<%NUMBERING1%>.<%NUMBERING2%>.<%NUMBERING3%> PRTG Manual: PRTG Administration Tool on Remote Probe Systems

If you start the PRTG Administration Tool on a system on which a PRTG Remote Probe runs, you can define various probe related settings, restart services, and view log information. You can also change many of these settings via the system administration and the probe settings tab in the PRTG web interface.

icon-i-round-redThis section describes the available settings in the PRTG Administration Tool when you open the tool on a PRTG remote probe system. This is not the complete set of available settings. If you need access to all possible settings regarding your whole PRTG installation, open the PRTG Administration Tool on the PRTG core server machine.

icon-i-round-redAll settings you make here are valid only for the local installation running on the computer on which you open the PRTG Administration Tool. In order to change settings for another installation, for example, another remote probe installation, please log in to that computer and open the program there.

icon-i-roundTo get familiar with the different components of PRTG, we recommend that you read the Architecture section. If you prefer a video introduction to the PRTG Administration Tool, see the More section below for more information.

Start the PRTG Administration Tool

From the Windows start menu, select the PRTG Network Monitor group and click PRTG Administration Tool to open the application.

You can choose from these options in different tabs:

After you have changed settings, click the Save & Close button. A new window opens where PRTG asks you to agree to restart the PRTG core server service. Click OK if you do not want your changes to be ignored.

PRTG Administration Tool: Restart Services

PRTG Administration Tool: Restart Services

Probe Settings for Core Connection

Define general settings regarding the probe and probe connections.

PRTG Administration Tool: Probe Settings for Core Connection

PRTG Administration Tool: Probe Settings for Core Connection

Probe Settings

Name of Probe

Enter a meaningful name to identify the probe. PRTG shows this name, for example, in the device tree, and in all alarms by default. Please enter a string.

Reconnect Time

Define the time that PRTG will wait until the probe tries to reconnect to the core server if the connection fails. Please enter an integer value.

Connection to PRTG Core Server

These settings affect the way the probe will connect to the core server. A probe is either a local probe, cloud probe, or a remote probe. PRTG will automatically detect the type of probe and show the correct setting options.

Server (IPv4 address or DNS name)

If this probe is configured as the Local Probe of the PRTG core installation, it will connect to the core via 127.0.0.1, which you cannot change.

If this probe is configured as a Remote Probe, enter the IP address or DNS name of the core server.

Probe GID

The Probe GID (global ID (GID)) is a unique identifier for the probe. We recommend that you do not change it.

Exception: Only if you substitute an existing remote probe from a different computer, you have to copy the GID from the old probe to the new probe. To do so, click on the Edit GID... button and confirm the warning with Yes. You can then change the value. You cannot change the GID for a local probe.

icon-i-roundYou can deny GIDs under System Administration—Core & Probes in the PRTG web interface. If you remove a remote probe from the device tree or if you deny a remote probe after installation, its global ID (GID) will be automatically entered in the Deny GIDs list.

Probe Access Key

You do not need an access key for Local Probe connections.

On a Remote Probe, the Probe Access Key must match one of the access keys configured in your PRTG core server installation. If it does not match, the remote probe will not be able to connect to the core server. Please see the System Administration—Core & Probes section for more information.

icon-i-roundCheck also allowed and denied IPs in System Administration—Core & Probes to ensure that the core server accepts the IP address of the remote probe.

Confirm Access Key

If you enter an access key for a remote probe, enter it in this field again to assure correctness.

Path for Probe Data Storage

Path

Define the data folder to which PRTG will store configuration and monitoring data. Click the ... button to choose another folder on your system.

icon-i-redBefore you change the path, make sure you stop both the core server and the probe services and copy all data to the new location.

Language for the PRTG Administration Tool for Remote Probes

<your language>

Choose the language for the PRTG Administration Tool on your remote probe from the dropdown list. Default is English.

Probe Settings for Monitoring

PRTG Administration Tool: Probe Settings for Monitoring

PRTG Administration Tool: Probe Settings for Monitoring

Probe Settings for Monitoring

Define the IP address used for outgoing monitoring requests.

  • If there is more than one IP on the current system available, you can specify the IP address that PRTG will use for outgoing monitoring requests of certain sensor types.
  • This setting will be used for sensors using the following connection types: HTTP, DNS, FTP, IMAP, POP3, Port, Remote Desktop, SMTP, and SNMP.
  • The setting is valid for all monitoring requests sent from this PRTG probe.
  • This setting is useful for devices that expect a certain IP address when queried.
  • Default setting is auto. PRTG will select an IP address automatically.

icon-i-round-redThis feature does not support all sensor types for technical reasons.

icon-i-redIf you change this setting, some sensors might stop working. For example, sensors might show a Down status if the selected IP address is blocked on the way to or directly on the monitored device.

Outgoing IPv4

Define the IP address for outgoing requests using the IPv4 protocol. The list shows all IP addresses available on the current system. Choose a specific IP address or select auto.

Outgoing IPv6

Define the IP address for outgoing requests using the IPv6 protocol. The list shows all IP addresses available on the current system. Choose a specific IP address or select auto. For details about the basic concept of IPv6 in PRTG, please see the IPv6 section.

Service Start/Stop

You can stop and start PRTG Windows services manually. For connected probes, click Start Probe Service to start the service or Stop Probe Service to stop it. Both actions usually take from a few seconds up to several minutes to complete. You can also restart the core server and connected probes via the PRTG web interface under Administrative Tools.

icon-i-roundWe recommend that you set a schedule for automatic restarts.

PRTG Administration Tool Start and Stop Service

PRTG Administration Tool Start and Stop Service

You can also define a restart schedule on the Settings tab of a probe under Restart Options, in the PRTG web interface.

Scheduled Restart settings

icon-prtg-on-demandThis setting is not available for cloud probes in PRTG in the cloud.

Restart Options

For best performance, we recommend that you regularly restart the Windows servers on which PRTG is running. To do this automatically for PRTG, you can schedule an automatic restart. Choose between the following options:

  • No scheduled reboot or service restart: Do not perform any scheduled restart of services automatically. We recommend a manual restart every few weeks. You can initiate a restart of your PRTG core server and probes under System Administration—Administrative Tools in the PRTG web interface.
  • Scheduled restart of PRTG services: Restart all PRTG services on the system where this probe runs on. If you choose this option on the local probe, the PRTG core server will restart as well. Define a schedule below.
  • Scheduled system reboot (recommended): We recommend this setting, although it is not set by default. Enter a schedule below. We recommend that you restart Windows servers once a month for best performance.

Restart Schedule

You can only see this setting if you selected a schedule option above. Choose how often you want to restart PRTG services or the Windows server:

  • Once per week: Select a day of the week and a time below.
  • Once per month (recommended): Select a day of the month and a time below.

Specify Day

You can only see this setting if you selected a schedule option above. Select a specific day of a week (Monday to Sunday) or month (1st to 30th or Last). If you select Last, the restart will always be executed on the last day of the month, regardless of how many days the month has.

icon-i-roundIf you select a date that does not exist in every month (for example, the 30th day in February), PRTG will automatically initiate the restart on the last day of this month.

Specify Hour

You can only see this setting if you selected a schedule option above. Select the time of day when PRTG will perform the restart.

icon-i-roundYou will get a Windows warning message 10 minutes before the restart to inform you if you are a currently logged in user. The actual restart time can differ up to 30 minutes from the settings you enter here.

icon-i-roundYou can also define a restart schedule on the Settings tab of a probe, section Scheduled Restart Settings, in the PRTG web interface.

Logs and Info

PRTG Administration Tool: Logs and Info

PRTG Administration Tool: Logs and Info

Log Files

Open Log Folder...

Open the PRTG Network Monitor data directory on your hard disk drive to access all logfiles that PRTG creates.

Send Logs to Paessler...

Open an assistant to send logfiles to the Paessler support team. Please see below for details.

icon-i-roundYou can send logfiles more easily with the support bundle via Contact Support in the PRTG web interface.

Open Support Ticket...

This will open the support form on the Paessler website in a browser window.

icon-i-roundIf you need help, we recommend that you use the Contact Support option in the PRTG web interface instead.

The About section shows information about the version of installed PRTG programs and copyright.

Send Logs to Paessler

icon-i-roundYou can send logfiles more easily with the support bundle via Contact Support in the PRTG web interface.

Send Logs to Paessler

Send Logs to Paessler

If you open a support ticket, Paessler support might ask you to send logfiles for further analysis. With the Send Logs to Paessler... button, PRTG will automatically collect, compress, and send your logfiles to our FTPS server.

Send Logs to Paessler

Name

Enter your name.

Email

Enter a valid email address. You can provide any of your addresses, but we recommend that you use the email address of your PRTG account, which is entered by default.

Ticket No.

This field is optional. If you have already opened a ticket at Paessler support, please provide the ticket number you received. Your files will then be associated with your ticket automatically.

Please enter the ticket number starting with PAE followed by four or more digits, for example, PAE12345. If you do not have a ticket number, leave this field empty.

Configuration

Define if you want to include the configuration file in the data. PRTG will remove all passwords from the config file before sending it to our support team.

Click the Send button to start the data upload. Ensure that FTPS and HTTP connections are allowed on this machine.

More

Video Tutorial: The PRTG Administration Tool

Knowledge Base: Which ports does PRTG use on my system?

 

PRTG Administration Tool—Topics

Related Topics

Keywords: Automatic,Automatic Restart Options (Probe System),Configure,Configure Probe,Configure Reboot (automatic),Probe Administrator,Restart Options (Probe System),Scheduled Reboot (Probe System)