Antivirus exclusions for Checkmk agents and servers

Table of Contents

This article provides guidance on reducing possible interference from antivirus software with Checkmk. However, we cannot guarantee that these steps will always be effective, as modern antivirus solutions often behave unpredictably and use methods that are difficult to track or understand.

Please note that we do not provide support for antivirus software. This applies especially to Checkmk servers, but also to other environments. Any help we can offer is on a best-effort basis.

Problem

You intend to run an Antivirus solution on your Checkmk server or a host running the Checkmk agent.

Solution

To reduce issues with the antivirus software interfering with Checkmk, the files, and folders below must be excluded from being scanned.
However, depending on the mechanisms of your Antivirus solution, not only files and folders might be targeted.
As said above: We cannot and will not guarantee that with the exclusions below, you will have no trouble at all with your Antivirus.

Checkmk Server

Exclude the below folders on the Checkmk server:

/opt/omd/apache/
/opt/omd/sites/
/opt/omd/versions/
/omd/

Checkmk Linux Agent

Exclude the below files and directories on the monitored Linux nodes:

/usr/bin/check_mk_agent
/usr/bin/check_mk_caching_agent
/usr/lib/check_mk_agent/
/var/lib/check_mk_agent
/var/lib/cmk-agent
/etc/check_mk

You can find a detailed listing of relevant files here: https://docs.checkmk.com/latest/en/agent_linux.html#_paths_on_the_monitored_host

Checkmk Windows Agent

Exclude the below directories on the monitored Windows nodes:

C:\Program Files (x86)\checkmk\
C:\ProgramData\checkmk\

You can find a detailed listing of relevant files here: https://docs.checkmk.com/latest/en/agent_windows.html#_paths_on_the_monitored_host