<%NUMBERING1%>.<%NUMBERING2%>.<%NUMBERING3%> PRTG Manual: Windows Updates Status (PowerShell) Sensor
The Windows Updates Status (PowerShell) sensor monitors the status of Windows updates on a computer and counts the available and installed Windows updates that are either from Microsoft or from the local Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) server.
You can find the updates that the sensor considers in the Server Manager (WSUS) under Roles | Windows Server Update Services | Update Services | Computers | Reports.
For a detailed list and descriptions of the channels that this sensor can show, see section Channel List.

Windows Updates Status (PowerShell) Sensor
Sensor in Other Languages
- Dutch: Windows Updates Status (PowerShell)
- French: Statut de mises à jour Windows (PowerShell)
- German: Windows Updates Status (PowerShell)
- Japanese: Windows アップデートステータス(PowerShell)
- Portuguese: Status de atualizações do Windows (PowerShell)
- Russian: Статус обновления Windows (PowerShell)
- Simplified Chinese: Windows 更新状态 (PowerShell)
- Spanish: Estados de actualizaciones de Windows (PowerShell)
Remarks
You cannot add this sensor to the hosted probe of a PRTG Hosted Monitor instance. If you want to use this sensor, add it to a remote probe device.
Detailed Requirements
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.NET Framework
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This sensor requires the Microsoft .NET Framework. .NET 4.7.2 or later must be installed on the probe system (on every cluster node, if on a cluster probe).
If the framework is missing, you cannot create this sensor.
For more information, see the Knowledge Base: Which .NET version does PRTG require?
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Remote PowerShell
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This sensor uses PowerShell commands. To monitor devices with this sensor, Remote PowerShell access must be enabled on the target computer. Also make sure that you have installed PowerShell 3.0 or later on both the probe system and the target system.
If you receive an error message regarding issues with the WinRM connection, make sure that remote commands have been enabled in PowerShell. For more details, see the Knowledge Base: How do I enable and use remote commands in Windows PowerShell?
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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. Therefore, you do not see all settings in this dialog. You can change nearly all settings on the sensor's Settings tab after creation.
Basic Sensor Settings
Click the Settings tab of a sensor to change its settings.

Basic Sensor Settings
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Sensor Name
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Enter a meaningful name to identify the sensor. By default, PRTG shows this name in the device tree, as well as in alarms, logs, notifications, reports, maps, libraries, and tickets.
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?
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Parent Tags
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Shows tags that the sensor inherits from its parent device, parent group, and parent probe.
This setting is for your information only. You cannot change it.
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Tags
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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:
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Priority
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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 ( ).
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Usually, 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.
Sensor Specific

Sensor Specific
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Port
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Enter the number of the port to which this sensor connects. Enter an integer value. The default port is 5985.
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Port in SPN
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Define whether to include the port number in the Service Principal Name (SPN) used for Kerberos authentication, for example, on devices where Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS) or similar services are installed.
- Exclude port in SPN (default): Do not include the port number in the SPN.
- Include port in SPN: Include the port number in the SPN.
With this option, a client that uses a non-default SPN can authenticate against a remote computer that uses Kerberos authentication.
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Authentication Method
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Select the authentication method for the connection to the host via PowerShell. Choose between:
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Debug Options

Debug Options
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Result Handling
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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 names are Result of Sensor [ID].txt, Result of Sensor [ID].Data.txt, and Result of Sensor [ID].log. This setting is for debugging purposes. PRTG overwrites these files with each scanning interval.
In a cluster, PRTG stores the result in the PRTG data directory of the master node.
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Sensor Display

Sensor Display
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Primary Channel
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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.
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Graph Type
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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).
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Stack Unit
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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.
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Inherited Settings
By default, all of the following 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.
For more information, see section Inheritance of Settings.
Scanning Interval
Click
to interrupt the inheritance.
This sensor has a fixed minimum scanning interval for performance reasons. You cannot run the sensor in shorter intervals than this minimum interval. Consequently, shorter scanning intervals as defined in the Monitoring settings are not available for this sensor.