How to manage Rule Sets and Rules in Application Masking

Article
11/08/2022
3 minutes to read

Application Masking manages access to Applications, Fonts, and other items based on criteria. The Application Rules Editor is used to Describe the item, such as application, to be managed. The Editor is also used to define criteria rules are managed by. For instance, GitHub should be hidden from the Accounting group. Things you can do with the Apps Rules Editor:

Create new Rule Sets
Edit existing Rule Sets
Manage the user and group assignments for Rule Sets
Temporarily test rule-sets

Before using the Application Rules Editor, it must be installed

Rule Types

FSlogix supports four rule types

Hiding Rule - hides the specified items using specified criteria

Screenshot of the Add Rule pane showing the Hiding Rule option.

Redirect Rule - causes the specified item to be redirected as defined

Screenshot of the Add Rule pane showing the Redirection Rule option.

App Container Rule - redirects the specified content into a VHD

Screenshot of the Add Rule pane showing the App Container V H D option.

Specify Value Rule - assigns a value for the specified item

Screenshot of the Add Rule pane showing the Specify Value option.

Create a new Rule Set

Open the Apps Rule Editor. The first time you enter the Apps Rules Editor there won't be any rule sets in the left panel. In this example, one rule set has already been created named Contoso_1 with GitHub Desktop added.

Screenshot of the F S Logix Apps RuleEditor screen, with the Contoso_1 option being highlighted.

Click File then New to create a new Rule Set
Provide a name for the Rule Set and click Enter Filename
After a filename is entered, a selection is made for the type and content of the rule
In this example GitHub Desktop is selected
After specifying the parameters wanted, click Scan to create a rule

Screenshot of the Rule Set pane showing the Choose from installed programs option being selected.

Create a new rule

Select an existing Rule Set from the left panel
Select Edit then New Rule
Specify the type of rule
Enter the required parameters
Click OK

Delete a rule

Select an existing Rule Set from the left panel
Select one or more Rules from the right panel
Select Edit then Delete Rule

Edit a rule

Select an existing Rule Set from the left panel
Select an existing Rule from the right panel
Select Edit then Edit Rule

System Variables and Wildcards in Rules

The following variables and wildcards may be used for specifying paths as described.

Source Path Wildcards

A * (wildcard) character can be used in source paths to represent an entire path element.

Example: C:\users\*\Documents

Destination Path Variables

The following variables are used in destination paths only. Variables are preceded and followed by two underscore characters

Variable	Description
__USER_SID__	Resolves to the user's SID string.
__USER_NAME__	Resolves to the user's name string.
__USER_PROFILE_PATH__	Resolves to the user's profile folder (Example C:\users\admin)

Environment Variables

The following Environment Variables may be used in both source and destination paths

Note

Environment variables are case sensitive.

When using the Rule Editor to add or edit Rules, these variables automatically replace the proper text in the Source and Destination strings.

%WindowsFolder%
%CommonAppDataFolder%
%CommonStartMenuFolder%
%CommonFilesFolder32%
%ProgramFilesFolder32%
%SystemFolder32%
%CommonFilesFolder64%
%ProgramFilesFolder64%
%SystemFolder64%

Redirecting to a network

Files and directories can be redirected to resources located on a network. The user must have appropriate rights to the network resource. To redirect to a network location, enter the path (in UNC format) into the Destination field.

Deploying Rule Sets

Application Masking and Java Version Control rely on Rules and Rule Sets. By default, Rules and Rule Sets are accessed from C:\Program Files\FSLogix\Apps\Rules. The location where Rules and Rule Sets are accessed differ if the FSLogix installation location is changed.

To deploy a rule set, use any method to copy rule files (.fxr) and assignment files (.fxa) to the rules directory.