The Packet Sniffer (Custom) sensor monitors the headers of data packets that pass a local network card using a built-in packet sniffer. With this sensor, you can define your own channel definitions to divide traffic into different channels.
This sensor analyzes only header traffic.
This sensor does not have any predefined channels.
Packet Sniffer (Custom) Sensor
For a detailed list and descriptions of the channels that this sensor can show, see section Channel List.
Sensor in Other Languages
Dutch: Packet Sniffer (Aangepast)
French: Reniflage de paquets personnalisé
German: Packet Sniffer (Benutzerdef.)
Japanese: パケットスニファー(カスタム)
Portuguese: Sniffer de pacotes (customizado)
Russian: Анализатор пакетов (нестандартный)
Simplified Chinese: 数据包嗅探程序 (自定义)
Spanish: Analizador de paquetes (personalizado)
Remarks
This sensor has a very high performance impact. We recommend that you use no more than 50 of this sensor on each probe.
By default, this sensor works only on a probe device.
This sensor does not officially support more than 50 channels.
This sensor supports IPv6.
By default, you can only monitor traffic passing the probe system where the probe device with the sensor is set up. To monitor other traffic in your network, you can configure a monitoring port (if available) that the switch sends a copy of all traffic to. You can then physically connect this port to a network card of the probe system (either local probe or remote probe system). This way, PRTG can analyze the complete traffic that passes through the switch. This feature of your hardware might be called Switched Port Analyzer (SPAN), port mirroring, or port monitoring.
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.
Known Issues
The sensor does not support the Simulate Error Status option in the Sensor Context Menu. When you trigger this action, the sensor will not show a simulated Down state.
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:
bandwidthsensor
sniffersensor
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 ().
Sniffer Specific
For more information on filters, see section Filter Rules.
Sniffer Specific
Setting
Description
Include Filter
Define if you want to filter any traffic. If you leave this field empty, the sensor includes all traffic. To include specific traffic only, define filters using a special syntax.
Exclude Filter
First, the sensor considers the filters in Include Filter. From this subset, you can explicitly exclude traffic, using the same syntax.
Channel Definition
Enter a channel definition to divide the traffic into different channels. Enter each definition in one line. The sensor accounts all traffic that you do not define a channel for to the default channel Other.
Extensive use of many filters can cause load problems on the probe system. We recommend that you define specific, well-chosen filters for the data that you really want to analyze. We recommend that you do not use more than 20 channels in graphs and tables, and not more than 100 channels in total. For performance reasons, we recommend that you add several sensors with fewer channels each.
Network Adapters
Select the network adapters that this sensor monitors. You see a list of all adapters that are available on the probe system. To select an adapter, enable the check box in front of the respective name.
You can also select all items or cancel the selection by using the check box in the table header.
You cannot change this setting if the probe is not connected.
Stream Data Handling
Define what PRTG does with the stream and packet data:
Discard stream data (recommended): Do not store the stream and packet data.
Store stream data only for the 'Other' channel: Only store stream and packet data that is not otherwise filtered and is therefore accounted to the default Other channel. PRTG stores this data in the \StreamLog subfolder of the PRTG data directory on the probe system. The file name is Streams Sensor [ID] (1).csv. This setting is for debugging purposes. PRTG overwrites this file with each scanning interval.
Store all stream data: Store all stream and packet data. This setting is for debugging purposes. PRTG overwrites this file with each scanning interval.
Use with caution. It can create huge data files. We recommend that you only use this setting for a short time.
In a cluster, PRTG stores the result in the PRTG data directory of the master node.
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.
Primary Toplist
Primary Toplist
Setting
Description
Primary Toplist
Define which Toplist is the primary Toplist of the sensor:
Top Talkers
Top Connections
Top Protocols
[Any custom Toplists you add]
PRTG shows the primary Toplist in maps when you add a Toplist object.
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 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
Channel Unit Configuration
For more information, see section Root Group Settings, section Channel Unit Configuration.
Toplists
For all Flow (NetFlow, jFlow, sFlow, IPFIX) and Packet Sniffer sensors, Toplists are available on the sensor's Overview tab. Using Toplists, you can review traffic data for small time periods in great detail.
Transmission Control Protocol (TCP), User Datagram Protocol (UDP), Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP), Open Shortest Path First (OSPF), any number
ToS
Type of Service (ToS): any number
DSCP
Differentiated Services Code Point (DSCP): any number
The following filter rules apply to Packet Sniffer sensors only.
Field
Possible Filter Values
MAC
Physical address
SourceMAC
Physical address
DestinationMAC
Physical address
EtherType
IPV4, ARP, RARP, APPLE, AARP, IPV6, IPXold, IPX, any number
VlanPCP
IEEE 802.1Q VLAN Priority Code Point
VlanID
IEEE 802.1Q VLAN Identifier
TrafficClass
IPv6 Traffic Class: corresponds to TOS used with IPv4
FlowLabel
IPv6 Flow Label
Channel List
Which channels the sensor actually shows might depend on the target device, the available components, and the sensor setup.
Channel
Description
[Custom]
The traffic by type according to the channel definition
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