<%NUMBERING1%>.<%NUMBERING2%>.<%NUMBERING3%> PRTG Manual: Install a PRTG Remote Probe

A PRTG remote probe helps you extend your monitoring to distributed networks or take load from the system running the core installation. All you need is a computer on which you can install your remote probe.

Your PRTG on premises or PRTG in the cloud installations already include a probe on their core servers, the local probe and cloud probe respectively. This is why you cannot additionally install a remote probe on your core system.

Because your remote probe needs to connect to your PRTG core server, your PRTG core server must accept incoming connections. Please prepare the core server first.

PRTG updates remote probes automatically, but in rare cases a manual probe update is required. You will receive a ToDo ticket in this case. Please follow the steps below to manually update a remote probe.

To Install a PRTG Remote Probe, follow these steps:

1. Prepare the PRTG Core Server

2. Download the Remote Probe Installer

3. Install the Remote Probe

1. Prepare the PRTG Core Server

Because your remote probe needs to connect to your PRTG core server, your PRTG core server needs to accept incoming remote probe connections. So, please prepare your PRTG core server first.

Edit the relevant settings in System Administration—Core & Probes. From the main menu in the PRTG web interface, select Setup | System Administration | Core & Probes to access the probes settings and go to the Probe Connection Settings.

By default, a core server accepts connections from the Local Probe only (IP address 127.0.0.1). This setting is the most secure setting, but it does not allow any remote probe to connect to your PRTG core server.

To accept remote probes, choose one of the following settings:

• All IPs available on this computer: Any IP on your core server system accepts incoming probe connections.
• Specify IPs: Specify selected IP addresses that accept incoming connections.

Other settings are:

• In the Access Keys field, you can enter a new access key that can be used for a core probe connection. The access key can include arbitrary signs and have arbitrary length. During the remote probe install process PRTG will add an access key automatically, so usually you will not have to define a key here.
• In the Allow IPs field, you can enter the IP address of the computer you want to install a remote probe on. To make things easier, you can also enter the word any: this will set the core server to accept remote probes connecting from any IP address.
  If you use any, make sure you write the word in lower case only! Any other variations will not be valid!
   
• In the Deny IPs field, you can enter the IP address of the computers that you do not want to connect to the PRTG core server.
• In the Deny GIDs field, you can enter the global ID (GID) of a device in your network that you do not want to connect to the PRTG core server. Future probe connections from this device will be denied automatically.
  What is a global ID (GID)? It is the ID that PRTG Network Monitor attributes to every device that you include in your monitoring.

When you are done, click Save to save your settings. If you click Cancel, all changes to the core and probe settings will be discarded.

If you change this setting, PRTG needs to restart the core server to apply your changes. After clicking the Save button, a dialog box appears that asks you to confirm the required core server restart. Click OK to trigger the restart and follow the instructions on the screen. During the restart all the users of the PRTG web interface, of the Enterprise Console, or of PRTG Apps for Mobile Network Monitoring will be disconnected and reconnected.

For further information about the core probe connection settings, see also the System Administration—Core & Probes section.

To edit the core probe connection settings you can also use the PRTG Administration Tool on your core server.

PRTG Cluster and Remote Probes Outside the LAN

If you use the Clustering feature of PRTG and you want to run remote probes outside your local network, you have to make sure your cluster nodes and the addresses they use are reachable from the outside! Check your cluster node settings under System Administration—Cluster before installing a remote probe outside your local network. Enter addresses (DNS names or IPs) that are valid for both cluster nodes to reach each other and for remote probes to reach all cluster nodes individually. Remote probes outside your LAN cannot connect to your cluster nodes if they use local addresses.

If you already have a remote probe installed outside your LAN and the probe is disconnected because of this, please follow these steps:

1. Uninstall the current remote probe.
2. Update the cluster node settings with addresses that are reachable from outside your LAN.
3. Restart your PRTG core servers.
4. Install the remote probe again. It will then obtain the IP address or DNS name entries that it can reach.

See also section Failover Cluster Configuration—Remote Probes in Cluster.

2. Download the Remote Probe Installer from the PRTG Web Interface

On the computer on which you want to install remote probe, log in to the PRTG web interface. From the main menu bar, select Setup | Downloads | Remote Probe Installer. Click Download: Remote Probe Installer and save the setup program to your local disk.

The version numbers of core and probe services must match. PRTG updates probes automatically when a new version is installed on the PRTG core server. If PRTG advises you to update your remote probe manually, open a web browser on your remote computer and download the remote probe installer as described in this manual section.

3. Install the Remote Probe

Execute the setup program that you have just downloaded.

Confirm the Windows User Account Control dialog with Yes to allow the installation. The usual software installation wizard will guide you through the installation process.

Click Install to start the installation process of your remote probe.

Please wait until the installation is completed. The remote probe will automatically connect to your PRTG core server then.

If the remote probe successfully connects to your PRTG core server, you can complete the setup of your new remote probe.

To allow your new remote probe to connect to the PRTG core server, PRTG automatically sets the Allow IPs field in System Administration—Core & Probes to any. We recommend that you use this setting in intranets only. If any is not an option for you, cancel it in the Allow IPs field and enter the IP address of your remote probe instead.

Click Continue to finish the remote probe installation.

Finally, click Finish to exit the installation wizard. The remote probe is now installed on your computer as a Windows service.

Remember to log in to the PRTG web interface to acknowledge your new remote probe!

If you successfully installed the remote probe from a PRTG in the cloud installation, you will see the following dialog box.

Click Approve and auto-discover new probe to include your new remote probe device and network in your device tree and to start the PRTG auto-discovery. It helps you discover devices and automatically create suitable sensors. Optionally, you can also choose to only approve your remote probe without starting an auto-discovery by clicking Approve new probe. The probe now appears as a new object in your device tree.

For unwanted probe connections, you can click Deny new probe. Note that this does not uninstall the remote probe, but only prohibits the probe from connecting to the PRTG core server.

If you deny or remove a remote probe, PRTG will include this device's global ID (GID) into Deny GIDs in System Administration—Core & Probes. Future probe connections from this device will be denied automatically.

In the Approving probe dialog, click OK to exit the dialog, or click Show probe in device tree to open the new probe in the device tree directly.

You do not have to approve remote probes after updates.

More

For more details about the remote probe installation and core probe connection process, see the Remote Probe Using Installer section.

You can also use the PRTG Administration Tool to edit administrative settings regarding your PRTG core and probe installations. See the Remote Probe Setup section for more detailed information about the remote probe setup.

 

Installing the Software—Topics

• Download PRTG
• Update From Previous Versions
• Install a PRTG Core Server
• Create a PRTG in the Cloud Instance
• Install a PRTG Cluster
• Enter a License Key
• Activate the Product
• Install a PRTG Remote Probe
• Install the Enterprise Console
• Uninstall PRTG Products