PRTG Manual: Step 2: Smart Setup

PRTG automatically starts the smart setup on a new PRTG installation. This setup assistant guides you through the initial setup of your network monitoring system. The smart setup reappears until you have completed all steps. You can skip the introduction altogether right at the beginning.

First Start

When you log in for the first time, you see the device tree. PRTG Network Monitor already includes several devices with sensors that monitor your network, sorted into different groups. PRTG automatically creates the device tree during the installation process via the auto-discovery feature.

PRTG scans your network by pinging IP addresses in the subnet of your PRTG core server and adds all reachable devices to your specific network monitoring structure.

The smart setup scans only for devices with IP addresses in private network ranges. You can manually start an auto-discovery for other subnets later.

Device Tree after Initial Auto-Discovery

In the upper-right corner of the PRTG web interface, you can see the smart setup assistant. They guide you through 5 setup steps during which you can enter more information about your network. PRTG runs another auto-discovery with this information to add additional devices and sensors to your monitoring. You can still edit the settings that you provided during the smart setup later on to adjust the monitoring to your needs.

Start Your Introduction to PRTG

Click OK! to start a guided tour.

If you click Skip introduction, the smart setup assistant never appears again. We strongly recommend that you take the guided tour if you are new to PRTG.

The steps to take are:

Step 1: Provide Credentials

Your smart setup assistant asks you to provide credentials for devices in your network. Click OK, Show Me!, follow the animated mouse pointer, and open the Settings tab of the root group.

Have Your Credentials Ready

On the Settings tab, enter various administrator credentials for your network environment. With these credentials, PRTG can automatically add a large number of additional devices and sensors to your device tree. This way, you do not need to manually add every single device.

Provide Your Credentials

To monitor your Windows clients and servers via Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI), enter Windows administrator credentials for your network. We recommend that you use domain administrator credentials if you use an Active Directory. For a general introduction to the technology behind WMI, see section

Monitoring via WMI

.
If you have systems that run on Linux, Solaris, or macOS, enter root access credentials for these systems. For a general introduction to Secure Shell (SSH) monitoring, see section

Monitoring via SSH

.
If you use the virtual environments VMware or Citrix XenServer, enter root access credentials for these systems. For a general introduction to the monitoring of virtual environments, see section

Monitoring Virtual Environments

.
To monitor hardware like routers or switches, the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) is the most commonly used protocol. Usually, all SNMP-enabled devices use the same settings by default: SNMP

v2c

, the community string

public

, and SNMP port

161

. For a general introduction to the technology behind SNMP, see section

Monitoring via SNMP

.
You can also enter credentials for database management systems or credentials for Amazon Web Services (AWS) monitoring.

PRTG stores these credentials in the root group of your device tree. All dependent devices automatically inherit these credentials and use them for monitoring. You can disable the inheritance of settings at any level if you want to enter other credentials instead.

For more information about the available options, see section Root Group Settings.

Click OK, Done! to finish this setup step. Click OK, Do It! to start a detailed auto-discovery.

Start a Detailed Auto-Discovery

Step 2: Enter Location Information

While PRTG runs a new auto-discovery in your network with the provided credentials, the setup assistant asks you to provide the location of your PRTG core server. This information is displayed in geographical maps. Enter your location and confirm with OK, Done!. Click OK, Show Me! to get back to the device tree.

Enter Your Location

For more information about the available options, see section Root Group Settings.

Step 3: Change Your PRTG Login Password

Back in the device tree, the setup assistant in PRTG Network Monitor asks you to change your password. Click OK, Show Me! and follow the assistant to your account settings. By default, PRTG uses the PRTG System Administrator user account with the login name prtgadmin and the password prtgadmin. So we strongly recommend that you change the password to protect PRTG from unauthorized access.

Start the Password Change

Enter your New Password and confirm it under Confirm Password. The password must meet the following requirements:

At least eight characters long
At least one numeral
At least one capitalized letter

Click OK, Done! to save your new password.

Change the Default Password

For more information about the available options, see section My Account.

Step 4: Confirm Your Email Address

To complete the smart setup, check whether the email address that you entered during the installation is correct.

A correct email address is mandatory for PRTG to reach you via email notifications when there are alarms and for other important messages.

Click OK, Done! and follow the assistant back to the device tree.

Verify Your Email Address

For more information about the available options, see section My Account.

Step 5: Switch to SSL/TLS

For PRTG Network Monitor, if you access the PRTG web interface from a system other than the system where you installed PRTG, the setup assistant asks you to switch to a Secure Sockets Layer (SSL)/Transport Layer Security (TLS) secured connection. We strongly recommend that you run the PRTG web interface secured with SSL/TLS, especially if you make your PRTG web interface available from the internet. Otherwise, your passwords are sent over your network without encryption.

Click

OK, Switch Now!

to get more information about using SSL/TLS for the PRTG web server.
In the new window, click

Yes, switch to SSL/TLS

to switch to an SSL/TLS-secured connection.
PRTG must restart its services to apply the changes. The PRTG web interface is reachable under an HTTPS URL afterward.
When the PRTG web interface reloads, it most likely shows a certificate warning. Confirm the certificate warning to proceed to the login screen.

For more information, see Knowledge Base:

Why does my browser show an SSL certificate warning when I open the PRTG web interface?