PRTG Manual: Port v2 Sensor

The Port v2 sensor monitors a network service by connecting to one or more of its TCP/IP ports.

i_round_blueDepending on your settings, the sensor can alert you either when the monitored port is open or when it is closed.

i_betaThis sensor is in beta status. The operating methods and the available settings are still subject to change. Do not expect that all functions work properly, or that this sensor works as expected at all.

Port v2 Sensor

Port v2 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: Poort v2
  • French: Port v2
  • German: Port v2
  • Japanese: ポート v2
  • Portuguese: Porta v2
  • Russian: Порт v2
  • Simplified Chinese: Port v2
  • Spanish: Puerto v2

Remarks

Consider the following remarks and requirements for this sensor:

Remark

Description

Enabled Beta Sensors experimental feature

This sensor requires that the Beta Sensors experimental feature is enabled.

i_square_cyanFor more information, see the Knowledge Base: What are beta sensors and how can I use them?

IPv6

This sensor supports IPv6.

Performance impact

This sensor has a very low performance impact.

Scanning interval

This sensor has a fixed minimum scanning interval for performance reasons. You cannot use a shorter scanning interval. Consequently, shorter scanning intervals in the Monitoring settings are not available for this sensor.

  • The minimum scanning interval of this sensor is 1 minute.
  • The recommended scanning interval of this sensor is 5 minutes.

Multi-platform probe

You can add this sensor to a multi-platform probe.

Known Issues

  • The sensor shows the Unknown state if a sensor scan was executed during the scan of the port list. If this issue occurs, reduce the list of monitored ports or increase the Scanning Interval of the sensor. The scan of each port takes about two seconds. For example, if you monitor the ports 1-900, the sensor needs around 1,800 seconds (30 minutes) to complete the port list.

Add Sensor

Setting

Description

Goal

Define how the sensor reports on the ports:

  • Open: Shows the Up status if the port is open, and the Down status if the port is closed.
  • Closed: Shows the Up status if the port is closed, and the Down status if the port is open.

i_round_blueYou can modify the limits in the channel settings to change the sensor behavior. For more information, see section Channel Settings.

Basic Sensor Settings

Basic Sensor Settings

Basic Sensor Settings

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

  • portrangesensor
  • portsensor
  • tcp

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

Port Specific

Port Specific

Port Specific

Setting

Description

Timeout (Sec.)

Enter a timeout in seconds for the request. Enter an integer. The maximum timeout value is 900 seconds (15 minutes).

i_round_blueIf the reply takes longer than this value, the sensor cancels the request and shows a corresponding error message.

Port-by-Port Delay (ms)

Define how long the sensor waits before it tries to connect to the next port. The maximum delay value is 100 ms.

Port List

Enter the port numbers that the sensor tries to connect to. Enter one port number per line. PRTG supports the port numbers 1 - 65535. You can also specify port ranges by using A-B, for example 8080-8090. Enter an integer.

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, 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.

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 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.
    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 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.

Debug Options

Debug Options

Debug Options

Setting

Description

Result Handling

Define what PRTG does with the sensor result:

  • Discard result: Do not store the sensor result.
  • Store result: Store the last sensor result in the \Logs\sensors subfolder of the PRTG data directory on the probe system. The file name is Result of Sensor [ID].log. This setting is for debugging purposes. PRTG overwrites this file with each scanning interval.

i_podThis option is not available when the sensor runs on the hosted probe of a PRTG Hosted Monitor instance.

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.

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

Closed Ports

The number of closed ports

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

Errors

The number of errors

i_round_blueThis channel has a default limit:

  • Upper error limit: 0

Maximum Connect Time

The maximum time until a request to connect to a port was accepted

i_round_blueThis channel is the primary channel by default.

Open Ports

The number of open ports

More

i_square_blueKNOWLEDGE BASE

What are beta sensors and how can I use them?

What security features does PRTG include?