Splunk Search

Regex not working?

msarro
Builder

I'm trying to get a time prefix working for the following event:

00:13:11:ee:b7:5e~00:13:11:ee:b7:5d~123.net~123.net~1~4 (passWithWarnings)~1 (Operational)~12 (Normal)~8 (Missing Battery)~~~~~~~~1 (Unknown)~123 2.0 / 123 1.0  HW_REV: 32; VENDOR: 123 INTERACTIVE, L.L.C.; BOOTR: 5.01; SW_REV: 6.1.95; MODEL: 123~123 INTERACTIVE, L.L.C.~123~123~5.01~6.1.95~32~~123.net~123.net~2~2010-11-18 01:40:57

I've used regexr and regex coach to verify that my regular expression is valid, however splunk seems to be choking. Its a simple regex:

^.*~

That brings me right up to the last character prior to the date. Any ideas? Also, the data above has been heavily sanitized so the format may be slightly different, but I've verified the regex still works.

Tags (2)

Genti
Splunk Employee
Splunk Employee

Seems like your regex is ok. hence it must be something else.. from the docs:

[<spec>]
DATETIME_CONFIG = <filename relative to $SPLUNK_HOME>
MAX_TIMESTAMP_LOOKAHEAD = <integer>
TIME_PREFIX = <regular expression>
TIME_FORMAT = <strptime-style format>

MAX_TIMESTAMP_LOOKAHEAD = <integer>

    * Specify how far (how many characters) into an event Splunk should look for a timestamp.
    * Default is 150 characters. 

What is your current MAX_TIMESTAMP_LOOKAHEAD value? Have you set your own value or are you using the default one? From what i see you need at least 350 (and if your actual event/log is longer might need to be larger then that).

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!

Step into “Hunt the Insider: An Splunk ES Premier Mystery” to catch a cybercriminal ...

After a whole week of being on call, you fell asleep on your keyboard, and you hit a sequence of buttons that ...

SplunkTrust Application Period is Officially OPEN!

It's that time, folks! The application/nomination period for the 2026-2027 SplunkTrust is officially open. If ...

Announcing Modern Navigation: A New Era of Splunk User Experience

We are excited to introduce the Modern Navigation feature in the Splunk Platform, available to both cloud and ...