FME and Antivirus Software

Introduction

Antivirus software can interfere with the running of applications it does not recognize, potentially flagging them as malicious either on initial installation or during routine scans. To ensure FME is accepted as a trusted program we digitally sign all of our installers and principle executables (e.g. fmeworkbench.exe and fmedatainspector.exe).
In FME Form 2020.2 and newer, all executables and DLLs are digitally signed. However, if you are using an older version individual DLLs were not signed so you may encounter issues with some antivirus software. See our Vendor Privacy and Security Policy for more information. 

To avoid your antivirus flagging FME the recommendation is to create an application exception by adding it to the trusted program list. Alternatively, you can add FME’s installation directory to a read/write file exclusion list. Either of these methods will prevent your antivirus from scanning the files associated with FME and prevent any further interference. There is also the added bonus of improving antivirus processes, as scanning programs unnecessarily can ultimately slow these down.

 

Default Directories

If you choose the directory exclusion list route, unless otherwise specified in the installer, the default location for these directories is:

FME Form

Windows

C:\Progam Files\FME

C:\apps\FME

Linux

/opt/fme-desktop-202x.x

Mac

/Library/FME

 

FME Flow

Windows

C:\Program Files\FMEFlow

C:\apps\FMEFlow

Linux

/opt/fmeflow

 

Common Antivirus Support Pages

Support pages for the common Antivirus Software on how to set up FME as a trusted program, or exclude its installation directory from scans can be found at:

• Panda Adaptive Defense

  • Trusted Program List

  • Directory Exclusion List

• Trend Micro

  • Trusted Program List

  • Directory Exclusion List

• Norton (Symantec)

  • Trusted Program List

  • Directory Exclusion List

• MalwareBytes

  • Trusted Program/Directory Exclusion List

If you are using a whitelisting application and running into a "Module '_.dll' was found but could not be loaded" warning followed by the error "Module '__' is unavailable for use with this FME Edition," consider whitelisting the entire plugins folder C:\Program Files\FME\plugins.

If you have any experience setting this up for a specific Antivirus software that you would like to share with other users please add this to the comments section.