The Cloud HTTP v2 sensor monitors the loading time of a web server via HTTP from different locations worldwide via the PRTG Cloud. The locations are distributed among four continents around the globe.
Cloud HTTP v2 Sensor
For a detailed list and descriptions of the channels that this sensor can show, see section Channel List.
Sensor in Other Languages
Dutch: Cloud HTTP v2
French: Cloud HTTP v2
German: Cloud HTTP v2
Japanese: クラウド HTTP v2
Portuguese: Cloud HTTP v2
Russian: Cloud HTTP v2
Simplified Chinese: Cloud HTTP v2
Spanish: Nube HTTP v2
Remarks
The probe system requires access to the internet and must be able to reach https://api.prtgcloud.com:443 to communicate with the PRTG Cloud.
This sensor requires that the address in the settings of the parent device is reachable via the internet. You cannot use this sensor to monitor localhost (127.0.0.1).
This sensor uses lookups to determine the status values of one or more channels.
This sensor has predefined limits for several metrics.
To monitor a probe system, enter the URL of the probe system that is reachable via the internet as Custom URL in the Cloud HTTP Specific settings or add a device with the URL in the settings of the device.
This sensor inherits proxy settings from the parent device.
If the name contains angle brackets (<>), PRTG replaces them with braces ({}) for security reasons. For more information, see the Knowledge Base: What security features does PRTG include?
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:
cloud
cloudhttpsensor
http
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 ().
Cloud HTTP Specific
Cloud HTTP Specific
Setting
Description
URL
Select if you want to inherit the URL from the parent device or if you want to enter a custom URL:
Inherit (default)
Custom
Custom URL
This setting is only visible if you select Custom above.
Enter the URL that you want to monitor.
The URL must be valid and URL encoded.
You can enter a URL that leads to a web page, for example, to measure the page source code's loading time, or you can enter the URL of an image or other page asset to measure this element's availability and loading time.
PRTG uses a smart URL replacement with which you can use the parent device's IP address or Domain Name System (DNS) name setting as part of the URL. For more information, see section Smart URL Replacement.
Request Method
Select an HTTP request method to determine how the sensor requests the URL:
GET (default): Directly request the web page. We recommend that you use this setting for a simple check of a web page.
POST: Send post form data to the URL.
HEAD: Only request the HTTP header from the server without the actual web page. This setting saves bandwidth because it transfers less data. However, we do not recommend this setting because the measured request time is not the request time that the users experience and you might not be notified of slow results or timeouts.
Postdata
This setting is only visible if you select POST above.
Enter the data part for the POST request.
Region
Select the regions from which you want to check the service:
Asia Pacific (Singapore)
Asia Pacific (Sydney)
Europe (Ireland)
US East (Northern Virginia)
US West (Northern California)
PRTG creates two channels for every region that you select.
Timeout (Sec.)
Enter a timeout in seconds for the ping. If the reply takes longer than this value, PRTG cancels the request and shows an error message. Enter an integer. You can enter a value between 1 and 30 seconds.
Sensor Display
Sensor Display
Setting
Description
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:
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. 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.
Debug Options
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 last sensor result in the \Logs\sensors subfolder of the PRTG data directory on the probe system. The file name is Result of Sensor [ID].log. This setting is for debugging purposes. PRTG overwrites this file with each scanning interval.
This option is not available when the sensor runs on the hosted probe of a PRTG Hosted Monitor instance.
In a cluster, PRTG stores the result in the PRTG data directory of the master node.
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.
The minimum scanning interval of this sensor is 1 minute.
The recommended scanning interval of this sensor is 5 minutes.
Scanning Interval
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.
Schedules, Dependencies, and Maintenance Window
For more information, see section Root Group Settings, section Schedules, Dependencies, and Maintenance Window (default).
Access Rights
Access Rights
For more information, see section Root Group Settings, section Access Rights.
Channel Unit Configuration
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.
Channel Unit Configuration
For more information, see section Root Group Settings, section Channel Unit Configuration.
Smart URL Replacement
Instead of entering a complete address in the URL field of an HTTP sensor, you can only enter the protocol followed by a colon and three forward slashes (this means that you can enter either http:/// or https:///, or even a simple forward slash / as the equivalent for http:///). PRTG automatically fills in the parent device's IP Address/DNS Name in front of the third forward slash.
Whether this results in a valid URL or not depends on the IP address or Domain Name System (DNS) name of the parent device. In combination with cloning devices, you can use smart URL replacement to create many similar devices.
For example, if you create a device with the DNS name www.example.com and you add an HTTP sensor to it, you can provide values in the following ways:
If you enter https:/// in the URL field, PRTG automatically creates the URL https://www.example.com/
If you enter /help in the URL field, PRTG automatically creates and monitor the URL http://www.example.com/help
It is also possible to provide a port number in the URL field. It is taken over by the device's DNS name and is internally added, for example, http://:8080/
Smart URL replacement does not work for sensors that run on the probe device.
Channel List
Which channels the sensor actually shows might depend on the target device, the available components, and the sensor setup.
Channel
Description
Asia Pacific (Singapore)
The response time of the target server at the location
This channel has default limits
Upper error limit: 5000 msec
Upper warning limit: 3333 msec
Asia Pacific (Singapore) - HTTP Response Code
The response code of the target server at the location
Asia Pacific (Singapore) - PRTG Cloud Response
If the PRTG Cloud query was successful or not
Up status: OK
Down status: Failed
Asia Pacific (Sydney)
The response time of the target server at the location
This channel has default limits
Upper error limit: 5000 msec
Upper warning limit: 3333 msec
Asia Pacific (Sydney) - HTTP Response Code
The response code of the target server at the location
Asia Pacific (Sydney) - PRTG Cloud Response
If the PRTG Cloud query was successful or not
Up status: OK
Down status: Failed
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 state
Europe (Ireland)
The response time of the target server at the location
This channel has default limits
Upper error limit: 5000 msec
Upper warning limit: 3333 msec
Europe (Ireland) - HTTP Response Code
The response code of the target server at the location
Europe (Ireland) - PRTG Cloud Response
If the PRTG Cloud query was successful or not
Up status: OK
Down status: Failed
Global Average
The average global loading time
This channel is the primary channel by default.
This channel has default limits
Upper error limit: 5000 msec
Upper warning limit: 3333 msec
US East (Northern Virginia)
The response time of the target server at the location
This channel has default limits
Upper error limit: 5000 msec
Upper warning limit: 3333 msec
US East (Northern Virginia) - HTTP Response Code
The response code of the target server at the location
US East (Northern Virginia) - PRTG Cloud Response
If the PRTG Cloud query was successful or not
Up status: OK
Down status: Failed
US West (Northern California)
The response time of the target server at the location
This channel has default limits
Upper error limit: 5000 msec
Upper warning limit: 3333 msec
US West (Northern California) - HTTP Response Code
The response code of the target server at the location
US West (Northern California) - PRTG Cloud Response