<%NUMBERING1%>.<%NUMBERING2%>.<%NUMBERING3%> PRTG Manual: Create Device Template

To add a specific device several times, you can create a device template from this device. When you create a device template, PRTG saves information for nearly all sensors on this device to a template file that you can later use in combination with the auto-discovery (restrictions apply for a few sensors). Custom device templates are also available in the PRTG Sensor Hub.

In the device template, PRTG saves all relevant sensor settings except for settings that you set on other objects, such as schedules, notification triggers, and access rights. PRTG automatically sets these settings to inherited settings.

To create a device template, right-click a device in your device tree. From the context menu, select Create Device Template to open the Create Device Template dialog.

Create Device Template Assistant

Template Settings

Setting	Description
Template Name	Enter a meaningful display name for the device template. If 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?
Exclude Sensors	Enable the check box in front of the sensors that you want to exclude from the device template. Sensors that you cannot save in device templates do not appear in this list. Sensors that dynamically scan for available monitoring items when you add the sensor to a device do not appear in this list. PRTG automatically includes these sensors in the device template if they support the device template functionality. You cannot exclude these sensors from the device template.

Setting

Description

Template Name

Enter a meaningful display name for the device template.

If 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?

Exclude Sensors

Enable the check box in front of the sensors that you want to exclude from the device template.

Sensors that you cannot save in device templates do not appear in this list.

Sensors that dynamically scan for available monitoring items when you add the sensor to a device do not appear in this list. PRTG automatically includes these sensors in the device template if they support the device template functionality. You cannot exclude these sensors from the device template.

Click OK to save your settings. If you close the dialog without saving, all changes to the settings are lost.

Device templates only save the sensors on the device and the sensors' settings including the channel settings. They do not save the device itself or the device's settings. To successfully create a device template, you must add sensors to the device (either manually or via the auto-discovery) and the sensors must be device template capable.

After you save your device template file, you see a message where you can review the sensors that the new device template contains. Click OK to finish. PRTG stores the device template in the \devicetemplates subfolder of the PRTG program directory. Your device template file contains all sensors of the original device, including the sensors' settings.

Before the next auto-discovery, choose the Auto-discovery with specific device templates setting and select the name of your new device template from the list. PRTG then tries to discover the stored sensors. If the physical device answers to a sensor request, the sensor is added to the respective device in PRTG.
For more information, see section Auto-Discovery.

Restrictions

There are a few settings that you cannot save in a device template so PRTG uses the default settings:

The Dependency Type setting Master sensor for parent in the Schedules, Dependencies, and Maintenance Window section,
The Result Handling setting Store result because this setting is only intended for debugging purposes,
Settings in the Access Rights section to avoid security flaws, and
Notification triggers settings that you set on other objects, for example, a device or group. PRTG saves, however, notification triggers settings that you set directly on a sensor.

In general, you cannot save all sensor settings and channel settings (for example, channel limits of dynamically created channels) of sensors that dynamically scan for available monitoring items when you add the sensor.

Furthermore, because of internal restrictions, PRTG does not save every sensor in a device template.
For an overview list of all sensors, including their device template capability see section List of Available Sensor Types.

Device Template Updates

Once a device template is created, it is not possible to add additional sensors to it via the PRTG web interface. If you want to create a device template with an extended set of sensors, you need to create a new template.

When you save a new device template, PRTG updates all internal sensor IDs in this template. Because of this, PRTG creates all sensors that the new device template contains anew on the device to which you apply the template, even if the same sensors have already been created on this device with a different device template.

You cannot delete device templates via the PRTG web interface.

You cannot edit device template files in PRTG Hosted Monitor but you can upload the updated device template again. For more information, see section Manage a PRTG Hosted Monitor Subscription.

Device Template Filtering

You can include and exclude sensors from existing device templates. For details, see the Knowledge Base: How can I include and exclude sensors from device templates?

Knowledge Base

What security features does PRTG include?

https://kb.paessler.com/en/topic/61108

How can I include and exclude sensors from device templates?

https://kb.paessler.com/en/topic/89025