<%NUMBERING1%>.<%NUMBERING2%>.<%NUMBERING3%> PRTG Manual: Create Device Template

If you want to add a certain device several times, you can create a device template from a device in your device tree. When creating a device template, PRTG saves information for nearly all sensors on this device to a template file that you can later use in combination with the auto-discovery (restrictions apply for a few sensors). Custom device templates are also available in the PRTG Script World.

From the sensors, all relevant settings are saved, except settings that refer to other objects, such as schedules, notification triggers, and access rights. PRTG automatically reverts them to Inherit.

To start, right-click a device in your device tree. From the context menu, select Create Device Template. An assistant appears.

Create Device Template Assistant

Create Device Template Assistant

icon-i-round-blueDevice templates only save the sensors on the device and the sensors' settings, including channels. They do not save the device itself or its settings. For successful device template creation, you must add sensors to the device (either manually or via auto-discovery) and the sensors must be device template capable.

Device Template Settings

Choose Template Name

Template Name

Enter a meaningful display name for the template as it appears in the PRTG web interface.

Exclude Sensors

Select sensors that you want to exclude from the device template. Mark the corresponding check boxes of the sensors that you want to exclude from the device template.

icon-i-round-blueSensors that you cannot save into device templates do not appear in this list.

icon-i-round-blueSensors that dynamically scan for available monitoring items when you add the sensor to a device do not appear in this list. PRTG automatically includes these sensors in the template if they support the template functionality. You cannot exclude these sensors from the device template.

icon-i-round-redSave your settings. If you leave the page, all changes to the settings are lost.

If your template file was saved successfully, you see an according message and can review the sensors that were added. Click OK to finish. The device template is now stored in the \devicetemplates subfolder of the PRTG program directory. Your device template file contains all sensors, including their settings, of the original device.

During your next auto-discovery, choose the Automatic sensor creation using specific device templates option and select the name of your new device template from the list. PRTG then tries to discover the stored sensors on the device. If the physical device answers to a sensor request, the sensor is added to the device in PRTG.

icon-square-cyanFor more information, see section Auto-Discovery.

Settings That Are Not Saved

There are a few settings that you cannot save into a device template, so PRTG sets them to default, for example:

  • The Dependency Type setting Master sensor for parent (in Schedules and Dependencies section)
  • Result Handling setting Write result to disk because this is intended for debugging purposes only.
  • Settings in the Access Rights section are not saved to avoid security flaws.

icon-i-round-blueIn general, you cannot save all sensor settings and channel settings (for example, channel limits of dynamically created channels) of sensors that dynamically scan for available monitoring items when you add the sensor. This affects, for example, traffic sensors where you can choose interfaces that you want to monitor in the Add Sensor dialog.

Furthermore, because of internal restrictions, the following sensors are not saved into a device template:

  • Amazon CloudWatch Alarm
  • Amazon CloudWatch EBS
  • Amazon CloudWatch EC2
  • Amazon CloudWatch ElastiCache
  • Amazon CloudWatch ELB
  • Amazon CloudWatch RDS
  • Amazon CloudWatch SNS
  • Amazon CloudWatch SQS
  • Business Process
  • Cluster Health
  • Core Health
  • DHCP
  • DICOM Bandwidth
  • DICOM C-ECHO
  • DICOM Query/Retrieve
  • Docker Container Status
  • Dropbox
  • Enterprise Virtual Array
  • Exchange Backup (PowerShell)
  • Exchange Database (PowerShell)
  • Exchange Database DAG (PowerShell)
  • Exchange Mail Queue (PowerShell)
  • Exchange Mailbox (PowerShell)
  • Exchange Public Folder (PowerShell)
  • Google Analytics
  • Google Drive
  • HL7
  • HTTP IoT Push Data Advanced
  • IPFIX
  • IPFIX (Custom)
  • IPMI System Health
  • jFlow v5
  • jFlow v5 (Custom)
  • Microsoft OneDrive
  • NetApp Aggregate
  • NetApp I/O
  • NetApp LIF
  • NetApp LUN
  • NetApp NIC
  • NetApp Physical Disk
  • NetApp SnapMirror
  • NetApp System Health
  • NetApp Volume
  • NetFlow v5
  • NetFlow v5 (Custom)
  • NetFlow v9
  • NetFlow v9 (Custom)
  • Packet Sniffer
  • Packet Sniffer (Custom)
  • Probe Health
  • QoS (Quality of Service) One Way
  • QoS (Quality of Service) Round Trip
  • REST Custom
  • REST Dell EMC Capacity
  • REST Dell EMC File System
  • REST Dell EMC LUN
  • REST Dell EMC Pool
  • REST Dell EMC System Health
  • Sensor Factory
  • sFlow
  • sFlow (Custom)
  • SNMP Trap Receiver
  • Syslog Receiver
  • System Health
  • WMI Security Center

No Update of Device Templates

Once a device template has been created, it is not possible to add additional sensors to it via the PRTG web interface. If you want to create a template with an extended set of sensors, create a new template.

icon-i-round-redWhen saving a new device template, all internal IDs of the sensors in this template are updated. Because of this, when you apply a new template to a device, PRTG newly creates all sensors that this template contains on this device, even if these sensors were previously created using a different device template.

icon-i-round-blueYou cannot directly delete device templates.

icon-prtg-on-demandYou cannot edit template files on PRTG hosted by Paessler.

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