Quick Start
Get up and running with File Indexing in 4 steps.
1. Configure Index Paths
Go to File Indexing → Settings in the dashboard and set the paths and rules for the endpoint.
Network shares, UNC paths, and macOS disk images are excluded automatically — no configuration needed.
2. Trigger the Initial Scan
A scan is triggered automatically when:
- A configuration update is pushed from the dashboard
- The Sentinel agent starts or restarts
The scan runs at reduced OS priority so it does not affect endpoint performance. Navigate to File Index Status to track progress.
3. Enable Real-time Watching
The file watcher runs continuously alongside scheduled scans, keeping the index current between full sweeps.
Filesystem changes are collected in 300 ms windows and written to the index in a single atomic operation. No additional configuration is required — the watcher starts automatically with the indexing service.
4. Monitor Index Health
Check File Index Status in the dashboard to confirm the index is healthy and up to date.
- Scan status: Idle / Running / Failed with last-run timestamp
- File count: total indexed paths and any pruned by safety limits
- Watcher events: create, modify, and delete counts per hour
- Search hit rate: how often DLP file resolution hits the index vs. falls back to disk
Next step: See the Architecture for full scan, watch, and search pipeline details.