<%NUMBERING1%>.<%NUMBERING2%>.<%NUMBERING3%> PRTG Manual: TWO—Smart Setup

PRTG will automatically start the Smart Setup on a new PRTG instance. This setup assistant, represented by some members of the Paessler team, will guide you through the initial setup of your network monitoring system. The Smart Setup will reappear until you have completed all steps. You can skip the introduction altogether right at the beginning.

The Smart Setup in PRTG on demand differs in some details from the Smart Setup in PRTG on premises. For example, it will ask you right at the beginning to install a remote probe in your local network. This is required to monitor your LAN, so we strongly recommend that you follow the smart setup!

First Start

When logging in for the first time, PRTG will show you the device tree. PRTG on premises already contains several devices with sensors that monitor your network, ordered in different suitable groups. PRTG automatically creates the device tree during the installation process by using its Auto-Discovery function. You do not have to fill out any forms but will directly see the availability and first monitoring results of various devices in your network when you first start PRTG!

PRTG scans your network by pinging IP addresses in the subnet of your PRTG system and adds all reachable devices to your specific network monitoring structure.

The smart setup scans only for devices with IP addresses in private network ranges. You can manually start an Auto-Discovery for other subnets later.

 

You will notice a Paessler employee in the upper-right corner of the PRTG web interface. He will guide you through 5 simple setup steps where you can enter more information about your network. PRTG will run another auto-discovery with this information to add additional devices and sensors to your monitoring. Of course, you can still edit the monitoring settings provided during the Smart Setup later on. And you can always adjust the monitoring to your needs.

Click OK! to start a guided tour, follow the instructions, and discover your network with PRTG!

If you choose Skip introduction now, then the Smart Setup assistant will never appear again! We strongly recommend that you take the guided tour if you are new to PRTG.

The steps to take are:

• Provide Credentials
• Enter Location Information
• Change Your PRTG Login Password
• Confirm Your Email Address
• Switch to SSL (if you access PRTG from another computer)

Step 1: Provide Credentials

Your personal setup assistant Greg asks you to provide credentials for devices in your network. Click OK, show me!, follow the animated yellow mouse pointer, and open the Settings tab of the Root group.

In the Settings tab, enter various administrator credentials for your network environment. With these credentials, PRTG can add a large number of additional devices and sensors automatically to your device tree. This way, PRTG helps you to set up your network monitoring so there is no need for you to manually add every single device one by one.

• To monitor your Windows clients and servers via Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI), enter Windows administrator credentials for your network. We recommend that you use Domain Administrator credentials (if you use an Active Directory). For a general introduction to the technology behind WMI, see the manual section Monitoring via WMI.
• If you have systems running on Linux, Solaris, or Mac OS X, enter root access credentials for these systems. For a general introduction to SSH monitoring, see the manual section Monitoring via SSH.
• If you use the virtual environments VMware or Citrix XenServer, enter root access credentials for these systems. For a general introduction to the monitoring of virtual environments, see the manual section Monitoring Virtual Environments.
• To monitor your hardware (router, switches, etc.), Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) is the most common protocol used. Usually, all SNMP-enabled devices use the same settings by default: SNMP v2c, community string public, SNMP port 161). For a general introduction to the technology behind SNMP, see the manual section Monitoring via SNMP.

PRTG will store these credentials in the Root group of your device tree. All dependent devices automatically inherit and use them for monitoring. You can discontinue Inheritance of Settings at any level if you enter other credentials instead.

Click OK, done! to finish this setup step and confirm to start a detailed auto-discovery with the OK, do it! button.

For details about the available options, please see the manual section Root Group Settings.

Step 2: Enter Location Information

While PRTG runs a new auto-discovery in your network with the provided credentials, the setup assistant asks you to provide the location of your PRTG server. This information will be displayed on PRTG Geo Maps. Enter your location and confirm with OK, done!. Click OK, show me! to get back to the device tree.

For details about the available options, please see the manual section Root Group Settings.

Step 3: Change Your PRTG Login Password

Back on the device tree, the PRTG on premises setup assistant asks you to change your password. Click OK, show me!, follow the assistant to your account settings. By default, PRTG uses the administrator account with login name prtgadmin and password prtgadmin. So we strongly recommend that you change the password to secure your PRTG installation against unauthorized access.

Enter your New Password, confirm it with Retype Password. The password must meet the following requirements:

• at least eight characters long
• at least one numeral
• at least one capitalized letter

Click OK, done! to save your new password.

For details about the available options, please see the manual section Account Settings—My Account.

Step 4: Confirm Your Email Address

To complete the PRTG Smart Setup, check whether the email address that you have entered during the installation is correct.

A working email address is absolutely mandatory for PRTG to reach you via email notifications, alarms, and for other important messages.

If the address is correct, click OK, done! and follow the assistant back to the device tree.

For details about the available options, see the manual section Account Settings—My Account.

Step 5: Switch to SSL

If you access the PRTG on premises web interface from a computer other than the computer where you installed PRTG, the assistant will appear and ask you to switch to a secure connection with Secure Sockets Layer (SSL)/Transport Layer Security (TLS) encryption. We strongly recommend that you run the PRTG web interface using SSL encryption (Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS)), especially if you make your web interface available from the internet. Without encryption your passwords are sent unencrypted over your network.

• Click OK, switch now! to get more information about using SSL for the PRTG web server.
• In the new window, click the button Yes, switch to SSL now to switch to an SSL-encrypted connection.
• PRTG must restart its services to apply the changes and is reachable under an https URL afterwards.
• When the web interface reloads, most likely it will show a certificate warning. Confirm it to proceed to the login screen.

For more details, see the manual sections System Administration—User Interface and SSL Certificate Warning.

You Are Done!

While you were busy with the Smart Setup, PRTG created additional devices and sensors for you. There are first monitoring values available, too. Now you are all-in in your personal unified network monitoring! In the meantime, you can follow PRTG on Facebook, Twitter, and Google+. Just click the Follow & Share button on the page footer and connect to your new favorite monitoring tool!

To become familiar with the PRTG web interface, we recommend that you read on in the manual section General Layout of the web interface.

More

Video Tutorial: PRTG Installation and Smart Setup

• https://www.paessler.com/support/videos/prtg-basics/installation_of_prtg_network_monitor

 

Quick Start Guide—Topics

• ONE—Download, Installation, and First Login
• TWO—Smart Setup