PRTG Manual: Event Log (Windows API) Sensor

This sensor might not work anymore after Windows updates of June 2021. For more information, see the Knowledge Base: My Event Log (Windows API) sensors fail after installing Windows updates. What can I do?

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.

IPv6

This sensor supports IPv6.

Knowledge Base

• Knowledge Base: My Event Log (Windows API) sensors fail after installing Windows updates. What can I do?
• Knowledge Base: My Event Log sensor ignores changes in the event log. What can I do?
• Knowledge Base: How can I configure sensors using speed limits to keep the status for more than one interval?

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.

Log File

The Windows event log provides several log files. Specify the log file that this sensor monitors:

• Application
• System
• Security
• Directory Service
• DNS Server
• File Replication Service

Event Type

Specify the type of event that this sensor processes:

• Any
• Error
• Warning
• Information
• Security Audit Success
• Security Audit Failure

The sensor cannot process other event types.

Filter by Source

Filter all received events for a certain event source:

• Disable (default): Do not filter events.
• Enable: Filter events.
  The sensor only processes messages that match the value that you define below.

Filter Type

This setting is only visible if you select Enable above.

Select the filter type:

• Include filter: Include the specified value and disregard all other values.
• Exclude filter: Exclude the specified value and regard all other values.

Match String (Event Source)

This setting is only visible if you select Enable above.

Enter an event source that you want to filter for. Depending on the kind of filter, the sensor either processes the event source (Include filter option) or it does not process it (Exclude filter option). Enter a string.

Filter by ID

Filter all received events for a certain event ID:

• Disable (default): Do not filter events.
• Enable: Filter events.
  The sensor only processes messages that match the value that you define below.

Filter Type

This setting is only visible if you select Enable above.

Select the filter type:

• Include filter: Include the specified value and disregard all other values.
• Exclude filter: Exclude the specified value and regard all other values.

Match Values (Event ID)

This setting is only visible if you select Enable above.

Enter an event ID that you want to filter for. Depending on the kind of filter, the sensor either processes the event ID (Include filter option) or it does not process it (Exclude filter option).

The Event Log (Windows API) supports more than one event ID. You can enter a comma-separated list of event IDs to filter for more than one ID. For example, 1100,4627,4747,4884,5050,6422.

Filter by Category

Filter all received events for a certain event category:

• Disable (default): Do not filter events.
• Enable: Filter events.
  The sensor only processes messages that match the value that you define below.

Filter Type

This setting is only visible if you select Enable above.

Select the filter type:

• Include filter: Include the specified value and disregard all other values.
• Exclude filter: Exclude the specified value and regard all other values.

Match String (Event Category)

This setting is only visible if you select Enable above.

Enter a category that you want to filter for. Depending on the kind of filter, the sensor either processes the event category (Include filter option) or it does not process it (Exclude filter option). Enter a string.

Filter by User

Filter all received events for a certain event user:

• Disable (default): Do not filter events.
• Enable: Filter events.
  The sensor only processes messages that match the value that you define below.

Filter Type

This setting is only visible if you select Enable above.

Select the filter type:

• Include filter: Include the specified value and disregard all other values.
• Exclude filter: Exclude the specified value and regard all other values.

Match String (Event User)

This setting is only visible if you select Enable above.

Enter a user name that you want to filter for. Depending on the kind of filter, the sensor either processes the event user (Include filter option) or it does not process it (Exclude filter option). Enter a string.

Filter by Computer

Filter all received events for a certain event computer:

• Disable (default): Do not filter events.
• Enable: Filter events.
  The sensor only processes messages that match the value that you define below.

Filter Type

This setting is only visible if you select Enable above.

Select the filter type:

• Include filter: Include the specified value and disregard all other values.
• Exclude filter: Exclude the specified value and regard all other values.

Match String (Event Computer)

This setting is only visible if you select Enable above.

Enter a computer name that you want to filter for. Depending on the kind of filter, the sensor either processes the event computer (Include filter option) or it does not process it (Exclude filter option). Enter a string.

Filter by Message

Filter all received events for a certain event message:

• Disable (default): Do not filter events.
• Enable: Filter events.
  The sensor only processes messages that match the value that you define below.

Filter Type

This setting is only visible if you select Enable above.

Select the filter type:

• Include filter: Include the specified value and disregard all other values.
• Exclude filter: Exclude the specified value and regard all other values.

Match String (Event Message)

This setting is only visible if you select Enable above.

Enter a message that you want to filter for. Depending on the kind of filter, the sensor either processes the event message (Include filter option) or it does not process it (Exclude filter option). Enter a string.

This sensor only checks the last line of the event message for the entered string. This matches the <Data> section of the XML that you can see on the Details tab in the Event Viewer. If you want to check the entire event message, use the WMI Event Log sensor.

You must use the percent sign (%) as wildcard for any or no character if you want to check if the string is part of the last line of the event message. Otherwise, the whole last line of the event message must match the string.

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.

New Records

The number of new records

This channel is the primary channel by default.