Splunk Search

How can I index config files and text documents as individual events?

Ron_Naken
Splunk Employee
Splunk Employee

When I configure Splunk to index a folder containing config files and text documents, it indexes each line of the files as separate events. I would like to index each file as its own event, allowing me to use diff and other commands to itemize changes to the files. Once Splunk is integrated with our ticketing system, it can then determine if changes were authorized, and it can then alert the appropriate team, accordingly.

1 Solution

Ron_Naken
Splunk Employee
Splunk Employee

Here's a props.conf trick that's used by the *NIX app to consume long outputs as a single entry. A stanza like the following will allow you to consume your entire config file or document as a single event. Be sure to manually set your sourcetype on the Data Input to whatever you use in your stanza (myconfigs in the example):

[myconfigs]
SHOULD_LINEMERGE=false
LINE_BREAKER=(?=!)
TRUNCATE=1000000

View solution in original post

Ron_Naken
Splunk Employee
Splunk Employee

Here's a props.conf trick that's used by the *NIX app to consume long outputs as a single entry. A stanza like the following will allow you to consume your entire config file or document as a single event. Be sure to manually set your sourcetype on the Data Input to whatever you use in your stanza (myconfigs in the example):

[myconfigs]
SHOULD_LINEMERGE=false
LINE_BREAKER=(?=!)
TRUNCATE=1000000

gkanapathy
Splunk Employee
Splunk Employee

corrected LINE_BREAKER regex from (?=) to (?!). Basically, you want a regex that will never match as the LINE_BREAKER, i.e., you never want to break a line.

Get Updates on the Splunk Community!

Enter the Agentic Era with Splunk AI Assistant for SPL 1.4

  🚀 Your data just got a serious AI upgrade — are you ready? Say hello to the Agentic Era with the ...

Feel the Splunk Love: Real Stories from Real Customers

Hello Splunk Community,    What’s the best part of hearing how our customers use Splunk? Easy: the positive ...

Data Management Digest – November 2025

  Welcome to the inaugural edition of Data Management Digest! As your trusted partner in data innovation, the ...