<%NUMBERING1%>.<%NUMBERING2%>.<%NUMBERING3%> PRTG Manual: WSUS Statistics Sensor

The WSUS Statistics sensor monitors various statistics on a Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) server via Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI).

WSUS Statistics Sensor

WSUS Statistics 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: WSUS Statistieken
  • French: WSUS statistiques
  • German: WSUS-Statistiken
  • Japanese: WSUS 統計情報
  • Portuguese: Estatísticas WSUS
  • Russian: Статистика WSUS
  • Simplified Chinese: WSUS 统计
  • Spanish: Estadísticas WSUS

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 the Microsoft WSUS 3.0 Administration Console on the probe system.
  • This sensor requires .NET 4.7.2 or later from Microsoft on the probe system. If the sensor shows the error PE087, additionally install .NET 3.5 on the probe system.
  • This sensor requires credentials for Windows systems in the settings of the parent device.
  • We recommend Windows Server 2012 R2 on the probe system for best performance of this sensor.
  • This sensor supports the IPv6 protocol.
  • See the Knowledge Base: Can I encrypt connections to my WSUS server?

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

.NET 4.7.2 or later

This sensor requires .NET 4.7.2 or later to be installed on the probe system (on every cluster node, if on a cluster probe).

i_round_redIf the framework is missing, you cannot create this sensor.

i_square_cyanFor more information, see the Knowledge Base: Which .NET version does PRTG require?

Windows credentials

This sensor requires credentials for Windows systems in the settings of the parent device. Preferably, use Windows domain credentials.

i_round_redIf you use local credentials, make sure that the same Windows user accounts (with the same user name and password) exist on both the probe system and the target computer. Otherwise, the sensor cannot correctly connect.

WSUS 3.0 Administration Console

For this sensor to work, the Microsoft WSUS 3.0 Administration Console must be installed on the probe system. In a cluster, it must be installed on every cluster node.

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:

  • ptfsensor

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 Settings

Sensor Settings

Sensor Settings

Setting

Description

WSUS Server Port

Enter the number of the port the WSUS server service runs on. The default value is 8530. Enter an integer.

Connection Security

Define if you want to use Secure Sockets Layer (SSL)/Transport Layer Security (TLS) for the connection to the WSUS server or if you prefer unsecured connections:

  • Use SSL/TLS
  • Do not use connection security

i_square_cyanIf you want to use SSL/TLS, you must configure the WSUS server accordingly. For details, see the Knowledge Base: Can I encrypt connections to my WSUS server?

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 names are Result of Sensor [ID].txt and Result of Sensor [ID].Data.txt. This setting is for debugging purposes. PRTG overwrites these files with each scanning interval.

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 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

Approved Updates

The number of approved updates

Computers Having Update Errors

The number of computers that have update errors

Computers Needing Updates

The number of computers that need updates

Computers Not Synchronized for 7 Days

The number of computers that have not synchronized for seven days

Computers Registered

The number of computers that are registered

Computers Up To Date

The number of computers that are up to date

Declined Updates

The number of updates that were declined

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.

Expired Updates

The number of updates that are expired

Not Approved Critical Or Security Updates

The number of critical or security updates that were not approved

Not Approved Updates

The number of updates that were not approved

Total Updates

The total number of updates

Unapproved, Needed Updates

The number of updates that are unapproved but needed

Updates Needed By Computers

The number of updates that computers need

Updates Needing Files

The number of updates that need files

Updates Up To Date

The number of updates that are up to date

Updates With Client Errors

The number of updates that have client errors

Updates With Server Errors

The number of updates that have server errors

Updates With Stale Update Approvals

The number of updates that have stale update approvals

WSUS Infrastructure Updates Not Approved For Install

The number of WSUS infrastructure updates that were not approved for installation

More

i_square_blueKnowledge Base

Can I encrypt connections to my WSUS server?

Which .NET version does PRTG require?

What security features does PRTG include?