This article applies as of PRTG 22

Use custom notifications to send instant messages

Using the Execute Program notifications option of PRTG, you can use an instant messenger with command line capabilities to send messages via virtually any instant messaging protocol. This article will show an example of how to send notifications to an ICQ account, using a combination of the following programs:

• PRTG Network Monitor
• Miranda Instant Messenger
• Miranda Command Line Plugin
• NSSM—the Non-Sucking Service Manager

Known issue: The described setup might not work with Windows Server 2012.

Step 1: Install and prepare Miranda

• Download Miranda IM and install it on your computer in Portable Mode (this is an option during setup), so you can move it to your PRTG server later on.
• In Miranda IM, set up an ICQ account dedicated to sending messages for PRTG (sign up for a new one, if necessary). Add all future recipients of notifications to this account's contact list and test if messages are received on the other side.
  Note: Although this is an example for ICQ, you can add any other account using one of the supported protocols, for example Jabber, MSN, or others.
• Write down the possible recipients' ICQ numbers—you will need them later.
• Download the Command Line plugin and extract it to your Miranda installation directory. To check, make sure the file CmdLine.dll is in the \Plugins subfolder after extraction.

Step 2: Move Miranda to PRTG server system

Note: If you run a cluster, you need to perform the actions in this step on every single node to make sure that notifications are also available in case the Master Node fails.

• Copy the Miranda IM directory to the system that is running your PRTG core server. You can choose any directory, for example C:\Miranda IM
• Move the file MimCmd.exe from the Miranda installation directory to the \Notifications\EXE subfolder of your PRTG program directory.

Step 3: Configure Miranda as a Windows service

Now comes the tricky part: You have to make sure that the file miranda32.exe (or miranda64.exe respectively) from the Miranda IM directory and the PRTG Server.exe system service (which is the core server of PRTG) are running under the same Windows user account. For PRTG, this is the local Windows "system" account by default. One way is to register the Miranda EXE file as a Windows service, started under the local Windows "system" account.

Note: If you run a cluster, you need to perform the actions in this step on every single node to make sure that notifications are also available in case the Master Node fails.

• Download NSSM—the Non-Sucking Service Manager, an open source command line tool that lets you easily run an EXE file as a Windows service, and install it. Extract the ZIP file to a directory on the system that is running your PRTG core server, for example C:\nssm.
• On the Windows command line, enter a command to register Miranda as a service, for example: C:\nssm\win32> nssm.exe install MirandaIM
• In a GUI window, you will be prompted to enter the path to the application that you wish to run as a service, and any command line options to send to it (see NSSM usage documentation). Enter the path to the Miranda application, for example C:\Miranda IM\miranda32.exe, and a service name, for example MirandaIM. You do not need to enter any options. Click on Install service. The service is added with the start type "Automatic".
• In the Windows Computer Management console (compmgmt.msc), view the list of services and manually start the newly created service MirandaIM. It should be started under the Windows local "system" account (check this in the task manager). After a successful start, you should see the configured ICQ account as "online" in any of the recipients' messengers. This is mandatory to receive messages later.

Step 4: Set up notification in PRTG

• In the PRTG web interface, select Setup | Account Settings | Notification Templates from the main menu.
• Click the Add Notification Template and select Execute Program.
• In the Executable File dropdown, select Mimcmd.exe
• In the Parameters field, enter message <ICQ#1> <ICQ#2> "Message" to send Message to the ICQ numbers <ICQ#1> and <ICQ#2>.
  
  For example, enter the following to send the standard notification of PRTG to ICQ# 12345678: message 12345678 "[%sitename] %device %name %status %down (%message)"
• Click Save.
• The new notification template is now shown in the list of notification templates. Click the Send test notification button to send a test message. It should be visible in the recipient's messenger immediately.
• You can add several notification templates by repeating the actions in this step.
• Use a sensor's Notification Triggers tab to add a trigger that uses this newly created notification.

Notes

• Instead of an ICQ number, you can also enter other IDs as recipients, depending on the messenger accounts configured in Miranda. For example, you can send a message to an MSN ID (usually this is an email address). Account types can also be mixed in one call, for example you can send the same message to ICQ and MSN: message 12345678 JohnQPub[email protected] "[%sitename] %device %name %status %down (%message)"
• Instead of using the messenger account IDs as recipients, you can also use the profile names as shown in the Miranda contact list. The message will then be sent to the first contact matching the name. For example, to send a message to an ICQ account shown as "Paessler" in the Miranda contact list, you would type: message Paessler "[%sitename] %device %name %status %down (%message)"

Known issues

Depending on the used command line tool version, messages might be sent three times (one per minute), although they were only triggered once. This is because the command line tool does not give back an exit code 0. You can work around this by creating a batch file that calls the command line tool with the respective options, then terminates with EXIT 0 In PRTG you directly use the batch file instead of the command line tool then.

Troubleshooting

If you come across a message Could not create connection with Miranda, this indicates an issue in the communication between miranda32.exe and MimCmd.exe (when executed by PRTG). Make sure that the miranda32.exe and PRTG Server.exe services are running under the same Windows user account (usually, this is SYSTEM). This account must have sufficient rights to execute the necessary files. You might need to reconfigure both services so they run on a Windows domain account.

(A "Thank you" goes to Jon DeSalvatore for sending this hint!)

More

• Paessler Blog: How to receive PRTG notifications via Telegram
• How can I send notifications with PRTG using Lync?