<%NUMBERING1%>.<%NUMBERING2%>.<%NUMBERING3%> PRTG Manual: SNMP APC Hardware Sensor
The SNMP APC Hardware sensor monitors performance counters on an APC UPS device using the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP).
The sensor can show the following:
- Actual voltage of battery
- Capacity of battery
- Temperature of battery
- Remaining runtime of battery
- Input and output frequency
- Input and output voltage
- Output load
Which channels the sensor actually shows might depend on the monitored device and the sensor setup.
The SNMP APC Hardware sensor will not appear as a running sensor, instead it will be created as a SNMP Custom Advanced sensor.

SNMP APC Hardware Sensor
Sensor in Other Languages
Dutch: SNMP APC Hardware, French: Matériels SNMP APC, German: SNMP APC Hardware, Japanese: SNMP APC ハードウェア, Portuguese: Hardware SNMP APC, Russian: Оборудование SNMP APC, Simplified Chinese: SNMP APC 硬件, Spanish: SNMP APC Hardware
Remarks
Add Sensor
The Add Sensor dialog appears when you manually add a new sensor to a device. It only shows the setting fields that are required for creating the sensor. Therefore, you will not see all setting fields in this dialog. You can change (nearly) all settings in the sensor's Settings tab later.
Select the performance counters that you want to monitor. PRTG creates one SNMP Custom Advanced sensor for each Library OID category that you select in the Add Sensor dialog. If you select more than 10 OIDs per category, PRTG will create the corresponding amount of SNMP Custom Advanced sensors. The settings you select will be valid for all sensors that you create when you finish this dialog.
The following settings in the Add Sensor dialog differ in comparison to the sensor's Settings tab.
|
Library OIDs
|
Select the performance counters that you want to add a sensor for. You see a list with the names of all items that you can monitor. Add check marks in front of the respective lines to select the desired items. You can also use the check box in the table header to select and deselect all items.
PRTG creates one sensor for each selection.
|
Sensor Settings
On the details page of a sensor, click the Settings tab to change its settings.
Usually, a sensor connects to the IP Address or DNS Name of the parent device on which you created the sensor. See the Device Settings for details. For some sensors, you can explicitly define the monitoring target in the sensor settings. See below for details on available settings.
|
Sensor Name
|
Enter a meaningful name to identify the sensor. By default, PRTG shows this name in the device tree, as well as in alarms, logs, notifications, reports, maps, libraries, and tickets.
|
Parent Tags
|
Shows Tags that this sensor inherits from its parent device, group, and probe. This setting is shown for your information only and cannot be changed here.
|
Tags
|
Enter one or more Tags, separated by spaces or commas. You can use tags to group sensors and use tag–filtered views later on. Tags are not case sensitive. We recommend that you use the default value.
There are default tags that are automatically predefined in a sensor's settings when you add a sensor. See section Default Tags below.
You can add additional tags to the sensor if you like. Other tags are automatically inherited from objects further up in the device tree. These are visible above as Parent Tags.
It is not possible to enter tags with a leading plus (+) or minus (-) sign, nor tags with parentheses (()) or angle brackets (<>).
|
Priority
|
Select a priority for the sensor. This setting determines where the sensor is placed in sensor lists. A sensor with a top priority is at the top of a list. Choose from one star (low priority) to five stars (top priority).
|
Default Tags
apcups
|
Selected Interface
|
Shows the name of the interface (performance counter) that this sensor monitors. Once you have created a sensor, you cannot change this value. It is shown for reference purposes only. If you need to change this value, please add the sensor anew.
|
Unit String
|
Define the unit of the numerical data that the sensor monitors at the given OID. Enter a string.
|
Multiplication
|
If you want to multiply the received data with a certain value, enter the quotient here. Enter an integer value.
|
Division
|
If you want to divide the received data by a certain value, enter the divisor here. Enter an integer value.
|
If Value Changes
|
Define what this sensor will do when the sensor value changes. Choose between:
- Ignore changes (default): The sensor takes no action on change.
- Trigger 'change' notification: The sensor sends an internal message indicating that its value has changed. In combination with a Change Trigger, you can use this mechanism to trigger a notification whenever the sensor value changes.
|
|
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 the pin symbol of a channel on the sensor's Overview tab.
|
Graph Type
|
Define how different channels will be 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 will generate a graph that visualizes the different components of your total traffic.
This option cannot be used in combination with manual Vertical Axis Scaling (available in the Sensor Channel Settings settings).
|
Stack Unit
|
This field is only visible if you enable Stack channels on top of each other above. Select a unit from the list. All channels with this unit will be 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.
|
Inherited Settings
By default, all of the following settings are inherited from objects that are higher in the hierarchy and should be changed there if necessary. Often, best practice is to change them centrally in the Root group's settings. For more information, see section Inheritance of Settings. To change a setting for this object only, disable inheritance by clicking the button next to inherit from under the corresponding setting name. You will then see the options described below.
|
Click to interrupt the inheritance. See section Inheritance of Settings for more information.
|
Scanning Interval
|
Select a scanning interval (seconds, minutes, or hours). The scanning interval determines the amount of time that the sensor waits between two scans. You can change the available intervals in the system administration on PRTG on premises installations.
|
If a Sensor Query Fails
|
Define the number of scanning intervals that the sensor has time to reach and check a device again in case a sensor query fails. Depending on the option that you select, the sensor can try to reach and check a device again several times before the sensor will show a Down status. This can avoid false alarms if the monitored device only has temporary issues. For previous scanning intervals with failed requests, the sensor will show a Warning status. Choose from:
- Set sensor to down immediately: Set the sensor to a Down status immediately after the first failed request.
- Set sensor to warning for 1 interval, then set to down (recommended): Set the sensor to a Warning status after the first failed request. If the following request also fails, the sensor will show an error.
- Set sensor to warning for 2 intervals, then set to down: Set the sensor to a Down status only after three consecutively failed requests.
- Set sensor to warning for 3 intervals, then set to down: Set the sensor to a Down status only after four consecutively failed requests.
- Set sensor to warning for 4 intervals, then set to down: Set the sensor to a Down status only after five consecutively failed requests.
- Set sensor to warning for 5 intervals, then set to down: Set the sensor to a Down status only after six consecutively failed requests.
Sensors that monitor via Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) always wait at least one scanning interval before they show a Down status. It is not possible to immediately set a WMI sensor to a Down status, so the first option will not apply to these sensors. All other options can apply.
If you define error limits for a sensor's channels, the sensor will immediately show a Down status. No "wait" option will apply.
If a channel uses lookup values, the sensor will immediately show a Down status. No "wait" options will apply.
|
|
You cannot interrupt the inheritance for schedules, dependencies, and maintenance windows. The corresponding settings from the parent objects will always be active. However, you can define additional settings here. They will be active at the same time as the parent objects' settings.
|
Schedule
|
Select a schedule from the list. Schedules can be used to monitor for a certain time span (days or hours) every week.
You can create schedules, edit schedules, or pause monitoring for a specific time span. For more information, see section Account Settings—Schedules.
Schedules are generally inherited. New schedules will be added to existing schedules, so all schedules are active at the same time.
|
Maintenance Window
|
Specify if you want to set up a one-time maintenance window. During a maintenance window, the current sensor and all child objects will not be monitored. They will be in a Paused status instead. Choose between:
- Not set (monitor continuously): No maintenance window will be set and monitoring will always be active.
- Set up a one-time maintenance window: Pause monitoring within a maintenance window. You can define a time span for a monitoring pause below and change it even for a currently running maintenance window.
To terminate a current maintenance window before the defined end date, change the time entry in Maintenance Ends to a date in the past.
|
Maintenance Begins
|
This field is only visible if you enable Set up a one-time maintenance window above. Use the date time picker to enter the start date and time of the maintenance window.
|
Maintenance Ends
|
This field is only visible if you enable Set up a one-time maintenance window above. Use the date time picker to enter the start date and time of the maintenance window.
|
Dependency Type
|
Define a dependency type. You can use dependencies to pause monitoring for an object depending on the status of another object. You can choose from:
- Use parent: Use the dependency type of the parent device.
- Select a sensor: Use the dependency type of the parent device. Additionally, pause the current sensor if another specific sensor is in a Down status or in a Paused status caused by another dependency. Select below.
- Master sensor for parent: Make this sensor the master object for its parent device. The sensor will influence the behavior of its parent device: If the sensor is in a Down status, the device will be paused. For example, it is a good idea to make a Ping sensor the master object for its parent device to pause monitoring for all other sensors on the device in case the device cannot even be pinged. Additionally, the sensor will be paused if the parent group is paused by another dependency.
To test your dependencies, select Simulate Error Status from the context menu of an object that other objects depend on. A few seconds later, all dependent objects will be paused. You can check all dependencies in your PRTG installation by selecting Devices | Dependencies from the main menu bar.
|
Dependency
|
This field is only visible if you enable Select a sensor above. Click the Search button and use the object selector to select a sensor on which the current sensor will depend.
|
Dependency Delay (Sec.)
|
This field is only visible if you enable Select a sensor above. Define a time span in seconds for dependency delay.
After the master sensor for this dependency comes back to an Up status, monitoring of the dependent objects will be additionally delayed by the defined time span. This can help avoid false alarms, for example, after a server restart, by giving systems more time for all services to start up. Enter an integer value.
This setting is not available if you set this sensor to Use parent or to be the Master sensor for parent. In this case, define delays in the parent Device Settings or in its parent Group Settings.
|
|
Click to interrupt the inheritance. See section Inheritance of Settings for more information.
|
User Group Access
|
Define the user groups that will have access to the selected object. A table with user groups and types of access 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 access rights settings of the parent object.
- None: Users in this group cannot see or edit the object. The object neither shows up in lists nor in the device tree. Exception: If a child object is visible to the user, the object is visible in the device tree but it cannot be accessed.
- Read: Users in this group can see the object and review its monitoring results.
- Write: Users in this group can see the object, review its monitoring results, and edit its settings. They cannot edit access rights settings.
- Full: Users in this group can see the object, review its monitoring results, edit its settings, and edit access rights settings.
You can create new user groups in the System Administration—User Groups settings. To automatically set all objects further down in the hierarchy to inherit this object's access rights, set a check mark for the Revert children's access rights to inherited option.
For more details on access rights, see section User Access Rights.
|
More
Knowledge Base: How can I monitor additional counters with the SNMP APC Hardware sensor?
Knowledge Base: How can I monitor an APC UPS that does not support SNMP?
Knowledge Base: What SNMP sensors does PRTG offer?
Knowledge Base: My SNMP sensors don't work. What can I do?
Edit Sensor Channels
To change display settings, spike filtering, and limits, switch to the sensor's Overview tab and click the gear icon of a specific channel. For detailed information, see section Sensor Channel Settings.
Notification Triggers
Click the Notification Triggers tab to change notification triggers. For detailed information, see section Sensor Notification Triggers Settings.
Others
For more general information about settings, see section Object Settings.
Sensor Settings Overview
For information about sensor settings, see the following sections: