<%NUMBERING1%>.<%NUMBERING2%>.<%NUMBERING3%> PRTG Manual: SSH Remote Ping Sensor

The SSH Remote Ping sensor remotely monitors the connectivity between a system running Linux/macOS X and another device, using Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) echo requests ("ping") and Secure Shell (SSH).

SSH Remote Ping Sensor

SSH Remote Ping 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: SSH Remote Ping
  • French: Ping distant (SSH)
  • German: SSH Remote Ping
  • Japanese: SSH リモート Ping 実行
  • Portuguese: Ping remoto (SSH)
  • Russian: Удаленный пинг по SSH
  • Simplified Chinese: SSH 远程 Ping
  • Spanish: Ping remoto (SSH)

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.
  • This sensor requires credentials for Linux/Solaris/macOS (SSH/WBEM) systems in the settings of the parent device.
  • This sensor cannot support all Linux/Unix and macOS distributions.
  • This sensor only supports the IPv4 protocol.

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:

  • sshremotepingsensor
  • pingsensor
  • remotepingsensor

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.

SSH Remote Ping Configuration

SSH Remote Ping Configuration

SSH Remote Ping Configuration

Setting

Description

Target

Enter the Domain Name System (DNS) name or IP address of the target device the ping is sent to. The sensor remotely connects to the parent device it is created on via SSH, then performs a ping request from this remote device to the target device or server. Enter a string.

Packet Size (Bytes)

Enter the packet size for the ping in bytes. You can enter any value between 1 and 10000. Enter an integer.

i_round_blueWe recommend that you use the default value.

Packet Count

Enter the number of packets that the sensor sends with each scanning interval.

Custom Parameter

Optionally, enter additional parameters that the sensor adds at the end of the ping command. Enter a string or leave the field empty.

i_round_redDo not use parameters that change the output format of the result to ensure that it can still be parsed. You cannot enter an additional command.

SSH Specific

SSH Specific

SSH Specific

Setting

Description

Connection Timeout (Sec.)

Define a timeout in seconds for the connection. This is the time that the sensor waits to establish a connection to the host. Keep this value as low as possible. Enter an integer. The maximum timeout value is 900 seconds (15 minutes).

i_round_blueEnsure that the connection timeout is a value that is higher than the shell timeout to avoid potential errors.

Shell Timeout (Sec.)

Define a timeout in seconds for the shell response. This is the time in seconds the sensor waits for the shell to return a response after it has sent its specific command (for example, cat /proc/loadavg). The maximum value is 300 seconds (5 minutes). Enter an integer.

i_round_blueEnsure that the shell timeout is a value that is lower than the connection timeout to avoid potential errors.

SSH Port

Define which port this sensor uses for the SSH connection:

  • Inherit port number from parent device (default): Use the port number as defined in the Credentials for Linux/Solaris/macOS (SSH/WBEM) Systems section of the parent device settings.
  • Enter custom port number: Define a custom port number below and do not use the port number from the parent device settings.

Use Port Number

This setting is only visible if you select Enter custom port number above. Enter the port number (between 1 and 65535) that this sensor uses for the SSH connection. Enter an integer.

SSH Engine

Select the SSH engine that you want to use to access data with this SSH sensor. Choose between:

  • Inherit from parent device (default): Use the SSH engine that you defined in the parent device settings or higher up in the object hierarchy. If you have not changed the SSH engine, this is the recommended option.
  • Default: This is the default SSH engine. It provides the best performance and security. It is set by default in objects that are higher up in the hierarchy, so usually you can keep the Inherit from parent device (default) option.
  • Compatibility mode (deprecated): Use this only if the default SSH engine does not work on a target device. The compatibility mode is the SSH engine that PRTG used in previous versions. It is deprecated. We will remove this legacy mode soon, so try to get your SSH sensors to run with the default SSH engine.

i_round_redWe strongly recommend that you use the default SSH engine.

i_round_redThe option you select here overrides the selection of the SSH engine in a higher object: a parent device, group, probe, or root.

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 names are Result of Sensor [ID].txt, Result of Sensor [ID].Data.txt, and Result of Sensor [ID] (SSHv2).txt. This setting is for debugging purposes. PRTG overwrites these files with each scanning interval.
  • Store result in case of error: Store the last sensor result only if the sensor shows the Down status.

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

i_round_blueIn a cluster, PRTG stores the result in the PRTG data directory of the master node.

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 List

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

Channel

Description

Avg Response

The average response time measured from the remote device in milliseconds (msec)

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.

Max Response

The maximum response time measured from the remote device in msec

Min Response

The minimum response time measured from the remote device in msec

Packet Loss

The packet loss in percent

i_round_blueThis channel is the primary channel by default.

More

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