Empty spaces, what are we searching for?

Abandon queries, but do you know the score? On and on,

Does anybody know what we are looking for?

…

Inspired by “The Show Must Go On”, Queen.

Since we launched Cribl Search back in late 2022, we’ve been hard at work on adding features and functionality that continue to empower data engineers to do more with their data without needing to collect it first. With instant access and instant upgrades in Cribl.Cloud, Cribl Search is like gaining a superpower and we recently expanded its reach by adding regional access in EMEA as well!

Now we’re excited to share three new commands that have been added to Cribl Search: .show objects, .show queries, and .cancel. These commands are designed to make your data exploration and query management even more powerful. Let’s dive right in to see what these commands offer, and how they can be beneficial in real-world scenarios.

Understanding .show objects

Sometimes you may want to loom before you leap, or in this case before you run a search, the .show objects command allows you to fetch a list of objects contained within a specific dataset, without considering the time range.

For instance, if you want to view all objects in specific datasets, you can use:

.show objects(cribl_internal_logs, cribl_search_sample)

If your goal is to see the largest objects in a dataset, this command comes in handy:

.show objects(cribl_internal_logs) | top 5 by size

And if you’re looking to find out how many objects in datasets starting with cribl_int are larger than 50,000 bytes, this command can help:

.show objects(cribl_int*) | where size > 50000 | count

Diving into .show queries

Want to know what queries are running and who is running them, then .show queries command is where to start, it provides a list of either queued or active searches. An important thing to remember here is that members with User or Editor Permissions can view only their specific searches.

For a broad view of all ongoing or queued searches:

.show queries

If you’re curious about all currently running searches:

.show running queries with(reason = "Checking current search status.")

And if you want to see the searches initiated by a specific user, this command works:

.show running queries by user "John*" with(reason = "Monitoring user-specific searches.")

Meet .cancel

Finally, after launching a query or even running the .show queries command, you might have second thoughts about one or more queries, we have you covered there too. The .cancel command grants you full control over ongoing or queued searches, empowering you to halt any process in real time.

Scenario: To cancel a search you’ve identified as redundant or flawed:

.cancel query "1693827597495.ji5y5g"

Multi-user environment: – to cancel the searches of specific users in a collaborative workspace:

.cancel queries by user("John Doe", "Jane*") with(reason = "Redundant searches detected.")

Resource management – to halt all running searches, perhaps for urgent system maintenance:

.cancel running queries with(reason = "System maintenance. Save the resources.")

To Sum It All Up

The addition of .show objects, .show queries, and .cancel to Cribl Search magnifies our commitment to enhancing your data management experience. These commands provide a nuanced, efficient, and decisive means to control your data and queries. As I mentioned at the beginning of this blog, we’re so confident that you’ll find value in Cribl Search that we’ll give you instant access to it through Cribl.Cloud for FREE. Head on over and sign up to take advantage of these three new powerful features. You’ll be up and running in minutes with nothing to maintain.

Cribl, the Data Engine for IT and Security, empowers organizations to transform their data strategy. Customers use Cribl’s suite of products to collect, process, route, and analyze all IT and security data, delivering the flexibility, choice, and control required to adapt to their ever-changing needs.

We offer free training, certifications, and a free tier across our products. Our community Slack features Cribl engineers, partners, and customers who can answer your questions as you get started and continue to build and evolve. We also offer a variety of hands-on Sandboxes for those interested in how companies globally leverage our products for their data challenges.