<%NUMBERING1%>.<%NUMBERING2%>.<%NUMBERING3%> PRTG Manual: WMI Event Log Sensor

The WMI Event Log sensor monitors a Windows logfile via Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI).

i_round_blueYou can individually set the sensor to a specific status according to a new event log entry.

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

WMI Event Log Sensor

WMI Event Log Sensor

Sensor in Other Languages

  • Dutch: WMI Logboek
  • French: Log des événements WMI
  • German: WMI Ereignisprotokoll
  • Japanese: WMI イベントログ
  • Portuguese: Log de eventos WMI
  • Russian: Журнал событий WMI
  • Simplified Chinese: WMI 事件日志
  • Spanish: Registro de eventos WMI

Remarks

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.

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. Therefore, you do not see all settings in this dialog. You can change nearly all settings on the sensor's Settings tab after creation.

i_round_blueThe settings that you select in the Add Sensor dialog are valid for all sensors that you create when you finish the dialog.

WMI Event Log Monitor

Setting

Description

Log Files

Select the log files that you want to monitor. PRTG creates one sensor for each log file that you select.

i_round_blueAdd check marks in front of the respective lines to select the items. Use the check box in the table header to select all items or to cancel the selection. In large tables, use the search function in the upper-right corner.

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 meaningful name to identify the sensor. By default, PRTG shows this name in the device tree, as well as in alarms, logs, notifications, reports, maps, libraries, and tickets.

i_round_blueIf the name contains angle brackets (<>), PRTG replaces them with braces ({}) for security reasons. For more information, see the Knowledge Base: What security features does PRTG include?

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:

  • wmieventlogsensor

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 or 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.

WMI Event Log Monitor

WMI Event Log Monitor

WMI Event Log Monitor

Setting

Description

Log File

Shows the Windows log file that this sensor monitors.

i_round_bluePRTG shows this value for reference purposes only. If you need to change this value, add the sensor anew.

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.

Filter Event Log Entries

i_square_cyanFor details and how to find out the correct filter, see the Knowledge Base: My Event Log sensor ignores changes in the event log. What can I do?

Filter Event Log Entries

Filter Event Log Entries

Setting

Description

Event Type

Specify the type of event that this sensor processes:

  • Any
  • Error
  • Warning
  • Information
  • Security Audit Success
  • Security Audit Failure

i_round_blueThe sensor cannot process other event types.

Filter by Source

Filter all events for a certain event source:

  • Off: Do not filter by event source.
  • On: Filter by event source.
    i_round_blueIf you enable this option, this sensor only processes messages that match the value that you define below.

Filter Type

This setting is only visible if you enable Filter by Source above. Select the filter type:

  • Include filter: Include the specified value and disregard all other values.
  • Exclude filter: Exclude the specified value and regard all other values.

Match String (Event Source)

This setting is only visible if you enable Filter by Source above. Enter an event source that you want to filter for. Depending on the kind of filter, the sensor either processes the event source (Include filter option) or it does not process it (Exclude filter option). Enter a string.

Filter by ID

Filter all events for a certain event ID:

  • Off: Do not filter by event ID.
  • On: Filter by event ID.
    i_round_blueIf you enable this option, this sensor only processes messages that match the value that you define below.

Filter Type

This setting is only visible if ID filtering is On above. Select a filter type:

  • Include filter: Include the specified value and disregard all other values.
  • Exclude filter: Exclude the specified value and regard all other values.

Match Values (Event ID)

This setting is only visible if you enable Filter by ID above. Enter an event ID that you want to filter for. Depending on the kind of filter, the sensor either processes the event ID (Include filter option) or it does not process it (Exclude filter option).

i_round_blueThe WMI Event Log sensor supports filtering for only one ID.

Filter by Category

Filter all events for a certain event category:

  • Off: Do not filter by event category.
  • On: Filter by event category.
    i_round_blueIf you enable this option, this sensor only processes messages that match the value that you define below.

Filter Type

This setting is only visible if you enable Filter by Category above. Select a filter type:

  • Include filter: Include the specified value and disregard all other values.
  • Exclude filter: Exclude the specified value and regard all other values.

Match String (Event Category)

This setting is only visible if you enable Filter by Category above. Enter a category that you want to filter for. Depending on the kind of filter, the sensor either processes the event category  (Include filter option) or it does not process it (Exclude filter option). Enter a string.

Filter by User

Filter all received events for a certain event user:

  • Off: Do not filter by event user.
  • On: Filter by event user.
    i_round_blueIf you enable this option, this sensor only processes messages that match the value that you define below.

Filter Type

This setting is only visible if you enable Filter by User above. Select a filter type:

  • Include filter: Include the specified value and disregard all other values.
  • Exclude filter: Exclude the specified value and regard all other values.

Match String (Event User)

This setting is only visible if you enable Filter by User above. Enter a user name that you want to filter for. Depending on the kind of filter, the sensor either processes the event user (Include filter option) or it does not process it (Exclude filter option). Enter a string.

Filter by Computer

Filter all received events for a certain event computer:

  • Off: Do not filter by event computer.
  • On: Filter by event computer.
    i_round_blueIf you enable this option, this sensor only processes messages that match the value that you define below.

Filter Type

This setting is only visible if you enable Filter by Computer above. Select a filter type:

  • Include filter: Include the specified value and disregard all other values.
  • Exclude filter: Exclude the specified value and regard all other values.

Match String (Event Computer)

This setting is only visible if you enable Filter by Computer above. Enter a computer name that you want to filter for. Depending on the kind of filter, the sensor either processes the event computer (Include filter option) or it does not process it (Exclude filter option). Enter a string.

Filter by Message

Filter all received events for a certain event message:

  • Off: Do not filter by event message.
  • On: Filter by event message.
    i_round_blueIf you enable this option, this sensor only processes messages that match the value that you define below.

Filter Type

This setting is only visible if you enable Filter by Message above. Select a filter type:

  • Include filter: Include the specified value and disregard all other values.
  • Exclude filter: Exclude the specified value and regard all other values.

Match String (Event Message)

This setting is only visible if message filtering is On above. Enter a message that you want to filter for. Depending on the kind of filter, the sensor either processes the event message (Include filter option) or it does not process it (Exclude filter option). Enter a string.

i_round_blueYou must use the percent sign (%) as wildcard for any or no character if you want to check if the string is part of the message. Otherwise, the whole event message must match the string. For example, you can enter %RAS% for any event source that contains the string RAS.

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 the following 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

Click b_inherited_enabled to interrupt the inheritance.

Scanning Interval

Scanning Interval

Setting

Description

Scanning Interval

Select a scanning interval from the dropdown list. The scanning interval determines the amount of time that the sensor waits between two scans. Choose from:

  • 30 seconds
  • 60 seconds
  • 5 minutes
  • 10 minutes
  • 15 minutes
  • 30 minutes
  • 1 hour
  • 4 hours
  • 6 hours
  • 12 hours
  • 24 hours

i_round_blueYou can change the available intervals in the system administration on PRTG on premises installations.

If a Sensor Query Fails

Select the number of scanning intervals that the sensor has time to reach and to check a device again if a sensor query fails. Depending on the option that you select, the sensor can try to reach and to check a device again several times before the sensor shows the Down status. This can avoid false alarms if the monitored device only has temporary issues. For previous scanning intervals with failed requests, the sensor shows the Warning status. Choose from:

  • Set sensor to down immediately: Set the sensor to the Down status immediately after the first request fails.
  • Set sensor to warning for 1 interval, then set to down (recommended): Set the sensor to the Warning status after the first request fails. If the second request also fails, the sensor shows the Down status.
  • Set sensor to warning for 2 intervals, then set to down: Set the sensor to the Down status only after the third request fails.
  • Set sensor to warning for 3 intervals, then set to down: Set the sensor to the Down status only after the fourth request fails.
  • Set sensor to warning for 4 intervals, then set to down: Set the sensor to the Down status only after the fifth request fails.
  • Set sensor to warning for 5 intervals, then set to down: Set the sensor to the Down status only after the sixth request fails.

i_round_blueSensors that monitor via Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) always wait at least one scanning interval before they show the Down status. It is not possible to immediately set a WMI sensor to the Down status, so the first option does not apply to these sensors. All other options can apply.

i_round_blueIf you define error limits for a sensor's channels, the sensor immediately shows the Down status. None of the interval options apply.

i_round_blueIf a channel uses lookup values, the sensor immediately shows the Down status. None of the interval options apply.

Schedules, Dependencies, and Maintenance Windows

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 Windows

Schedules, Dependencies, and Maintenance Windows

Setting

Description

Schedule

Select a schedule from the list. You can use schedules to monitor during a certain time span (days or hours) every week. Choose from:

  • None
  • Saturdays
  • Sundays
  • Weekdays
  • Weekdays Eight-To-Eight (08:00 - 20:00)
  • Weekdays Nights (17:00 - 09:00)
  • Weekdays Nights (20:00 - 08:00)
  • Weekdays Nine-To-Five (09:00 - 17:00)
  • Weekends

i_round_blueYou can create schedules, edit schedules, or pause monitoring for a specific time span. For more information, see section Schedules.

Maintenance Window

Select if you want to set up a one-time maintenance window. During a maintenance window, monitoring stops for the selected object and all child objects. They show the Paused status instead. Choose between:

  • Do not set up a one-time maintenance window: Do not set up a one-time maintenance window. Monitoring is always active.
  • Set up a one-time maintenance window: Set up a one-time maintenance window and pause monitoring. You can define a time span for the pause below.

i_round_blueTo terminate an active maintenance window before the defined end date, change the time entry in Maintenance Ends to a date in the past.

Maintenance Begins

This setting is only visible if you enable Set up a one-time maintenance window above. Use the date time picker to enter the start date and time of the one-time maintenance window.

Maintenance Ends

This setting is only visible if you enable Set up a one-time maintenance window above. Use the date time picker to enter the end date and time of the one-time maintenance window.

Dependency Type

Select a dependency type. You can use dependencies to pause monitoring for an object depending on the status of a different object. You can choose from:

  • Use parent: Use the dependency type of the parent object.
  • Select a sensor: Use the dependency type of the parent object. Additionally, pause the current object if a specific sensor is in the Down status or in the Paused status because of another dependency.
  • Master sensor for parent: Make this sensor the master object for its parent device. The sensor influences the behavior of its parent device: If the sensor is in the Down status, the device is paused. For example, it is a good idea to make a Ping sensor the master object for its parent device to pause monitoring for all other sensors on the device in case the device cannot even be pinged. Additionally, the sensor is paused if the parent group is paused by another dependency.

i_round_blueTo test your dependencies, select Simulate Error Status from the context menu of an object that other objects depend on. A few seconds later, all dependent objects are paused. You can check all dependencies under Devices | Dependencies in the main menu bar.

Dependency

This setting is only visible if you enable Select a sensor above. Click b_search_light and use the object selector to select a sensor on which the current object will depend.

Dependency Delay (Sec.)

This setting is only visible if you enable Select a sensor above. Define a time span in seconds for the dependency delay.

After the master sensor for this dependency returns to the Up status, PRTG additionally delays the monitoring of the dependent objects by the time span you define. This can prevent false alarms, for example, after a server restart or to give systems more time for all services to start. Enter an integer value.

i_round_redThis setting is not available if you set this sensor to Use parent or to be the Master sensor for parent. In this case, define delays in the parent device settings or in its parent group settings.

Access Rights

Click b_inherited_enabled to interrupt the inheritance.

Access Rights

Access Rights

Setting

Description

User Group Access

Define the user groups that have access to the sensor. You see a table with user groups and group access rights. The table contains all user groups in your setup. For each user group, you can choose from the following group access rights:

  • Inherited: Inherit the access rights settings of the parent object.
  • No access: Users in this user group cannot see or edit the sensor. The sensor neither shows up in lists nor in the device tree.
  • Read access: Users in this group can see the sensor and view its monitoring results. They cannot edit any settings.
  • Write access: Users in this group can see the sensor, view its monitoring results, and edit its settings. They cannot edit its access rights settings.
  • Full access: Users in this group can see the sensor, view its monitoring results, edit its settings, and edit its access rights settings.

i_square_cyanFor more details on access rights, see section Access Rights Management.

Channel List

i_round_blueWhich channels the sensor actually shows might depend on the monitored 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.

New Records

The number of new records per second

i_round_blueThis channel is the primary channel by default.

More

i_square_blueKNOWLEDGE BASE

My Event Log sensor ignores changes in the event log. What can I do?

How can I configure sensors using speed limits to keep the status for more than one interval?

What security features does PRTG include?

My WMI sensors don't work. What can I do?

Sensor Settings Overview

For more information about sensor settings, see the following sections: