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Cannot access file: Access is denied(5) (code: PE031)

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I'm having issues with a file content sensor I have setup: "Cannot access file: Access is denied(5) (code: PE031)". The file I am trying to monitor is accessed through an administrative share.

Before deploying the sensor, I made sure the domain account I am using has permissions to the parent folder and can browse to and open the file. The said domain account settings are stored in the sensor's parent device under "Inherit Credentials for Windows Systems".

I came across this response to a similar question: https://kb.paessler.com/knowledgebase/en/topic/31533-file-content-sensor#reply-95853

Running the probe as this domain user did fix the error. I expected that the sensor would use the domain account credentials stored in the device's settings, and not the Local System account used by the probe. Is this a false assumption, or am I doing something else wrong?

access-denied file-content-sensor file-monitoring file-sensor pe031

Created on Feb 26, 2013 3:06:05 PM



3 Replies

Accepted Answer

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Hello,

thank you very much for your KB-Post. Unfortunately accessing "things" in Windows is a bit tricky as PRTG runs as a service. Then it often also depends on the "user context" the Probe runs under, and then it's potential child processes. The File Content Sensor is such a child process, as it's an executable file. Default would be running as "LOCAL SYSTEM" and that often does not have the sufficient permissions, so a change is necessary that the Probe service runs under a different account. It's basically two steps, first accessing, determined by the user context of the executable, then authenticating with the supplied credentials.

best regards.

Created on Feb 26, 2013 6:05:30 PM by Torsten Lindner [Paessler Support]



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That actually makes perfect sense. I hadn't realized quite how the File Content Sensor worked under the hood; thank you for clarifying.

Created on Feb 26, 2013 6:10:41 PM

Last change on Mar 6, 2013 9:23:11 AM by Torsten Lindner [Paessler Support]



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That did the trick! TY!

Created on Aug 21, 2017 7:03:48 PM




Disclaimer: The information in the Paessler Knowledge Base comes without warranty of any kind. Use at your own risk. Before applying any instructions please exercise proper system administrator housekeeping. You must make sure that a proper backup of all your data is available.