PRTG Manual: File Sensor

Performance impact

This sensor has a high performance impact. We recommend that you use no more than 200 of this sensor on each probe.

LanmanServer service

This sensor requires that the LanmanServer service runs on the target system.

The display name of the service is Server.

To enable the service, log in to the respective system and open the services manager (for example, via services.msc). In the list, find the respective service and set its Start Type to Automatic.

IPv6

This sensor supports IPv6.

FQDN

Try the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) of the target system if the sensor does not get a connection with the IP address.

Knowledge Base

• Knowledge Base: What can I do if PRTG doesn't succeed with monitoring a share? PE029 PE032
• Knowledge Base: Can I use placeholders in file names to monitor log files?

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.

File Name

Enter the full path to the file that this sensor monitors. For example, enter C:\Windows\file.txt. to monitor a file on the probe system.

If you use a local path, the sensor only looks for the target file on the probe system, not on the parent device. To monitor a file on the parent device, use the dollar sign ($) like C$\User\username\file.txt.

If the file is located on a network device, use the Universal Naming Convention (UNC) path without the server part (only enter share\folder\file.txt). The sensor inherits the server part (\\server\) from the parent device settings. Enter a valid path and file name.

To monitor Windows shares, the LanmanServer service must run on the target system.

The File sensor supports wildcards (*). For example, you can enter C:\Windows\*.txt as File Name and select Show down status if file exists below if you want the sensor to show the Down status if a .txt file exists in the defined directory.

Sensor Behavior

Define when the sensor shows the Down status:

• Show down status if file does not exist: Show the Down status if the file does not exist.
• Show down status if file exists: Show the Down status if the file does exist.

If Content Changes

Define what the sensor does if the content of the file changes (based on a checksum):

• Ignore (default): Do nothing.
• Trigger 'change' notification: Send an internal message that indicates a change.
  In combination with a change trigger, you can use this to trigger a notification if a change occurs.

If Time Stamp Changes

Define what the sensor does if the time stamp of the file changes:

• Ignore (default): Do nothing.
• Trigger 'change' notification: Send an internal message that indicates a change.
  In combination with a change trigger, you can use this to trigger a notification if a change occurs.

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:

• 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.
  You 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 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.

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.

File Size

The file size

This channel is the primary channel by default.

Last Modified

The time since the last modification of the file

The sensor shows a negative value if the date of a modified file is in the future.