<%NUMBERING1%>.<%NUMBERING2%>.<%NUMBERING3%> PRTG Manual: File Sensor

The File sensor monitors a file located on the local disk on the probe system, parent device, or a file that is accessible via Server Message Block (SMB). You can monitor changes to the file content and file time stamp.

i_round_blueIn contrast to the Folder sensor, you can also monitor changes to the actual content of a file.

File Sensor

File Sensor

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

Sensor in Other Languages

  • Dutch: Bestand
  • French: Fichier
  • German: Datei
  • Japanese: ファイル
  • Portuguese: Arquivo
  • Russian: Файл
  • Simplified Chinese: 文件
  • Spanish: Archivo

Remarks

  • This sensor has a high performance impact. Use it with care. We recommend that you use no more than 200 sensors of this sensor type on each probe.

i_podYou 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.

Detailed Requirements

Requirement

Description

LanmanServer service

To monitor shares on Windows machines, make sure that the LanmanServer service runs on the target computer.

i_round_blueThe display name of the service is Server.

To enable the service, log in to the respective computer and open the services manager (for example, via services.msc). In the list, find the respective service and set its Start Type to Automatic.

Add Sensor

The Add Sensor dialog appears when you manually add a new sensor to a device. It only shows the settings that are required to create the sensor. You can change nearly all settings on the sensor's Settings tab after creation.

Basic Sensor Settings

Click the Settings tab of a sensor to change its settings.

Basic Sensor Settings

Basic Sensor Settings

Setting

Description

Sensor Name

Enter a name to identify the sensor.

Parent Tags

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

i_round_blueThis 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.

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

i_round_blueFor 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:

  • filesensor

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 (i_priority_1) to the highest priority (i_priority_5).

i_round_blueUsually, a sensor connects to the IP Address/DNS Name of the parent device. See the device settings for details. For some sensors, you can explicitly define the monitoring target in the sensor settings.

Sensor Specific

Sensor Specific

Sensor Specific

Setting

Description

File Name

Enter the full path to the file that this sensor monitors. For example, enter C:\Windows\file.txt. to monitor a file on the probe system.

If you use a local path, the sensor only looks for the target file on the probe system, not on the parent device. To monitor a file on the parent device, use the dollar sign ($) like C$\User\johnqpublic\file.txt.

If the file is located on a network device, use the Universal Naming Convention (UNC) path without the server part (only enter share\folder\file.txt). The sensor inherits the server part (\\server\) from the parent device settings. Enter a valid path and file name.

i_round_redTo monitor Windows shares, the LanmanServer service must run on the target computer.

i_round_blueThe File sensor supports wildcards (*). For example, you can enter C:\Windows\*.txt as File Name and select Show down status if file exists below if you want that the sensor shows the Down status if a .txt file exists in the defined directory.

Sensor Behavior

Specify when the sensor shows the Down status:

  • Show down status if file does not exist: Show the Down status if the file does not exist.
  • Show down status if file exists: Show the Down status if the file does exist.

Monitor File Content

Specify if the sensor sends a notification when the content of the file changes (based on a checksum):

  • Ignore changes: Take no action on change.
  • Trigger 'change' notification: Send an internal message that indicates that its value has changed. In combination with a change trigger, you can use this mechanism to trigger a notification whenever the sensor value changes.

Monitor File Time Stamp

Specify if the sensor sends a notification when the content of the file's time stamp changes:

  • Ignore changes: Take no action on change.
  • Trigger 'change' notification: Send an internal message that indicates that its value has changed. In combination with a change trigger, you can use this mechanism to trigger a notification whenever the sensor value changes.

Sensor Display

Sensor Display

Sensor Display

Setting

Description

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.

i_round_blueYou can set a different primary channel later by clicking b_channel_primary 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.
    i_round_redYou 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.

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 b_inherited_enabled under the corresponding setting name to disable the inheritance and to display its options.

i_square_cyanFor more information, see section Inheritance of Settings.

Scanning Interval

Scanning Interval

Scanning Interval

i_square_cyanFor more information, see section Root Group Settings, section Scanning Interval.

Schedules, Dependencies, and Maintenance Window

i_round_blueYou cannot interrupt the inheritance for schedules, dependencies, and maintenance windows. The corresponding settings from the parent objects are always active. However, you can define additional schedules, dependencies, and maintenance windows. They are active at the same time as the parent objects' settings.

Schedules, Dependencies, and Maintenance Window

Schedules, Dependencies, and Maintenance Window

i_square_cyanFor more information, see section Root Group Settings, section Schedules, Dependencies, and Maintenance Window.

Access Rights

Access Rights

Access Rights

i_square_cyanFor more information, see section Root Group Settings, section Access Rights.

Channel Unit Configuration

i_round_blueWhich channel units are available depends on the sensor type and the available parameters. If no configurable channels are available, this field shows No configurable channels.

Channel Unit Configuration

Channel Unit Configuration

i_square_cyanFor more information, see section Root Group Settings, section Channel Unit Configuration.

Channel List

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

Channel

Description

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 in percent.

File Size

The file size in bytes

i_round_blueThis channel is the primary channel by default.

Last Modified

The time since the last modification of the file

i_round_blueThe sensor shows a negative value if the date of a modified file is in the future.

More

i_square_blueKnowledge Base

What can I do if PRTG doesn't succeed with monitoring a share? PE029 PE032

Can I use placeholders in file names to monitor log_files?

What security features does PRTG include?