Splunk Search

Need to sort macOS versions

jbandautrgv
Engager

I imported data from jamf cloud into splunk and one of the fields being returned is the operating system version. It seems to be in a x.y.z format. I am removing the last two characters to get a count of the "major" versions to get a report by count. So far this works, but I'm trying to sort by the operating system version and the sorting doesn't seem to work. This is my search:

index="endpoint_apple" sourcetype="jamf:computers" | eval Operating_System_Version_Major = substr(Operating_System_Version, 1, len(Operating_System_Version)-2) | chart count(Operating_System_Version_Major) as count by Operating_System_Version_Major | sort -Operating_System_Version_Major

The data is being returned like this:

Operating_System_Version_Major count
10.9 2
10.8 1
10.7 3
10.15 6
10.14 362
10.13 321
10.12 259
10.11 73
10.10 5

I cannot figure out why 10.7 through 10.9 are being sorted higher than 10.15. I've tried "sort -num*Operating_System_Version_Major)" with no change, and I also have alternated between "chart" and "stats" to get the count. I've also attempted to remove the eval and just sort on Operating_System_Version with the same results. I'm not really sure what I'm missing, so if someone can point me in the right direction, I'd appreciate it.

Tags (2)
0 Karma
1 Solution

renjith_nair
Legend

@jbandautrgv,

That's because version is a string and hence it sorts in lexicographical order

Try

index="endpoint_apple" sourcetype="jamf:computers" 
| eval Operating_System_Version_Major = substr(Operating_System_Version, 1, len(Operating_System_Version)-2) 
| chart count(Operating_System_Version_Major) as count by Operating_System_Version_Major 
| eval num=replace(version,"\.","")|sort num|fields - num
---
What goes around comes around. If it helps, hit it with Karma 🙂

View solution in original post

renjith_nair
Legend

@jbandautrgv,

That's because version is a string and hence it sorts in lexicographical order

Try

index="endpoint_apple" sourcetype="jamf:computers" 
| eval Operating_System_Version_Major = substr(Operating_System_Version, 1, len(Operating_System_Version)-2) 
| chart count(Operating_System_Version_Major) as count by Operating_System_Version_Major 
| eval num=replace(version,"\.","")|sort num|fields - num
---
What goes around comes around. If it helps, hit it with Karma 🙂

jbandautrgv
Engager

Thank you, I see what you did. I was hoping I could force splunk to treat "10.15" as a decimal and sort it like that, but what you suggested converting "10.15" to "1015" did work.

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!

Design, Compete, Win: Submit Your Best Splunk Dashboards for a .conf26 Pass

Hello Splunkers,  We’re excited to kick off a Splunk Dashboard contest! We know that dashboards are a primary ...

May 2026 Splunk Expert Sessions: Security & Observability

Level Up Your Operations: May 2026 Splunk Expert Sessions Whether you are refining your security posture or ...

Network to App: Observability Unlocked [May & June Series]

In today’s digital landscape, your environment is no longer confined to the data center. It spans complex ...