Splunk Search

How do I access nested JSON?

tolikuznets
Engager

I have message that contains nested JSON inside which contains a message field that contains a Java exception

{xxxx: "some-fields-here",
    message:  {"logRecordType":"X",
"timestamp":"1533748762718","threadId":"42",,"message":"Background operation retry gave up
org.apache.zookeeper.KeeperException$SessionExpiredException: KeeperErrorCode = Session expired
    at org.apache.zookeeper.KeeperException.create(KeeperException.java:127)
    at org.apache.curator.framework.imps.CuratorFrameworkImpl.checkBackgroundRetry(CuratorFrameworkImpl.java:728)
    at org.apache.curator.framework.imps.CuratorFrameworkImpl.processBackgroundOperation(CuratorFrameworkImpl.java:516)
    at org.apache.curator.framework.imps.GetChildrenBuilderImpl$2.processResult(GetChildrenBuilderImpl.java:166)
    at org.apache.zookeeper.ClientCnxn$EventThread.processEvent(ClientCnxn.java:615)
    at org.apache.zookeeper.ClientCnxn$EventThread.run(ClientCnxn.java:519)"} 

more-json-fields
}

How do I access the nested message field? tried different variations of using spath but was never able to get the nested message, only the top-level message.
Ideally, I'd want to replace \n with ; so that it wouldn't mess up my output downstream.

niketn
Legend

@tolikuznets , try the following command

 <yourCurrentSearch>
| rex "\"message\":\"(?<message>[^\"]+)"

Following is a run anywhere search based on your sample data:

| makeresults
| eval _raw="{xxxx: \"some-fields-here\", message: {\"logRecordType\":\"X\", \"timestamp\":\"1533748762718\",\"threadId\":\"42\",,\"message\":\"Background operation retry gave up org.apache.zookeeper.KeeperException$SessionExpiredException: KeeperErrorCode = Session expired at org.apache.zookeeper.KeeperException.create(KeeperException.java:127) at org.apache.curator.framework.imps.CuratorFrameworkImpl.checkBackgroundRetry(CuratorFrameworkImpl.java:728) at org.apache.curator.framework.imps.CuratorFrameworkImpl.processBackgroundOperation(CuratorFrameworkImpl.java:516) at org.apache.curator.framework.imps.GetChildrenBuilderImpl$2.processResult(GetChildrenBuilderImpl.java:166) at org.apache.zookeeper.ClientCnxn$EventThread.processEvent(ClientCnxn.java:615) at org.apache.zookeeper.ClientCnxn$EventThread.run(ClientCnxn.java:519)\"} }"
| rex "\"message\":\"(?<message>[^\"]+)"
____________________________________________
| makeresults | eval message= "Happy Splunking!!!"
0 Karma
Get Updates on the Splunk Community!

App Platform's 2025 Year in Review: A Year of Innovation, Growth, and Community

As we step into 2026, it’s the perfect moment to reflect on what an extraordinary year 2025 was for the Splunk ...

Operationalizing Entity Risk Score with Enterprise Security 8.3+

Overview Enterprise Security 8.3 introduces a powerful new feature called “Entity Risk Scoring” (ERS) for ...

Unlock Database Monitoring with Splunk Observability Cloud

  In today’s fast-paced digital landscape, even minor database slowdowns can disrupt user experiences and ...