Technical Tip: How to use regular expressions in the FortiClient EMS web filter

To block or allow websites using regular expressions (regex) in FortiClient EMS, follow these steps:

1. Open FortiClient EMS and navigate to Endpoint Profiles -> Web Filter.
2. Find the profile that will be edited.
3. Find the 'Exclusion List' section.
4. Select 'Add' and select the desired action for this URL.
5. Select the 'Regular Expression' type.
6. In the URL field, enter the desired regular expression pattern.
7. Apply the change by selecting Save'.

Example 1:

To allow all URLs from the subdomain 'fortinet.com.' The Web Filter configuration will be:

• Action: Allow.
• Type: Regular Expression.
• URL: .*\.fortinet\.com.*

All the following URLs, for example, will match this rule, as the regex will find the configured string 'fortinet.com':

• community.fortinet.com/t5/forticlient/tkb-p/TKB10
• docs.fortinet.com/product/forticlient/7.4

Example 2:

To block all websites that have the word 'forticlient' between the slashes in the URL:

• Action: Block.
• Type: Regular Expression.
• URL: .*\/forticlient\/.*.
  
  

The URLs below will match the rule, but using the string '/forticlient/':

• community.fortinet.com/t5/forticlient/tkb-p/TKB10
  docs.fortinet.com/product/forticlient/7.4
  
  

Note:

The examples are for illustrative purposes only. It is essential to verify the need for each case, as a very broad regular expression may allow or block inappropriate websites. Avoid generic terms and always be specific when defining what will be filtered by the regular expression.