PRTG Manual: Windows Updates Status (PowerShell) Sensor
The Windows Updates Status (PowerShell) sensor monitors the status of Windows updates on a computer and counts the available and installed Windows updates—either from Microsoft or from the local Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) server.
It can show the following:
- Elapsed time since the last update
- Installed Windows updates
- Missing Windows updates
- Hidden updates
- All updates are listed with their severity.
The sensor will always create the channel Time since last update. All other channels are optional and only show up if the sensor can retrieve according data, which usually is not the case if the target device runs on Windows 10 or Windows Server 2016.
You can find the considered updates in Server Manager (WSUS) under Roles | Windows Server Update Services | Update Services | Computers | Reports.
Dutch: Windows Updates Status (PowerShell), French: Statut de mises à jour Windows (PowerShell), German: Windows Updates Status (PowerShell), Japanese: Windows アップデートステータス(PowerShell), Portuguese: Windows Status de atualizações (PowerShell), Russian: Статус обновления Windows (PowerShell), Simplified Chinese: Windows 更新状态 (PowerShell), Spanish: Estados de actualizaciones de Windows (PowerShell)
- Requires .NET 4.7.2 or higher to be installed on the probe system.
- Requires Remote PowerShell to be enabled on the target system and PowerShell 3.0 on both the probe system and the target system.
- Requires credentials for Windows systems to be defined for the device you want to use the sensor on.
- The minimum scanning interval for this sensor is 1 hour. It also might take some time to receive data for the first time after starting the sensor.
- Knowledge Base: PowerShell Sensors: FAQ
- If the sensor cannot determine the "Time since last update" (for example, because the list of updates is empty), it will show the value -1s and turn into a Warning status.
- We recommend that you set the scanning interval of this sensor to at least 12 hours to limit the load on the server being monitored.
- In certain cases, it might take some time until the sensor receives data for the first time.
- This sensor type can have a high impact on the performance of your monitoring system. Please use it with care! We recommend that you use no more than 50 sensors of this sensor type on each probe.
You cannot add this sensor type to the Hosted Probe of a PRTG hosted by Paessler instance. If you want to use this sensor type, please add it to a remote probe device.
This sensor type requires the Microsoft .NET Framework version 4.7.2 or later to be installed on the computer running the PRTG probe, either on the local system (on every node, if on a cluster probe), or on the system running the remote probe. If the framework is missing, you cannot create this sensor.
For more information, see the Knowledge Base: Which .NET version does PRTG require?
Requirement: Remote PowerShell
The Windows Updates Status (PowerShell) sensor uses PowerShell commands. To monitor devices with this sensor, Remote PowerShell access has to be enabled on the target computer. Also ensure that you have installed PowerShell 3.0 or later on both your probe machine and target system.
If you receive an error message regarding issues with the WinRM connection, make sure remote commands have been enabled in PowerShell. For more details, see this Knowledge Base article: How do I enable and use remote commands in Windows PowerShell?
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 will not see all setting fields in this dialog. You can change (nearly) all settings in the sensor's Settings tab later.
On the details page of a sensor, click the Settings tab to change its settings.
Usually, a sensor connects to the IP Address or DNS Name of the parent device where you created this sensor. See the Device Settings for details. For some sensor types, you can define the monitoring target explicitly in the sensor settings. See below for details on available settings.
Basic Sensor Settings |
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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 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, separated by spaces or commas. You can use tags to group sensors and use tag–filtered views later on. Tags are not case sensitive. We recommend that you use the default value. You can add additional tags to the sensor if you like. Other tags are automatically inherited from objects further up in the device tree. These are visible above as Parent Tags.
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Priority |
Select a priority for the sensor. This setting determines where the sensor is placed in sensor lists. Top priority is at the top of a list. Choose from one star (low priority) to five stars (top priority). |
Sensor Specific |
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Port |
Enter the number of the port to which this sensor connects. Please enter an integer value. The default port is 5985. |
Debug Options |
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Sensor Result |
Define what PRTG will do with the sensor results. Choose between:
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Sensor Display |
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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 will always be displayed below the sensor's name. The available options depend on what channels are available for this sensor.
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Graph Type |
Define how different channels will be shown for this sensor.
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Stack Unit |
This setting is only available if stacked graphs are selected above. Choose a unit from the list. All channels with this unit will be 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 following settings are inherited from objects higher in the hierarchy and should be changed there, if necessary. Often, best practice is to change them centrally in the Root group's settings, see section Inheritance of Settings for more information. To change a setting only for this object, disable inheritance by clicking the button next to inherit from under the corresponding setting name. You will then see the options described below.
Scanning Interval |
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Click |
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Scanning Interval |
Select a scanning interval (seconds, minutes, or hours) from the list. The scanning interval determines the time 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 a sensor has time to reach and check a device again in case a sensor query fails. The sensor can try to re-reach and check a device several times, depending on the option you select here, before it will be set to a Down status. This helps you avoid false alarms if the monitored device has only temporary issues. For previous scanning intervals with failed requests, the sensor will show a Warning status. Choose between:
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This sensor type has a fixed minimum scanning interval for performance reasons. You cannot run the sensor in shorter intervals than this minimum interval. Consequently, shorter scanning intervals as defined in System Administration—Monitoring are not available for this sensor.
Schedules, Dependencies, and Maintenance Window |
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Schedule |
Select a schedule from the list. Schedules can be used to monitor for a certain time span (days, hours) every week. With the period list option it is also possible to pause monitoring for a specific time span. You can create new schedules and edit existing ones in the account settings.
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Maintenance Window |
Specify if you want to set up a one-time maintenance window. During a "maintenance window" period, this object and all child objects will not be monitored. They will be in a Paused status instead. Choose between:
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Maintenance Begins |
This field is only visible if you enabled the 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 enabled the 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. Dependencies can be used to pause monitoring for an object depending on the status of another. You can choose between:
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Dependency |
This field is only visible if the Select object option is enabled above. Click on the reading-glasses and use the object selector to choose an object on which the current sensor will depend. |
Dependency Delay (Sec.) |
Define a time span in seconds for a dependency delay. After the master object for this dependency goes back to Up status, PRTG will start monitoring the depending objects after this extra delayed. This can help to avoid false alarms, for example, after a server restart, by giving systems more time for all services to start up. Please enter an integer value.
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Access Rights |
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Click |
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User Group Access |
Define which user group(s) will have access to the object you're editing. A table with user groups and types of access rights is shown. It contains all user groups from your setup. For each user group, you can choose from the following access rights:
You can create new user groups in the System Administration—User Groups settings. To automatically set all objects further down in the hierarchy to inherit this object's access rights, set a check mark for the Revert children's access rights to inherited option.
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Knowledge Base: Facing issues with the Windows Update Status Sensor—Can you help me?
Knowledge Base: How do I enable and use remote commands in Windows PowerShell?
Knowledge Base: My PowerShell sensor returns an error message. What can I do?
Knowledge Base: "No Logon Servers Available" when Using PowerShell Sensors
Knowledge Base: How can I increase memory for Remote PowerShell?
Knowledge Base: Which .NET version does PRTG require?
To change display settings, spike filter, and limits, switch to the sensor's Overview tab and click the gear icon of a specific channel. For detailed information, see the Sensor Channel Settings section.
Click the Notification Triggers tab to change notification triggers. For detailed information, see the Sensor Notification Triggers Settings section.
For more general information about settings, see the Object Settings section.
For information about sensor settings, see the following sections: