Moving from PRTG to TarleyNode

Before you start

List what PRTG monitors today: the address ranges, the SNMP communities or SNMP v3 users, the Windows and Linux accounts, and who its notifications reach.

Plan a separate server or virtual machine running Ubuntu or Debian on x86-64. Like PRTG, TarleyNode counts sensors, one check on one device each. Up to 500 sensors needs 4 CPU cores, 4 GB of memory and 100 GB of disk; the Download page lists larger sizes.

Install TarleyNode next to PRTG

TarleyNode is offered by invitation while it is new. Ask through Request a demo, and the installer arrives by email link.

1. Check the download against its published checksum and install it with sudo apt install. The installer sets everything up and prints the address to open.
2. Run sudo tarleynode setup-code to get the one-time setup secret.
3. Open the address, enter the setup secret, your email and a password of at least 12 characters, and agree to the licence terms.

Tell TarleyNode which networks it may check

1. Open Discovery › Sites & network scopes and add a site, such as Head office, with the address ranges PRTG monitors, such as 192.168.1.0/24.
2. TarleyNode only ever contacts addresses inside a site’s ranges, so nothing outside them is probed.

Add the logins PRTG uses

1. Open Discovery › Credential profiles and choose Add.
2. For switches, firewalls and printers, choose SNMP v3 · authPriv (recommended) or SNMP v2c, and enter the same user or community PRTG uses.
3. For Windows servers choose Windows · WinRM, for Linux servers SSH · Linux and Unix servers, and for vCenter or ESXi VMware vCenter or ESXi.
4. Logins are stored encrypted, and a login is only used on devices you assign it to.
5. Administrators can also create a login from a device’s page: under Logins, choose Assign (or Change), choose Create a new login if saved logins are listed, fill in the form and choose Create and assign.

Discover your devices

1. In Discovery, choose Scan now on the site. The scan pings the range and identifies each device’s name, maker and type.
2. Tick the devices you want and choose Add. Choose Ignore for any you never want offered again.
3. Set the site’s logins, SNMP, Windows (WinRM) and Linux (SSH), so each device you add gets the one that fits it.
4. Assigning a login adds the matching health check, and every active switch port is monitored automatically.

Rebuild your alerting

1. Every check starts with a default rule: down means an incident. Under Rules, add thresholds on any value, such as CPU above 90% for 5 minutes.
2. Under Notifications, add the destinations PRTG notifies today, such as email, Teams, Slack or PagerDuty, and use Send test.
3. Add escalation policies to say who hears first and who is told if an incident stays unacknowledged.
4. Under Dependencies, set servers behind a switch, so only the switch alerts when it fails.

Bring in your other locations

Where PRTG uses a remote probe, TarleyNode uses a connected site. Open Connected sites, choose Connect a site, and run the Linux or Windows command shown on a machine at that location within 15 minutes. The site only connects out, and keeps readings on disk if the link drops.

Compare, then switch

1. Run both for a few weeks, and compare the incidents each raises and the availability shown under Reports. Scheduled reports can email a PDF and CSV every day, week or month.
2. Under Reports › Service levels, set a target such as 99.999% for a site, a device or every check. Each finished month is stored once, unchangeable, with a SHA-256 fingerprint.
3. When you are satisfied, move your notifications over, and keep PRTG until its subscription ends.

Related

• TarleyNode compared with PRTG
• Monitoring a switch with SNMPv3
• Agentless Windows monitoring over WinRM
• Licensing

TarleyNode is offered by invitation while it is new. Request a demo to try it on your own network.