

This setting is only visible if you select SNMP version v1 or v2c above. Enter the community string of your devices. This is a kind of "clear-text password" for simple authentication. We recommend that you use the default value.

Authentication Type

This setting is only visible if you select SNMP version v3 above. Select the authentication type:

• MD5: Use message-digest algorithm 5 (MD5) for authentication.
• SHA: Use Secure Hash Algorithm (SHA) for authentication.

If you do not want to use authentication, but you need SNMP v3, for example, because your device requires context, you can leave the field Password empty. In this case, SNMP_SEC_LEVEL_NOAUTH is used and authentication is entirely deactivated.

The type you select must match the authentication type of your device.

User

This setting is only visible if you select SNMP version v3 above. Enter a username for secure authentication. This value must match the username of your device.

Password

This setting is only visible if you select SNMP version v3 above. Enter a password for secure authentication. This value must match the password of your device.

Encryption Type

This setting is only visible if you select SNMP version v3 above. Select an encryption type:

• DES: Use Data Encryption Standard (DES) as encryption algorithm.
• AES: Use Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) as encryption algorithm.

AES-192 and AES-256 are not supported by Net-SNMP. They lack RFC specification.

The type that you select must match the encryption type of your device.

Data Encryption Key

This setting is only visible if you select SNMP version v3 above. Enter an encryption key. If you provide a key, SNMP data packets are encrypted using the encryption algorithm selected above, which provides increased security. The key must match the encryption key of your device. Enter a string or leave the field empty.

If the key does not match the key configured on the target SNMP device, you do not get an error message.

Context Name

This setting is only visible if you select SNMP version v3 above. Enter a context name only if it is required by the configuration of the device. Context is a collection of management information accessible by an SNMP device. Enter a string.

SNMP Port

Enter the port for the SNMP communication. We recommend that you use the default value.

SNMP Timeout (Sec.)

Enter a timeout in seconds for the request. Enter an integer value. If the reply takes longer than the value you enter here, the request is canceled and an error message is triggered. The maximum timeout value is 300 seconds (5 minutes).

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

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:

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

Sensors that monitor via Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) always wait at least one scanning interval before they show a Down status. It is not possible to immediately set a WMI sensor to a Down status, so the first option does not apply to these sensors. All other options can apply.

If you define error limits for a sensor's channels, the sensor immediately shows a Down status. No "wait" option applies.

If a channel uses lookup values, the sensor immediately shows a Down status. No "wait" options apply.

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 settings here. They are 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 or hours) every week.

You can create schedules, edit schedules, or pause monitoring for a specific time span. For more information, see section Account Settings—Schedules.

Schedules are generally inherited. New schedules are added to existing schedules, 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, the current object and all child objects are not monitored. They are in a Paused status instead. Choose between:

• Not set (monitor continuously): No maintenance window is set and monitoring is always 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 to a date in the past.

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:

• Use parent: Use the dependency type of the parent object.
• Select a sensor: Use the dependency type of the parent object. Additionally, pause the current object if another specific sensor is in a Down status or in a Paused status caused by another dependency.

• Master sensor for parent: Make this sensor the master object for its parent device. The sensor influences the behavior of its parent device: If the sensor is in a Down status, the device is 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 is paused if the parent group is paused by another dependency.

To test your dependencies, select Simulate Error Status from the context menu of an object that other objects depend on. A few seconds later, all dependent objects are paused. You can check all dependencies under Devices | Dependencies in the main menu bar.

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.

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

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

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:

• 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 but it cannot be accessed.
• 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 its settings. They cannot edit access rights settings.
• Full: Users in this group can see the object, review its monitoring results, edit its 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 section User Access Rights.