PRTG Manual: User Accounts

On the User Accounts tab, administrators can add new user accounts, edit user accounts, and define which user groups that users are members of.

i_round_blueThis documentation refers to an administrator that accesses the PRTG web interface on a master node. Other user accounts, interfaces, or failover nodes might not have all of the options in the way described here. In a cluster, note that failover nodes are read-only by default.

i_podIf 15 minutes (900) seconds have passed since your last credential-based login and you open a setup page from a different setup page, PRTG asks you to enter your credentials again for security reasons. A dialog box appears. Enter your Login Name and Password and click OK to continue.

In this section:

User Accounts Overview

The User Accounts tab shows a list of all user accounts in this PRTG installation and various types of information about each user.

Column Header

Description

Object

Shows the name of the user account. Click the user account to open its settings.

Type

Shows the user type, for example, read-only user.

Email

Shows the primary email address of the user account.

Primary Group

Shows the primary group of the user account. Click the user group name to open its settings.

Group Memberships

Shows all user groups that the user account belongs to.

Active/Paused

Shows the status of the user account. This can be active or paused.

i_square_cyanFor more information, see also section Working with Table Lists.

Add User Accounts

You have several options to add user accounts:

  • i_prtgTo add a new user to PRTG Network Monitor, hover over b_add and select Add User from the menu. The options are almost the same as for editing users.
  • i_podTo add a new user to PRTG Hosted Monitor, click Invite User. The options are almost the same as for editing users but PRTG Hosted Monitor automatically generates the initial account password. The new user can change it later. Click Send Invite to save your settings and to send the invitation per email to the defined primary email address.
  • To batch-add several users at once, hover over b_add and select Add Multiple Users from the menu. In the dialog box that appears, select a user group from the dropdown menu and enter or paste a list of email addresses. Separate them by a space, comma, semicolon, or a new line. Click OK to confirm. For each email address, PRTG creates a new, local user account in the user group, using the email address as the value for Login Name, Display Name, and Primary Email Address. PRTG automatically generates a new password and sends it to the email address.

i_round_blueAccess rights to device tree objects, libraries, maps, reports, or the ticket system are defined in user groups. Make sure that the user is a member of the correct user group with the required group access rights.

i_round_blueYou cannot delete predefined objects such as the PRTG System Administrator user account, the PRTG Users Group, or the PRTG Administrators group.

User Account Settings

User Account Settings

User Account Settings

Setting

Description

Login Name

Enter a login name for the user account.

i_round_redThe login name must not contain the following invalid characters: " / \ [ ] : ; | = , + * ? < >

i_podThis option is not available in PRTG Hosted Monitor.

Display Name

Enter a display name that the user recognizes. PRTG uses it for display purposes only, for example on the Welcome page.

i_round_blueIf 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?

Primary Email Address

Enter the primary email address. This is the email address that PRTG uses by default for the ticket system, including important system messages, and password recovery.

i_round_redMake sure that your email client can show HTML emails, otherwise you cannot read emails from PRTG.

Password

Define whether to change the password for the user account:

  • Do not change the password
  • Specify a new password

i_round_blueFor security reasons, PRTG does not display the password.

If you specify a new password, enter the old password, then enter the new password twice.

i_round_blueThe new password must be at least 8 characters long. It must contain a number and a capital letter.

i_round_redDo not use leading or trailing whitespaces in the new password.

i_podThis option is not available in PRTG Hosted Monitor.

Passhash

Click Show passhash to display the passhash for the user account. This is necessary for authentication for the PRTG API.

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

i_podThis option is not available in PRTG Hosted Monitor.

API Access

i_podThese settings are only available in PRTG Hosted Monitor.

API Access

API Access

Setting

Description

API User Name

Shows the API user name of the user account. This is necessary for authentication for the PRTG API.

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

API Passhash

Click Show passhash to display the API passhash of the user account. This is recommended for authentication for the PRTG API.

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

Generate API Passhash

Click Generate new passhash to reset the passhash of the user.

Account Settings

Account Settings

Account Settings

Setting

Description

User Type

Define the user type:

  • Read/write user: Can only view monitoring results, libraries, maps, reports, and also edit the according settings. In addition, they can add and delete objects, libraries, maps, and reports. The user can acknowledge alarms, edit notification templates, notification contacts, and schedules.
  • Read-only user: Can only view monitoring results, libraries, maps, reports, and the according settings. The user can acknowledge alarms and change their own password if allowed. This is a good choice for public or semi-public logins.

i_round_blueRead-only users cannot be members of groups with administrative rights.

i_round_blueThis setting is not available for the PRTG System Administrator user account.

Acknowledge Alarms

This setting is only visible if you select Read-only user above. Acknowledging an alarm is an action that requires write access. However, you can explicitly allow a read-only user to acknowledge alarms. Choose between:

  • Allow user to acknowledge alarms: Allow the read-only user to acknowledge alarms.
  • Do not allow user to acknowledge alarms (default): Do not allow the read-only user to acknowledge alarms.

Password Change

This setting is only visible if you select Read-only user above. Define if the user can change their account password or not. If you allow the user to change their account password, this option is available in the My Account settings of the user. Choose between:

  • Allow user to change the account password: Allow the read-only user to change their password.
  • Do not allow user to change the account password (default): Do not allow the read-only user to change their password.

Primary Group

Select the primary group for the user account from the dropdown menu.

i_round_blueEvery user account must be a member of a primary group to make sure there is no user account without group membership. Membership in other user groups is optional.

i_round_blueYou cannot change the primary group of Active Directory users. Users that you add via Active Directory integration can only have the respective Active Directory group as their primary group.

Select Create new user group for this user to create a user group for the new user. This option is only visible when you add a new user account. The default name of the new user group is the Display Name of the new user.

Status

Define the status of the user:

  • Active: Can log in to the PRTG web interface.
  • Paused: Cannot log in to the PRTG web interface. Use this option to temporarily deny access for this user.

i_round_blueThis setting is not available for the PRTG System Administrator user account.

Last Login

Shows the time stamp of the last login of the user account.

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

Group Membership

Group Membership

Group Membership

Setting

Description

Member of

Shows the user groups that the user account is a member of. You can define access rights to device tree objects, libraries, maps, reports and the ticket system at group level.

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

PRTG Web Interface

PRTG Web Interface

PRTG Web Interface

Setting

Description

Automatic Refresh

Define if you want PRTG to automatically reload web pages in the PRTG web interface for the user:

  • Automatically refresh pages (recommended): PRTG automatically refreshes single page elements on web pages in the PRTG web interface.
  • Do not automatically refresh pages: PRTG does not automatically refresh single page elements on web pages in the PRTG web interface.

Refresh Interval (Sec.)

This setting is only visible if you select Automatically refresh pages (recommended) above. Enter the number of seconds that PRTG waits between two refreshes. We recommend that you use 30 seconds or more. The minimum value is 20 seconds.

i_round_blueShorter refresh intervals create more CPU load on the probe system. If you experience load issues while using the PRTG web interface (or maps), set a longer refresh interval.

Audible Alarms

Define whether PRTG plays an audible alarm on web pages in the PRTG web interface when there is a new alarm:

  • Do not play audible alarms: PRTG does not play sound files on any web pages.
  • Play audible alarms on dashboard pages only: When there is a new alarm, PRTG plays a predefined sound on dashboard pages only. The sound is played with every refresh of the dashboard page if there is at least one new alarm.
  • Play audible alarms on all pages: When there is a new alarm, PRTG plays a predefined sound on all web pages. PRTG plays the sound with every page refresh if there is at least one new alarm.

i_round_bluePRTG only plays audible alarms if the New Alarms value in the global header area of the PRTG web interface is greater than 0 after a page refresh. PRTG does not consider the number of old alarms.

i_square_cyanFor more information, see the Knowledge Base: Which audible notifications are available in the PRTG web interface and in PRTG Desktop? and Why are audible alerts in public maps not working in Chrome?.

Home Page URL

Define the user's default home page in the PRTG web interface. This is the page that the user sees after logging in or when selecting Home from the main menu. Enter a PRTG-internal web page.

Time Zone

Define the time zone for the user account. Depending on the time zone that you select, PRTG shows the local time zone of the user account in all data tables and graph legends.

i_round_bluePRTG receives the Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) from the system time of the PRTG core server for this purpose.

i_square_cyanIf you get a warning message about differing time zones, see the Knowledge Base: Why do I get a warning message when time zones differ?.

Date Format

Select the date format for the user:

  • Use System Settings: Use the date format of the PRTG core server system.
  • DD.MM.YYYY HH:MM:SS (24h)
  • DD.MM.YYYY HH:MM:SS (A.M./P.M.)
  • MM/DD/YYYY HH:MM:SS (24h)
  • MM/DD/YYYY HH:MM:SS (A.M./P.M.)
  • YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS (24h)
  • YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS (A.M./P.M.)

i_round_blueThis setting takes effect after the next login.

Color Mode

Select a color mode for the PRTG web interface:

  • Light
  • Dark

Ticket System

Ticket System

Ticket System

Setting

Description

Email Notifications

Define if the user receives emails from the ticket system:

  • Receive an email when a ticket changes: The user receives an email each time a ticket is assigned to the user or to the user group they are a member of, or if a ticket is changed.
    i_round_blueIf the user edits tickets that are assigned to them or the user group they are a member of, or if they assign a ticket to themselves or their user group, they do not get an email.
  • Do not receive any emails from the ticket system: The user does not receive any emails from the ticket system.

i_round_redSave your settings. If you leave the page, all changes to the settings are lost.

More

i_square_blueKNOWLEDGE BASE

What security features does PRTG include?

Which audible notifications are available in the PRTG web interface and in PRTG Desktop?

Why are audible alerts in public maps not working in Chrome?

Why do I get a warning message when time zones differ?

Setup

Others

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