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PRTG Manual: WSUS Statistics Sensor

The WSUS Statistics sensor monitors various statistics on a Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) server via Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI).

WSUS Statistics Sensor

For a detailed list and descriptions of the channels that this sensor can show, see section Channel List.

Sensor in Other Languages

Dutch: WSUS Statistieken
French: WSUS statistiques
German: WSUS-Statistiken
Japanese: WSUS 統計情報
Portuguese: Estatísticas WSUS
Russian: Статистика WSUS
Simplified Chinese: WSUS 统计
Spanish: Estadísticas WSUS

Remarks

Consider the following remarks and requirements for this sensor:

Remark	Description
Performance impact	This sensor has a high performance impact. We recommend that you use no more than 200 of this sensor on each probe.
WSUS 3.0 Administration Console	This sensor requires the Microsoft WSUS 3.0 Administration Console on the probe system. In a cluster, it must be installed on every cluster node.
.NET 4.7.2 or later	This sensor requires .NET 4.7.2 or later from Microsoft on the probe system. In a cluster, install it on every cluster node. If the sensor shows the error PE087, additionally install .NET 3.5 on the probe system. If the framework is missing, you cannot create this sensor. For more information, see the Knowledge Base: Which .NET version does PRTG require?
Windows Server	We recommend Windows Server 2016 on the probe system for best performance of this sensor.
Credentials	This sensor requires credentials for Windows systems. We recommend that you use Windows domain credentials. If you use local credentials, make sure that the same Windows user accounts (with the same user name and password) exist on both the probe system and the target system. Otherwise, the sensor cannot correctly connect.
IPv6	This sensor supports IPv6.
Knowledge Base	Knowledge Base: Can I encrypt connections to my WSUS server?
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.

Basic Sensor Settings

The sensor has the following default tags that are automatically predefined in the sensor's settings when you add the sensor:

ptfsensor

For more information about basic sensor settings, see section Sensor Settings.

Sensor Settings

Setting	Description
WSUS Server Port	Enter the number of the port the WSUS server service runs on. The default value is 8530. Enter an integer.
Connection Security	Define if you want to use Secure Sockets Layer (SSL)/Transport Layer Security (TLS) for the connection to the WSUS server or if you prefer unsecured connections: Use SSL/TLS Do not use connection security (default) If you want to use SSL/TLS, you must configure the WSUS server accordingly. For more information, see the Knowledge Base: Can I encrypt connections to my WSUS server?

Setting

Description

WSUS Server Port

Enter the number of the port the WSUS server service runs on. The default value is 8530. Enter an integer.

Connection Security

Define if you want to use Secure Sockets Layer (SSL)/Transport Layer Security (TLS) for the connection to the WSUS server or if you prefer unsecured connections:

Use SSL/TLS
Do not use connection security (default)

If you want to use SSL/TLS, you must configure the WSUS server accordingly. For more information, see the Knowledge Base: Can I encrypt connections to my WSUS server?

Debug Options

Setting	Description
Result Handling	Define what PRTG does with the sensor result: Discard result (default): Do not store the sensor result. Store result: Store the sensor result and the last response in the \Logs\sensors subfolder of the PRTG data directory on the probe system. The file names are Result of Sensor [ID].txt and Result of Sensor [ID].Data.txt. This setting is for debugging purposes. PRTG overwrites these files with each scanning interval. In a cluster, PRTG stores the result in the PRTG data directory of the master node.

Setting

Description

Result Handling

Define what PRTG does with the sensor result:

Discard result (default): Do not store the sensor result.
Store result: Store the sensor result and the last response in the \Logs\sensors subfolder of the PRTG data directory on the probe system. The file names are Result of Sensor [ID].txt and Result of Sensor [ID].Data.txt. This setting is for debugging purposes. PRTG overwrites these files with each scanning interval.

In a cluster, PRTG stores the result in the PRTG data directory of the master node.

Sensor Display

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: 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.

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:

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.

Inherited Settings

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.

Channel List

Which channels the sensor actually shows might depend on the target device, the available components, and the sensor setup.

Channel	Description
Approved Updates	The number of approved updates
Computers Having Update Errors	The number of computers that have update errors
Computers Needing Updates	The number of computers that need updates
Computers Not Synchronized for 7 Days	The number of computers that have not synchronized for seven days
Computers Registered	The number of computers that are registered
Computers Up To Date	The number of computers that are up to date
Declined Updates	The number of updates that were declined
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.
Expired Updates	The number of updates that are expired
Not Approved Critical Or Security Updates	The number of critical or security updates that were not approved
Not Approved Updates	The number of updates that were not approved
Total Updates	The total number of updates
Unapproved, Needed Updates	The number of updates that are unapproved but needed
Updates Needed By Computers	The number of updates that computers need
Updates Needing Files	The number of updates that need files
Updates Up To Date	The number of updates that are up to date
Updates With Client Errors	The number of updates that have client errors
Updates With Server Errors	The number of updates that have server errors
Updates With Stale Update Approvals	The number of updates that have stale update approvals
WSUS Infrastructure Updates Not Approved For Install	The number of WSUS infrastructure updates that were not approved for installation