Splunk Search

Simple extraction regex to parse out space seperated logs?

thisissplunk
Builder

I'm dealing with a highly customized access log that isn't being processed properly by access_combined sourcetype during indexing. Fields aren't being pulled out.

Is there a way to write a regex in search time extractions that will simply do something similar to a split(_raw," ")?

I CANNOT do something like because it's way too slow to rex out or split the entire data set (it's huge):

index=blah | rex field=_raw "(?<field1>.+)\s(?<field2>.+)\s | search field1=wowthiswasslow"

It needs to be streaming so that I can search like:

 index=blah extracted_field1=thatwasfast
0 Karma
1 Solution

thisissplunk
Builder

Actually I was making this harder than it had to be. Just go to "Extract more fields" then choose "Delimiter" then choose Space as the delimiter.

View solution in original post

0 Karma

thisissplunk
Builder

Actually I was making this harder than it had to be. Just go to "Extract more fields" then choose "Delimiter" then choose Space as the delimiter.

0 Karma

micahkemp
Champion

Yup, that’s a better way to parse delimited fields long term.

I honestly can’t imagine splitting by spaces is going to work for web logs, though. What about useragents?

0 Karma

micahkemp
Champion

| eval allfields=_raw | makemv allfields

This may not work will for your specific use case, but it will split into as many values as it needs. delim defaults to , so I left it out of the command.

https://docs.splunk.com/Documentation/SplunkCloud/6.6.3/SearchReference/Makemv

thisissplunk
Builder

Hmm ok, I'm looking for it now, but how do I search for something like allfields[0]=blah?

Found it: | eval field7=mvindex(allfields,7) | search field7=200

Still left wondering if this will be slow due to the extra | search

0 Karma
Get Updates on the Splunk Community!

Data Management Digest – November 2025

  Welcome to the inaugural edition of Data Management Digest! As your trusted partner in data innovation, the ...

Splunk Mobile: Your Brand-New Home Screen

Meet Your New Mobile Hub  Hello Splunk Community!  Staying connected to your data—no matter where you are—is ...

Introducing Value Insights (Beta): Understand the Business Impact your organization ...

Real progress on your strategic priorities starts with knowing the business outcomes your teams are delivering ...