Security Compliance

File server scan stuck or never completes due to large archive snapshots in ARM

This article describes a possible solution to a problem where the Fileserver scan seems to never end and when there is a need to exclude specific folders from the Fileserver scan.

First published date

12/22/2021 9:05 AM

Last published date

3/20/2025 12:45 AM

Overview

The issue is more likely to occur in environments with storage systems that archive snapshots. Since these files can be large, the scan may take a long time to complete.

This method can also be useful for admins who prefer not to monitor specific folders.

Product section

Access Rights Manager

Cause

This issue occurs due to the filesystem being highly fragmented on the fileserver and/or when too many folders are to be scanned due to snapshots or copies of the data being created.

Resolution

You can skip folders during the scan using the method described below.

  1. Change the Type of the fileserver 
    • Go to the Scan page In the ARM Config App
    • Search for the FS and change the type from 'Auto' to whatever type it is.
  2. Add the following switch to the pnServer.config.xml file located in C:\ProgramData\protected-networks.com\8MAN\cfg on the ARM Server. Please add it before the </config> 
    • <fileSystem.config.skipDirectoryExpression>(IsHidden AND
      (IsDfsFileServer OR IsNetAppFileServer) AND
      (NameContains([&quot;snapshot&quot;], false) OR
      NameContains([&quot;DfsrPrivate&quot;], false) OR
      NameContains([&quot;.DFSFolderLink&quot;], false))) OR
      NameEquals([&quot;.Snapshot&quot;], false)</fileSystem.config.skipDirectoryExpression>
    • As you can see from the code above, the scan will exclude the directories containing the words 'snapshot' and 'DfsrPrivate'.
    • If you need to specify further directories exactly please adapt the code as shown below. 'FolderToSkip' must contain just the folder name and also all subfolders will be skipped.
  3. Save the file, restart the ARM-Service, and run the scan again.

Note: This is a global setting, so it will apply to all fileservers in ARM.