Getting Data In

Blacklist/ignore files by size

TonyLeeVT
Builder

When monitoring a directory for files (using inputs.conf) is it possible to blacklist or ignore files over a certain size? Say for instance a few files get dropped in that are 100 MB in size or more. Splunk usually errors after processing these anyway. Can I ignore processing these larger files? Thanks in advance.

0 Karma

woodcock
Esteemed Legend

I have used the following hack to solve this problem:

Create a new directory somewhere else (/destination/path/) and point the Splunk forwarder there. Then setup a cron job that creates selective soft links to files pointing to the real directory (/source/path/) for any file that meets your "keep" criteria, like this:

*/5 * * * * cd /source/file/path/ && /bin/find . -maxdepth 1 -type f -size -100M | /bin/sed "s/^..//" | /usr/bin/xargs -I {} /bin/ln -fs /source/path/{} /destination/path/{}

Don't forget to setup a 2nd cron to delete the broken softlinks (source files have been deleted), too, or you will end up with tens of thousands of files here, too.

0 Karma

TonyLeeVT
Builder

Thank you for adding a work around sir. 🙂 I will give it a try, but will still leave this issue open until Splunk adds a supported solution such as a file size parameter in inputs.conf. Thanks again.

0 Karma

somesoni2
Revered Legend

I don't think there is a native way to ignore files based on their size. On the other hand, Splunk can monitor files much larger than 100 MBs so could you tell us more about "Splunk usually errors after processing these anyway'??

0 Karma
Got questions? Get answers!

Join the Splunk Community Slack to learn, troubleshoot, and make connections with fellow Splunk practitioners in real time!

Meet up IRL or virtually!

Join Splunk User Groups to connect and learn in-person by region or remotely by topic or industry.

Get Updates on the Splunk Community!

Announcing Modern Navigation: A New Era of Splunk User Experience

We are excited to introduce the Modern Navigation feature in the Splunk Platform, available to both cloud and ...

Modernize your Splunk Apps – Introducing Python 3.13 in Splunk

We are excited to announce that the upcoming releases of Splunk Enterprise 10.2.x and Splunk Cloud Platform ...

Step into “Hunt the Insider: An Splunk ES Premier Mystery” to catch a cybercriminal ...

After a whole week of being on call, you fell asleep on your keyboard, and you hit a sequence of buttons that ...