Monitoring paths

Good path scoping keeps FIM useful. Monitor what proves integrity and skip directories that change constantly by design.

High-value targets

• Package-managed binaries
• Service unit files and init configs
• Application config roots
• TLS certificates and private keys
• Cron, sudoers, and auth policy files

Paths to exclude carefully

• Logs and spool directories
• Caches and temporary build output
• Highly dynamic runtime state, unless you have a compliance reason

Pattern tips

Prefer explicit paths over broad wildcards. When using globs, pair includes with excludes so one noisy subtree does not dominate the feed.