Splunk Search

How to replace an alphanumeric string in a field?

saibalabadra
New Member

I have query to count the URIs but in some places there are dynamic values so I am trying to replace dynamic values with a character like '*' so that same URI pattern will be considered as one value and list the total count irrespective of dynamic value. I tried below query but it is replacing only numbers.

Ex:

Query: ....|stats count by URI

Actual Result:

URI Count
abc/xyz/1000/uvw 1
abc/xyz/2000/uvw 1
abc/xyz/3000/uvw 1
abc/xyz/def/uvw/1234/a1b2c3d4/rst 1
abc/xyz/def/uvw/5678/e5f6g7h8/rst 1

Expected Result:

URI Count
abc/xyz/*/uvw 3
abc/xyz/def/uvw/*/*/rst 2

Tags (1)
0 Karma

niketn
Legend

@saibalabadra, please try to pipe the following eval and stats to your existing search:

<yourCurrentSearch>
    | eval url_pattern=case(match(url,"abc\/xyz\/def\/uvw\/.*\/.*\/rst"),"abc/xyz/def/uvw/*/*/rst",match(url,"abc\/xyz\/.*\/uvw"),"abc/xyz/*/uvw")
    | stats sum(count) as Count by url_pattern

Following is a run anywhere search based on sample data provided in the question

| makeresults
| eval data="abc/xyz/1000/uvw 1;abc/xyz/2000/uvw 1;abc/xyz/3000/uvw 1;abc/xyz/def/uvw/1234/a1b2c3d4/rst 1;abc/xyz/def/uvw/5678/e5f6g7h8/rst 1"
| makemv data delim=";"
| mvexpand data
| makemv data delim=" "
| eval url=mvindex(data,0), count=mvindex(data,1)
| fields - _time data
| eval url_pattern=case(match(url,"abc\/xyz\/def\/uvw\/.*\/.*\/rst"),"abc/xyz/def/uvw/*/*/rst",match(url,"abc\/xyz\/.*\/uvw"),"abc/xyz/*/uvw")
| stats sum(count) as Count by url_pattern
____________________________________________
| makeresults | eval message= "Happy Splunking!!!"
0 Karma

saibalabadra
New Member

There are more variations but they are similar except that the position of dynamic values would very. I tried below rex command but it is replacing numbers only, if I update expression to consider alphanumeric then it is replacing all characters in the field and returning just slashes and asterisks.

|rex field=URI mode=sed "/s[0-9\s\t\n\v]+ | {2,} /* /g"
|stats count by URI

Result:

URI Count
abc/xyz//uvw 3
abc/xyz/def/uvw/
/a*b*c*d*/rst 1
abc/xyz/def/uvw//e*f*g*h/rst 1

|rex field=URI mode=sed "/s[a-zA-Z0-9\s\t\n\v]+ | {2,} /* /g"
|stats count by URI

URI Count
/// 3
//////* 2

0 Karma

FrankVl
Ultra Champion

Are those the only 2 specific patterns you need to handle, or are there more variations?

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!

Index This | What travels the world but is also stuck in place?

April 2026 Edition  Hayyy Splunk Education Enthusiasts and the Eternally Curious!   We’re back with this ...

Discover New Use Cases: Unlock Greater Value from Your Existing Splunk Data

Realizing the full potential of your Splunk investment requires more than just understanding current usage; it ...

Continue Your Journey: Join Session 2 of the Data Management and Federation Bootcamp ...

As data volumes continue to grow and environments become more distributed, managing and optimizing data ...