metasearch
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Contents
metasearch
Synopsis
Retrieves event metadata from indexes based on terms in the <logical-expression>.
Syntax
metasearch [<logical-expression>]
Optional arguments
- <logical-expression>
- Syntax: <time-opts>|<search-modifier>|((NOT)? <logical-expression>)|<index-expression>|<comparison-expression>|(<logical-expression> (OR)? <logical-expression>)
- Description: Includes time and search modifiers; comparison and index expressions.
Logical expression
- <comparison-expression>
- Syntax: <field><cmp><value>
- Description: Compare a field to a literal value or values of another field.
- <index-expression>
- Syntax: "<string>"|<term>|<search-modifier>
- <time-opts>
- Syntax: (<timeformat>)? (<time-modifier>)*
Comparison expression
- <cmp>
- Syntax: = | != | < | <= | > | >=
- Description: Comparison operators.
- <field>
- Syntax: <string>
- Description: The name of a field.
- <lit-value>
- Syntax: <string> | <num>
- Description: An exact, or literal, value of a field; used in a comparison expression.
- <value>
- Syntax: <lit-value> | <field>
- Description: In comparison-expressions, the literal (number or string) value of a field or another field name.
Index expression
- <search-modifier>
- Syntax: <field-specifier>|<savedsplunk-specifier>|<tag-specifier>
Time options
Splunk allows many flexible options for searching based on time. For a list of time modifiers, see the topic "Time modifiers for search"
- <timeformat>
- Syntax: timeformat=<string>
- Description: Set the time format for starttime and endtime terms. By default, the timestamp is formatted:
timeformat=%m/%d/%Y:%H:%M:%S.
- <time-modifier>
- Syntax: earliest=<time_modifier> | latest=<time_modifier>
- Description: Specify start and end times using relative or absolute time. Read more about time modifier syntax in "Change the time range of your search"
Description
Retrieves event metadata from indexes based on terms in the <logical-expression>. Metadata fields include source, sourcetype, host, _time, index, and splunk_server.
Examples
Example 1: Return metadata for events with "404" and from host "webserver1".
404 host="webserver1"See also
Answers
Have questions? Visit Splunk Answers and see what questions and answers the Splunk community has using the metasearch command.
This documentation applies to the following versions of Splunk: 4.2 , 4.2.1 , 4.2.2 , 4.2.3 , 4.2.4 , 4.2.5 , 4.3 , 4.3.1 , 4.3.2 , 4.3.3 , 4.3.4 , 4.3.5 , 4.3.6 View the Article History for its revisions.