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Wildcards in protection settings folder exclusions

You can use the asterisk (*) as a wildcard for all operating systems when specifying folder exclusions in the
Protection settings
tab. 
Character
Meaning
*
Use the asterisk to exclude folders and to represent a prefix or suffix for a folder name.
  • The asterisk matches one or more characters, except platform-specific path separator ('\').
  • Multiple wildcards are allowed in an exclusion path.
  • At this time, "*" escaping is not supported. For example, you cannot exclude a folder that contains an asterisk "*" in the folder name.
  • Previous folder exclusion functionality still applies. This means that exclusions will also apply to any child folders.
Examples of folder exclusions
The following are examples of excluding
C:\Application\TestFolder1\MyApp\program.exe
.
Examples of correct use of wildcards in folder exclusions
  • An exclusion without any wildcards.
    C:\Application\TestFolder1\MyApp\
  • A wildcard is used to specify a parent folder of the "MyApp" folder
    C:\Application\*\MyApp\
  • A wildcard is used to specify that there is a prefix (i.e. "Test") in the folder name for the agent to compare against.
    C:\Application\*Folder1\MyApp\
  • A wildcard is used to specify that there is a suffix (i.e. "1") in the folder name for the agent to compare against.
    C:\Application\TestFolder*\MyApp\
  • A wildcard is used to specify that there is a prefix (i.e. "Test") and a suffix (i.e. "1") in the folder name for the agent to compare against.
    C:\Application\*Folder*\MyApp\
  • A wild card is used to exclude all folders under "Application" in the C: drive.
    C:\Application\*\
  • A wild card is used to exclude all folders under "Application" for all drives.
    *\Application\*\
Examples of incorrect use of wildcards in folder exclusions
  • C:\Application\TestFolder1\MyApp\*.exe
    A wild card cannot be used in the file name of an executable. Use wildcards for folder or directory names only.
  • C:\Application\**
    Double asterisks (**) are not supported in folder exclusions. Use a single asterisk (*) instead. 
Folder exclusions that are not recommended
C:\*
Although this exclusion is a valid entry, it would effectively exclude anything in any directory (including child directories) in the entire C: drive.