PRTG Manual: Google Analytics Sensor

Important Notice

This sensor type is deprecated. The sensor still works but you cannot add it anew as of PRTG 22.x.78.

The Google Analytics sensor queries and monitors several metrics from a Google Analytics account via the Google application programming interface (API) and Open Authorization 2 (OAuth2).

Google Analytics Sensor

Google Analytics Sensor

z_i_square_cyanFor a detailed list and descriptions of the channels that this sensor can show, see section Channel List.

Sensor in Other Languages

  • Dutch: Google Analytics
  • French: Google Analytics
  • German: Google Analytics
  • Japanese: Google Analytics
  • Portuguese: Google Analytics
  • Russian: Google Analytics
  • Simplified Chinese: Google Analytics
  • Spanish: Google Analytics

Remarks

  • This sensor has a low performance impact.
  • This sensor only supports the IPv4 protocol.

Add Sensor

The Add Sensor dialog appears when you manually add a new sensor to a device. It only shows the settings that are required to create the sensor. You can change nearly all settings on the sensor's Settings tab after creation.

PRTG requires OAuth2 authorization before you can add this sensor. Provide the required credentials in the dialog box that appears.

Google Credentials

This sensor uses OAuth2 authentication to get access to your Google account.
z_i_square_cyanFor details about this authentication approach, see section Authentication via OAuth2.

Google Credentials

Google Credentials

Settings

Decription

OAuth URL

Click Get Access Code to connect this sensor to your Google Analytics account via OAuth2. This is necessary to allow the sensor to query data from Google Analytics. A new browser window appears.

Follow the steps in the browser window and confirm the permission for PRTG to connect to your Google Analytics account. Copy the OAuth code you get and paste it into the Get Access Code field below.

OAuth Code

Paste the access code that you receive after completing the authorization process for PRTG in your Google Analytics account.

z_i_round_redIt is mandatory to connect this sensor to your Google Analytics account to create this sensor. Complete the OAuth approach first to get the OAuth code.

Click OK to define the sensor settings.

Google Analytics Specific

Setting

Description

Profile

Select the Google Analytics profile that you want to monitor.

Channel #2 - #10

You can create up to 10 different channels for this sensor. You must define at least one data channel, so you already see all available settings for Channel #1. Additionally, you can define Channel #2 up to Channel #10. To do so, choose between:

  • Disable: Do not create this channel.
  • Enable: Create this channel. Define further settings below.

z_i_round_blueIt is not possible to enable or disable channels after sensor creation.

Channel #x Mode

Define how to display the retrieved value in the channel:

  • Absolute (recommended): Show the value as the sensor retrieves it from Google Analytics.
  • Difference: Calculate and show the difference between the last value and the most recent value retrieved from Google Analytics.
    z_i_round_redThis mode is not compatible with the unit Lookup.

Basic Sensor Settings

Click the Settings tab of a sensor to change its settings.

Basic Sensor Settings

Basic Sensor Settings

Setting

Description

Sensor Name

Enter a name to identify the sensor.

Parent Tags

Shows tags that the sensor inherits from its parent device, parent group, and parent probe.

z_i_round_blueThis 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.

z_i_round_blueIt is not possible to enter tags with a leading plus (+) or minus (-) sign, nor tags with parentheses (()) or angle brackets (<>).

z_i_round_blueFor 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:

  • googleanalytics

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 (z_i_priority_1) to the highest priority (z_i_priority_5).

z_i_round_blueUsually, a sensor connects to the IP Address/DNS Name of the parent device. See the device settings for details. For some sensors, you can explicitly define the monitoring target in the sensor settings.

Google Credentials

Google Credentials

Google Credentials

Settings

Description

OAuth Code

Shows the authorization code that the sensor uses to access your Google Analytics account.

z_i_round_bluePRTG shows this value for reference purposes only. If you need to change this value, add the sensor anew.

Google Analytics Specific

Google Analytics Specific

Google Analytics Specific

Settings

Description

Profile

Shows the Google Analytics profile that this sensor monitors.

z_i_round_bluePRTG shows this value for reference purposes only. If you need to change this value, add the sensor anew.

Time Span

Define the time span that the queried monitoring covers:

  • Last week (default)
  • Yesterday
  • Today

Channel #x Name

Enter a name for the channel in which the sensor shows the results for the metric you choose below. Enter a string.

Channel #x Metric

Select the metric that you want to monitor. You can choose between available Google Analytics metrics. If the metric that you want to monitor is not in the list, select Custom Metric and specify it below.

Channel #x Custom Metric

This setting is only visible if you select Custom Metric above. Enter the identifier of the metric that you want to monitor. Enter it exactly as it is shown in Google Analytics. Metric identifiers always start with ga:. Enter a string.

Channel #x Mode

Shows how the sensor displays the retrieved value in the channel.

z_i_round_bluePRTG shows this value for reference purposes only. If you need to change this value, add the sensor anew.

Channel #x Unit

Define the unit of the channel value:

  • BytesBandwidth
  • BytesMemory
  • BytesDisk
  • Temperature
  • Percent
  • TimeResponse
  • TimeSeconds
  • TimeHours
  • Count
  • CPU
  • BytesFile
  • SpeedDisk
  • SpeedNet
  • Custom
  • Lookup

z_i_square_cyanFor more information about the available units, see section Custom Sensors.

z_i_round_redTo use lookups with this channel, select Lookup and define the lookup file in Channel #x Lookup. Do not use the unit Custom for lookups with this sensor and do not use the channel settings to define a lookup file.

z_i_round_blueUsing the unit Lookup is not possible when you choose the Difference mode. You are not able to create the sensor in this case.

Channel #x Custom Unit

This setting is only visible if you select Custom above. Define a unit for the channel value. Enter a string.

Channel #x Lookup

This setting is only visible if you select Lookup above. Choose the lookup file that you want to use for this channel.

Channel #2 - #10

Shows if the channel is enabled or disabled.

z_i_round_bluePRTG shows this value for reference purposes only. If you need to change this value, add the sensor anew.

Sensor Display

Sensor Display

Sensor Display

Setting

Description

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.

z_i_round_blueYou can set a different primary channel later by clicking b_channel_primary 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.
    z_i_round_redYou 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 enable Stack channels on top of each other as Graph Type. 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.

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 z_b_inherited_enabled under the corresponding setting name to disable the inheritance and to display its options.

z_i_square_cyanFor more information, see section Inheritance of Settings.

Scanning Interval

Scanning Interval

Scanning Interval

z_i_square_cyanFor more information, see section Root Group Settings, section Scanning Interval.

Schedules, Dependencies, and Maintenance Window

z_i_round_blueYou 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

Schedules, Dependencies, and Maintenance Window

z_i_square_cyanFor more information, see section Root Group Settings, section Schedules, Dependencies, and Maintenance Window.

Access Rights

Access Rights

Access Rights

z_i_square_cyanFor more information, see section Root Group Settings, section Access Rights.

Channel Unit Configuration

z_i_round_blueWhich 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

Channel Unit Configuration

z_i_square_cyanFor more information, see section Root Group Settings, section Channel Unit Configuration.

Authentication via OAuth2

z_i_square_cyanThis sensor uses the OAuth2 security protocol to access the account from which you want to retrieve and monitor data. OAuth2 enables you to grant access to the target account without sharing your password with PRTG. The authorization approach of PRTG using OAuth2 works as follows.

  1. Authorization Request
    First, you must request authorization for this sensor to access service resources from your account. For this purpose, you are asked to get an access code for this sensor in the Add Sensor dialog. Click Get Access Code to start the authorization process using OAuth2. A new browser window opens on the authorization server of the target service.
  2. Verifying Identity
    This new window contains a login form for your account that you want to monitor. Log in to your account using your credentials for this service to authenticate your identity. This is a common login to your account on the target server so PRTG does not see your password. The service forwards you to the authorization page and asks you to permit PRTG to access the data in your account.
    z_i_round_blueIf you are already logged in to the service with a user account, you do not need to enter credentials in this step and get directly to the access permission page.
  3. Authorizing PRTG
    Permit PRTG to access information on your account. Note that this permission holds only for this specific sensor, not for other sensors of this type or PRTG as a whole. For each sensor of this type you add, you must confirm the access permission anew. You can change the account permissions at any time in your account at the target service.
  4. Getting Authorization Code
    Permitting PRTG to access your account data forwards you to a page where the service provides an authorization code. Copy this code and switch back to the Add Sensor dialog in PRTG.
    z_i_round_redThe code is only valid for a short period of time and expires after a few minutes.
    You can use a particular code only once.
  5. Providing Authorization Code
    Paste the authorization code into the OAuth Code field and complete the Add Sensor dialog. You do not need to go through further configuration steps manually. The sensor automatically accomplishes the following steps.
  6. Requesting Access Token
    After receiving the authorization code, PRTG requests an access token from the API of the target service. For this purpose, PRTG transmits the authorization code together with several authentication details. The API checks if the authorization is valid and returns the access token to PRTG. Access tokens are specific for one account and one application (here: PRTG). The authorization process to read data from your account is now complete.
  7. Retrieving Data
    The sensor transmits the access token with each sensor scan in the defined scanning interval to authenticate with your account. It is not necessary to use the original account credentials anew. The used tokens refresh automatically from time to time.

Channel List

z_i_round_blueWhich 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 in percent.

[Metric]

The values for all available Google Analytics metrics in several channels

More

z_i_square_blueKnowledge Base

Where do I find available Google Analytics metrics?

What security features does PRTG include?