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PRTG Manual: Windows Process Sensor

The Windows Process sensor monitors a Windows process via Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) or Windows performance counters, as configured in the Windows Compatibility Options of the parent device.

For a detailed list and descriptions of the channels that this sensor can show, see section Channel List.

Sensor in Other Languages

Dutch: Windows Proces
French: Windows processus
German: Windows Prozess
Japanese: Windows プロセス
Portuguese: Processo Windows
Russian: Процесс Windows
Simplified Chinese: Windows 进程
Spanish: Proceso Windows

Remarks

Consider the following remarks and requirements for this sensor:

Remark	Description
Performance impact	This sensor has a high performance impact. We recommend that you use no more than 200 of this sensor on each probe.
Windows version	This sensor requires at least Windows Server 2008 R2 on the probe system (on every cluster node, if on a cluster probe). WoW64 must be installed on target systems that run Windows Server 2016. This allows 32-bit applications to be run on 64-bit systems. This is necessary because the PRTG probe service only runs with 32-bit support. Without it, WMI sensors do not work.
Remote Registry Windows service	This sensor requires that the Remote Registry Windows service runs on the target system. If this service does not run, a connection via performance counters is not possible. However, WMI connections might still work. To enable the service, log in to the respective system and open the services manager (for example, via services.msc). In the list, find the respective service and set its Start Type to Automatic.
WoW64	This sensor requires WoW64 (Windows 32-bit on Windows 64-bit) for target systems that run Windows Server 2016.
Credentials	This sensor requires credentials for Windows systems. We recommend that you use Windows domain credentials. If you use local credentials, make sure that the same Windows user accounts (with the same user name and password) exist on both the probe system and the target system. Otherwise, a connection via performance counters is not possible. However, WMI connections might still work.
Performance counters	The sensor cannot show values above 4 GB for 64-bit processes if you use performance counters.
IPv6	This sensor supports IPv6.
Hosted probe	You cannot add this sensor to the hosted probe of a PRTG Hosted Monitor instance. If you want to use this sensor, add it to a remote probe device.

Hybrid Approach: Performance Counters and WMI

By default, this sensor uses WMI to request monitoring data. You can change the default behavior to a hybrid approach in the Windows Compatibility Options of the parent device's settings on which you create this sensor: if you choose this option, the sensor first tries to query data via Windows performance counters and uses WMI as a fallback if performance counters are not available. When running in fallback mode, the sensor tries to connect via performance counters again after 24 hours.

Sensors that use the WMI protocol have a high impact on the system performance. Try to stay below 200 WMI sensors per probe. Above this number, consider using multiple remote probes for load balancing.

For a general introduction to the technology behind WMI, see section Monitoring via WMI.

Basic Sensor Settings

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

wmiprocesssensor

For more information about basic sensor settings, see section Sensor Settings.

Windows Process Monitor

Setting	Description
Executable	Enter the name of the process that you want to monitor. Provide the name of an executable file without the .exe extension (for example, enter firefox to monitor firefox.exe). The sensor shows the Down status if the process is not active on the target device.

Setting

Description

Executable

Enter the name of the process that you want to monitor. Provide the name of an executable file without the .exe extension (for example, enter firefox to monitor firefox.exe).

The sensor shows the Down status if the process is not active on the target device.

Debug Options

Setting	Description
Result Handling	Define what PRTG does with the sensor result: Discard result (default): Do not store the sensor result. Store result: Store the sensor result and the last response 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.

Setting

Description

Result Handling

Define what PRTG does with the sensor result:

Discard result (default): Do not store the sensor result.
Store result: Store the sensor result and the last response 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.

Sensor Display

Setting	Description
Primary Channel	Select a channel from the list to define it as the primary channel. In the device tree, PRTG displays the last value of the primary channel 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 this sensor shows different channels: 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 select Stack channels on top of each other above. Select a unit from the list. PRTG stacks all channels with this unit 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.

Setting

Description

Primary Channel

Select a channel from the list to define it as the primary channel. In the device tree, PRTG displays the last value of the primary channel 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 this sensor shows different channels:

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 select Stack channels on top of each other above.

Select a unit from the list. PRTG stacks all channels with this unit 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.

Inherited Settings

By default, all of these settings are inherited from objects that are higher in the hierarchy. We recommend that you change them centrally in the root group settings if necessary. To change a setting for this object only, click under the corresponding setting name to disable the inheritance and to display its options.

For more information, see section Inheritance of Settings.

Channel List

Which channels the sensor actually shows might depend on the target device, the available components, and the sensor setup.

Channel	Description
CPU Usage (Average per Instance)	The average CPU usage (%) (if multiple instances are running) For this value, the summed up CPU usage value is divided by the number of all instances. It shows the average CPU usage of a single instance of the process on one CPU.
CPU Usage (Total)	The total CPU usage (%) For this value of a process, all CPU usage values are summed up. The total is divided by the number of all CPUs and the maximum value is 100%. This corresponds to the CPU usage of all instances of this specific process.
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.
Handles	The number of handles
Instances	The number of instances
Private Bytes	The private bytes
Threads	The number of threads
Working Set	The working set This channel is the primary channel by default.