<%NUMBERING1%>.<%NUMBERING2%>.<%NUMBERING3%> PRTG Manual: General Layout

This section provides a general overview of the structure of the PRTG web interface. Central focus is the Devices view, which you can select via the main menu bar. The Devices view presents the monitoring results at a glance.

Welcome Page

When you log in to the PRTG web interface, you see the Welcome Page by default. You can set another homepage in your account settings, section Web Interface.

Click View Results to open the device tree window.

Tree View Layout

Click View Results on the welcome screen to display the device tree window. This is a good starting point for your everyday work with PRTG.

PRTG Device Tree

PRTG Device Tree

From top to bottom, the device tree screen has several areas that are covered in further detail in this section. For a general overview of the device tree, consider the table below.

Page area name

Description

Global Header Area

This area contains the main menu at the very top, the global status bar, the path to the currently selected object, and a quick search box.

Page Header Bar

This area contains the page heading with the name of the current object, several tabs with settings, monitoring data of the current object, and quick action buttons.

Page Content

This area contains information about the current object and all other objects underneath in the tree hierarchy, the object's status bar, a quick search box, and the QR code that links to the current URL.

Viewing options

These buttons are part of the page content. Here you can adjust how your device tree is displayed.

Page Footer

Shows information about the current version of PRTG, the logged in PRTG user account, and the current time (depending on the timezone settings for the currently logged in user).

A timer counts down how much time remains until the next automatic page refresh. You can pause the refresh timer with the pause icon and resume with the play icon. If you open another page while the refresh timer is paused, the timer resumes automatically, starting with the defined Auto Refresh Interval (Sec.) that you can configure in your account settings.

icon-i-round-redLong table lists that are set to display 1000 items at a time are excluded from the automatic refresh to ensure system performance.

Page Footer Icons

With these icons, you have quick access to the PRTG Auto-Update page if a new version is available and to the contact support form. There is also a link to context-sensitive help.

When running PRTG in a cluster, you also see a cluster-related element. It shows the name of the node that you are logged in to and displays whether this is a master or a failover node. Click the bar to show the Cluster Status. In a failover node, you can review all data, but changes in the settings are not saved. In order to change settings, log in to the master node of your cluster.

Click an object to see its details page. In the page heading of the page header bar, you always see the name of the object that you have currently selected.

When navigating the PRTG web interface, the following paths are available:

  • The main menu provides access to all important aspects of the software.
  • The quick search is often the fastest way to find a specific object (for example, a sensor or a device).
  • Using the page tabs, you can switch between various subpages.
  • Right-clicking objects opens a context menu.
  • When pausing over objects, the tool tip appears, and after further hovering, a quick-access window (Hover Popup) opens.
  • You can drill down into the object hierarchy of probes, groups, devices, and sensors in the object tree merely by clicking a subobject of the currently displayed object (for example, a sensor on the device page).

These navigation paths offer complete access to the functionality of PRTG.

In the following, we describe the different areas of the web interface.

Global Header Area

Global Header Area

Global Header Area

The header area of the web interface provides central, very condensed information about your installation and offers access to all content and every setting within PRTG. The following table lists the elements that make up the global header area.

icon-i-roundThis documentation refers to the PRTG System Administrator user accessing the PRTG web interface on a master node. If you use other user accounts, interfaces, or nodes, you might not see all of the options in the way described here. If you use a cluster installation, note that failover nodes are read-only by default.

Screen Number

Part

Description

1

Main Menu Bar

For navigating through the web interface, the main menu is the best starting point. We recommend that you take a few minutes to familiarize yourself with the menu bar and its submenus.

icon-book-arrowsFor a detailed description, see section Main Menu Structure.

2

New Alarms, New Log Entries, New Tickets

The information boxes show how many new alarms, new log entries, and updated tickets have occurred. Click the respective box to view the lists of Alarms, Logs, or Tickets.

3

Global Sensor Status Symbols

This area shows the accumulated states of all sensors you have configured for monitoring, grouped into the different sensor states. You see colored boxes with numbers that symbolize the amount of sensors that are in the respective status. For example, you can see how many sensors are in Up, Down, or Warning status. Click a box to view a list of all sensors in the respective status.

icon-book-arrowsFor a detailed description, see section Sensor States.

4

Search Box, Logout

Via the icons in the top-right corner, you can start a search or log out.

To search for a monitoring object, enter a name, parts of a name, an IP address, a DNS name, or a tag in the search box on the right and confirm with enter. PRTG performs a string search in your entire monitoring setup, including groups, devices, sensors, libraries, maps, reports, tickets, and object comments.

A page with the items that are related to the search term opens—even displaying online help articles.

5

Breadcrumbs

Below the main menu, PRTG shows a path that retraces the steps back to the welcome screen (or your defined starting page). Use it to quickly jump back to where you came from. Breadcrumbs can also help you to orient yourself if you get lost. If you click the down arrow on a breadcrumb item, a dropdown menu opens that shows all objects on the same level. You can either search for an object or select one directly. For example, you can directly access all other sensors on a device, other devices within a group, and another group on the same probe. Other probes in your root group are also available.

Page Header Bar

The page header bar below the global header area consists of a number of elements shown in the table below.

Page Header Bar

Page Header Bar

Screen Number

Part

Description

1

Page Heading

This line displays the current object's type and name as page heading. In the screenshot, it is a group that is called Root. Here you can define the object's priority by clicking on one of the five stars (not available for the Root group).

icon-book-arrowsFor details, see section Priority and Favorites.

2

Context Buttons

On the right side is a row of icons for several actions. Depending on the currently viewed page within PRTG, you can pause (and resume) the respective object. You can also add another object (for example, a sensor to a device), send a link to the current page per email, perform an immediate scan, open a related ticket, or show the corresponding object history page.

Click the down arrow to open the context menu of the currently displayed object for further options.

icon-book-arrowsFor more information, see section Context Menus.

3

Tabs

Via tabs you can navigate to the various subpages of an object, for example, to its monitoring data or settings.

icon-book-arrowsFor more information, see sections Review Sensor Data and Change Device and Sensor Settings.

icon-i-roundThis documentation refers to the PRTG System Administrator user accessing the PRTG web interface on a master node. If you use other user accounts, interfaces, or nodes, you might not see all of the options in the way described here. If you use a cluster installation, note that failover nodes are read-only by default.

Page Content

The page content of the general layout varies depending on the selected object. It shows information about the current object and all other objects underneath it in the tree hierarchy. The deeper down in the hierarchy that you select an object, the more detailed is the displayed information.

Page Content

Page Content

Screen Number

Part

Description

1

Sensor Status Bar

This element is visible when viewing a probe, a group (including Root), or a device. It is not available on a sensor's Overview tab. The sensor status bar shows the accumulated states of all sensors for the current object, grouped into different sensor states. They show the number of sensors in the respective status.

For example, you can see how many sensors are in Up, Down, or Warning status. For a detailed description of sensor states, see the Sensor States section. You can hide sensors that are in a certain status by removing the check mark in front of the respective status. To show them again, add the check mark again.

2

Viewing options

This element is only visible when viewing a probe or a group. It is not available when you view device or sensor details. For a detailed description, see Switch Device Tree View below.

3

Tree Search

In the white search box to the right of the tree view selection, enter a key word to search the device tree for matching items. The tree highlights matching devices and sensors by graying out all others. This can help you to get a quick overview over sensors monitoring a specific part of your network. For example, you can enter the keyword "firewall" to highlight devices and sensors matching this name.

4

Add Button

Use this button to add new objects to your monitoring setup. For a detailed description, see Add Button below.

5

Object Status, Scanning Interval, Object ID, QR Code

This element displays the current status of the selected object, the time interval in which PRTG scans the current object, the ID of the current object, and the QR code for the current page. If you use a PRTG mobile app, you can scan the code to view the current object directly on your mobile device. Click the QR code to enlarge it for scanning.

Depending on the selected object type, this element shows additional information:

  • All objects underneath the Root group show their dependency.
  • Groups and devices display the time elapsed since the last execution of the auto-discovery on the selected object.
  • Devices show their respective Domain Name System (DNS) name or IP address as defined in the device settings and the time elapsed since the last execution of the sensor recommendation on this device.
  • Sensors show additional monitoring statistics as well as their performance impact.

Switch Device Tree View

Wherever a probe or group is displayed, you can choose between a number of viewing options.

Device Tree Viewing Options

Device Tree Viewing Options

Switch Device Tree View—Classic Device Tree

Via the Switch Device Tree View buttons in the page header bar, you can adjust how much information is included next to each object. Using the various buttons, you can switch from a very condensed view (S) to a very spacious view (L). Use XL to switch the device tree to a list view.

In the classic device tree view, you can collapse devices, groups, and probes. Click the minus box left of the object name to summarize the sensors according to their respective status. By default, sensors in a Down, Down (Partial), or Down (Acknowledged) status are summarized if there are more than ten sensors with the same status, otherwise they are displayed individually.

Collapsed Device With Summarized Ups and Unusuals and Individual Downs

Collapsed Device With Summarized Ups and Unusuals and Individual Downs

Switch Device Tree View—Extended Views

There are two additional options to the simple tree views that enable you to display the status of all sensors of your entire installation in a single overview. Click one of the icons to change the view:

Sunburst View
The sunburst view displays your entire installation as a circle diagram. The groups are represented as inner circles, and all devices contained within a group are shown as 'cake slices' attached to the outside of a circle element.

The sunburst is interactive:

  • You can click elements to open the details view of your monitoring objects.
  • You can zoom in and out by using the plus + and minus buttons or your mouse wheel.
  • You can change the position of the sunburst on the Overview tab with drag-and-drop.
PRTG Sunburst View

PRTG Sunburst View

Tree Map View
The tree map view displays all devices of your entire installation as tiles sorted into a square and arranged according to the groups they belong to. Each device dynamically changes color to reflect the overall status of the sensors on the device. You can also adjust the square size: either depending on a device's priority, or depending on the number of sensors on a device, or depending on both. To do this, click the Size by: Sensors and/or Priority setting in the page header bar (see the mark in the screenshot below).

PRTG Tree Map View

PRTG Tree Map View

For both views:

  • Colors
    A device (or group) element can have different colors, depending on the states of the sensors running on this device or group (see Sensor States). A higher status is regarded as more important and takes precedence, that is, it is prioritized higher. For example, if a device currently has sensors in the states Up (green), Paused (blue), and Warning (yellow), according to device prioritization, this tile is then yellow, indicating that at least one sensor on this device is in Warning status. If a single sensor changes to Down status, the corresponding device tile turns red. Correspondingly, the PRTG states (for both views) are shown here in order of their prioritization:

Flag

Flag Color

Object Status

Meaning

led_red_big

Red

Down

At least one sensor on this object shows a Down status. Hover over an object's name to view the total number of alarms regarding this object.

led_redok_big

Bright-Red

Down (Acknowledged)

At least one sensor on this object is Down and the status has been acknowledged by a PRTG user via the Acknowledge Alarm function. All of this device's Down states must have been acknowledged—if at least one sensor has not been acknowledged, this object is displayed as Down.

led_yellow_big

Yellow

Warning

At least one sensor on this object shows a Warning status. There is no sensor in a Down or Down (Acknowledged) status regarding this object.

led_orange_big

Orange

Unusual

At least one sensor on this object shows an Unusual status. There is no sensor in a Down, Down (Acknowledged), or Warning status regarding this object.

led_green_big

Green

Up

All sensors on this object show an Up status. There is no sensor in a Down, Down (Acknowledged), Warning, Paused, or Unusual status regarding this object.

led_blue_big

Blue

Paused

All sensors on this object show a Paused status. There is no sensor in a Down, Down (Acknowledged), Warning, Unusual, or Up status regarding this object.

led_grey_big

Grey

Unknown

All sensors on this object show an Unknown status. There is no sensor in a Down, Down (Acknowledged), Warning, Unusual, Paused, or Up status regarding this object.

  • Size by Sensors / Size by Priority
    You can adjust the size of the different squares. They can be calculated by the amount of sensors running on a device or within a group, or by the sensors' priority (see Priority and Favorites), or both. Use the check boxes in the page header bar (see below) to immediately change the view, then use the setting that suits you best.
Sorting Checkboxes

Sorting Checkboxes

Add Button

Hover over plus_button to add new objects to your monitoring setup. An assistant appears, guiding you through the necessary steps.

icon-i-roundThe content of the PRTG context menu varies, depending on the menu item or tab you have selected.

Add Button Menu

Add Button Menu

See the following for more information:

Default Objects in the Device Tree

By default, a Probe Device is created in the device tree on the local probe or hosted probe. It represents the probe system running with your PRTG installation. PRTG automatically monitors the system health of the PRTG core server and each probe to discover overload that may distort monitoring results. To monitor the system status of the probe computer, PRTG automatically creates a few sensors:

In a cluster installation, PRTG also creates a Cluster Probe Device with a Cluster Health sensor that monitors the cluster's system health.

We recommend that you keep these sensors, but they are all removable.

Priority and Favorites

You can tag a device or sensor as favorite by clicking the flag displayed to the right of it (see screenshot below). To untag devices, proceed in the same way.

One-Click Favorites in the Device Tree

One-Click Favorites in the Device Tree

icon-i-roundThe favorite flag for sensors is available for the L or XL viewing options.

A quick way of adjusting priority is located in the page header bar right next to the object name (see screen number 1 in that subsection). Click the stars to adjust priority (5 having the highest priority and 1 the lowest).

One-Click Favorite and Priority in the Page Header Bar

One-Click Favorite and Priority in the Page Header Bar

A blue flag indicates that the respective object is a favorite already. After clicking the blue flag, the object is no longer a favorite. A gray flag indicates that it is not yet a favorite.

icon-book-arrowsFor more information, see section Priority and Favorites.

For more details about page contents, see the following sections:

Ajax Web Interface—Basic Procedures—Topics

Other Ajax Web Interface Sections

Keywords: General Web Interface Layout,Header,Tree View,Tree View Zoom