PRTG Manual: System Administration—User Interface

PRTG Site Name

When using the PRTG web interface, the site name is shown in the title bar of your browser window. It is also used in notification emails by default. Enter a string.

DNS Name

If your PRTG web interface is (additionally) reachable via a Domain Name System (DNS) name, enter it here. It is used, for example, by default in notification emails to generate links. Enter a string.

The special characters " and \ are not allowed in the DNS name.

In a cluster, the DNS name you enter here is only used by the master node. You cannot enter a DNS name for a failover node.

This option is not available in PRTG hosted by Paessler.

Website Language

Select the system language. The default is English. Depending on your installation, you may be able to choose other languages here. This setting defines the language of the PRTG web interface and the PRTG Administration Tool.

If you change this setting, PRTG needs to restart the PRTG core server to apply your changes. After clicking Save, a dialog box appears that asks you to confirm the required core server restart. Click OK to trigger the restart. During the restart, all the users of the PRTG web interface, of PRTG Desktop, or of PRTG Apps for Mobile Network Monitoring are disconnected and reconnected.

Graph Type

Select how graphs are displayed throughout the PRTG web interface and in reports.

• Use area graphs (recommended): Display filled graphs.
• Use line graphs: Display graphs using single lines only.

We recommend that you use area charts, as they are better to read.
Graphs containing data from more than one cluster node are automatically displayed with line graphs.

Automatic Logout

Define if a user who is inactive for a certain period of time is automatically logged out of the PRTG web interface for security reasons:

• Keep user logged in, even for a longer period of inactivity
• Log out user automatically after a certain period of inactivity

Automatic Logout after Minutes

This field is only visible if you enable Log out user automatically after a certain period of inactivity above. Specify a period of inactivity in minutes after which a user is automatically logged out.

Enter an integer value. PRTG redirects to the login page once this time has expired.

If the value you enter here is greater than 1 minute, a logout countdown appears 1 minute before you are logged out. If the value is 1 minute, you see the logout countdown 30 seconds before you are logged out. Click in the browser to stop the countdown and stay logged in.

Logout Countdown

Google Analytics Tracking ID

You can track the usage of pages in the PRTG web interface with Google Analytics by entering your Google Universal Analytics Tracking ID into this field. You need a Google Analytics account for this feature. Create a tracking ID within the Google Analytics portal and provide it here. PRTG then dynamically integrates it into the PRTG web interface.

Enter a string or leave the field empty. The string looks like this: UA-xxxxxx-xx

For details, see the Knowledge Base: How can I integrate Google Analytics in PRTG?

This option is not available in PRTG hosted by Paessler.

Map Service Provider

Select if and how you want to integrate the Geo Maps feature into the PRTG web interface. If enabled, PRTG uses the first line of the location setting of an object to show it on a geographical map. Choose a map provider:

• Do not show maps (disables Geo Maps integration): Disable Geo Maps integration and do not show geographical maps in the PRTG web interface.
• Default (recommended): As default option, PRTG currently uses HERE Maps to show geographical maps. See this blog article for details: Geo Maps Requires a Change of Map Service Provider
• HERE Maps: Use HERE Maps to show geographical maps.
• Google Static Maps (API key required): Use Google Static Maps to show geographical maps. Sign up for a Google Maps API v3 key to use this service as of PRTG 13.

For more information about the different map providers, see the Knowledge Base: Which provider should I use for the "Geo Maps" feature of PRTG?

Map Type

This setting is only visible for some map providers. Depending on the chosen provider, several options are shown. Each shows map tiles with a different appearance. Choose a map type from the list.

API Key (required)

This field is only visible if you select a provider that requires an API key above. Obtain your personal key and paste it here.

For more information on how to get a Google API key, see the Knowledge Base: How do I get a Google Maps API key for use in PRTG?

Performance Strategy

Select if you want to enable performance improvements for the PRTG web interface.

• All Features: Show all features and live data (recommended): Provide full functionality and show all menu items.
• More Speed: Limit features and delay display: Improve the reaction time and speed of the PRTG web interface by delaying the display of monitoring data and hiding some features.

For more information on how to speed up the PRTG web interface, see the Knowledge Base: How can I speed up PRTG—especially for large installations?

IP Address for Web Server

PRTG runs a web server to provide access via the PRTG web interface and PRTG Desktop. Specify on which IP address the web server runs. Later, you can log in to PRTG by pointing your browser to the specified IP address.

Choose from:

• Localhost, 127.0.0.1 (PRTG is not accessible from other computers): Use 127.0.0.1 only. The PRTG web interface and PRTG Desktop are only accessible from the PRTG core server system. Either the selected port or at least one port in the range from 8080 to 8089 has to be available on 127.0.0.1.

If you run PRTG on localhost, do not use the DNS name http://localhost to log in to the web server, as this may considerably slow down the PRTG web interface. Use your local IP address or http://127.0.0.1 instead.

• All IPs available on this computer (recommended): Use all IP addresses that are available on this computer and enable access to the web server for all of these IP addresses. The selected Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) port for the web server must be free on every available IP address.
• Specify IPs: Select specific IP addresses on which the PRTG web server runs. The list is specific to your system. Add a check mark in front of every IP address you want the PRTG web server to be available at. You can also select all addresses or cancel the selection by clicking the check box in the table header. Either the selected port or at least one port in the range from 8080 to 8089 has to be available on the specified IP address.

Regardless of the selected setting above, one port in the range from 8080 to 8180 has to be available on the specified IP address so PRTG can create reports. The report engine tries to connect to the PRTG core server on one of these ports.

If PRTG does not find a network card on startup, it switches the IP setting to Localhost. This setting remains even if a network card is available later on. If you disabled or removed the network card on the PRTG core server system, check this setting again.

If you change this setting, PRTG needs to restart the PRTG core server to apply your changes. After clicking Save, a dialog box appears that asks you to confirm the required core server restart. Click OK to trigger the restart. During the restart, all the users of the PRTG web interface, of PRTG Desktop, or of PRTG Apps for Mobile Network Monitoring are disconnected and reconnected.

This option is not available in PRTG hosted by Paessler.

TCP Port for Web Server

PRTG runs a web server to provide access via the PRTG web interface and PRTG Desktop. Specify on which port the web server runs:

• Secure HTTPS server (standard port 443, recommended, mandatory for internet access): We recommend this setting. This setting is required if you want to access the PRTG core server via the internet. Use a secure HTTPS connection that is encrypted via Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) on port 443.
  Although the connection is secure, you see an SSL certificate warning in your browser when you log in to the PRTG web interface because the default certificate is unknown to your browser. You can install a different SSL certificate for PRTG. For more information, see section Using Your Own SSL Certificate.
   
  If port 80 is available, PRTG reserves it as well. If port 80 is not available, PRTG tries port 8080 as fallback. If this port is also not available, PRTG searches from port 8081 upwards for a free port. PRTG sends a ticket that shows you the currently used port number and switches back to port 80 as soon as it is available again. When users try to connect on port 80 via HTTP, they are redirected to port 443 via HTTPS. You can change this behavior by using a registry setting. If port 443 is not available, PRTG tries port 8443 as fallback. If this port is also not available, PRTG searches from port 8444 upwards for a free port. PRTG sends a ticket that shows you the currently used port number and switches back to port 443 as soon as it is available again.
• Insecure HTTP server (standard port 80, not recommended): Use a standard web server without SSL encryption on port 80. This setting is not recommended for WAN connections.
  If you use a web server that is not secure on the internet, attackers could potentially spy on credentials that you enter into PRTG. We strongly recommend that you use this option in a LAN only.
• Expert configuration: Specify a custom web server port and the security of the connection. This option is intended for systems that have an existing web server on the standard port.
  If PRTG always uses a fallback port after a server restart, check for other programs that use the same port as PRTG. For example, the Microsoft Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS) web server also uses port 80 (443 for SSL) by default and blocks it. Please disable such programs and services on startup.

If you change this setting, PRTG needs to restart the PRTG core server to apply your changes. After clicking Save, a dialog box appears that asks you to confirm the required core server restart. Click OK to trigger the restart. During the restart, all the users of the PRTG web interface, of PRTG Desktop, or of PRTG Apps for Mobile Network Monitoring are disconnected and reconnected.

This option is not available in PRTG hosted by Paessler.

Web Server Port

This field is only visible if you select Expert configuration above. Enter the TCP port number that you want the PRTG web server to run on. Enter an integer value.

If you use a secure connection and port 80 is free, PRTG reserves it as well. When users try to connect on port 80 via HTTP, they are redirected to the custom port via HTTPS. You can change this behavior by using a registry setting.

If the defined port for a secure connection is not available, PRTG tries port 8443 as fallback. If this port is also not available, PRTG searches from port 8444 upwards for a free port. PRTG sends a ticket that shows you the currently used port number and switches back to the original port as soon as it is available again.

If you change this setting, PRTG needs to restart the PRTG core server to apply your changes. After clicking Save, a dialog box appears that asks you to confirm the required core server restart. Click OK to trigger the restart. During the restart, all the users of the PRTG web interface, of PRTG Desktop, or of PRTG Apps for Mobile Network Monitoring are disconnected and reconnected.

This option is not available in PRTG hosted by Paessler.

Web Server Security

This field is only visible if you select Expert configuration above. Specify if you want to use a Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) encryption:

• Use SSL encryption (HTTPS): Use a secure HTTPS connection that is encrypted via SSL on a custom port as defined above.
  Although the connection is secure, you see an SSL certificate warning in your browser when you log in to the PRTG web interface, because the default certificate is unknown to your browser. You can install another SSL certificate for PRTG later. For more information, see Using Your Own SSL Certificate.
• Don't use encryption (not recommended): This setting is not recommended for WAN connections. Use a standard web server without SSL encryption on a custom port as defined above.

If you use a web server without encryption on the internet, attackers could potentially spy on credentials you enter into PRTG. We strongly recommend that you use this option in a LAN only.

If you change this setting, PRTG needs to restart the PRTG core server to apply your changes. After clicking Save, a dialog box appears that asks you to confirm the required core server restart. Click OK to trigger the restart. During the restart, all the users of the PRTG web interface, of PRTG Desktop, or of PRTG Apps for Mobile Network Monitoring are disconnected and reconnected.

This option is not available in PRTG hosted by Paessler.

Connection Security

Specify the security level that is used for connections from and to the PRTG web server:

• High security (TLS 1.2): The PRTG web server currently only accepts high security connections from clients like web browsers, apps, PRTG Desktop, or API clients. These clients must support modern forward secrecy cipher suites.
• Default security (TLS 1.2) (recommended): The PRTG web server currently only accepts high security connections from clients like web browsers, apps, PRTG Desktop, or API clients. These clients must support modern forward secrecy cipher suites.
• Weakened security (SSL V3, TLS 1.0, TLS 1.1, TLS 1.2): If you have clients that do not support the high or default security setting, you can choose this security level to connect. This might be necessary, for example, for older browsers, browsers running on old network components, or some default browsers on Android systems. Weakened security accepts SSL V3, TLS 1.0, TLS 1.1, and TLS 1.2 connections.
  We strongly recommend that you update your clients and then use the Default security or High security setting.

If you have set a registry key in previous PRTG versions to override the SSL/TLS version and cipher suites of PRTG web server connections, the High security setting overrides the registry setting and only TLS 1.2 is allowed. If you select the Default security setting, the registry value overrides the default security setting and the connection security defined in the registry applies.

PRTG displays the TLS versions and cipher suites that are used for connections to and from the PRTG web server under Setup | PRTG Status.

If you change this setting, PRTG needs to restart the PRTG core server to apply your changes. After clicking Save, a dialog box appears that asks you to confirm the required core server restart. Click OK to trigger the restart. During the restart, all the users of the PRTG web interface, of PRTG Desktop, or of PRTG Apps for Mobile Network Monitoring are disconnected and reconnected.

This option is not available in PRTG hosted by Paessler.

Currently Active IP Address/Port Combinations

Shows all currently active combinations of IP addresses and ports on which the PRTG web server listens for web requests. This setting is shown for your information only and cannot be changed here.

PRTG internally uses port 8085 for report generation.

This option is not available in PRTG hosted by Paessler.

PRTG shows several graphs on the Overview tab of an object in the PRTG web interface. These are kept in RAM for fast display without causing extra CPU load or disk usage. The longer the time frames and the shorter the intervals are, the more memory is used for this. You can adapt the details for all four graphs. This setting also changes the caption of the objects' tabs in the PRTG web interface and PRTG Desktop.

If you change this setting, PRTG needs to restart the PRTG core server to apply your changes. After clicking Save, a dialog box appears that asks you to confirm the required core server restart. Click OK to trigger the restart. During the restart, all the users of the PRTG web interface, of PRTG Desktop, or of PRTG Apps for Mobile Network Monitoring are disconnected and reconnected.

Live Graph

The live graph is available for sensors only. For the live graph, no fixed time span is specified, but you can define how many values are displayed. The actual time span covered by the live graph depends on the scanning interval set for the sensor you're viewing and is calculated automatically. By default, 120 Values is set. This results in a graph covering a time span of two hours if a 60-second scanning interval is set for the sensor. Other scanning intervals result in graphs covering different time spans. Choose from:

• 60 Values: This corresponds to a live graph that covers a time span of one hour if a 1-minute scanning interval is set. This setting uses least RAM. We recommend this setting for installations with 10,000 sensors or more.
• 120 Values: This corresponds to a live graph that covers a time span of two hours if a 1-minute scanning interval is set.
• 240 Values: This corresponds to a live graph that covers a time span of four hours if a 1-minute scanning interval is set.
• 480 Values: This corresponds to a live graph that covers a time span of eight hours if a 1-minute scanning interval is set.
• 960 Values: This corresponds to a live graph that covers a time span of 16 hours if a 1-minute scanning interval is set. This setting uses most RAM.

Graph 1

By default, this is the 2 days graph in the PRTG web interface. You can change it to more or less detail by choosing a time span and a monitoring interval average associated with it. Monitoring results are averaged regardless of the actual scanning interval set for the sensors. Choose from:

• 1 day with 1 minute averages: Results in 1440 values.
• 1 day with 5 minutes averages: Results in 288 values.
• 1 day with 15 minutes averages: Results in 96 values. This setting uses least RAM. We recommend this setting for installations with 10,000 sensors or more.
• 2 days with 1 minute averages: Results in 2880 values. This setting uses most RAM.
• 2 days with 5 minutes averages: Results in 576 values.
• 2 days with 15 minutes averages: Results in 192 values.
• 4 days with 1 hour averages: Results in 96 values. This setting uses least RAM. We recommend this setting for installations with 10,000 sensors or more.

Graph 2

By default, this is the 30 days graph in the PRTG web interface. You can change it to more or less detail by choosing a time span covered and a monitoring interval average associated with it. Choose from:

• 10 days with 1 hour averages: Results in 240 values.
• 20 days with 1 hour averages: Results in 480 values.
• 30 days with 1 hour averages: Results in 720 values.
• 30 days with 6 hour averages: Results in 120 values. This setting uses least RAM. We recommend this setting for installations with 10,000 sensors or more.
• 40 days with 1 hour averages: Results in 960 values.
• 40 days with 6 hour averages: Results in 160 values.
• 60 days with 1 hour averages: Results in 1440 values. This setting uses most RAM.
• 60 days with 6 hour averages: Results in 240 values.

Graph 3

By default, this is the 365 days graph in the PRTG web interface. You can change it to more or less detail by choosing a time span covered and a monitoring interval average associated with it. Choose from:

• 100 days with 1 day averages: Results in 100 values. This setting uses least RAM. We recommend this setting for installations with 10,000 sensors or more.
• 200 days with 1 day averages: Results in 200 values.
• 365 days with 1 day averages: Results in 365 values.
• 400 days with 1 day averages: Results in 400 values.
• 750 days with 1 day averages: Results in 750 values. This setting uses most RAM.

• Account Settings—My Account
• Account Settings—Notification Templates
• Account Settings—Notification Contacts
• Account Settings—Schedules
• System Administration—User Interface
• System Administration—Monitoring
• System Administration—Notification Delivery
• System Administration—Core & Probes
• System Administration—User Accounts
• System Administration—User Groups
• System Administration—Administrative Tools
• System Administration—Cluster
• PRTG Status—System Status
• PRTG Status—Auto-Update
• PRTG Status—Cluster Status
• PRTG Status—Licensing Status and Settings
• Optional Downloads
• Desktop Notifications
• Support—Help and Support Center
• Support—Contact Support

There are some settings that you must make in the PRTG Administration Tool. For more details, see the sections:

• PRTG Administration Tool on Core Server System
• PRTG Administration Tool on Remote Probe System