INFORMATION OUT-OF-DATE

Twitter changed the authentication method for external access. This now requires user interaction for every post. Therefore, sending automated notifications to Twitter cannot be supported any more.

The instructions provided in this article are provided for information purposes only. You cannot send notifications to Twitter any more via the method described in this post.

Sending Messages to Twitter

With PRTG Network Monitor, you can keep the world informed about your network! Using PRTG's notifications and small command line tools you can twitter notifications whenever there is news!

There are two ways of sending a notification from PRTG to Twitter. Both use a custom notification which calls a Windows executable command line file. This file then twitters the message via an http-request.

To configure PRTG for Twitter, follow some simple steps. See the other answers for more information.

INFORMATION OUT-OF-DATE

Twitter changed the authentication method for external access. This now requires user interaction for every post. Therefore, sending automated notifications to Twitter cannot be supported any more.

The instructions provided in this article are provided for information purposes only. You cannot send notifications to Twitter any more via the method described in this post.

Twitter With PRTG Using PTF Twitter

Using PRTG's notifications and a small command line PRTG 7 add-on named "PTF Twitter", you can twitter notifications whenever there is news! To configure PRTG for Twitter, follow some simple steps.

Step 1: Get PTF Twitter

• Go to http://code.google.com/p/prtg-addons/downloads/detail?name=PTF.Tweet.zip and download the PRTG Twitter tool. Unpack the archive file and copy the Twitter.exe file into the \Notifications\EXE subfolder of your PRTG installation.

Step 2: Set Up a Twitter Notification

In the PRTG web interface, you can now set up a Twitter notification:

• Login to the PRTG web interface and select "Setup | Notifications" from the main menu.
• Click on "Add new notification" to enter the "Edit Notification" screen.
• Enter a new Notification Name (e.g. "Twitter message").
• Select "Execute Program" and select "Twitter.exe" from the list of programs.
• In the "Parameter" field, enter:

-u=USERNAME -p=PASSWORD -t=[%sitename] %device %name %status %down (%message)

• Replace USERNAME and PASSWORD by your Twitter user name and password. The actual Twitter message is written in the -t parameter. PRTG will substitute the placeholders (those with leading percent sign) with the corresponding values.
• In the parameter string, alter the status message (behind -t=) as you like. For a placeholder overview, see PRTG Placeholder Overview. You can also enter a short plain text message (for example "Our server is currently down" or similar). Note: There is a hard limit of 140 characters per Twitter message. If the resulting message (after all placeholders have been resolved) is longer, PTF Twitter will send the message as two or more Twitter notifications, creating a top-down readable posting.
• Click on "Save".

Tip: You can test the functionality of your Twitter notification by clicking on the "Test" link next to the notification name. You should see a new message in your Twitter profile right away. Note: The "Test" function does not resolve all placeholders, but posts placeholders' names instead. So don't be confused if your test Twitter message looks a bit strange.

Step 3: Connect This Notification with a Sensor's Notification Trigger

To trigger this new Twitter notification, connect it with a sensor:

• In PRTG web interface's main menu, click on either "Devices" or "Sensors" and in the appearing list, select a sensor by just clicking on it. You can then enter the sensor's detail view.
• Click on the "Notifications" tab and then click on "Add State Trigger" (of course, you can choose any other trigger, too).
• Enter Condition "Down" to send a message whenever you sensor goes into a "down" state. In the "Latency" field, you can enter a time in seconds for which the message is to be delayed. This gives the sensor a chance to recover before the world is informed.
• In the drop-down "On Notification", select the "Twitter message" you created before.
• Click on "Save".

Done! You now have successfully created your Twitter notification!

Testing a Down trigger is easy: Simply right-click on the sensor you created the down trigger for and select "Pause | Set sensor to error" from the context menu. After latency time has elapsed, the Twitter message should be sent out. Have fun Twittering!

More

For Twitter limitations and other options (including using a passhash), please see the PDF file that comes with the download.

Thank you, Gerard Feijth, for this excellent tool!

Applies to PRTG Network Monitor Version 7.2

INFORMATION OUT-OF-DATE

Twitter changed the authentication method for external access. This now requires user interaction for every post. Therefore, sending automated notifications to Twitter cannot be supported any more.

The instructions provided in this article are provided for information purposes only. You cannot send notifications to Twitter any more via the method described in this post.

Twitter With PRTG Using cURL

Using PRTG's notifications and a small Open Source command line tool named "cURL", you can twitter notifications whenever there is news!

To configure PRTG for Twitter, follow some simple steps.

Newer Tool Available

Meanwhile, there is another tool available, PTF Twitter (available at Google Code). We recommend using this one, as it offers better functionality and easier handling. Please see other answers for more details.

Step 1: Get cURL

Go to http://curl.haxx.se/download.html and download a Windows binary package of the cURL command line tool. Unpack the archive file and copy the following files into the \Notifications\EXE subfolder of your PRTG installation:

• curl.exe
• all *.DLL files

Step 2: Set Up a Twitter Notification

In the PRTG web interface, you can now set up a Twitter notification:

• Login to the PRTG web interface and select "Setup | Notifications" from the main menu.
• Click on "Add new notification" to enter the "Edit Notification" screen.
• Enter a new Notification Name (e.g. "Twitter message").
• Select "Execute Program" and select "curl.exe" from the list of programs.
• In the "Parameter" field, enter:

-u USERNAME:PASSWORD -d status="[%sitename] %device %name %status %down (%message)" http://twitter.com/statuses/update.xml

• Replace USERNAME and PASSWORD by your Twitter user name and password (still separated by a colon). PRTG will substitute the placeholders (those with leading percent sign) with the corresponding values.
• In the parameter string, alter the status message (in quotes) as you like. For a placeholder overview, see PRTG Placeholder Overview. You can also enter a short plain text message (for example "Our server is currently down" or similar). Important: There is a hard limit of 140 characters per Twitter message. If the resulting message (after all placeholders have been resolved) is longer, Twitter will not post it and the message will be lost!
• Click on "Save".

Tip: You can test the functionality of your Twitter notification by clicking on the "Test" link next to the notification name. You should see a new message in your Twitter profile right away. Note: The "Test" function does not resolve all placeholders, but posts placeholders' names instead. So don't be confused if your test Twitter message looks a bit strange.

Step 3: Connect This Notification with a Sensor's Notification Trigger

To trigger this new Twitter notification, connect it with a sensor:

• In PRTG web interface's main menu, click on either "Devices" or "Sensors" and in the appearing list, select a sensor by just clicking on it. You can then enter the sensor's detail view.
• Click on the "Notifications" tab and then click on "Add State Trigger" (of course, you can choose any other trigger, too).
• Enter Condition "Down" to send a message whenever you sensor goes into a "down" state. In the "Latency" field, you can enter a time in seconds for which the message is to be delayed. This gives the sensor a chance to recover before the world is informed.
• In the drop-down "On Notification", select the "Twitter message" you created before.
• Click on "Save".

Done! You now have successfully created your Twitter notification!

Testing a Down trigger is easy: Simply right-click on the sensor you created the down trigger for and select "Pause | Set sensor to error" from the context menu. After latency time has elapsed, the Twitter message should be sent out. Have fun Twittering!

Applies to PRTG Network Monitor Version 7.2