PRTG 9 Manual: Add a Device

PRTG 9 Manual: Add a Device

Note: This documentation refers to the PRTG System Administrator user accessing the Ajax interface on a master node. For other user accounts, interfaces, or nodes, not all of the options might be available as described. When using a cluster installation, failover nodes are read-only by default.

To manually add a device, select Devices | Add Device from the main menu. An assistant will appear, leading you through two steps. For faster setup, you can select Add Device... in the context menu of a group to which you want to add the new device. This will skip step 1 and lead you directly to step 2.

Step 1
Please choose a group you want to add the new device to. Click on Continue.

Add Device Assistant Step 2

Step 2
Add device settings as described below.

Add Device Settings

Device Name an Address
Device Name	Enter a meaningful name to identify the device. The name will be shown by default in the device tree and in all alarms.
IP Version	Define which IP protocol PRTG will use to connect to this device. The setting is valid for all sensors created on this device. Choose between: Connect using IPv4: Use IP version 4 for all requests to this device. Connect using IPv6: Use IP version 6 for all requests to this device.
IP Address/DNS Name	Enter the IP address (either v4 or v6, depending on your selection above) or DNS name for the device. Most sensors created on this device will inherit this setting and they will try to connect to this address for monitoring. Note: There are some sensor types that still have their own setting for IP address/DNS name. Those sensors will use their own settings.
Tags	Enter one or more tags, separated by space or comma. You can use tags to group sensors and use tag-filtered views later on. Tags are not case sensitive. We recommend using the default value. You can add additional tags to it, if you like. Tags are automatically inherited.
Device Icon	Choose a device icon from the list. It will be shown in the device tree.

Device Type
Sensor Management	Select which type of auto-discovery you would like to perform for this device. Choose between: Manual (no auto-discovery): Do not auto-discover any sensors, but only add sensors manually. Automatic device identification (standard, recommended): Use a small set of auto-discovery templates. This will scan your LAN and usually create a view standard sensors on your device. Automatic device identification (detailed, may create many sensors: Use an extended set of auto-discovery templates. This will scan your LAN and usually create many sensors on your device. Automatic sensor creation using specific device templates: Use specific auto-discovery templates only. Please select templates below. This will scan your LAN and add sensors defined in the template.
Discovery Schedule	This option is only visible if one of the auto-discovery options is selected above. Define when the auto-discovery will be run. Choose between: Once: Perform auto-discovery only once. For existing devices, this will initiate a one-time sensor update for the current device. Hourly: Perform auto-discovery for new sensors every hour. Daily: Perform auto-discovery for new sensors every day. Weekly: Perform auto-discovery for new sensors every week.
Device Template(s)	This option is only visible if using specific device templates (last option) is enabled above. Please choose one or more templates by adding a check mark in front of the respective template name. These will be used for auto-discovery on the current device. Choose from: Cisco Device (Generic) DNS Server FTP Server Generic Device (PING only) Generic Device (SNMP-enabled) Generic Device (SNMP-enabled, Detailed) HTTP Web Server Hyper V Host Server Linux/UNIX Device (SNMP or SSH enabled) Mail Server (Generic) Mail Server (MS Exchange) NTP Server Printer (HP) RDP Server Server (Compaq/HP agents) Switch (Cisco Catalyst) Switch (Cisco IOS Based) Switch (HP Procurve) UNIX/Linux Device UPS (APC) Virtuozzo Server VMware ESX Server Windows (Detailed via WMI) Windows (via WMI) Windows IIS (via SNMP) XEN Server

Credentials for Windows Systems
Domain or Computer Name	Define the authority for Windows access. This is used for Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) and other sensors. If using a Windows local user account, please enter the computer name here. If using a Windows domain user account, please enter the domain name here.
Username	Enter the username for Windows access. Usually, you will use credentials with administrator privileges.
Password	Enter the password for Windows access. Usually, you will use credentials with administrator privileges.

Credentials for Linux (SSH/WBEM) Systems
Username	Enter a login name for the Linux access via SSH and WBEM. Usually, you will use credentials with administrator privileges.
Login	Define which authentication method will be used for login. Choose between: Login via Password: Provide a password for login. Enter below. Login via Private Key: Provide a private key for authentication. Paste below.
Password	This field is only visible if password login is selected above. Enter a password for the Linux access via SSH and WBEM. Usually, you will use credentials with administrator privileges.
Private Key	This field is only visible if private key login is selected above. Paste a private key into the field. Usually, you will use credentials with administrator privileges. Note: If you do not insert a private key for the first time, but change the private key, you need to restart your PRTG core server service in order for the private key change to take effect!
For WBEM Use Protocol	Define the protocol that will be used for WBEM. This setting is only relevant when using WBEM sensors. Choose between: HTTP: Use an unencrypted connection for WBEM. HTTPS: Use an SSL-encrypted connection for WBEM.
For WBEM Use Port	Define the port that will be used for WBEM. This setting is only relevant when using WBEM sensors. Choose between: Set automatically (port 5988 or 5989): Use one of the standard ports, depending on whether unencrypted or encrypted connection is chosen above. Set manually: Use a custom port. Define below.
WBEM Port	This setting is only visible if manual port selection is enabled above. Enter the WBEM port number.

Credentials for VMware/XEN Servers
User	Enter a login name for access to VMware and XEN servers. Usually, you will use credentials with administrator privileges.
Password	Enter a password for access to VMware and XEN servers. Usually, you will use credentials with administrator privileges.
VMware Protocol	Choose between: HTTPS (recommended): Use an SSL-encrypted connection to VMware and XEN servers. HTTP: Use an unencrypted connection to VMware and XEN servers.

Credentials for SNMP Devices
SNMP Version	Select the SNMP version that will be used for device connection. Choose between: v1: Use the simple standard v1 protocol for SNMP connections. This protocol only offers clear-text data transmission, but it is usually supported by all devices. v2c: Use the more advanced v2c protocol for SNMP connections. Data is still transferred as clear-text, but it supports 64-bit counters. v3: Use the latest v3 protocol for SNMP connections. It provides secure authentication and data encryption. Note for SNMP v3: Due to internal limitations you can only monitor a limited number of sensors per second using SNMP v3. The limit is somewhere between 1 and 50 sensors per second (depending on the SNMP latency of your network). This means that using an interval of 60 seconds you are limited to between 60 and 3000 SNMP v3 sensors for each probe. If you experience an increased "Interval Delay" or "Open Requests" reading of the probe health sensor you need to distribute the load over multiple probes. SNMP v1 and v2 do not have this limitation.
Community String	This setting is only visible if SNMP version v1 or v2c are enabled above. Enter the community string of your devices. This is a kind of "clear-text password" used for simple authentication. We recommend using the default value.
Authentication Type	This setting is only visible if SNMP version v3 is enabled above. Choose between: MD5: Use Message-Digest Algorithm 5 (MD5) for authentication. SHA: Use Secure Hash Algorithm (SHA) for authentication. Your device must be set to the same value.
User	This setting is only visible if SNMP version v3 is enabled above. Enter a username for secure authentication. Your device must be set to the same value.
Password	This setting is only visible if SNMP version v3 is enabled above. Enter a password for secure authentication. Your device must be set to the same value.
Data Encryption Key (DES)	This setting is only visible if SNMP version v3 is enabled above. Enter a Data Encryption Standard (DES) key here. If you provide a key in this field, SNMP data packets will be enrypted using the DES encryption algorithm, providing increased security. Your device must be set to the same value. Note: If the key entered in this field does not match the key configured in the target SNMP device you will not get an error message! Please enter a string or leave the field empty.
SNMP Port	Enter the port used for SNMP communication. We recommend using the default value.
SNMP Timeout (sec.)	Enter a timeout in seconds for the request. If the reply takes longer than this value the request is aborted and an error message is triggered.

Inherit Access Rights

User Group Access

Define which user group(s) will have access to the object you're editing. A table with user groups and right is shown; it contains all user groups from your setup. For each user group you can choose from the following access rights:

Inherited: Use the settings of the parent object.
None: Users in this group cannot see or edit the object. The object does not show up in lists and in the device tree. Exception: If a child object is visible to the user, the object is visible in the device tree, though not accessible.
Read: Users in this group can see the object and review its monitoring results.
Write: Users in this group can see the object, review its monitoring results, and edit the object's settings. They cannot edit access rights settings.
Full: Users in this group can see the object, review its monitoring results, edit the object's settings, and edit access rights settings.

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.

Click on the Continue button to store your settings. If you change tabs or use the main menu, all changes to the settings will be lost!

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