Exclude Subfolders when sending alert notifications?

We’re running Auditor 10.8 and I’m running into an issue with something that seems like it should be straight-forward.

I put a monitoring rule together to watch for permissions changes to user directories on the File Server. The monitoring works - but it’s going too far.

Despite having the “Include Subfolders” drop-down set to “No” the alert emails I’m getting are giving me a readout of every subfolder inside the user’s folder when permissions are changed at the top-level of the user’s folder.

For example, the monitor is watching \\fileserver\users$

I’ve got three users in there: Bob, Jill, Don

I grant myself access to Bob’s folder.

Netwrix is sending me alerts for every folder inside Bob’s folder, with “Include Subfolders” set to “No”

Team Email: \\fileserver\users\Bob\ConfidentialProject permission change by AdminUser

Team Email: \\fileserver\users\Bob\BudgetPlanning permission change by AdminUser

Team Email: \\fileserver\users\Bob\MyBossHatesMe permission change by AdminUser

It’s suboptimal to see the folder names inside the user’s folder when all I wanted was to know if someone was enabling access to anyone’s personal folders. I really don’t want a dozen alerts for a dozen folders inside Bob’s folder, exposing all of the names Bob is using. I just want a single email: \\fileserver\users\Bob permission change by AdminUser

Is there a way to achieve that?

Hello Erik,

Welcome to the Netwrix Community!

If you’re creating a new alert from the main page and selecting Alert Settings, what you’re seeing is expected behavior for Auditor. The “Include Subfolders” option is only available in certain File Server reports and isn’t part of the alert configuration.

If your goal is to capture permission changes for a specific folder, that can be configured. However, if you need visibility into subfolders, Auditor will include all levels rather than allowing selection of specific depths.

That said, adding an “Include Subfolders” option for alerts is a great suggestion. I’d recommend submitting it as an idea here: Netwrix Ideas Portal. Our product team actively reviews that board.

If you have any other questions, feel free to reach out.

Michael Purdin
Manager, Technical Support Engineering