PRTG Manual: Syslog Receiver 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. 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. You can add additional tags to the sensor.

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

There are default tags that are automatically predefined in a sensor's settings when you add a sensor. See section Default Tags below.

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).

Listen on Port

Enter the number of the port on which the sensor listens for Syslog messages. The default port is 514. Enter an integer value. We recommend that you use the default value.

Purge Messages After

Define how long PRTG stores received Syslog messages for analysis. Select a period of time from the dropdown list.

Include Filter

Define if you want to filter Syslog messages. If you leave this field empty or use the keyword any, the sensor processes all data. To only include specific types of messages, define filters using a special syntax.

For more information, see section Filter Rules.

Exclude Filter

Define which types of Syslog messages the sensor discards and does not process. To exclude specific types of messages, define filters using a special syntax.

For more information, see section Filter Rules.

Warning Filter

Define which types of Syslog messages count for the Warnings channel. To categorize received messages as warning messages, define filters using a special syntax.

For more information, see section Filter Rules.

Messages are collected until a scanning interval ends. As long as the scanning interval is running, no status change happens. By default, the sensor changes to a Warning status after a scanning interval has finished and there has been at least one warning message (and no error message) during this interval. The sensor shows a Warning at least until the succeeding scanning interval has finished. If the sensor does not receive any warning or error message in this scanning interval, its status changes to Up again with the start of the next scanning interval.

Error Filter

Define which types of Syslog messages count for the Errors channel. To categorize received messages as error messages, define filters using a special syntax.

For more information, see section Filter Rules.

Messages are collected until a scanning interval ends. As long as the scanning interval is running, no status change happens. By default, the sensor changes to a Down status after a scanning interval has finished and there has been at least one error message during this interval. The sensor shows a Down status at least until the succeeding scanning interval has finished. If the sensor does not receive any warning or error message in this scanning interval, its status changes to Up again with the start of the next scanning interval.

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 channel 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.

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.

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 schedules that you already set up, 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 selected 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 an active maintenance window.

To terminate an active 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 a different 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 a 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 prevent 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.

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:

• Inherited: Inherit the access rights settings of the parent object.
• No access: Users in this user group cannot see or edit the sensor. The sensor neither shows up in lists nor in the device tree.
• Read access: Users in this group can see the sensor and view its monitoring results. They cannot edit any settings.
• Write access: Users in this group can see the sensor, view its monitoring results, and edit its settings. They cannot edit its access rights settings.
• Full access: Users in this group can see the sensor, view its monitoring results, edit its settings, and edit its access rights settings.

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

Channel Unit Types

For each type of channel, define the unit in which data is displayed. If defined 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):

• Bandwidth
• Memory
• Disk
• File
• Custom

Custom channel types can be set on sensor level only.

Log Data to Disk

Define if the probe writes a logfile of the received data for debugging purposes:

• Off (recommended): Do not write additional logfiles. Recommended for normal use cases.
• On: Write logfiles for all data received to the \Logs\debug subfolder of the PRTG data directory.
  Use with caution. This option can create huge data files. Use for a short time and for debugging purposes only.

source[ip]

Enter an IP address where the messages come from. IP masks and ranges are also possible.

• source[10.0.23.50]
• source[10.0.23.10-50]
• source[10.0.23.10/24]
   

facility[number]

Enter any number or range from 0 to 23 specifying the program type that sends the message.

• facility[2]
• facility[5-7]
• facility[5] OR facility[6]
   

severity[number]

Enter any number or range from 0 (emergency) to 7 (debug) specifying the message type.

• severity[4]
• severity[1-3]
• severity[1] AND severity[2]
   

hostname[text]

Enter any string that specifies the hostname of a device in the message.

• hostname[www.example.com]
   

tag[text]

Enter any string that specifies the tag of a program or process in the message.

• tag[su]
   

appname[text]

Enter any string that specifies the appname part of the message.

• appname[myproc]
• appname[demo] AND msgid[m42]
   

procid[text]

Enter any string that specifies the process identifier part of the message.

• procid[1860]
   

msgid[text]

Enter any string that specifies the message identifier part of the message.

• msgid[ID47]
   

message[parttext]

Enter any string that specifies the message part of the message. (Any substring matches. This value is case insensitive.)

• message[Error]
   

data[id,param,value]

This checks the SD-ID block of the message's structured data for a parameter matching the specified value.

• data[[email protected],eventSource,Application]
   

data[parttext]

This checks if the specified substring matches structured data as displayed in the corresponding table.

• data[[email protected]]
   

data[id,param]

This checks if the parameter exists in the specified ID element.

• data[[email protected],eventSource]