PRTG Manual: SSL Security Check Sensor
The SSL Security Check sensor monitors Secure Sockets Layer (SSL)/Transport Layer Security (TLS) connectivity to the port of a device. It tries to connect to the specified TCP/IP port number of a device with different SSL/TLS versions and shows if a particular protocol is supported.
The sensor checks connectivity with the following protocols in particular channels. Possible values are Accepted (the sensor can connect with this protocol) or Denied (the sensor cannot connect with this protocol):
- SSLv3: weak security (Warning status if accepted, Up status if denied)
- TLS 1.0: weak security Warning status if accepted, Up status if denied)
- TLS 1.1: strong security (Up status if accepted, otherwise Unknown status)
- TLS 1.2: perfect security (Up status if accepted, otherwise Unknown status)
The default primary channel Security Rating shows the security of the connection to the defined port with one of the following states:
- Down status: No secure protocol is available. The sensor cannot connect with one of the specified protocols.
- Warning status (weak): The sensor can connect with at least one of the weak protocols SSLv3 or TLS 1.0.
- Up status (strong): The sensor can only connect with a strong protocol (TLS 1.1, TLS 1.2). Connecting with a weak protocol is not possible.
- Dutch: SSL Security Check
- French: Vérification de sécurité SSL
- German: SSL-Sicherheitsüberprüfung
- Japanese: SSL セキュリティーチェック
- Portuguese: Verificação de segurança SSL
- Russian: Проверка безопасности SSL
- Simplified Chinese: SSL 安全检查
- Spanish: Comprobación de seguridad SSL
- This sensor only checks accepted protocols, it does not consider the used ciphers.
- This sensor supports the IPv6 protocol.
- This sensor has a very low performance impact.
- This sensor uses lookups to determine the status values of one or more channels. This means that possible states are defined in a lookup file. You can change the behavior of a channel by editing the lookup file that the channel uses. For details, see section Define Lookups.
- See the Knowledge Base: How do you determine the protocol security ratings of the SSL Security Check sensor?
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 |
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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 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 ( |
Setting |
Description |
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Timeout (Sec.) |
Enter a timeout in seconds for the request. If the reply takes longer than this value, the sensor cancels the request and shows a corresponding error message. Enter an integer value. The maximum value is 900 seconds (15 minutes). |
Port |
Enter the number of the port to which this sensor connects. Enter an integer value. The default port is 443. |
Virtual Host (SNI Domain) |
Enter the host name that the sensor queries. The sensor uses this host for connection if the target server has multiple certificates on the same IP address and IP port when using Server Name Identification (SNI). |
Setting |
Description |
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Use SOCKS Proxy (v5 only) |
Define if you want to use a SOCKS proxy server for the sensor connection:
|
SOCKS Proxy Server |
This setting is only visible if you enable Use SOCKS proxy above. Enter the IP address or host name of the SOCKS5 proxy server that the sensor uses for connection. |
SOCKS Proxy Server Port |
This setting is only visible if you enable Use SOCKS proxy above. Enter the port number of the SOCKS5 proxy server that the sensor uses for connection. |
SOCKS Proxy Server User |
This setting is only visible if you enable Use SOCKS proxy above. If the SOCKS5 proxy server requires authentication, enter a username. |
SOCKS Proxy Server Password |
This setting is only visible if you enable Use SOCKS proxy above. If the SOCKS5 proxy server requires authentication, enter the password for the user you specified above. |
Setting |
Description |
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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 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. |
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 |
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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 |
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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 |
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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:
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KNOWLEDGE BASE
How do you determine the protocol security ratings of the SSL Security Check sensor?
For more information about sensor settings, see the following sections: