PRTG Manual: User Interface

Site Name

In the PRTG web interface, you can see the site name on the Login screen and in the title bar of the browser window. PRTG also uses the site name in notification emails by default. Enter a string.

If the name contains angle brackets (<>), PRTG replaces them with braces ({}) for security reasons. For more information, see the Knowledge Base: What security features does PRTG include?

DNS Name

Enter a Domain Name System (DNS) name if the PRTG web interface is also reachable via the DNS name. PRTG also uses the DNS name in notification emails to generate links by default. Enter a string.

Do not use the special characters " and \ in the DNS name.

In a cluster, only the master node uses the DNS name that you enter. You cannot enter a DNS name for a failover node.

This option is not available in PRTG Hosted Monitor.

Language

Select the language. The default language is English.

This setting defines the language of the PRTG web interface and the PRTG Administration Tool.

List of available languages:

▪Deutsch (German)

▪English

▪Español (Spanish)

▪Français (French)

▪Nederlands (Dutch)

▪Português (Portuguese)

▪Pyсский (Russian)

▪日本語 (Japanese)

▪简体中文 (Simplified Chinese)

If you change this setting, PRTG needs to restart the PRTG core server to apply your changes. After you click Save, a dialog box appears that asks you to confirm the restart. Click OK to trigger the restart. During the restart, all 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 PRTG displays graphs in the PRTG web interface and in reports:

▪Display area graphs (recommended): Display series of data points connected by straight lines. Areas between axis and lines are shaded.

▪Display line graphs: Display series of data points connected by straight lines.

We recommend that you use area charts for better visibility.

PRTG automatically displays graphs that contain data from more than one cluster node as line graphs.

Automatic Logout

Define if PRTG automatically logs inactive users out of the PRTG web interface:

▪Do not log out users after a period of inactivity: Do not log out users even if they are inactive for a longer period of time.

▪Log out users after a period of inactivity: Log out users if they are inactive for a certain period of time for security reasons.

Period of Inactivity

This setting is only visible if you select Log out users after a period of inactivity above. Specify the period of inactivity in minutes after which PRTG automatically logs out users. Enter an integer.

PRTG redirects users to the Login screen after this period of inactivity.

If the value you enter is greater than 1 minute, a logout countdown appears 1 minute before PRTG logs out users. If the value is 1 minute, users see the logout countdown 30 seconds before PRTG logs them out. Click in the browser window to stop the countdown and to stay logged in to the PRTG web interface.

Logout Countdown

Google Analytics Tracking ID

Enter your Google Analytics Tracking ID to track the usage of pages in the PRTG web interface with Google Analytics. Enter a string or leave the field empty. The string looks like this UA-xxxxxx-xx, for example.

You need a Google Analytics account for this feature. Create a tracking ID within the Google Analytics portal and enter it here. PRTG then dynamically integrates it into the PRTG web interface.

For more information, see the Knowledge Base: How can I integrate Google Analytics into PRTG?

This option is not available in PRTG Hosted Monitor.

Service Provider

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

▪Disable Geo Maps integration: Disable the Geo Maps feature and do not show geographical maps in the PRTG web interface.

▪Default (recommended): Use the default option HERE Maps to show geographical maps.

▪HERE Maps: Use HERE Maps to show geographical maps.

▪Google Maps (API key required): Use Google Maps to show geographical maps. Sign up for a Google Maps API key to use this service.

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

The options that are available depend on the map provider that you select above. Default (recommended), HERE Maps, and Google Maps (API key required) all have the following options:

▪Standard: Show geographical maps in a standard map view.

▪Satellite: Show geographical maps in a satellite view.

In addition to these options, Google Maps (API key required) also has the following options:

▪Terrain: Show geographical maps in a terrain view.

▪Hybrid (satellite and standard map): Show geographical maps in a hybrid view.

Google Maps Static API Key

This setting is only visible if you select Google Maps (API key required) above. Enter your Google Maps Static API key.

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 Handling

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

▪Do not limit features or delay display (recommended): Provide full functionality and show all menu items and live data.
We recommend that you use this option.

▪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 PRTG Web Server

The PRTG web server provides access via the PRTG web interface and PRTG Desktop. Specify on which IP address the PRTG web server runs. Later, you can log in to the PRTG web interface in your browser via this 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 must 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 PRTG web server. This may considerably slow down the PRTG web interface. Use your local IP address or http://127.0.0.1 instead.

▪All IP addresses available on the PRTG core server system (recommended): Use all IP addresses that are available on the PRTG core server system and enable access to the PRTG web server for all of these IP addresses.
The selected Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) port for the PRTG web server must be available on all selected IP addresses.

▪Specify IP addresses: Select specific IP addresses on which the PRTG web server runs. The list is specific to your setup. Enable check boxes in front of every IP address that you want the PRTG web server to be available at. You can also select all IP addresses by clicking the Select all IP addresses button or deselect all addresses by clicking the Deselect all IP addresses button.
Either the selected port or at least one port in the range from 8080 to 8089 must be available on the specified IP address.

Regardless of the setting that you select, one port in the range from 8080 to 8180 must be available on the specified IP address so that 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 this setting to Localhost, 127.0.0.1 (PRTG is not accessible from other computers). This setting remains even if a network card is available later on. If you disable or remove the network card on the PRTG core server system, check this setting.

If you change this setting, PRTG needs to restart the PRTG core server to apply your changes. After you click Save, a dialog box appears that asks you to confirm the restart. Click OK to trigger the restart. During the restart, all 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 Monitor.

TCP Port for PRTG Web Server

Specify how the PRTG web server accepts incoming web page requests:

▪Secure HTTPS server (port 443, recommended, mandatory for internet access): Use a Secure Sockets Layer (SSL)/Transport Layer Security (TLS) secured HTTPS connection on port 443.
This setting is required if you want to access the PRTG web interface via the internet.
 
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. For more information, see Knowledge Base: Why does my browser show an SSL certificate warning when I open the PRTG web interface?. You can install a different SSL certificate for PRTG. For more information, see section Using Your Own SSL Certificate with the PRTG Web Server.
 
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 via 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.

▪Unsecure HTTP server (default port 80, not recommended): Use the PRTG web server without SSL/TLS on port 80.
This setting is not recommended for WAN connections.
 
If you use the PRTG web server via the internet without connection security, attackers could potentially spy on credentials that you enter in PRTG. We strongly recommend that you use this option only in a LAN.

▪Custom configuration: Specify a custom port for the PRTG web server and the security of the connection. This option is intended for systems that already have a 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 (port 443 for secure connections) by default and blocks it. We recommend that you 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 you click Save, a dialog box appears that asks you to confirm the restart. Click OK to trigger the restart. During the restart, all 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 Monitor.

PRTG Web Server Port

This setting is only visible if you select Custom configuration above. Enter the TCP port number (between 1 and 65535) that you want the PRTG web server to run on. Enter an integer.

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

If the port that you define for secure connections 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 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 you click Save, a dialog box appears that asks you to confirm the restart. Click OK to trigger the restart. During the restart, all 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 Monitor.

PRTG Web Server Security

This setting is only visible if you select Custom configuration above. Specify if you want to use connection security:

▪Use HTTPS (secured with SSL/TLS): Use an SSL/TLS secured HTTPS connection on the port that you define as PRTG Web Server Port.
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 later. For more information, see Using Your Own SSL Certificate with the PRTG Web Server.

▪Do not use connection security (not recommended): Use the PRTG web server without SSL/TLS on the port that you define as PRTG Web Server Port.
We recommend that you do not use this setting for WAN connections.
 
If you use the PRTG web server without connection security on the internet, attackers could potentially spy on credentials that you enter in PRTG. We strongly recommend that you use this setting in a LAN only.

If you change this setting, PRTG needs to restart the PRTG core server to apply your changes. After you click Save, a dialog box appears that asks you to confirm the restart. Click OK to trigger the restart. During the restart, all 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 Monitor.

Connection Security

Specify the security level to use for connections to and from the PRTG web server:

▪High security (TLS 1.2): Only accept 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): Only accept 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 (SSLv3, TLS 1.0, TLS 1.1, TLS 1.2): If you have clients that do not support High security (TLS 1.2) or Default security (TLS 1.2) (recommended), temporarily use this setting so that they can connect. This setting accepts SSLv3, TLS 1.0, TLS 1.1, and TLS 1.2 connections.
This might be necessary, for example, for older browsers, browsers that run on old network components, or some default browsers on Android systems.
 
We strongly recommend that you update your clients and then use Default security (TLS 1.2) (recommended) or High security (TLS 1.2).

If you set a registry key in previous PRTG versions to override the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL)/Transport Layer Security (TLS) version and cipher suites of PRTG web server connections or probe connections, High security (TLS 1.2) overrides the registry setting and only TLS 1.2 is allowed. If you select Default security (TLS 1.2) (recommended), the registry value overrides this setting and the connection security that you defined in the registry applies.

PRTG displays the SSL/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 you click Save, a dialog box appears that asks you to confirm the restart. Click OK to trigger the restart. During the restart, all 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 Monitor.

Active IP Address/Port Combinations

Shows all active combinations of the IP addresses and ports on which the PRTG web server listens for web requests.

This setting is for your information only. You cannot change it.

PRTG internally uses port 8085 for report generation.

This option is not available in PRTG Hosted Monitor.

Live Graph

The live graph is only available for sensors.

The live graph does not have a fixed time span but you can define how many values to display. The actual time span that the live graph covers depends on the scanning interval of the sensor that you view. PRTG automatically calculates the time span. The default is 120 Values. This results in a graph that covers a time span of two hours if a sensor has a 1-minute scanning interval. Other scanning intervals result in graphs that cover different time spans. Choose from:

▪60 values: Cover a time span of one hour if a sensor has a scanning interval of one minute.

This setting uses the least amount of RAM. We recommend this setting for installations with 10,000 sensors or more.

▪120 values: Cover a time span of two hours if a sensor has a scanning interval of one minute.

▪240 values: Cover a time span of four hours if a sensor has a scanning interval of one minute.

▪480 values: Cover a time span of eight hours if a sensor has a scanning interval of one minute.

▪960 values: Cover a time span of 16 hours if sensor has a scanning interval of one minute.

This setting uses the most amount of RAM.

Graph 1

By default, this is the 2 days graph in the PRTG web interface. You can change it to have more or less detail. PRTG averages the monitoring results of the actual scanning intervals of the sensors. Choose from:

▪1 day with averages of 1 minute: Cover a time span of one day with averages of one minute. This results in 1440 values.

▪1 day with averages of 5 minutes: Cover a time span of one day with averages of five minutes. This results in 288 values.

▪1 day with averages of 15 minutes: Cover a time span of one day with averages of 15 minutes. This results in 96 values.

This setting uses the least amount of RAM. We recommend this setting for installations with 10,000 sensors or more.

▪2 days with averages of 1 minute : Cover a time span of two days with averages of one minute. This results in 2880 values.

This setting uses the most amount of RAM.

▪2 days with averages of 5 minutes: Cover a time span of two days with averages of five minutes. This results in 576 values.

▪2 days with averages of 15 minutes: Cover a time span of two days with averages of 15 minutes. This results in 192 values.

▪4 days with averages of 1 hour: Cover a time span of two days with averages of one hour. This results in 96 values.

This setting uses the least amount of 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 have more or less detail. Choose from:

▪10 days with averages of 1 hour: Cover a time span of 10 days with averages of one hour. This results in 240 values.

▪20 days with averages of 1 hour: Cover a time span of 20 days with averages of one hour. This results in 480 values.

▪30 days with averages of 1 hour: Cover a time span of 30 days with averages of one hour. This results in 720 values.

▪30 days with averages of 6 hours: Cover a time span of 30 days with averages of six hours. This results in 120 values.

This setting uses the least amount of RAM. We recommend this setting for installations with 10,000 sensors or more.

▪40 days with averages of 1 hour: Cover a time span of 40 days with averages of one hour. This results in 960 values.

▪40 days with averages of 6 hours: Cover a time span of 40 days with averages of six hours. This results in 160 values.

▪60 days with averages of 1 hour: Cover a time span of 60 days with averages of one hour. This results in 1440 values.

This setting uses the most amount of RAM.

▪60 days with 6 hour averages of 6 hours: Cover a time span of 60 days with averages of six hours. This 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 averages of 1 day: Cover a time span of 100 days with averages of one day. This results in 100 values.

This setting uses the least amount of RAM. We recommend this setting for installations with 10,000 sensors or more.

▪200 days with averages of 1 day: Cover a time span of 200 days with averages of one day. This results in 200 values.

▪365 days with averages of 1 day: Cover a time span of 365 days with averages of one day. This results in 365 values.

▪400 days with averages of 1 day: Cover a time span of 400 days with averages of one day. This results in 400 values.

▪750 days with averages of 1 day: Cover a time span of 750 days with averages of one day. This results in 750 values.

This setting uses the most amount of RAM.