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PRTG Manual: General Layout

<%NUMBERING1%>.<%NUMBERING2%>.<%NUMBERING3%> PRTG Manual: General Layout

This manual section provides a general overview over the structure of PRTG's web interface. Central focus is the Devices view, which you can select via the main menu bar. The Devices view presents the monitoring results at a glance—you will widely use it.

Welcome Page

When you log in to the PRTG web interface, by default you will see PRTG's Welcome Page. You can set another homepage in your account settings, section Web Interface.

Click View Results to open the device tree window.

Tree View Layout

Click View Results on the welcome screen, to display the device tree window. This will be a good starting point for your everyday work with PRTG.

PRTG Device Tree

Click here to enlarge: https://media-s3.paessler.com/prtg-screenshots/General_Layout3_anotated.jpg

From top to bottom, the Device tree screen has several areas that will be covered in further detail in this section. For a general overview of the device tree consider the below table.

Page area name	Description
Global Header Area	This area contains the main menu at the very top, the global status bar, the path to the currently selected object, and a quick search box.
Page Header Bar	This area contains the page heading with the name of the current object, several tabs with settings, monitoring data of the current object, the object's status bar, quick action buttons, and the QR code that links to the current URL.
Viewing options	These buttons are part of the page header bar. Here you can adjust how your device tree is displayed.
Page Content	This area contains information about the current object and all other objects underneath in the tree hierarchy.
Page Footer Icons	With these icons you have quick access to the PRTG Auto-Update page, to PRTG's social network accounts, and to the contact support form. There is also a link to context sensitive help. When running PRTG in a cluster, you will also see a cluster related element. It shows the name of the node that you are logged in to and displays whether this is a master or a failover node. Click the bar to show the Cluster Status. In a failover node, you can review all data, but changes in the settings will not be saved. In order to change settings, please log in to the master node of your cluster.
Page Footer	Shows information about the current version of PRTG, the logged in PRTG user account, and the current time (depending on the timezone settings for the currently logged in user). A timer counts down how much time remains until the next automatic page refresh. You can pause the refresh timer with the pause icon and resume with the play icon. If you open another page while the refresh timer is paused, the timer will resume automatically, starting with the defined Auto Refresh Interval that you can configure in your account settings.

Click an object to see its details page. In the page heading of the page header bar you always see the name of the object that you have currently selected.

When navigating PRTG's web interface, the following paths are available:

The main menu provides access to all important aspects of the software.
The quick search is often the fastest way to find a specific object (for example a sensor or a device).
Using the page tabs, you can switch between various sub-pages.
Right-clicking objects will open a context menu.
When pausing over objects, the tool tip appears, and after further hovering a quick-access window (Hover Popup) will open.
You can drill down into the object hierarchy of probes, groups, devices, and sensors in the object tree by merely clicking a sub-object of the currently displayed object (for example, a sensor on the device page).

These navigation paths offer complete access to the functionality of PRTG, often you will find multiple means of accessing information or navigating to a certain setting.

In the following, the different areas of the web interface are described.

Global Header Area

Click here to enlarge: https://media-s3.paessler.com/prtg-screenshots/General_Layout_area_anotated.jpg

The header area of the web interface provides central, very condensed information about your installation and offers access to all content and every setting within PRTG. The following table lists the elements that the global header area is made up of.

This documentation refers to the PRTG System Administrator user accessing the Ajax interface on a master node. If you use other user accounts, interfaces, or nodes, you might not see all of the options in the way described here. If you use a cluster installation, note that failover nodes are read-only by default.

Screen Number	Part	Description
1	Main Menu Bar	For starting to navigate through the web interface, the main menu is the best starting point. We recommend that you take a few minutes to familiarize yourself with the menu bar and its sub-items. For a detailed description see the Main Menu Structure section.
2	Icons Refresh, Help Center, Logout	Via the icons in the top-right corner, you can reload the current page, open the help center, or log out.
3	Search Box	To search for a monitoring object, enter a name, parts of a name, an IP address, a DNS name, or a tag in the search box on the right and confirm with enter. PRTG will perform a string search in your entire monitoring setup, including groups, devices, sensors, libraries, maps, reports, tickets, and object comments. A page with the items that are related to the search term will open—even displaying online help articles.
4	Breadcrumbs	Below the main menu, PRTG shows a path that retraces the steps back to the welcome screen (or your defined starting page). Use it to quickly jump back to where you came from. Breadcrumbs can also help you to orient yourself if you get lost. If you click a breadcrumb item, a dropdown menu opens that shows all objects on the same level. You can either search for an object, or select one directly. For example, you can use this to directly access all other sensors or a device, other devices within a group, and another group on the same probe. Other probes in your root group are also available.
5	New Alarms, New Log Entries, New Tickets	The information boxes show how many new alarms, new log entries, and updated tickets have occurred. Click the respective box to view the lists of Alarms, Logs, or Tickets.
6	Global Sensor Status Symbols	This area shows the accumulated states of all sensors you have configured for monitoring, divided according to the different sensor states. Depending on each respective status, you will see colored boxes with numbers that symbolize the amount of sensors that are in the respective status. For example, you can see how many sensors are in Up, Down, or Warning status. Click a box to view a list of all sensors in the respective status. For a detailed description, see the Sensor States section.

Page Header Bar

The page header bar, below the global header area, consists of a number of elements shown in the table below.

Page Header Bar

Click here to enlarge: https://media-s3.paessler.com/prtg-screenshots/page_header_bar_annotated.jpg

Screen Number	Part	Description
1	Page Heading	This line displays the current object's type and name as page heading. In the screenshot above, it is a group that is called Root. Here you can also add the current object to favorites by clicking on the flag, as well as define the object's priority by clicking on one of the five stars (not available for the Root group). For details, see section Priority and Favorites.
2	Tabs	Via tabs you can navigate to the various sub-pages of an object, for example, to its monitoring data or settings. For more information, see sections Review Sensor Data and Change Device and Sensor Settings.
3	Context Buttons	On the right side is a row of icons for several actions. Depending on the currently viewed page within PRTG, you can pause (and resume) or delete the respective object. You can also add another object (for example, a sensor to a device), send a link to the current page per email, perform an immediate scan, open a related ticket, or show the corresponding object history page. On device lists, there is also a button to open the QR codes of all devices on this list in a printable layout. Click the down arrow to open the context menu for the currently displayed object for further options. For more information, see Context Menus section.
4	Object Status	This element displays the current status of the selected object.
5	Sensor Status Bar	This element is visible when viewing a probe, a group (including Root), or a device. It is not available when the sensor details page is open. The sensor status bar shows the accumulated states of all sensors for the current object, divided into different sensor states. They show the number of sensors in the respective status. For example, you can see how many sensors are in Up, Down, or Warning state. For a detailed description of sensor states, see the Sensor States section. You can hide sensors that are in a certain state by removing the check mark in front of the respective status. To show them again, re-add the check mark.
6	Tree Search	In the white search box next to the tree view selection, enter a key word to search the device tree for matching items. The tree will highlight matching devices and sensors by graying-out all others. This can help to gain a quick overview over sensors monitoring a specific part of your network. For example, you can enter the keyword "firewall" to highlight devices and sensors matching this name.
7	Viewing options	This element is only visible when viewing a probe or a group. It is not available when you view device or sensor details. For a detailed description, see Switch Device Tree View below.
8	Scanning Interval	This element shows the time interval in which PRTG scans the current object.
9	Object ID	This element shows the ID of the current object.
10	QR Code	This element is the QR code for the current page. If you use a PRTG mobile app, you can scan the code to view the current object directly on your mobile device. Click the QR code to enlarge it for scanning.

Depending on the selected object type, the page header bar shows additional information:

All objects underneath the Root group show their dependency.
Groups and devices display the time elapsed since the last execution of the auto-discovery on the selected object.
Devices show their respective DNS/IP address as defined in the device settings and the time elapsed since the last execution of the sensor recommendation on this device.
Sensors show additional monitoring statistics.

Switch Device Tree View

Wherever a probe or group is displayed, you can choose between a number of viewing options.

Device Tree Viewing Options

Switch Device Tree View—Classic Device Tree

Via the 'circle symbols' in the page header bar, you can adjust how much information will be included next to each object. Using the various buttons, you can switch from a very condensed view (small circle; marked "1" in the screenshot) to an extra spacious view (big circle; marked "4" in the screenshot).

In the classic device tree view you can collapse devices, groups, and probes. Click the minus box left of the object name. The sensor states will then be summarized. The states of all sensors on this object will be displayed. Right next to the status, the amount of sensors in this status will be displayed, with the exception of the states Down, Down (Partial), and Down (Acknowledged). In the default settings, the sensors will be grouped together if there are more than ten sensors with the same status, otherwise they will be displayed individually.

Collapsed Device With Summarized Ups and Unusuals and Individual Downs

Click here to enlarge: https://media-s3.paessler.com/prtg-screenshots/General_Layout_treeview_collapsed.png

Switch Device Tree View—Extended Views

There are two additional options to the simple tree views that enable you to display the status of all sensors of your entire installation in a single overview. Choose one of the icons to change the view:

Tree Map View (6)
The tree map view displays all devices of your entire installation as tiles sorted into a square and arranged according to the groups they belong to. Each device dynamically changes color to reflect the overall status of the sensors on the device. You can also adjust the square size: either depending on a device's priority, or depending on the number of sensors on a device, or depending on both. To do this, add a check mark under the point Size by: in front of Sensors and/or Priority in the page header bar (see the mark in the screenshot below).

PRTG Tree Map View

Click here to enlarge: https://media-s3.paessler.com/prtg-screenshots/tree_map_view.png

Sunburst View (5)
The sunburst view displays your entire installation as a circle diagram. The groups are represented as inner circles, and all devices contained within a group are shown as 'cake slices' attached to the outside of a circle element.

The sunburst is interactive:

You can click elements to open the details view of your monitoring objects.
You can zoom in and out by using the plus + and minus – buttons or your mouse wheel.
You can change the position of the sunburst on the overview tab with drag & drop.

PRTG Sunburst View

Click here to enlarge: https://media-s3.paessler.com/prtg-screenshots/sunburst_view.png

For both views:

Colors
A device (or group) element can have different colors, depending on the states of the sensors running on this device or group (see Sensor States). A higher status is regarded as more important and takes precedence (prioritized higher). For example, if a device currently has sensors in the states Up (green), Paused (blue), and Warning (yellow), according to the device prioritization, this tile would then be yellow, indicating that at least one sensor on this device is in Warning status. If a single sensor changes to Down status, the corresponding device tile will turn red. Correspondingly, the PRTG states (for both views) are shown here in order of their prioritization:

Flag	Flag Color	Object Status	Meaning
	Red	Down	At least one sensor 'belonging to' this object shows a red Down status. Point to an object's name to view the total number of alarms concerning this object.
	Bright-Red	Down (Acknowledged)	At least one sensor belonging to this object is Down and the status has been acknowledged by a PRTG user via the Acknowledge Alarm function. All of this devices Down states must have been acknowledged—if at least one sensor is not acknowledged, this object will be displayed as Down.
	Yellow	Warning	At least one sensor belonging to this object shows a yellow Warning status. There is no sensor in a Down or Down (Acknowledged) status concerning this object.
	Orange	Unusual	At least one sensor belonging to this object shows an orange Unusual status. There is no sensor in a Down, Down (Acknowledged), or Warning status concerning this object.
	Green	Up	All sensors belonging to this object are in a green Up status. There is no sensor in a Down, Down (Acknowledged), Warning, Paused, or Unusual status concerning this object.
	Blue	Paused	All sensors belonging to this object show a blue Paused status. There is no sensor in a Down, Down (Acknowledged), Warning, Unusual, or Up status concerning this object.
	Black (Grey)	Unknown	All sensors belonging to this object have an Unknown status. There is no sensor in a Down, Down (Acknowledged), Warning, Unusual, Paused, or Up status concerning this object.

Size by Sensors / Size by Priority
You can adjust the size of the different squares. They can be calculated by the amount of sensors running on a device or within a group, or by the sensors' priority (see Priority and Favorites), or both. Use the check boxes in the page header bar (see below) to change the view immediately, then use the setting that suits you best.

Sorting Checkboxes

Page Content

The page content of the general layout varies dependent on the selected object. It shows information about the current object and all other objects underneath in the tree hierarchy. The deeper down in the hierarchy you select an object, the more detailed is the displayed information.

By default, a Probe Device is created in the device tree on the local probe. It represents the probe system running with your PRTG installation. PRTG automatically monitors the system health of the core server and each probe to discover overloading situations that may distort monitoring results. To monitor the system status of the probe computer, PRTG automatically creates a few sensors:

Core Health Sensor
Probe Health Sensor
System Health Sensor
Some further device specific sensors for disk usage and bandwidth

In a cluster installation, PRTG also creates a Cluster Probe Device with a Cluster Health Sensor that monitors the cluster's system health.

We recommend that you keep these sensors, but they all are removable.

You can tag a device or sensor as 'favorite' by clicking the flag displayed in its lower right corner (see the screenshot below). To untag devices, proceed the same way.

One-Click Favorites in the Device Tree

A quick and easy way of adjusting priority is located in the page header bar right next to the object name (see screen number 1 in that subsection). Click the a stars to adjust priority (5 is highest 1 lowest).

One-Click Favorite and Priority in the Page Header Bar

A black flag indicates that the respective object is a favorite already. After clicking the black flag, the object will no longer be a favorite. A gray flag indicates that it is not yet a favorite. See the Priority and Favorites chapter for further information.

For more details about page contents, please see the following sections:

Knowledge Base: How can I change the width of the devices and group "boxes" shown in the PRTG device tree?

https://kb.paessler.com/en/topic/24963

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