We see that the memory consumption on Jenkins slaves sometimes goes to maximum and the builds hang at archive the artifacts. The artifacts that we want to save do not contain any **. We also see in the heap dump that the string values in the hudsonFilePath is correct. But in the directoryScanner.scan, it is prepended with **. Since we have softlinks in our workspace, where we point to an underlying directory - forming a loop inthe directory structure -, the directoryScanner seems to create an infinite amount of objects, when trying to find the artifact.

The above scenario happens when changing things in GUI for archive the Artifacts. And the code that does this I assume is from FilePath.java:
FileSet fs = Util.createFileSet(reading(dir),"**/"+fileMask);

Suggestion1: Detect loops in WS and if so handle it.
Suggestion 2: Remove the feature to find where in the workspace a file is when entering something in the GUI
Suggestion 3: Make this feature optional, with good explanation.

Using memory analyzer we see:
java.lang.Thread @ 0x7f9285dd3b78 pool-1-thread-7 for channel
Shallow Size: 168 B Retained Size: 25.1 GB
Thread Stack

pool-1-thread-7 for channel
at java.io.UnixFileSystem.list(Ljava/io/File[Ljava/lang/String; (Native Method)
at java.io.File.list()[Ljava/lang/String; (File.java:973)
at org.apache.tools.ant.DirectoryScanner.scandir(Ljava/io/File;Lorg/apache/tools/ant/types/selectors/TokenizedPath;Z[Ljava/lang/String;Ljava/util/LinkedList;)V (DirectoryScanner.java:1257)
at org.apache.tools.ant.DirectoryScanner.scandir(Ljava/io/File;Lorg/apache/tools/ant/types/selectors/TokenizedPath;Z[Ljava/lang/String;Ljava/util/LinkedList;)V (DirectoryScanner.java:1287)
at org.apache.tools.ant.DirectoryScanner.scandir(Ljava/io/File;Lorg/apache/tools/ant/types/selectors/TokenizedPath;Z[Ljava/lang/String;Ljava/util/LinkedList;)V (DirectoryScanner.java:1287)
at org.apache.tools.ant.DirectoryScanner.scandir(Ljava/io/File;Lorg/apache/tools/ant/types/selectors/TokenizedPath;Z[Ljava/lang/String;Ljava/util/LinkedList;)V (DirectoryScanner.java:1287)
at org.apache.tools.ant.DirectoryScanner.scandir(Ljava/io/File;Lorg/apache/tools/ant/types/selectors/TokenizedPath;Z[Ljava/lang/String;Ljava/util/LinkedList;)V (DirectoryScanner.java:1287)
at org.apache.tools.ant.DirectoryScanner.scandir(Ljava/io/File;Lorg/apache/tools/ant/types/selectors/TokenizedPath;Z[Ljava/lang/String;Ljava/util/LinkedList;)V (DirectoryScanner.java:1287)
at org.apache.tools.ant.DirectoryScanner.scandir(Ljava/io/File;Lorg/apache/tools/ant/types/selectors/TokenizedPath;Z[Ljava/lang/String;Ljava/util/LinkedList;)V (DirectoryScanner.java:1287)
at org.apache.tools.ant.DirectoryScanner.scandir(Ljava/io/File;Lorg/apache/tools/ant/types/selectors/TokenizedPath;Z[Ljava/lang/String;Ljava/util/LinkedList;)V (DirectoryScanner.java:1287)
at org.apache.tools.ant.DirectoryScanner.scandir(Ljava/io/File;Lorg/apache/tools/ant/types/selectors/TokenizedPath;Z[Ljava/lang/String;Ljava/util/LinkedList;)V (DirectoryScanner.java:1287)
at org.apache.tools.ant.DirectoryScanner.scandir(Ljava/io/File;Lorg/apache/tools/ant/types/selectors/TokenizedPath;Z[Ljava/lang/String;Ljava/util/LinkedList;)V (DirectoryScanner.java:1287)
at org.apache.tools.ant.DirectoryScanner.scandir(Ljava/io/File;Lorg/apache/tools/ant/types/selectors/TokenizedPath;Z[Ljava/lang/String;Ljava/util/LinkedList;)V (DirectoryScanner.java:1287)
at org.apache.tools.ant.DirectoryScanner.scandir(Ljava/io/File;Lorg/apache/tools/ant/types/selectors/TokenizedPath;Z[Ljava/lang/String;Ljava/util/LinkedList;)V (DirectoryScanner.java:1287)
at org.apache.tools.ant.DirectoryScanner.scandir(Ljava/io/File;Lorg/apache/tools/ant/types/selectors/TokenizedPath;Z[Ljava/lang/String;Ljava/util/LinkedList;)V (DirectoryScanner.java:1287)
at org.apache.tools.ant.DirectoryScanner.scandir(Ljava/io/File;Lorg/apache/tools/ant/types/selectors/TokenizedPath;Z[Ljava/lang/String;Ljava/util/LinkedList;)V (DirectoryScanner.java:1287)
at org.apache.tools.ant.DirectoryScanner.scandir(Ljava/io/File;Lorg/apache/tools/ant/types/selectors/TokenizedPath;Z[Ljava/lang/String;Ljava/util/LinkedList;)V (DirectoryScanner.java:1287)
at org.apache.tools.ant.DirectoryScanner.scandir(Ljava/io/File;Lorg/apache/tools/ant/types/selectors/TokenizedPath;Z[Ljava/lang/String;Ljava/util/LinkedList;)V (DirectoryScanner.java:1287)
at org.apache.tools.ant.DirectoryScanner.scandir(Ljava/io/File;Lorg/apache/tools/ant/types/selectors/TokenizedPath;Z[Ljava/lang/String;Ljava/util/LinkedList;)V (DirectoryScanner.java:1287)
at org.apache.tools.ant.DirectoryScanner.scandir(Ljava/io/File;Lorg/apache/tools/ant/types/selectors/TokenizedPath;Z[Ljava/lang/String;Ljava/util/LinkedList;)V (DirectoryScanner.java:1287)
at org.apache.tools.ant.DirectoryScanner.scandir(Ljava/io/File;Lorg/apache/tools/ant/types/selectors/TokenizedPath;Z[Ljava/lang/String;Ljava/util/LinkedList;)V (DirectoryScanner.java:1287)
at org.apache.tools.ant.DirectoryScanner.scandir(Ljava/io/File;Lorg/apache/tools/ant/types/selectors/TokenizedPath;Z[Ljava/lang/String;Ljava/util/LinkedList;)V (DirectoryScanner.java:1287)
at org.apache.tools.ant.DirectoryScanner.scandir(Ljava/io/File;Lorg/apache/tools/ant/types/selectors/TokenizedPath;Z[Ljava/lang/String;Ljava/util/LinkedList;)V (DirectoryScanner.java:1287)
at org.apache.tools.ant.DirectoryScanner.scandir(Ljava/io/File;Lorg/apache/tools/ant/types/selectors/TokenizedPath;Z[Ljava/lang/String;Ljava/util/LinkedList;)V (DirectoryScanner.java:1287)
at org.apache.tools.ant.DirectoryScanner.scandir(Ljava/io/File;Lorg/apache/tools/ant/types/selectors/TokenizedPath;Z[Ljava/lang/String;Ljava/util/LinkedList;)V (DirectoryScanner.java:1287)
at org.apache.tools.ant.DirectoryScanner.scandir(Ljava/io/File;Lorg/apache/tools/ant/types/selectors/TokenizedPath;Z[Ljava/lang/String;Ljava/util/LinkedList;)V (DirectoryScanner.java:1287)
at org.apache.tools.ant.DirectoryScanner.scandir(Ljava/io/File;Lorg/apache/tools/ant/types/selectors/TokenizedPath;Z[Ljava/lang/String;Ljava/util/LinkedList;)V (DirectoryScanner.java:1287)
at org.apache.tools.ant.DirectoryScanner.scandir(Ljava/io/File;Lorg/apache/tools/ant/types/selectors/TokenizedPath;Z[Ljava/lang/String;Ljava/util/LinkedList;)V (DirectoryScanner.java:1287)
at org.apache.tools.ant.DirectoryScanner.scandir(Ljava/io/File;Lorg/apache/tools/ant/types/selectors/TokenizedPath;Z[Ljava/lang/String;Ljava/util/LinkedList;)V (DirectoryScanner.java:1287)
at org.apache.tools.ant.DirectoryScanner.scandir(Ljava/io/File;Lorg/apache/tools/ant/types/selectors/TokenizedPath;Z[Ljava/lang/String;Ljava/util/LinkedList;)V (DirectoryScanner.java:1287)
at org.apache.tools.ant.DirectoryScanner.scandir(Ljava/io/File;Lorg/apache/tools/ant/types/selectors/TokenizedPath;Z[Ljava/lang/String;Ljava/util/LinkedList;)V (DirectoryScanner.java:1287)
at org.apache.tools.ant.DirectoryScanner.scandir(Ljava/io/File;Lorg/apache/tools/ant/types/selectors/TokenizedPath;Z[Ljava/lang/String;Ljava/util/LinkedList;)V (DirectoryScanner.java:1287)
at org.apache.tools.ant.DirectoryScanner.scandir(Ljava/io/File;Lorg/apache/tools/ant/types/selectors/TokenizedPath;Z[Ljava/lang/String;Ljava/util/LinkedList;)V (DirectoryScanner.java:1287)
at org.apache.tools.ant.DirectoryScanner.scandir(Ljava/io/File;Lorg/apache/tools/ant/types/selectors/TokenizedPath;Z[Ljava/lang/String;Ljava/util/LinkedList;)V (DirectoryScanner.java:1287)
at org.apache.tools.ant.DirectoryScanner.scandir(Ljava/io/File;Lorg/apache/tools/ant/types/selectors/TokenizedPath;Z[Ljava/lang/String;Ljava/util/LinkedList;)V (DirectoryScanner.java:1287)
at org.apache.tools.ant.DirectoryScanner.scandir(Ljava/io/File;Lorg/apache/tools/ant/types/selectors/TokenizedPath;Z[Ljava/lang/String;Ljava/util/LinkedList;)V (DirectoryScanner.java:1287)
at org.apache.tools.ant.DirectoryScanner.scandir(Ljava/io/File;Lorg/apache/tools/ant/types/selectors/TokenizedPath;Z[Ljava/lang/String;Ljava/util/LinkedList;)V (DirectoryScanner.java:1287)
at org.apache.tools.ant.DirectoryScanner.scandir(Ljava/io/File;Lorg/apache/tools/ant/types/selectors/TokenizedPath;Z[Ljava/lang/String;Ljava/util/LinkedList;)V (DirectoryScanner.java:1287)
at org.apache.tools.ant.DirectoryScanner.scandir(Ljava/io/File;Lorg/apache/tools/ant/types/selectors/TokenizedPath;Z[Ljava/lang/String;Ljava/util/LinkedList;)V (DirectoryScanner.java:1287)
at org.apache.tools.ant.DirectoryScanner.scandir(Ljava/io/File;Lorg/apache/tools/ant/types/selectors/TokenizedPath;Z[Ljava/lang/String;Ljava/util/LinkedList;)V (DirectoryScanner.java:1287)
at org.apache.tools.ant.DirectoryScanner.scandir(Ljava/io/File;Lorg/apache/tools/ant/types/selectors/TokenizedPath;Z[Ljava/lang/String;Ljava/util/LinkedList;)V (DirectoryScanner.java:1287)
at org.apache.tools.ant.DirectoryScanner.scandir(Ljava/io/File;Lorg/apache/tools/ant/types/selectors/TokenizedPath;Z[Ljava/lang/String;Ljava/util/LinkedList;)V (DirectoryScanner.java:1287)
at org.apache.tools.ant.DirectoryScanner.scandir(Ljava/io/File;Lorg/apache/tools/ant/types/selectors/TokenizedPath;Z[Ljava/lang/String;Ljava/util/LinkedList;)V (DirectoryScanner.java:1287)
at org.apache.tools.ant.DirectoryScanner.scandir(Ljava/io/File;Lorg/apache/tools/ant/types/selectors/TokenizedPath;Z[Ljava/lang/String;Ljava/util/LinkedList;)V (DirectoryScanner.java:1287)
at org.apache.tools.ant.DirectoryScanner.scandir(Ljava/io/File;Lorg/apache/tools/ant/types/selectors/TokenizedPath;Z[Ljava/lang/String;Ljava/util/LinkedList;)V (DirectoryScanner.java:1287)
at org.apache.tools.ant.DirectoryScanner.scandir(Ljava/io/File;Lorg/apache/tools/ant/types/selectors/TokenizedPath;Z[Ljava/lang/String;Ljava/util/LinkedList;)V (DirectoryScanner.java:1287)
at org.apache.tools.ant.DirectoryScanner.scandir(Ljava/io/File;Lorg/apache/tools/ant/types/selectors/TokenizedPath;Z[Ljava/lang/String;Ljava/util/LinkedList;)V (DirectoryScanner.java:1287)
at org.apache.tools.ant.DirectoryScanner.scandir(Ljava/io/File;Lorg/apache/tools/ant/types/selectors/TokenizedPath;Z[Ljava/lang/String;Ljava/util/LinkedList;)V (DirectoryScanner.java:1287)
at org.apache.tools.ant.DirectoryScanner.scandir(Ljava/io/File;Lorg/apache/tools/ant/types/selectors/TokenizedPath;Z[Ljava/lang/String;Ljava/util/LinkedList;)V (DirectoryScanner.java:1287)
at org.apache.tools.ant.DirectoryScanner.scandir(Ljava/io/File;Lorg/apache/tools/ant/types/selectors/TokenizedPath;Z[Ljava/lang/String;Ljava/util/LinkedList;)V (DirectoryScanner.java:1287)
at org.apache.tools.ant.DirectoryScanner.scandir(Ljava/io/File;Lorg/apache/tools/ant/types/selectors/TokenizedPath;Z[Ljava/lang/String;Ljava/util/LinkedList;)V (DirectoryScanner.java:1287)
at org.apache.tools.ant.DirectoryScanner.scandir(Ljava/io/File;Lorg/apache/tools/ant/types/selectors/TokenizedPath;Z[Ljava/lang/String;Ljava/util/LinkedList;)V (DirectoryScanner.java:1287)
at org.apache.tools.ant.DirectoryScanner.scandir(Ljava/io/File;Lorg/apache/tools/ant/types/selectors/TokenizedPath;Z[Ljava/lang/String;Ljava/util/LinkedList;)V (DirectoryScanner.java:1287)
at org.apache.tools.ant.DirectoryScanner.scandir(Ljava/io/File;Lorg/apache/tools/ant/types/selectors/TokenizedPath;Z[Ljava/lang/String;Ljava/util/LinkedList;)V (DirectoryScanner.java:1287)
at org.apache.tools.ant.DirectoryScanner.scandir(Ljava/io/File;Lorg/apache/tools/ant/types/selectors/TokenizedPath;Z[Ljava/lang/String;Ljava/util/LinkedList;)V (DirectoryScanner.java:1287)
at org.apache.tools.ant.DirectoryScanner.scandir(Ljava/io/File;Lorg/apache/tools/ant/types/selectors/TokenizedPath;Z[Ljava/lang/String;Ljava/util/LinkedList;)V (DirectoryScanner.java:1287)
at org.apache.tools.ant.DirectoryScanner.scandir(Ljava/io/File;Lorg/apache/tools/ant/types/selectors/TokenizedPath;Z)V (DirectoryScanner.java:1211)
at org.apache.tools.ant.DirectoryScanner.scandir(Ljava/io/File;Ljava/lang/String;Z)V (DirectoryScanner.java:1173)
at org.apache.tools.ant.DirectoryScanner.checkIncludePatterns()V (DirectoryScanner.java:955)
at org.apache.tools.ant.DirectoryScanner.scan()V (DirectoryScanner.java:909)
at org.apache.tools.ant.types.AbstractFileSet.getDirectoryScanner(Lorg/apache/tools/ant/Project;)Lorg/apache/tools/ant/DirectoryScanner; (AbstractFileSet.java:499)
at hudson.FilePath$46.invoke(Ljava/io/File;Lhudson/remoting/VirtualChannel;)Ljava/lang/String; (FilePath.java:2406)
at hudson.FilePath$46.invoke(Ljava/io/File;Lhudson/remoting/VirtualChannel;)Ljava/lang/Object; (FilePath.java:2364)
at hudson.FilePath$FileCallableWrapper.call()Ljava/lang/Object; (FilePath.java:2688)
at hudson.remoting.UserRequest.perform(Lhudson/remoting/Channel;)Lhudson/remoting/UserResponse; (UserRequest.java:121)
at hudson.remoting.UserRequest.perform(Lhudson/remoting/Channel;)Ljava/io/Serializable; (UserRequest.java:49)
at hudson.remoting.Request$2.run()V (Request.java:325)
at hudson.remoting.InterceptingExecutorService$1.call()Ljava/lang/Object; (InterceptingExecutorService.java:68)
at java.util.concurrent.FutureTask$Sync.innerRun()V (FutureTask.java:303)
at java.util.concurrent.FutureTask.run()V (FutureTask.java:138)
at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor$Worker.runTask(Ljava/lang/Runnable;)V (ThreadPoolExecutor.java:886)
at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor$Worker.run()V (ThreadPoolExecutor.java:908)
at java.lang.Thread.run()V (Thread.java:619)