<%NUMBERING1%>.<%NUMBERING2%>.<%NUMBERING3%> PRTG Manual: Report Settings

In the PRTG web interface, click Reports in the main menu bar to show the reports main screen. Click a report's name to select it. Use the various report tabs to access all functionalities and settings for the selected report.

Report Tabs

Report Tabs

Click Go to all reports at the bottom of the page to return to the list of all reports.

icon-i-round-blueThis documentation refers to the PRTG System Administrator user accessing the PRTG web interface on a master node. If you use other user accounts, interfaces, or failover 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.

In this section:

Run Now

On the Run Now tab, you can run a report immediately with the settings that you configured before.

icon-square-cyanSee section View and Run Reports for details.

Stored Reports

On the Stored Reports tab, you can view reports created in the past.

icon-square-cyanSee section View and Run Reports for details.

Settings

Click the Settings tab to open the settings of a report. Also, consider the Remarks for Reports.

Basic Report Settings

Report Name

Enter a meaningful name to identify this report. The name of the report is used in reports lists and as title of generated reports.

Tags

Enter one or more tags, separated by space or comma. You can use tags later to search for the report, for example. Tags are not case sensitive.

icon-i-round-blueIt is not possible to enter tags with a leading plus (+) or minus (-) sign, nor tags with parentheses (()) or angle brackets (<>).

Template

Select a template for the report. The template defines the overall look of your report and in which detail (interval) the report shows monitoring data. PRTG includes several report templates out of the box. You can choose from templates in the following categories:

  • Graph with data table: Create a report with graphs and data tables. Choose from several intervals. Reports with this template also generate data files (.csv and .xml) if set in the Data Files section of the report.
  • Data table only: Create a report with data tables only. Choose from several intervals. Reports with this template also generate data files (.csv and .xml) if set in the Data Files section of the report.
  • Graph only: Create a report with graphs only. Choose from several intervals. Reports with this template cannot generate data files (neither .csv nor .xml).
  • List of sensors: Create a report in a compact sensor list style. This is available with and without graphs. Reports with this template cannot generate data files (neither .csv nor .xml).
  • Top 100 highest and lowest: Create a report with up to 100 objects with the highest and lowest average values. Choose from different intervals. Reports with this template cannot generate data files (neither .csv nor .xml)
  • Top 10 uptime and downtime: Create a report with up to 10 objects with the highest uptime and downtime each. You can choose between data in percent and hours. Reports with this template cannot generate data files (neither .csv nor .xml).
  • Top 100 uptime and downtime: Create a report with up to 100 objects with the highest uptime and downtime each. You can choose between data in percent and hours. Reports with this template cannot generate data files (neither .csv nor .xml).

icon-i-round-blueMonitoring data within an interval is averaged. See also the comment on data averaging in section Reports (Automatic Averaging).

Security Context

Define the user account that you want to use for access to your monitoring data. The report only contains objects that the selected user is allowed to view.

Choose a user from the list. Which users are available depends on your configuration. By default, this is the user that created the report. PRTG System Administrator users can change this setting.

Time Zone

Define the time zone to use for all date-specific settings in this report (see below). Choose a time zone from the list.

Paper Size

Define the paper size in which PDF reports are created:

  • None: Do not specify a paper format. The size is set automatically.
  • A4: Use German DIN A4 format.
  • A3: Use DIN A3 format.
  • A2: Use DIN A2 format.
  • Legal: Use North American legal paper format.
  • Letter: Use North American letter paper format.
  • Ledger: Use North American ledger paper format.

Orientation

Define the page orientation for the data in PDF reports:

  • Portrait: Use portrait mode for the page orientation.
  • Landscape: Use landscape mode for the page orientation. The landscape format is designed to properly show data tables of sensors with many channels. Other parts of the report remain in portrait mode and do not resize to the landscape format.

Sensors ("What sensors will be included in the report?")

Cluster Node

This field is only visible when you run PRTG in a cluster. Define the cluster node from which the report takes monitoring data. Choose a cluster node from the list. The available options are specific to your configuration.

By default, the master node is set. Select All nodes to create a report with data from all of your cluster nodes.

icon-i-round-redA report on all cluster nodes includes data for the primary channels only, not for other channels. Be careful with big reports on all cluster nodes because the report generation may slow down significantly.

icon-i-round-redIf you select a failover node, report and data files do not show data from the local probe or from a remote probe and might be empty or show "0" values.

icon-i-round-redYou can generate .csv and .xml data files only for a single failover node. If you choose the option All nodes, the report does not create data files.

Add Sensors Manually

If you want to manually choose the sensors included in this report, save your settings and switch to the Select Sensors Manually tab.

icon-i-round-blueYou can also add a report via the context menu of an object. In this case, the selected object is automatically included in the report.

Include Sensors by Tag

Define the sensors included in this report by tag. Enter one or more tags. The report covers all sensors that have at least one of the tags. Enter a string or leave the field empty.

You can also use plus (must have) and minus (must not have) signs to categorize tags, for example, +snmp;–wmi (must have the tag snmp and must not have the tag wmi). See section Tags for details.

icon-i-round-blueTags are inherited automatically. So, for example, if you enter the tag of a group here, the report includes all sensors within this group. For detailed information, see the Inheritance of Settings section. For sensors you add by tag, the report automatically includes all channels, except if you run a cluster and select All nodes in the Cluster Node selection above.

Filter Included Sensors by Tag

Filter the included sensors further. This option works best in combination with manually added groups and devices. From the sensors that are implicitly added because of their parent objects, the report includes only the ones with the tags you enter here.

Enter one or more tags to include sensors in the report. Confirm a tag with a comma, the Spacebar key, or the Enter key. Enter a string or leave the field empty.

You can also use plus (must have) and minus (must not have) signs to categorize tags, for example, +snmp;–wmi (must have the tag snmp and must not have the tag wmi). See section Tags for details.

Schedule ("When will this report be run?")

Report Schedule

Define the time at which you want to run the report:

  • No schedule (run interactive/on-demand only): Only use the options on the Run Now tab to start generating this report manually.
  • Every full hour: Run this report every 60 minutes.
  • Every day at a specific hour: Run this report every 24 hours.
  • Every specific day of a week: Run this report every 7 days. Specify the day below.
  • Every specific day of a month: Run this report on a specific day every month. Specify below.
  • The day after a quarter has finished: Run this report for every quarter of the year. This means on 1. April for the 1. January - 31. March quarter, for example.
  • Every specific date: Run this report on a specific date every year. Specify below.

Specify Hour

This setting is only visible if you enable Every day at a specific hour above. From the list, select the hour at which you want to run the report. PRTG automatically chooses a suitable time within this hour, usually at the beginning of it.

Specify Day

This setting is only visible if you enable Every specific day of a week above. From the list, select a day of the week or a date of the month for which you want to run the report.

If you select Last, the report always runs on the last day of the month, regardless of how many days the month has. If you select a date that does not exist in every month, for example, February 31st , PRTG automatically runs the report on the last day of this month.

Specify Date

This setting is only visible if you enable Every specific date above. Enter a valid date in the format DD.MM., for example, 31.12. The report runs on this date every year.

Scheduled Processing

This setting is only visible if you enable one of the schedule options above. Define what to do with a finished report:

  • Save report to disk and send it by email: Create a .pdf file and, depending on the Data Files setting, create data files of the report, store it, and send it via email. You find the report in your emails and on the Stored Reports tab. Define an email address below.
  • Save report to disk only: Create a .pdf file and, depending on the Data Files setting, create data files of the report and store it. Once finished, you find them on the Stored Reports tab. You receive also a ToDo ticket. By default, PRTG sends out a notification email to the administrator in this case.
  • Send report by email only: Create a .pdf file and, depending on the Data Files setting, create data files of the report and send them via email once finished. With this option, the report is not permanently stored in PRTG. Define an email address below.

icon-i-round-blueCertain special characters, for example, 4-byte unicode characters, may not be displayed correctly in PDF reports. As workaround, generate an HTML report and save it as a .pdf file.

Email Address

This field is only visible if you enable one of the email options above. Enter a valid email address to which PRTG sends the report. To enter more addresses, use a comma to separate them. PRTG sends an email to all recipients. All recipients appear in the To field of the email.

icon-i-round-blueYou can change the configuration for outgoing emails in the System Administration—Notification Delivery settings.

Send to User Group

This field is only visible if you enable one of the email options above. From the list, choose a user group to send an email with the report to. All members of this group receive the email. You can edit user groups in System Administration—User Groups.

icon-i-round-blueIf you define individual email addresses (see Email Address above) and a user group, PRTG sends the report to the individual email addresses as well as to the members of the selected user group. In both cases, PRTG sends an email to all recipients. All recipients appear in the To field of the email.

Compression

This setting is only visible if you enable one of the email options above. Define if PRTG compresses the attached report files before sending them out:

  • Send files uncompressed (default): PRTG sends the report files by email in their original size.
  • Send all in one ZIP file: PRTG compresses the report files to a .zip file before they are sent by email.

Period ("What time span will the report cover?")

Reported Period

Define the time span the report covers:

  • Current: Use monitoring data of the current period. Define the period type below.
  • Previous: Use monitoring data of the last period. Define the period type below.

Report Period Type

Define the type of period that you want to create a report for:

  • Day
  • Week
  • Month
  • Quarter (January-March, April-June, etc.)
  • Year

Depending on your selection, different period selections are shown below.

Day Period

This field is only visible if you enable Day above. Define the hours at which a day starts and ends. Choose from the list of hours. The default setting is 0:00-23:59.

Week Period

This field is only visible if you enable Week above. Define when the week starts and ends:

  • Monday-Sunday: A reported week starts on Monday.
  • Tuesday-Monday: A reported week starts on Tuesday.
  • Wednesday-Tuesday: A reported week starts on Wednesday.
  • Thursday-Wednesday: A reported week starts on Thursday.
  • Friday-Thursday: A reported week starts on Friday.
  • Saturday-Friday: A reported week starts on Saturday.
  • Sunday-Saturday: A reported week starts on Sunday.

Month Period

This field is only visible if you enable Month above. Define when the month starts and ends:

  • 1.-last day: A reported month starts on the first and ends on last of the month.
  • 15.-14.: A reported month starts on 15th and ends on 14th of the month.

Year Period

This field is only visible if you enable Year above. Define when the year starts and ends:

  • 1/1-12/31: A reported year starts on January 1st.
  • 7/1-6/30: A reported year starts on July 1st.

Report Only for Specific Hours of the Day (Schedule)

Include certain time spans within the defined period only. If a schedule is selected, the report only includes monitoring data for specified hours or weekdays within the defined period. Select None to include all available monitoring data in the report, or choose a schedule.

For example, select the schedule Weekdays to exclude all weekends from the report. The available schedules depend on your configuration.

icon-square-cyanFor more information, see section Account Settings—Schedules.

Include Percentiles

Percentile Results

Define if you want to include an additional percentile calculation of your data in the report:

  • Do not show percentiles: PRTG does not use a percentile formula to calculate your monitoring results. It only shows the standard values.
  • Show percentiles: PRTG displays an overview table with the percentiles of each channel for the whole report period, and the percentiles of the primary channel in the table for each scanning interval.

icon-i-round-bluePercentiles are not available for all report templates. If a template does not support percentiles, they do not show up in the report, even if you enable this setting.

Likewise, percentiles are not available in a cluster if you choose the option All Nodes in the Cluster Node setting in the sensor section above.

Percentile Type

This field is only visible if you enable Show percentiles above. Enter the percentile type that you want PRTG to use for the calculation. If you choose, for example, to calculate the 95th percentile, enter 95 here and 5 % of peak values are discarded. Enter an integer value.

Percentile Average Interval

This field is only visible if you enable Show percentiles above. Enter a value to define the averaging interval on which PRTG bases the percentile calculation. The default value is 300 seconds (5 minutes). This means that PRTG takes 5-minute averages as basic values for the percentile calculation. Enter an integer value.

Percentile Mode

This field is only visible if you enable Show percentiles above. Select the mode for percentile calculation:

  • Discrete: PRTG takes discrete values to calculate percentile results.
  • Continuous: PRTG interpolates between discrete values and bases the calculation on interpolated values.

Data Files

CSV / XML Files

Define if you want to generate .csv and .xml files for data tables in the report in addition to the .pdf file:

  • Do not include data files: PRTG does not generate .csv or .xml files for the report but only a .pdf file.
  • Include CSV files only (available for templates with data tables): PRTG generates and stores .csv files in addition to the .pdf file. .csv data files are only generated if the report uses a template with data tables.
  • Include XML files only (available for templates with data tables): PRTG generates and stores .xml files in addition to the .pdf file. .xml data files are only generated if the report uses a template with data tables.
  • Include all data files (available for templates with data tables): PRTG generates and stores .csv and .xml files in addition to the .pdf file. .csv and .xml data files are only generated if the report uses a template with data tables.

icon-i-round-redIf you run PRTG in a cluster, the report does not generate data files if you select All nodes in the sensors selection above. Specify a failover node to get data files.

Report Comments


Introductory Comment

Enter a custom text that shows up at the top of the first page of your report. Enter a string or leave the field empty.

Final Comment

Enter a custom text that shows up below the last data table or graph on the last page of your report. Enter a string or leave the field empty.

Access Rights

User Group Access

Define which user groups have access to the object that you are editing. A table with user groups and rights is shown. It contains all user groups from your setup. For each user group, you can choose from the following access rights:

  • Inherited: Use the settings of the parent object.
  • None: Users in this group cannot see or edit the object. The object does not show up in lists.
  • Read: Users in this group can see the object and review its settings.
  • Write: Users in this group can see the object, as well as review and edit its settings. However, they cannot edit access rights settings.
  • Full: Users in this group can see the object, as well as review and edit its settings as well as edit access rights.

You can create new user groups in the System Administration—User Groups settings.

icon-i-round-redSave your settings. If you change tabs or use the main menu, all changes to the settings are lost.

Select Sensors Manually

Click the Select Sensors Manually tab to manually choose sensors that you want to include in the report. You see a split screen: On the left side, there is a list of objects that the report already contains, and on the right side, you see your device tree, like on the Management tab in the device tree. You can add objects to the report using drag-and-drop.

icon-i-round-blueYou can also add a report via the context menu of an object. In this case, the selected object is automatically included in the report and you can see it on the left side of the split screen.

Manual Selection for Reports

Manual Selection for Reports

  • Add Items
    From the device tree on the right side, drag objects and drop them on the list on the left side. You can add entire probes, groups, devices, or single sensors. Each dropped object is added as a new list item. Repeat this procedure as often as you wish until you have added all desired items to the report.
    icon-i-round-blueThe objects you drop on the left side are always added to the end of the list, you cannot directly add objects in a different order.
  • Select Channels
    If you add a sensor to the selection, you can specify the channels that the report includes. By default, all channels are selected. To exclude a channel from the report, remove the check mark in front of a channel name.
    icon-i-round-blueIf you run PRTG in a cluster, you can only choose between single channels if you select one specific Cluster Node in the report settings. If you select All nodes in the report's Cluster Node setting, the channel selection is not available and the report contains only the primary channel of each sensor.
  • Change Order
    You can change the order of manually selected objects on the left side with drag-and-drop. Each item you add appears at the end of the list by default. To change the order, click the drag-and-drop symbol (two arrows) in the upper-right corner of a selected item, drag it to the desired position, and drop it there.
  • Remove
    To remove any objects from the report, click the trash can symbol next the respective list item, or select several list items while holding down the Ctrl key and then click a trash can symbol.

Your selection is saved automatically. There is no undo function. The final report includes both sensors selected manually and those selected by tag.

Sensors Selected by Tag

Click the Sensors Selected by Tag tab to view all sensors that are added to the report as defined in the Include Sensors by Tag setting of the report. In the table list, you see all sensors that you added to the report using their respective tags. This is for your information only, you cannot change sensors here.

However, you can switch to the Settings tab of the report and change the tags that the report uses to include sensors. Additionally, you can also exclude sensors with certain tags there. The final report includes both sensors selected manually and those selected by tag.

For sensors that you add by tag, all channels are included in the report automatically, unless you use a cluster and select All nodes in the Cluster Node selection of the report. In this case, the report only includes the primary channel of each sensor.

icon-i-round-blueThe final report includes both sensors selected manually and those selected by tag.

Comments

On the Comments tab, you can enter free text for each object. You can use this function for documentation purposes or to leave information for other users.

icon-i-round-redSave your settings. If you change tabs or use the main menu, all changes to the settings are lost.

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