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PRTG Manual: General Layout

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

This section provides a general overview of the structure of the PRTG web interface. The central focus is the Devices view, which you can select via the main menu bar. The Devices view presents the device tree and your monitoring results.

Welcome Page

When you log in to the PRTG web interface, you see the Welcome page by default. You can set a different home page in your account settings.

Click View Results to open the device tree.

Device Tree View Layout

Click View Results on the Welcome page or select Devices from the main menu bar to display the device tree.

Device Tree

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

Screen Number	Page Area Name	Description
1	Global header area	This area contains the main menu bar at the very top, the global status bar, breadcrumbs that show the path to the selected object, a quick search box, and the logout button.
2	Page header bar	This area contains the page heading with the name of the selected object, several tabs with settings, and quick action buttons.
3	Page content	This area contains information about the selected object and all other objects underneath in the device tree hierarchy, the object's status bar, a quick search box, the QR code that links to the URL of the selected page, and graphs for different time spans.
4	Viewing options	These buttons are part of the page content. Here you can adjust how your device tree is displayed.
5	Page footer	This area shows information about the version of PRTG, the logged in user account, and the time (depending on the time zone settings for the logged in user). A timer counts down how much time remains until the next automatic page refresh. Click to pause the refresh timer and click to resume. If you open a different page while the refresh timer is paused, the timer resumes automatically and starts with the defined Refresh Interval (Sec.) that you can configure in your account settings. Long 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	Click for quick access to the auto-update settings if a new version is available. To open the Contact Support form, click . For context-sensitive help, click . If you run PRTG in a cluster, you also see a cluster-related element. It shows the name of the cluster node that you are logged in to and displays whether this is a master node or a failover node. Click the bar to show the cluster status. On a failover node, you can review all data, but PRTG does not save changes in the settings. To change the settings, log in to the master node.

Navigation

To navigate the PRTG web interface, the following options are available:

The main menu bar 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).
The clickable breadcrumbs show the path to a selected object in the object hierarchy.
Click an object to see its details. In the page heading of the page header bar, you always see the name of the object that you have selected.
Use the page tabs to switch between various subpages.
Right-click objects to open their context menu.
Hover over objects to display tool tips. Hover longer to open a quick-access window (hover popup).
Drill down into the object hierarchy of probes, groups, devices, and sensors in the device tree. To do so, click a subobject of the displayed object (for example, click a sensor on the Overview tab of a device).

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

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

Global Header Area

This documentation refers to an administrator that accesses the PRTG web interface on a master node. Other user accounts, interfaces, or failover nodes might not have all of the options in the way described here. In a cluster, note that failover nodes are read-only by default.

Global Header Area

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

Screen Number	Part	Description
1	Main Menu Bar	To navigate the PRTG web interface, the main menu bar is the best starting point. We recommend that you take a few minutes to familiarize yourself with the main menu bar and its submenus. For more information, see section Main Menu Structure.
2	New Alarms, New Log Entries, Updated 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 configured sensors, grouped into the different sensor states. You see boxes with numbers that show the amount of sensors that are in the respective status. For example, you can see how many sensors are in the Up, Down, or Warning status. Click a box to view a list of all sensors that are in the respective status. For more information, see section Sensor States.
4	Search Box, Logout	You can start a search () or log out () via the respective buttons in the top-right corner. To search for an object, enter a name, parts of a name, an IP address, a Domain Name System (DNS) name, or a tag in the search box and confirm with the Enter key. PRTG performs a string search in your entire monitoring setup, including groups, devices, sensors, libraries, maps, reports, tickets, and object comments. A page with items and online help articles that are related to the search term opens.
5	Breadcrumbs	Below the main menu bar, PRTG shows a path that retraces the steps back to the Welcome page (or your defined starting page). Use these breadcrumbs to navigate back to where you came from. If you click on a breadcrumb item, a dropdown list 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 other groups 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 the following elements.

Screen Number	Part	Description
1	Page Heading	The page heading displays the selected object's type and name. In the screenshot, this is the group that is called Root. Here you can define the object's priority as well. To do so, click one of the five stars () next to the object's name (this setting is not available for the root group). For more information, see section Priority and Favorites.
2	Quick Action Buttons	On the right side is a row of icons for several actions. Depending on the selected page, you can pause () and resume () the object. You can also open the settings of the object (), add a ticket (), send a link to the selected page per email (), or perform an immediate scan (). Click to open the context menu of the selected object for further options. For 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. For more information, see section Object Settings and the Knowledge Base: What options do I have to review my monitoring data in detail?

Screen Number

Part

Description

Page Heading

The page heading displays the selected object's type and name. In the screenshot, this is the group that is called Root. Here you can define the object's priority as well. To do so, click one of the five stars () next to the object's name (this setting is not available for the root group).

For more information, see section Priority and Favorites.

Quick Action Buttons

On the right side is a row of icons for several actions. Depending on the selected page, you can pause () and resume () the object. You can also open the settings of the object (), add a ticket (), send a link to the selected page per email (), or perform an immediate scan ().

Click to open the context menu of the selected object for further options.

For more information, see section Context Menus.

Tabs

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

For more information, see section Object Settings and the Knowledge Base: What options do I have to review my monitoring data in detail?

Page Content

The page content of the general layout varies depending on the selected object. It shows information about the object and all other objects underneath in the object hierarchy. The deeper down in the hierarchy you can find a selected object, the more detailed is the displayed information.

Page Content

Screen Number	Part	Description
1	Sensor Status Bar	This element is visible when you view a probe, a group (including the root group), or a device. It is not available on the Overview tab of a sensor. The sensor status bar shows the accumulated states of all sensors for the selected object, grouped into different sensor states. They show the number of sensors that are in the respective status. For example, you can see how many sensors are in the Up, Down, or Warning status. You can hide sensors that are in a certain status by clicking the respective status icon. To show the sensors again, click the status icon again. For more information on sensor states, see section Sensor States.
2	Viewing Options	This element is only visible when you view 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	Device Tree Search	In the search box to the right of the viewing options, enter a keyword to search the device tree for matching items. The device tree highlights matching devices and sensors by graying out all others. This gives you a quick overview of sensors that monitor a specific part of your network. For example, you can enter the keyword firewall to highlight devices and sensors that match this string.
4	Add Button	Click 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 status of the selected object, the interval in which PRTG scans the object, the ID of the object, and the QR code for the selected page. If you use a PRTG app for iOS or Android, you can scan the code to directly view the object on your mobile device. Click the QR code to enlarge it for scanning. Depending on the object type, this element shows additional information: All objects underneath the root group show their dependency. Groups and devices display the time that has elapsed since the last execution of the auto-discovery on the selected object. Devices show their DNS name or IP address as defined in the device settings and the time that has 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

Classic Device Tree View

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

In the classic device tree view, you can collapse devices, groups, and probes. Click left of the object name to summarize the sensors according to their respective status. By default, sensors in the 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 Up and Unusual States and Individual Down States

Extended Device Tree Views

There are two additional options to the classic device tree view with which you can display the status of all sensors of your entire installation in a single overview. Click to change to the sunburst view. To change to the tree map view, click .

Sunburst View

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

The sunburst is interactive:

You can click elements to open the Overview tab of your monitoring objects.
You can zoom in and out with your mouse wheel while pressing the Ctrl key.

Sunburst View

Tree Map View

The tree map view displays all devices of your entire installation as tiles that are sorted into a square and that are arranged according to the groups they belong to. Each device dynamically changes color to reflect the overall status of the sensors on the device.

Tree Map View

The following aspects apply to both the sunburst view and the tree map view:

Colors

A device or group can have different colors, depending on the states of the sensors that are on the device or in the group. The sensor states are ranked according to their priority, for example, the Down status has a higher priority than the Warning status, which has a higher priority than the Up status.

A tile shows the color of the sensor status with the highest priority. For example, if a device has sensors in the Up (green), Paused (blue), and Warning (yellow) status, the corresponding tile shows a yellow color to indicate that at least one sensor on this device is in the Warning status. If a single sensor changes to the Down status, the corresponding tile turns red.

In the following table, you can find all sensor states sorted by the highest priority to the lowest priority:

Color	Status Name	Meaning
Red	Down	At least one sensor on this object shows the Down status. Hover over an object's name to view the total number of alarms for this object.
Light Pink	Down (Acknowledged)	At least one sensor on this object shows the Down (Acknowledged) status. There is no sensor in the Down status.
Yellow	Warning	At least one sensor on this object shows the Warning status. There is no sensor in the Down or Down (Acknowledged) status.
Orange	Unusual	At least one sensor on this object shows the Unusual status. There is no sensor in the Down, Down (Acknowledged), or Warning status.
Green	Up	All sensors on this object show the Up status. There is no sensor in the Down, Down (Acknowledged), Warning, Paused, or Unusual status.
Blue	Paused	All sensors on this object show the Paused status. There is no sensor in the Down, Down (Acknowledged), Warning, Unusual, or Up status.
Grey	Unknown	All sensors on this object show the Unknown status. There is no sensor in the Down, Down (Acknowledged), Warning, Unusual, Paused, or Up status.

Size by: Sensors / Size by: Priority

You can adjust the size of the different squares according to the number of sensors that run on a device or in a group, or the sensors' priority, or both. Select the check boxes in the page header bar to change the square size.

Check Boxes for Adjusting the Square Size

Add Button

Hover over to add new objects to your monitoring setup. An assistant appears and guides you through the necessary steps.

The content of the menu varies depending on the selected object.

Add Button Menu

See the following sections for more information:

Default Objects in the Device Tree

By default, PRTG Network Monitor creates a probe device on the local probe or on the hosted probe (PRTG Hosted Monitor). The probe device represents the probe system. PRTG automatically monitors the system health of the PRTG core server and each probe to discover overload that might distort monitoring results. To monitor the status of the probe system, PRTG automatically creates the following sensors:

Core Health sensor
Probe Health sensor
System Health sensor
Some device-specific sensors for disk usage and bandwidth.

In a cluster, PRTG also creates a cluster probe device with a Cluster Health sensor that monitors the system health of the cluster.

Priority and Favorites

You can mark a device or sensor as a favorite. To do so, click to the right of the respective object in the device tree. The flag turns dark gray. To remove an object from your favorites, click . The flag turns transparent again.

One-Click Favorites in the Device Tree

The favorite flag for sensors is available for the L or XL viewing options.

A quick way to set the priority of an object is via the five stars in the page header bar next to the object name. Click the stars to adjust the priority. means top priority, means lowest priority.

One-Click Favorite and Priority in the Page Header Bar

You can also add any device or sensor to your favorites in the page header bar of the respective object. To do so, click for a device or for a sensor. Click for a device or for a sensor to remove the respective object from your favorites.

For more information, see section Priority and Favorites.

Knowledge Base

What options do I have to review my monitoring data in detail?

https://kb.paessler.com/en/topic/90007