Fastmatch Log Parser

Overview

The fastmatch parser uses simple string patterns that specify the position of fields within a log line. As the name suggests, it is very fast and should be considered the preferred method to parse text logs. It can handle most structured text log cases where the order of fields is known. In fact, it is so fast you can specify multiple patterns that will be tested in order, so you can 'solve' cases where there are a few variations in the structure of the log line.

Example using fastmatch

We will be using the following example log line that is using Apache Common Log format:

127.0.0.1 - frank [10/Oct/2000:13:55:36 -0700] "GET /apache_pb.gif HTTP/1.0" 200 2326

Here is how we would define a log schema for this log type using fastmatch:

Console "Separate Sections" schema editor

In the Panther Console, we would follow the How to create a custom schema manually instructions, selecting the FastMatch parser.

In the Fields & Indicators section (below the Parser section shown in the screenshot above), we would define the fields:

fields:
  - name: remote_ip
    type: string
    indicators:
      - ip
  - name: identity
    type: string
  - name: user
    type: string
  - name: timestamp
    type: timestamp
    isEventTime: true
    timeFormats:
     - '%d/%b/%Y:%H:%M:%S %z'
  - name: method
    type: string
  - name: request_uri
    type: string
  - name: protocol
    type: string
  - name: status
    type: int
  - name: bytes_sent
    type: bigint

Full YAML representation

parser:
  fastmatch:
    # Define an array of patterns to match against.
    # In this example we only use one pattern because the log format is the same for all lines.
    # If we wanted to include the Apache Extended Log format, we could provide an additional pattern.
    match:
      - '%{remote_ip} %{identity} %{user} [%{timestamp}] "%{method} %{request_uri} %{protocol}" %{status} %{bytes_sent}'
    emptyValues: [ '-' ] # specify that `-` string values are considered null
fields:
  - name: remote_ip
    type: string
    indicators:
      - ip
  - name: identity
    type: string
  - name: user
    type: string
  - name: timestamp
    type: timestamp
    isEventTime: true
    timeFormats:
     - '%d/%b/%Y:%H:%M:%S %z'
  - name: method
    type: string
  - name: request_uri
    type: string
  - name: protocol
    type: string
  - name: status
    type: int
  - name: bytes_sent
    type: bigint

Understanding fastmatch patterns

The patterns use %{field_name} placeholders to set where in the log line a field is expected. For example, to match this text:

2020-10-10T14:32:05 [[email protected]] [DEBUG] "" Something when wrong

We can use this pattern (surrounded by single quotes for clarity):

'%{timestamp} [%{service}@%{ip}] [%{log_level}] %{message}'

If you are defining a schema in the Panther Console, you will input your patterns into the Match Patterns field:

Delimiters

The text between two consecutive fields defines the 'delimiter' between them. Delimiters cannot be empty.

In the pattern in the example above, we cannot omit the "@" between service and ip.

The field preceding a delimiter cannot contain the delimiter text. In the example above:

• timestamp cannot contain space " "

• service cannot contain "@"

• ip cannot contain "] ["

• log_level cannot contain "] "

Anonymous fields

Field placeholders without names (%{}) are ignored.

Tail capture

If the last field in a pattern does not have any delimiter text after it, it will capture everything until the end of the text. In the example above message will capture "Something when wrong"

Handling quotes

In some cases fields can be quoted within the text:

2020-10-10T14:32:05 "Some quoted text with \"escaped quotes\" inside"

To properly unescape such fields just surround the field placeholder with quotes:

%{timestamp} "%{message}"

This works for both single and double quotes.