PRTG Manual: HTTP Full Web Page Sensor
The HTTP Full Web Page sensor monitors the full download time of a web page including assets such as images. In the background, it opens the web page in a browser instance to perform the measurement. It does not follow links.
Be careful with this sensor because it can generate a considerable amount of internet traffic if you use it with a short scanning interval.
For a detailed list and descriptions of the channels that this sensor can show, see section Channel List.
- Dutch: HTTP Volledige Webpagina
- French: Page web complète (HTTP)
- German: HTTP (Komplette Webseite)
- Japanese: HTTP 完全ウェブページ監視
- Portuguese: Página completa HTTP
- Russian: HTTP: Полное время загрузки веб-страницы
- Simplified Chinese: HTTP 完整网页
- Spanish: Página web completa HTTP
Consider the following remarks and requirements for this sensor:
Remark |
Description |
---|---|
Performance impact |
This sensor has a very high performance impact. We recommend that you use no more than 50 of this sensor on each probe. |
SRP ciphers |
This sensor does not support Secure Remote Password (SRP) ciphers. |
Smart URL replacement |
This sensor supports smart URL replacement. |
IPv6 |
This sensor supports IPv6. |
Knowledge Base |
|
Hosted probe |
You 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. |
The sensor has the following default tags that are automatically predefined in the sensor's settings when you add the sensor:
- httpfullsensor
For more information about basic sensor settings, see section Sensor Settings.
Full Web Page Download Settings
Setting |
Description |
---|---|
Timeout (Sec.) |
Enter a timeout in seconds for the request. Enter an integer. The maximum timeout value is 900 seconds (15 minutes). If the reply takes longer than this value, the sensor cancels the request and shows a corresponding error message. |
URL |
Enter the address of the web page that the sensor loads. If you enter an absolute URL, the sensor uses this address independently of the IP Address/DNS Name setting of the parent device. The URL must be URL encoded. PRTG uses a smart URL replacement with which you can use the parent device's IP address or Domain Name System (DNS) name setting as part of the URL. For more information, see section Smart URL Replacement. |
Browser Engine |
Define which browser engine this sensor uses to load the web page:
All browser engines use the proxy settings from the Windows user account that the probe runs under (this is usually the local Windows "system" user account). To use a proxy, adjust the settings accordingly on the probe system (on all cluster nodes, if in a cluster). For more information, see the Knowledge Base: How can I access proxy settings for the HTTP Full Web Page sensor? |
Security Context |
Define the Windows user account that this sensor uses to run the browser engine:
|
This setting is only visible if you select PhantomJS (Headless Webkit) above. Specify how the browser engine handles the web page result:
If necessary, you can change the window size of the rendered screenshots. For more information, see the Knowledge Base: How can I change the size of PhantomJS full web page screenshots? In a cluster, PRTG stores the result in the PRTG data directory of the master node. |
|
Authentication |
This setting is only visible if you select PhantomJS (Headless Webkit) above. Define if the monitored web page needs authentication for access:
|
User Name |
This setting is only visible if you select PhantomJS (Headless Webkit) above. Enter the user name for the web page. |
Password |
This setting is only visible if you select PhantomJS (Headless Webkit) above. Enter the password for the web page. |
Setting |
Description |
---|---|
Primary Channel |
Select a channel from the list to define it as the primary channel. In the device tree, PRTG displays the last value of the primary channel below the sensor's name. The available options depend on what channels are available for this sensor. You can set a different primary channel later by clicking below a channel gauge on the sensor's Overview tab. |
Graph Type |
Define how this sensor shows different channels:
|
Stack Unit |
This setting is only visible if you select Stack channels on top of each other above. Select a unit from the list. PRTG stacks all channels with this unit 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. |
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 under the corresponding setting name to disable the inheritance and to display its options.
For more information, see section Inheritance of Settings.
Instead of entering a complete address in the URL field of an HTTP sensor, you can only enter the protocol followed by a colon and three forward slashes (this means that you can enter either http:/// or https:///, or even a simple forward slash / as the equivalent for http:///). PRTG automatically fills in the parent device's IP Address/DNS Name in front of the third forward slash.
Whether this results in a valid URL or not depends on the IP address or Domain Name System (DNS) name of the parent device. In combination with cloning devices, you can use smart URL replacement to create many similar devices.
For example, if you create a device with the DNS name www.example.com and you add an HTTP sensor to it, you can provide values in the following ways:
- If you enter https:/// in the URL field, PRTG automatically creates the URL https://www.example.com/
- If you enter /help in the URL field, PRTG automatically creates and monitor the URL http://www.example.com/help
- It is also possible to provide a port number in the URL field. It is taken over by the device's DNS name and is internally added, for example, http://:8080/
Smart URL replacement does not work for sensors that run on the probe device.
Which channels the sensor actually shows might depend on the target 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 |
Loading Time |
The loading time of the full web page This channel is the primary channel by default. |
KNOWLEDGE BASE
What to do when I see a CreateUniqueTempDir() error message for my HTTP Full Web Page sensor?
HTTP Full Web Page sensor is unable to navigate. What can I do?
How can I change the size of PhantomJS full web page screenshots?
Why is my HTTP Full Web Page sensor generating so many temporary files?
Which HTTP status code leads to which HTTP sensor status?
What security features does PRTG include?
What is the difference between "HTTP" and "HTTP Full Web Page" web server sensors?
How can I access proxy settings for the HTTP Full Web Page sensor?
My HTTP sensors don't work. What can I do?