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This article applies to PRTG Network Monitor 15.4.21 or later

Custom HTML Email Notifications

Recently, we changed the way PRTG handles notification emails and simplified the approach so there is only one email template and the option to deliver plain text emails. For most of our customers this will be sufficient. But what about customers that have multiple clients and need customized notifications, languages, logos and layouts?

That's where this script can help. It allows you to create a template file structure with, for example, placeholders, graphs, and custom company logos. It uses a folder called custom (depending on the version, it must first be created manually) within the new \mailtemplates subfolder as of PRTG version 15.4.21. It also supports the use of PRTG groups as well as single email addresses. If PRTG groups are used, you can also decide if only the users primary addresses or every mail configured will be used.

Features

Template based HTML mailing
Custom logos for each template folder
Various placeholders including live graph and sensor stats for the email body and the subject
Primary and secondary email servers as fallback (including encrypted password storage)
Send emails directly to PRTG user groups without having to worry about their members
Send emails to all notification contacts of a user or only the primary one
Send emails to separate email addresses (separated by comma)
Email address sanity check (duplicate removal and syntactical check)
Verbose logging for error detection
Use different priorities

Note: This script and its functionality have been tested under PowerShell 4.0. Please make sure it is installed on the PRTG core server or remote probe system, depending on where you use the script.

How Do I Install the Script?

Execute Set-ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned in a PowerShell (x86) with administrative privileges on the PRTG core server or the remote probe system, depending on where the script is.
Copy the script (located at the end of this reply) to
C:\Program Files (x86)\PRTG Network Monitor\Notifications\EXE
Modify the script parameters according to your environment. Enter, for example, email server addresses, paths, and account names.
Call the script with the parameter -SetupPasswords. It will ask for the primary and secondary email server passwords. They are stored encrypted inside the same directory.
Create a structure for your template folders under
C:\Program Files (x86)\PRTG Network Monitor\webroot\mailtemplates\custom
(For details, see appendix figure 1, template structure.)

So much for the basic installation. Now you can create a new notification with the following parameters: -SensorID %sensor -Recipients @("[email protected]","[email protected]") -prtgGroup "PRTG Users" -TemplateFolder "TemplateA" -Template "simple" -From "[email protected]" -Subject "[sensorPARENTDEVICE] [sensorNAME] Sensor is in sensorSTATUSTEXT state." -Priority "High" (can be low, normal or high. Default is high) -Placeholders @("Team","www.test.com") -PrimaryOnly

The script will now send mails to [email protected] and [email protected] as well as to the members of the PRTG user group PRTG Users. It will use the TemplateA folder and the simple.htm template located within that folder

Is There any Way I Can Test if the Script Is Working Properly?

The script has the verbose switch enabled by default (line 100). If everything is configured correctly, run the script on a command line with the parameters above, modified to your environment. It will look somewhat like this: HTMLNotify console output

The script is pretty chatty, so if something goes wrong, you should directly see the problem.

What About My Passwords? Are They Stored in Files?

Yes, your email server passwords will be stored in two encrypted files. The encryption is done with a separate key, so it is not bound to your user account and can be executed with every user account on the PRTG server. Make sure that only this very user account is allowed to read the key files. This will make your passwords be safer instead of just saving them as clear text.

How Do my Templates Have to Look? Can I Use Placeholders and Graphs?

There are multiple placeholders that you can use within the HTML file itself and the subject of the email address. They will be replaced automatically. Note that there are two types of placeholders:

Always present placeholders, taken from PRTG
Custom placeholders that you can pass via parameters.

The table itself can be found in the appendix, figure 2. You can use, for example, the current live graph, sensor stats, and messages. As for the additional parameters, they are passed to the script like this:

-Placeholders @("Tech Support Team", "https://www.paessler.com")

Within the template, they can be placed like this:

Dear {0},\\
<br /><br />\\
Please have a look at {1} - Thanks!\\
\\
Yours truly,
PRTG

...using numbers (starting at 0) encapsuled in curly brackets. After replacing, it will look somewhat like this:

Dear Tech Support Team,

Please have a look at https://www.paessler.com - Thanks!

Yours truly, PRTG

Note: The amount of placeholders in the template must match the placeholders passed to the script. Otherwise, you might get unexpected results.

How Does the Logo Placement Work Exactly?

Within the templates folder (or their subfolders), there has to be a file called logo.png that represents the template folder (for example, a customer's logo). If no logo is found in either folder, the Paessler logo will be used.

Do You Have an Example of a Filled HTML Template?

Please see appendix, figure 3, for a filled HTML template. Note that the template is just an example. Design it as you like. An example source code can be found over at pastebin: http://pastebin.com/k1mGBujz (courtesy of advancedrei)

Are There Schematics so I Can See Which Steps the Scripts Actually Take?

With large scripts comes great complexity. You can find the flowchart for the script in the appendix, figure 5.

Disclaimer

This script underwent testing, although we cannot make sure that all scenarios are covered. Usually, it is provided "as is". However, if you find any bugs or have improvements, please do not hesitate to share!

Appendix

1. Template Structure

Folder	Content
TemplateA	simple.htm detail.htm temperatures.htm logo.png
TemplateB	databases.htm temperature.htm logo.png

2. Placeholders

Placeholder	Replaced by
miscLOGO	The template logo that resides in the template folder with HTML image tag.
sensorNAME	The name of the sensor
sensorTYPE	The sensor type
sensorLIVEGRAPH	Current live graph as HTML image tag
sensorSTATECOLOR	The current state color, in hex form (#dedede)
sensorSTATEICON	The sensors current state icon (will be attached automatically)
sensorINTERVAL	The current sensor interval
sensorPARENTGROUP	The sensors parent group
sensorPARENTDEVICE	The sensors parent device
sensorPARENTDEVICEID	The sensors parent device ID
sensorLASTVALUE	The sensors last value
sensorLASTMESSAGE	The sensors last message
sensorSTATUSTEXT	The current status text of the sensor
sensorSTATUSID	The status ID of the sensor
sensorLASTUP	The sensors last up time
sensorLASTDOWN	The sensors last down time
sensorLASTCHECK	The last check of the sensor
sensorUPTIME	Uptime value of the sensor in percent
sensorUPTIMETIME	Uptime in friendly format (e.g. 100 days)
sensorDOWNTIME	Downtime in percent
sensorDOWNTIMETIME	Downtime in friendly format
sensorUPDOWNTOTAL	Coverage in friendly format
sensorUPDOWNSINCE	Creation date of the sensor?
sensorURL	The URL of the sensor
deviceURL	The URL of its parent device.

3. A Filled Notification

HTMLNotify - a mailtemplate with variables filled

4. The HTMLNotify Script

Source at GitHub

5. Schematics

Schematics of HTMLNotify

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