In the dynamic world of cybersecurity, staying ahead means constantly solving new puzzles and optimizing your defenses. Here at Splunk, we know that often, the most practical and innovative solutions come directly from the collective wisdom of our incredible community. This month, we're diving into some brilliant community-driven fixes that simplify life for security practitioners, straight from the trenches of Splunk Answers.
But what if you could take your problem-solving skills to the ultimate test? Get ready, security practitioners, because at .conf25, we're launching an unprecedented event that combines strategy, speed, and cyber prowess! We’re looking for Security Practitioners to take part in a filmed, Amazing Race-meets-Capture-the-Flag-style showdown in the days leading up to .conf. Two teams of Splunk customers will decode clues, solve cyber-themed challenges, and dash through some of Boston’s most iconic landmarks all for a chance to win a $10K donation to charity. And it’s all going to be captured on camera and premiered during the .conf25 Global Broadcast. Read all about it here!
So, whether you're seeking solutions for your daily ES challenges or gearing up for the race of a lifetime, the Splunk community and .conf25 have something epic in store for you. Let's dive into this month's top security insights from Splunk Answers.
Mission Control Empty After ES8 Upgrade? Check Your Indexes!
Upgrading your Splunk Enterprise Security (ES) environment can be an exciting leap forward, bringing new features and improved performance. But sometimes, even with the best planning, a few unexpected quirks can pop up. That's where the incredible power of the Splunk Answers community shines!
Recently, kneubi shared a common post-upgrade head-scratcher that many of you might relate to.
After a successful on-premises upgrade from Splunk ES7 to ES8, kneubi noticed a peculiar issue: their newly created investigations weren't showing up in Mission Control
While they could still access these investigations by clicking through from an associated finding, the direct visibility in Mission Control, as expected from the documentation, was missing. It was a classic "it's there, but not there" scenario, causing a minor roadblock in their security operations workflow.
This is where the collective wisdom of the Splunk community truly makes a difference. MaverickT provided a brilliant and surprisingly simple insight! The issue likely stemmed from missing new indexes required by Splunk ES 8.0
With major version upgrades, new components often come with new data storage requirements. For ES8, specific indexes like mc_investigations, mc_artifacts, mc_aux_incidents, mc_events, mc_incidents_backup, and cms_main are crucial for Mission Control to function correctly and display all its elements. If these weren't created during or immediately after the upgrade, investigations simply wouldn't have a place to be properly indexed and displayed in the Mission Control interface.
Cracking the Code: How to Access Analyst Work Notes in Splunk ES8!
The new Splunk ES8 brings a host of powerful new features, but sometimes, familiar functionalities get a new address. Another common challenge users face is finding where their beloved analyst work notes (comments) have moved and how to access them programmatically.
Recently, Ijvc posed a question on Splunk Answers that many analysts and security engineers can relate to: The ES8 Migration Mystery, Where Did My Work Notes Go?
Ijvc was in the process of migrating to ES8 and needed to pull analyst work notes (comments) into dashboards and reports. In ES7, this was straightforward: the incident_updates_lookup contained a comment field that was easily accessible. However, with ES8, the "Comments" feature was officially replaced by an "enhanced capability to add notes."
This is a critical question for anyone building custom dashboards, automating workflows, or needing to report on analyst activity beyond the built-in views.
This time, the OP Ijvc was able to tackle it themselves with support from randoj. After their initial query, Ijvc continued to dig and, with a little help from the community, found the solution and generously shared it back with everyone.
They discovered that the missioncontrol app exposes several endpoints related to incidents and investigations. By tracing the behavior of Splunk Enterprise Security when fetching comments (a great tip for anyone troubleshooting!), they found the OpenAPI specification at missioncontrol/mcopenapi.yaml.
This specification revealed that the incidents endpoint, when provided with a finding or notable ID, can return a list of comments! Ijvc highly recommends using your browser's developer tools to inspect requests when interacting with finding notes on the Analyst Queue. This provides a live look at how the endpoint works.
Ultimately, they implemented a custom command to perform these requests at search time, allowing them to pull notes seamlessly into their reports and dashboards. This even works for notes without an incident_id or source in mc_notes!
A special shout-out also goes to randoj for providing assistance to Ijvc in solving this puzzle. This is a fantastic example of community collaboration leading to a powerful solution!
Get featured!
Would you like to feature more solutions like this? Reach out @Anam Siddique on Slack in our Splunk Community Slack workspace to highlight your question, answer, or tip in an upcoming Community Content post! 💡 Our contributors who are highlighted for providing a solution will be given a $25 Cisco Store gift card for their contributions.
To learn more about Splunk Enterprise Security, register for the upcoming Community Office Hours on Wed, Aug 20, 2025 at 1pm PT /4pm ET.
What are Community Office Hours? An ongoing series where technical Splunk experts answer questions and provide how-to guidance on various Splunk product and use case topics.
In the meantime check out this Community Office Hours video on Security: Data Management in Security
Also here is Splunk tech Talk on Splunk ES 8.0!
As we wrap up this month's dive into Splunk Security insights, we want to take a moment to celebrate what truly makes our ecosystem thrive: the incredible power of the Splunk community. It's in these shared challenges and collaborative solutions that we all grow stronger, turning individual roadblocks into collective victories.
A huge thank you to MaverickT for their sharp insight in guiding users through the ES8 upgrade challenges and to Ijvc for not only unraveling the complex mystery of accessing ES8 analyst notes but also for generously sharing their detailed findings and custom command approach, Also to randoj for their invaluable assistance to Ijvc, highlighting the power of collaboration behind the scenes.
Your willingness to share knowledge, ask questions, and help fellow practitioners is what makes Splunk Answers such an indispensable resource. Keep those questions and solutions coming – you might be the next community hero helping to unlock new possibilities for everyone!
Beyond Splunk Answers, the Splunk Community offers a wealth of valuable resources to deepen your knowledge and connect with other professionals!
Here are some great ways to get involved and expand your Splunk expertise:
Role-Based Learning Paths: Tailored to help you master various aspects of the Splunk Data Platform and enhance your skills.
Splunk Training & Certifications: A fantastic place to connect with like-minded individuals and access top-notch educational content.
Dive into these resources today and make the most of your Splunk journey!
