PRTG Manual: WMI Event Log Sensor
The WMI Event Log sensor monitors a specific Windows logfile using Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI).
The sensor can show the following:
- Number of new records per second
You can individually set the sensor to a desired status according to a new event log entry.
For details and how to find out the correct filter, see the Knowledge Base: My Event Log sensor ignores changes in the event log. What can I do?
WMI Event Log Sensor
Dutch: WMI Logboek, French: Log des événements WMI, German: WMI Ereignisprotokoll, Japanese: WMI イベントログ, Portuguese: Log de eventos WMI, Russian: Журнал событий WMI, Simplified Chinese: WMI 事件日志, Spanish: WMI event log
- This sensor can have a high impact on the performance of your monitoring system. Use it with care. We recommend that you use no more than 50 sensors of this sensor type on each probe.
- Requires Windows credentials in the settings of the parent device.
- Requires WoW64 (Windows 32-bit on Windows 64-bit) for target systems that run Windows Server 2016.
- Knowledge Base: My Event Log sensor ignores changes in the event log. What can I do?
- Knowledge Base: How can I configure sensors using speed limits to keep the status for more than one interval?
You cannot add this sensor to the Hosted Probe of a PRTG hosted by Paessler instance. If you want to use this sensor, add it to a remote probe device.
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 do not see all setting fields in this dialog. You can change (nearly) all settings in the sensor's Settings tab later.
Select the logfiles that you want to monitor. PRTG creates one sensor for each logfile that you select in the Add Sensor dialog. The settings you select are valid for all sensors that you create when you finish this dialog.
The following settings in the Add Sensor dialog differ in comparison to the sensor's Settings tab.
WMI Event Log Monitor |
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Logfiles |
The Windows event log provides several different logfiles. You see a list with the names of all items that you can monitor. Add check marks in front of the respective lines to select the desired items. You can also use the check box in the table header to select all items or cancel the selection.
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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 on which you created the sensor. See the Device Settings for details. For some sensors, you can explicitly define the monitoring target 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. There are default tags that are automatically predefined in a sensor's settings when you add a sensor. See section Default Tags below. 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. A sensor with a top priority is at the top of a list. Choose from one star (low priority) to five stars (top priority). |
wmieventlogsensor
WMI Event Log Monitor |
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Logfile |
Shows the Windows logfile that this sensor monitors. Once you have created the sensor, you cannot change this value. It is shown for reference purposes only. If you need to change this value, add the sensor anew. |
Sensor Result |
Define what PRTG does with the sensor results:
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Filter Event Log Entries |
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Event Type |
Specify the type of event that this sensor processes:
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Filter by Source |
Filter all received events for a certain event source:
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Filter Type |
This field is only visible if Filter by Source is enabled above. Select the filter type:
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Match String (Event Source) |
This field is only visible if Filter by Source is enabled above. Enter an event source that you want to filter for. Depending on the kind of filter, the event source is processed (Include filter option) or not processed (Exclude filter option). Enter a string. |
Filter by ID |
Filter all received events for a certain event ID:
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Filter Type |
This field is only visible if ID filtering is On above. Select a filter type:
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Match Values (Event ID) |
This field is only visible if Filter by ID is enabled above. Enter an event ID that you want to filter for. Depending on the kind of filter, the event ID is processed (Include filter option) or not processed (Exclude filter option).
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Filter by Category |
Filter all received events for a certain event category:
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Filter Type |
This field is only visible if Filter by Category is enabled above. Select a filter type:
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Match String (Event Category) |
This field is only visible if Filter by Category is enabled above. Enter a category that you want to filter for. Depending on the kind of filter, the event category is processed (Include filter option) or not processed (Exclude filter option). Enter a string. |
Filter by User |
Filter all received events for a certain event user:
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Filter Type |
This field is only visible if Filter by User is enabled above. Select a filter type:
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Match String (Event User) |
This field is only visible if Filter by User is enabled above. Enter a username that you want to filter for. Depending on the kind of filter, the event user is processed (Include filter option) or not processed (Exclude filter option). Enter a string. |
Filter by Computer |
Filter all received events for a certain event computer:
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Filter Type |
This field is only visible if Filter by Computer is enabled above. Select a filter type:
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Match String (Event Computer) |
This field is only visible if Filter by Computer is enabled above. Enter a computer name that you want to filter for. Depending on the kind of filter, the event computer is processed (Include filter option) or not processed (Exclude filter option). Enter a string. |
Filter by Message |
Filter all received events for a certain event message:
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Filter Type |
This field is only visible if Filter by Message is enabled above. Select a filter type:
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Match String (Event Message) |
This field is only visible if message filtering is On above. Enter a message that you want to filter for. Depending on the kind of filter, the event message is processed (Include filter option) or not processed (Exclude filter option). Enter a string. |
For the WMI Event Log sensor, you can use the percent character (%) as placeholder for any or no character (as known from the asterisk sign (*) in the Windows search) in combination with a substring. For example, you can enter %RAS% for any event source containing the string RAS.
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 is always 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 are shown for this sensor:
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Stack Unit |
This field 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. |
By default, all of the following settings are inherited from objects that are 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. For more information, see section Inheritance of Settings. To change a setting for this object only, disable inheritance by clicking the button next to inherit from under the corresponding setting name. You 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). The scanning interval determines the amount of time that 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 the sensor has time to reach and check a device again in case a sensor query fails. Depending on the option that you select, the sensor can try to reach and check a device again several times before the sensor shows a Down status. This can avoid false alarms if the monitored device only has temporary issues. For previous scanning intervals with failed requests, the sensor shows a Warning status. Choose from:
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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 or hours) every week.
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Maintenance Window |
Specify if you want to set up a one-time maintenance window. During a maintenance window, the current object and all child objects are not monitored. They are in a Paused status instead. Choose between:
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Maintenance Begins |
This field is only visible if you enable Set up a one-time 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 enable Set up a one-time 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. You can use dependencies to pause monitoring for an object depending on the status of another object. You can choose from:
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Dependency |
This field is only visible if you enable Select a sensor above. Click the Search button and use the object selector to select a sensor on which the current object will depend. |
Dependency Delay (Sec.) |
This field is only visible if you enable Select a sensor above. Define a time span in seconds for dependency delay. After the master sensor for this dependency comes back to an Up status, monitoring of the dependent objects is additionally delayed by the defined time span. This can help avoid false alarms, for example, after a server restart, by giving systems more time for all services to start up. Enter an integer value.
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Access Rights |
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Click |
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User Group Access |
Define the user groups that have access to the selected object. 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: My Event Log sensor ignores changes in the event log. What can I do?
Knowledge Base: How can I configure sensors using speed limits to keep the status for more than one interval?
Knowledge Base: My WMI sensors don't work. What can I do?
To change display settings, spike filtering, and limits, switch to the sensor's Overview tab and click the gear icon of a specific channel. For detailed information, see section Sensor Channel Settings.
Click the Notification Triggers tab to change notification triggers. For detailed information, see section Sensor Notification Triggers Settings.
For more general information about settings, see section Object Settings.
For information about sensor settings, see the following sections:
