PRTG Manual: WMI Custom Sensor

Channel Name

Enter a name for the channel in which PRTG shows the received data. PRTG shows this name in graphs and tables. Enter a string.

You can change the name later in the sensor's channel settings.

WQL File

Select a .wql file. The sensor executes it with every scanning interval.

The list contains WQL scripts that are available in the \Custom Sensors\WMI WQL scripts subfolder of the PRTG program directory on the probe system. Store your script there. If used on a cluster probe, you must store the file on all cluster nodes.

Your query must return an integer or float value. Strings are not supported. Use the WMI Custom String sensor in this case.

Sensor Name

Enter a 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.

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?

Parent Tags

Shows tags that the sensor inherits from its parent device, parent group, and parent probe.

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

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.

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

For performance reasons, it can take some minutes until you can filter for new tags that you added.

The sensor has the following default tags that are automatically predefined in the sensor's settings when you add the sensor:

▪wmicustomsensor

Priority

Select a priority for the sensor. This setting determines the position of the sensor in lists. The highest priority is at the top of a list. Choose from the lowest priority () to the highest priority ().

Namespace

Enter the WMI namespace for the query.

WQL File

Shows the .wql file that this sensor executes with every scanning interval.

Your query must return an integer or float value. Strings are not supported. Use the WMI Custom String sensor in this case.

PRTG shows this value for reference purposes only. If you need to change this value, add the sensor anew.

Placeholder <#PH1>

In your WQL script, you can use up to three placeholders to which you can assign a value in this field. Enter a string for variable <#PH1> or leave the field empty.

Placeholder <#PH2>

In your WQL script, you can use up to three placeholders to which you can assign a value in this field. Enter a string for variable <#PH2> or leave the field empty.

Placeholder <#PH3>

In your WQL script, you can use up to three placeholders to which you can assign a value in this field. Enter a string for variable <#PH3> or leave the field empty.

If Value Changes

Define what the sensor does when the sensor value changes:

▪Ignore changes (default): Do nothing.

▪Trigger 'change' notification: Send an internal message indicating that the sensor value has changed. In combination with a change trigger, you can use this mechanism to trigger a notification whenever the sensor value changes.

Unit String

Enter a unit for the data that the sensor receives from your script. This is for display purposes only. The unit is displayed in graphs and tables. Enter a string.

Multiplication

Define a multiplier for the received values. The default value 1 does not change received values. Enter an integer.

Division

Define a divisor for the received values. The default value 1 does not change received values. Enter an integer.

Result Handling

Define what PRTG does with the sensor result:

▪Discard result: Do not store the sensor result.

▪Store result: Store the last sensor result in the \Logs\sensors subfolder of the PRTG data directory on the probe system. The file name is Result of Sensor [ID].Data.txt. This setting is for debugging purposes. PRTG overwrites this file with each scanning interval.

In a cluster, PRTG stores the result in the PRTG data directory of the master node.

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 below a channel gauge 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.
You cannot use this option in combination with manual Vertical Axis Scaling (available in the channel settings).

Stack Unit

This setting 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.

Downtime

In the channel table on the Overview tab, this channel never shows any values. PRTG uses this channel in graphs and reports to show the amount of time in which the sensor was in the Down status

[Value]

The retrieved numeric value

This channel is the primary channel by default.