Getting Data In

inputs.conf blacklist format- Is there a format that needs to be adhered to when using a blacklist with regex?

dolj
Explorer

is there a format that needs to be adhered to when using a blacklist with regex? 

I am trying to format "New Process Name:" with a regex that will extract events from a specific data source. 

I have tested the regex with regex101 and it identifies the events that I want to filter and is basically

blacklist3 = New\sProcess\sName\:\s+C\:\\Program\sFiles\s\(x86\)\\......

should that work or do I need to format it something more like

blacklist3 = New Process Name = C\:\\Program\sFiles\s\(x86\)\\...... 

my current blacklist is resulting in 

ExecProcessor - message from ""C:\Program Files\SplunkUniversalForwarder\bin\splunk-winevtlog.exe"" splunk-winevtlog - Processing: 'blacklist3' [legacy], range error found in 'regex'......

According to this document,

https://docs.splunk.com/Documentation/Splunk/9.0.3/Data/Whitelistorblacklistspecificincomingdata

blacklist = <your_custom_regex>

 should work. 

 

Thanks

Labels (2)
0 Karma

gcusello
SplunkTrust
SplunkTrust

Hi @dolj,

when you have "\" backslash in your blacklist, you have to escape it using three backslashes:

blacklist3 = New\sProcess\sName:\s+C:\\\Program\sFiles\s\(x86\)\\\......

you can try it in Splunk search to find the correct regex to filter your filenames, something like this:

| makeresults | eval _raw= "C:\Program Files (x86)\Google" | regex "C:\\\Program Files \(x86\)\\\Google"

Ciao.

Giuseppe

0 Karma

jotne
Builder

Escaping with regex may make it hard to read, but luckily there is a smart way around it.
You can start and stop in regex with \Q  and \E on what you like to get literal.

| makeresults
| eval _raw= "C:\Program Files (x86)\Google"
| regex "\QC:\Program Files (x86)\Google\E"

 This makes regex much more readable.
https://www.regular-expressions.info/characters.html

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!

Splunk App Dev Quarterly Roundup: AI, Agents, and Innovation!

Another quarter, another wave of innovation. From complex integrations to pushing the limits ...

Federated Search for Dynamic Data Self Storage Is Now Generally Available on Splunk ...

 Splunk is excited to announce the General Availability of Federated Search for Dynamic Data Self Storage ...

Index This | What has many keys but can’t unlock a door?

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