
- Mark as New
- Bookmark
- Subscribe
- Mute
- Subscribe to RSS Feed
- Permalink
- Report Inappropriate Content
How to use wildcards when creating exclusions on Antivirus products
Environment:
#Any Qlik Product
Summary
This article explains the rules for using wildcards when creating exclusions using Antivirus for Qlik products.
Using wildcards when creating exclusions
Wildcards (?, *, **) are helpful in creating exclusions, but certain rules apply. See the examples below.
- The question mark (?) wildcard is used to represent a single character in the exact position where it is placed in the path or file name.
- The asterisk (*) wildcard is used to represent one or more characters, and does not cross a folder boundary.
- The double asterisk (**) wildcard is used to represent one or more characters, and does cross folder boundaries.
- System Environmental Variables such as %SystemRoot% can be used in exclusions. User Environmental Variables such as %UserProfile% can't be used, because the Antivirus scan runs under the Windows Local System account.
To show the difference between the * and ** wildcards, C:\Users\Will* matches path names such as C:\Users\William, C:\Users\Willamina, and C:\Users\WillAnderson. It does not match any subfolder of those names. For example C:\Users\Will*\** matches the previous folders and all their subfolders.
Wildcard syntax:
Character |
Description |
? (question mark) |
A single character. |
* (asterisk) |
Multiple characters. *\test\abc.txt |
& (ampersand) |
Multiple characters except / and \. Use to match the root-level contents of a folder but not any subfolders. C:\test\&.txt |
Wildcard examples
Example |
Comments |
**\Temp\test.docx |
Exclude a specific file in a folder named Temp anywhere on the system. |
**\test.docx |
Exclude a specific file anywhere on the system. |
D:\**\test.docx |
Exclude a specific file in any folder on a specific drive. The drive letter must be included in the wildcard. |
Users\**\Documents\Microsoft User Data\ |
Exclude any folder under Users and any folder under User Data. |
C:\Documents and Settings\**\Favorites\ |
Exclude the Favorites folder for all users. |
C:\**\Favorites\ |
Exclude any folder named Favorites on drive C. |
**\Temp\** |
Exclude the Temp folder in any location, on any drive and any subfolders contained in the "Temp" directory.
|
**\Temp\*.tmp |
Exclude any file with a .tmp extension in a folder named Temp anywhere on the system. |
**\*.html |
Exclude any file with an .html extension anywhere on the system. |
C:\Windows\Temp*\inifile?.* |
Excludes all files named inifileX, where X is any valid character for a file name. Exclude all files named inifileX in any folder name beginning with Temp under C:\Windows. |
D:\**\*.tmp |
Exclude all files with the .tmp extension (*.tmp) in any folder on a specific drive. The drive letter must be included in the wildcard. |
C:\Temp\abc* or C:\Temp\abc*\ |
Exclude all file and folder names beginning with abc under C:\Temp. |
C:\Temp\abc*.* |
Exclude only file names beginning with abc under C:\Temp. |
C:\Temp\abc*\*.* |
Exclude only files of any extension in any folder name beginning with abc under C:\Temp. |
C:\Temp\abc*\xyz*.txt |
Exclude only files names beginning with xyz and with the txt extension, in any folder name beginning with abc under C:\Temp. |
C:\Temp\abc |
Exclude only a file named abc under C:\Temp. |
C:\Temp\abc\ |
Exclude only a folder named abc under C:\Temp. |