Splunk Search

How to attract a specific word from string using rex?

thinhdinh
Path Finder

Hello Splunk Experts!

I have a string like below

rex " - - (?<text>foo|bar) " | .....

I want to take the text when a word match foo or bar. The string include whitespace as above. Thank in advance!

Labels (3)
0 Karma

gcusello
SplunkTrust
SplunkTrust

Hi @thinhdinh ,

did you tried?

| rex "(?<text>foo|bar)"

if you want only isolated foo/bar word, try this: 

| rex "(?<text>foo|bar)"
| rex "\s+(?<text>foo|bar)\s+"

If you share some example I could verify my regex.

If you want you could also use regex101.com to test this regex with your samples.

Ciao.

Giuseppe

thinhdinh
Path Finder

Hi @gcusello ,

Thank you for your answer. Basically I have a event like this:

Mon Mar 19 20:16:27 2018 Info: Bounced: DCID 8413617 MID 19338947 - - "Hello world"  From: <MariaDubois@example.com> To: <zecora@buttercupgames.com> RID 0 - 5.4.7 - Delivery expired (message too old) ('000', ['timeout']) 

 

How can I get the "Hello world" from above event using rex command? 

0 Karma

gcusello
SplunkTrust
SplunkTrust

Hi @thinhdinh ,

you can use a regex like this:

| rex "(?<text>Hello world)"

that you can test at https://regex101.com/r/YXExE4/1

if instead you want to teke the text between quotes in that position (non only Hello world), you could try:

| rex "\"(?<text>[^\"]+)\""

that you can test at https://regex101.com/r/YXExE4/2

Ciao.

Giuseppe

thinhdinh
Path Finder

Okie, I was missing field=_raw. Now I got it worked, thank you.

0 Karma

gcusello
SplunkTrust
SplunkTrust

field=_raw isn't mandatory!

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!

Why Splunk Customers Should Attend Cisco Live 2026 Las Vegas

Why Splunk Customers Should Attend Cisco Live 2026 Las Vegas     Cisco Live 2026 is almost here, and this ...

What Is the Name of the USB Key Inserted by Bob Smith? (BOTS Hint, Not the Answer)

Hello Splunkers,   So you searched, “what is the name of the usb key inserted by bob smith?”  Not gonna lie… ...

Automating Threat Operations and Threat Hunting with Recorded Future

    Automating Threat Operations and Threat Hunting with Recorded Future June 29, 2026 | Register   Is your ...