PRTG Manual: Dropbox Sensor
Important Notice |
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This sensor type is deprecated. The sensor still works but you cannot add it anew as of PRTG 22.x.78. |
The Dropbox sensor monitors a Dropbox account via the Dropbox application programming interface (API) and Open Authorization 2 (OAuth2).
For a detailed list and descriptions of the channels that this sensor can show, see section Channel List.
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- For details about OAuth2 authentication, see section Authentication via OAuth2.
- This sensor has a low performance impact.
- This sensor only supports the IPv4 protocol.
The Add Sensor dialog appears when you manually add a new sensor to a device. It only shows the settings that are required to create the sensor. You can change nearly all settings on the sensor's Settings tab after creation.
PRTG requires OAuth2 authorization before you can add this sensor. Provide the required credentials in the dialog box that appears.
Dropbox Credentials
This sensor uses OAuth2 authentication to get access to your Dropbox account.
For details about this authentication approach, see section Authentication via OAuth2.
Setting |
Description |
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OAuth URL |
Click Get Access Code to connect this sensor to your Dropbox account via OAuth2. This is necessary to allow the sensor to query data from Dropbox. A new browser window appears. Follow the steps in the window and confirm the permission for PRTG to connect to your Dropbox account. Copy the OAuth code you get and paste it into the Get Access Codefield below. |
OAuth Code |
Paste the access code that you receive after completing the authorization process for PRTG in your Dropbox account. It is mandatory to connect this sensor to your Dropbox account to create this sensor. Complete the OAuth approach first to get the OAuth code. Click OK to define the sensor settings. |
Click the Settings tab of a sensor to change its settings.
Setting |
Description |
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Sensor Name |
Enter a name to identify the sensor. |
Parent Tags |
Shows tags that the sensor inherits from its parent device, parent group, and parent probe. This setting is for your information only. You cannot change it. |
Tags |
Enter one or more tags. Confirm each tag with the Spacebar key, a comma, or the Enter key. You can use tags to group objects and use tag-filtered views later on. Tags are not case-sensitive. Tags are automatically inherited. It is not possible to enter tags with a leading plus (+) or minus (-) sign, nor tags with parentheses (()) or angle brackets (<>). For performance reasons, it can take some minutes until you can filter for new tags that you added. The sensor has the following default tags that are automatically predefined in the sensor's settings when you add the sensor:
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Priority |
Select a priority for the sensor. This setting determines the position of the sensor in lists. The highest priority is at the top of a list. Choose from the lowest priority () to the highest priority (). |
Usually, a sensor connects to the IP Address/DNS Name of the parent device. See the device settings for details. For some sensors, you can explicitly define the monitoring target in the sensor settings.
Settings |
Description |
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OAuth Code |
Shows the authorization code that the sensor uses to access your Dropbox account. PRTG shows this value for reference purposes only. If you need to change this value, add the sensor anew. |
Setting |
Description |
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Primary Channel |
Select a channel from the list to define it as the primary channel. In the device tree, the last value of the primary channel is always displayed 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 different channels are shown for this sensor:
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Stack Unit |
This setting is only visible if you enable Stack channels on top of each other as Graph Type. Select a unit from the list. All channels with this unit are stacked 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.
For more information, see section Root Group Settings, section Scanning Interval.
Schedules, Dependencies, and Maintenance Window
You cannot interrupt the inheritance for schedules, dependencies, and maintenance windows. The corresponding settings from the parent objects are always active. However, you can define additional schedules, dependencies, and maintenance windows. They are active at the same time as the parent objects' settings.
For more information, see section Root Group Settings, section Schedules, Dependencies, and Maintenance Window.
For more information, see section Root Group Settings, section Access Rights.
Which channel units are available depends on the sensor type and the available parameters. If no configurable channels are available, this field shows No configurable channels.
For more information, see section Root Group Settings, section Channel Unit Configuration.
This sensor uses the OAuth2 security protocol to access the account from which you want to retrieve and monitor data. OAuth2 enables you to grant access to the target account without sharing your password with PRTG. The authorization approach of PRTG using OAuth2 works as follows.
- Authorization Request
First, you must request authorization for this sensor to access service resources from your account. For this purpose, you are asked to get an access code for this sensor in the Add Sensor dialog. Click Get Access Code to start the authorization process using OAuth2. A new browser window opens on the authorization server of the target service. - Verifying Identity
This new window contains a login form for your account that you want to monitor. Log in to your account using your credentials for this service to authenticate your identity. This is a common login to your account on the target server so PRTG does not see your password. The service forwards you to the authorization page and asks you to permit PRTG to access the data in your account.
If you are already logged in to the service with a user account, you do not need to enter credentials in this step and get directly to the access permission page. - Authorizing PRTG
Permit PRTG to access information on your account. Note that this permission holds only for this specific sensor, not for other sensors of this type or PRTG as a whole. For each sensor of this type you add, you must confirm the access permission anew. You can change the account permissions at any time in your account at the target service. - Getting Authorization Code
Permitting PRTG to access your account data forwards you to a page where the service provides an authorization code. Copy this code and switch back to the Add Sensor dialog in PRTG.
The code is only valid for a short period of time and expires after a few minutes.
You can use a particular code only once. - Providing Authorization Code
Paste the authorization code into the OAuth Code field and complete the Add Sensor dialog. You do not need to go through further configuration steps manually. The sensor automatically accomplishes the following steps. - Requesting Access Token
After receiving the authorization code, PRTG requests an access token from the API of the target service. For this purpose, PRTG transmits the authorization code together with several authentication details. The API checks if the authorization is valid and returns the access token to PRTG. Access tokens are specific for one account and one application (here: PRTG). The authorization process to read data from your account is now complete. - Retrieving Data
The sensor transmits the access token with each sensor scan in the defined scanning interval to authenticate with your account. It is not necessary to use the original account credentials anew. The used tokens refresh automatically from time to time.
Which channels the sensor actually shows might depend on the target device, the available components, and the sensor setup.
Channel |
Description |
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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 in percent. |
Storage Free |
The free storage in bytes |
Storage Free % |
The free storage in percent This channel is the primary channel by default. |
Knowledge Base
What security features does PRTG include?