<%NUMBERING1%>.<%NUMBERING2%>.<%NUMBERING3%> PRTG Manual: Local Folder Sensor
The Local Folder sensor monitors a local folder on a probe system.
This sensor is in beta status. The operating methods and the available settings are still subject to change. Do not expect that all functions work properly, or that this sensor works as expected at all.
Local Folder Sensor
For a detailed list and descriptions of the channels that this sensor can show, see section Channel List.
Sensor in Other Languages
Dutch: Local Folder
French: Dossier local
German: Lokaler Ordner
Japanese: ローカルフォルダー
Portuguese: Pasta local
Russian: Локальная папка
Simplified Chinese: 本地文件夹
Spanish: Carpeta local
Remarks
This sensor requires that the Beta Sensors experimental feature is enabled.
You can create this sensor only on a probe device.
This sensor supports IPv6.
This sensor has a low performance impact.
Detailed Requirements
Requirement
Description
Enabled Beta Sensors experimental feature
This sensor requires that the Beta Sensorsexperimental feature of PRTG is enabled.
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:
filesystem
folder
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 ().
Local Folder Specific
Local Folder Specific
Setting
Setting
Path
Enter the path of the folder that you want to monitor. For example, enter C:\Windows. The folder must exist on the probe system.
The sensor only supports local paths.
Timeout (Sec.)
Enter a timeout in seconds. If the scan of the folder takes longer, the sensor cancels the request and shows an error message. If two consecutive scans fail, the sensor shows the Down status. The default value is 300 seconds (5 minutes). The maximum value is 1079 seconds (17 minutes and 59 seconds).
Recurse Subfolders
Specify if the sensor includes subfolders in the folder monitoring:
Do not recurse subfolders (default): Only monitor the folder. Do not monitor its subfolders.
Monitor the folder and its subfolders (recursive): Monitor the folder and all of its subfolders. If you recurse subfolders in large directories that have a high number of branches, this might cause timeout errors or performance issues.
Filter by File Name
Select if you want to filter by file name:
Disable (default): Do not filter by file name.
Include filter: The sensor counts files that match the File Filter.
Exclude filter: The sensor counts files that do not match the File Filter.
File Filter
This setting is only visible if you select Include filter or Exclude filter above.
Enter a comma-separated list of file names, file formats, or patterns you want to filter for. For example, '*.pdf,*.docx' includes or excludes files with the file formats .pdf or .docx.
The file filter is not case sensitive and supports wildcards (*).
Filter by File Age
Select if you want to filter by file age:
Disable (default): Do not filter by file age.
Enable: Filter by file age.
Newer Than
This setting is only visible if you select Enable above.
Enter a file age. The sensor only counts files that are younger than this age.
Leave this field empty if you only want to filter for files with the Older Than setting.
Older Than
This setting is only visible if you select Enable above.
Enter a file age. The sensor only counts files that are older than this age.
Leave this field empty if you only want to filter for files with the Newer Than setting.
File Age Filter Unit
This setting is only visible if you select Enable above.
Select the time unit that you want to use for Filter by File Age:
Days (default)
Hours
Minutes
Sensor Display
Sensor Display
Setting
Setting
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: 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.
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.
Channel List
Which channels the sensor actually shows might depend on the target device, the available components, and the sensor setup.
Channel
Description
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 status
File Count
The number of files in the folder
The sensor counts all files in a folder, including hidden files.
This channel is the primary channel by default.
Folder Count
The number of folders
Folder Size
The folder size
Newest File
The time since the newest modification of a file in the folder (newest file)
The sensor shows a negative value if the date of a modified file is in the future.
Oldest File
The time since the oldest modification of a file in the folder (oldest file)