Updated on 2024-09-19 GMT+08:00

Setting Indexes

An index is a storage structure used to query and analyze logs. Different index settings will generate different query and analysis results. Configure the index settings as required.

Index Types

LTS supports full-text and field indexes. For details, see Table 1.

Table 1 Index types

Index Type

Description

Index Whole Text

LTS splits all field values of an entire log into multiple words when this function is enabled.

NOTE:
  • The custom label field uploaded by the user is not included in the full-text index. If you want to search for the custom label field, add the corresponding index field.
  • System reserved fields are not included in full-text indexes. You need to use index fields (Key:Value) to search for them. For details, see System Reserved Fields.

Index Fields

Query logs by specified field names and values (Key:Value).

NOTE:
  • LTS enables index fields for certain system reserved fields by default. For details, see System Reserved Fields.
  • If an index field is configured for a field, the delimiter of the field value is subject to the index field configuration.
  • The quick analysis column in structuring settings has been removed. To use quick analysis, configure index fields and enable quick analysis for the required fields.

Here are two examples:

  • In the log example, the level and status index fields are configured. The level field is of the string type, the field value is error, and a delimiter is configured. The status field is of the long type, and no delimiter needs to be configured. You can use level:error to search for all logs whose level value is error.
  • In the log example, LTS creates indexes for system reserved fields such as hostName, hostIP, and pathFile by default.

Precautions

  • Either whole text indexing or index fields must be configured.
  • Creating an index generates index traffic and occupies index storage space. For details about the fee, see Price Calculator.
  • After the index function is disabled, the storage space of historical indexes is automatically cleared after the data storage period of the current log stream expires.
  • LTS enables index fields for certain system reserved fields by default. For details, see System Reserved Fields.
  • Different index settings will generate different query and analysis results. Configure the index settings as required. Full-text indexes and index fields do not affect each other.
  • After the index configuration is modified, the modification takes effect only for newly written log data.
  • Before the field index function is available, fields supported by SQL analysis come from structured parsing on the cloud. After the field index function is available, fields supported by SQL analysis come from the field index as long as the field index is configured. Therefore, modifying the field index may affect the query results in the existing visualized charts, dashboards, SQL alarms, scheduled SQL statements, and Grafana ingestion. Exercise caution when performing this operation.
  • When the field index is set to the JSON data type, quick analysis, chart redirection, and visualization on the Log Search tab page are not supported for JSON subfields. Instead, quick analysis and SQL visualization on the Search Analysis page are supported for JSON subfields.
  • When the field index is set to the JSON data type, the hit result of querying JSON parent fields can be highlighted, but the hit result of querying JSON subfields cannot be highlighted.

Configuring Full-Text Indexing

  1. Log in to the LTS console. The Log Management page is displayed by default.
  2. Expand the target log group and click the name of the target stream.
  3. On the log stream details page, click in the upper right corner. On the page displayed, click the Index Settings tab.
  4. Set parameters by referring to Table 2. Index Whole Text is enabled by default.

    • For automatic configuration, LTS obtains the intersection of the raw logs and system fields in the last 15 minutes by default, and combines the intersection with current structured fields and tag fields to form the table data below Index Fields.
    • If no raw log is generated in the last 15 minutes, LTS obtains hostIP, hostName, pathFile, structured fields, and tag fields to form the table data.
    • When structuring is configured for ECS ingestion, the category, hostName, hostId, hostIP, hostIPv6 and pathFile fields are automatically added to Index Fields on the Index Settings page. A field will not be added if the same one already exists.
    • When structuring is configured for CCE ingestion, the category, clusterId, clusterName, nameSpace, podName, containerName, appName, hostName, hostId, hostIP, hostIPv6 and pathFile fields are automatically added to Index Fields on the Index Settings page. A field will not be added if the same one already exists.

    Table 2 Custom full-text indexing parameters

    Parameter

    Description

    Index Whole Text

    If Index Whole Text is enabled, a full-text index is created.

    Case-Sensitive

    Indicates whether letters are case-sensitive during query.

    • If this function is enabled, the query result is case-sensitive. For example, if the example log contains Know, you can query the log only with Know.
    • If this function is disabled, the query result is case-insensitive. For example, if the example log contains Know, you can also query the log with KNOW or know.

    Include Chinese

    Indicates whether to distinguish between Chinese and English during query.

    • After the function is enabled, if the log contains Chinese characters, the Chinese content is split based on unigram segmentation and the English content is split based on delimiters.
      NOTE:
      • Unigram segmentation is to split a Chinese string into Chinese characters.
      • The advantage of unigram segmentation is efficient word segmentation of massive logs, and other Chinese segmentation methods have great impact on the write speed.
      • If Include Chinese is enabled, unigram segmentation is used for Chinese characters (each Chinese character is segmented separately). To obtain more accurate search results, use phrases with the syntax #"phrase to be searched for".
    • After this function is disabled, all content is split based on delimiters.

    For example, assume that the log content is:

    error,400,I Know TodayIsMonday.

    • After this function is disabled, the English content is split based on delimiters. The log is split into error, 400, I, Know, and TodayIsMonday. You can search for the log by error or TodayIsMonday.
    • After this function is enabled, the background analyzer of LTS splits the log into error, 400, I, Know, Today, Is, and Monday. You can search for the log by error or Today.

    Delimiters

    Splits the log content into multiple words based on the specified delimiters. If the default settings cannot meet your requirements, you can customize delimiters. All ASCII codes can be defined as delimiters.

    If you leave Delimiters blank, the field value is regarded as a whole. You can search for logs only through a complete string or by fuzzy match.

    Click Preview the see the effect.

    For example, assume that the log content is:

    error,400,I Know TodayIsMonday.

    • If no delimiter is set, the entire log is regarded as a string error,400,I Know TodayIsMonday. You can search for the log only by the complete string error,400,I Know TodayIsMonday or by fuzzy match error,400,I K*.
    • If the delimiter is set to a comma (,), the raw log is split into: error, 400, and I Know TodayIsMonday. You can search for the log by fuzzy or exact match, for example, error, 400, I Kn*, and TodayIs*.
    • If the delimiters are set to a comma (,) and space, the raw log is split into: error, 400, I, Know, TodayIsMonday. You can search for the log by fuzzy or exact match, for example, Know, and TodayIs*.

    ASCII Delimiters

    Click Add ASCII Delimiter and enter the ASCII value by referring to ASCII Table.

  5. Click OK.

Configuring Index Fields

When creating a field index, you can add a maximum of 500 fields. A maximum of 100 subfields can be added for JSON fields.

Custom and special delimiters of field indexes are available only to whitelisted users. To use them, submit a service ticket.

  1. After you configure full-text indexing, toggle on the switch under Log Analysis so that the configured field index supports visualized SQL analysis. Otherwise, visualized data after ICAgent structuring cannot be queried.
  2. Click Add Field under Index Fields to configure field indexing. For details about parameter settings, see Table 3.

    • The indexing parameters take effect only for the current field.
    • Index fields that do not exist in log content are invalid.
    • For details about system fields, see System Reserved Fields.
    • Automatically configuring field indexes: Click Auto Configure. LTS generates field indexes based on the first log event in the preview or common system reserved fields (such as hostIP, hostName, and pathFile). You can add or delete fields as required.
    • Configuring field indexes in batches: Select fields and click Batch Configure.
    Table 3 Custom index field parameters

    Parameter

    Description

    Field

    Log field name, such as level in the example log.

    The field name can contain only letters, digits, and underscores (_), and must start with a letter or underscore (_). The field name cannot contain double underscores (__).

    NOTE:
    • Double underscores (__) are used in built-in reserved fields that are not displayed to users in LTS. Avoid using them in custom log field names, as this will prevent the configuration of field index names.
    • LTS enables index fields for certain system reserved fields by default. For details, see System Reserved Fields.
    • For system fields, system is displayed next to their names.

    Action

    Displays the field status, including new, not modified, modified, and deleted. After the index field is changed, click Compare to view the differences between the original and modified configurations.

    • New fields cannot be modified.
    • When you modify the settings of Type, Case-Sensitive, Common Delimiters, ASCII Delimiters, Include Chinese, or Quick Analysis, the system compares the modified settings with the original settings and changes the action to modified.
    • After you click OK, the fields whose action is deleted are not saved.

    Type

    • Data type of the log field value. The options are string, long, json, and float.
      NOTE:

      The JSON type takes effect only for ICAgent structuring parsing and does not take effect for cloud structuring parsing.

    • Fields of long and float types do not support Case-Sensitivity, Include Chinese and Delimiters.

    Case-Sensitive

    Indicates whether letters are case-sensitive during query.

    • If this function is enabled, the query result is case-sensitive. For example, if the message field in the example log contains Know, you can query the log only with message:Know.
    • If this function is disabled, the query result is case-insensitive. For example, if the message field in the example log contains Know, you can also query the log with message:KNOW or message:know.

    Common Delimiters

    Splits the log content into multiple words based on the specified delimiters. If the default settings cannot meet your requirements, you can customize delimiters. All ASCII codes can be defined as delimiters.

    If you leave Delimiters blank, the field value is regarded as a whole. You can search for logs only through a complete string or by fuzzy match.

    For example, the content of the message field in the example log is I Know TodayIsMonday.

    • If no delimiter is set, the entire log is regarded as a string I Know TodayIsMonday. You can search for the log only by the complete string message:I Know TodayIsMonday or by fuzzy search message:I Know TodayIs*.
    • If the delimiter is set to a space, the raw log is split into: I, Know, and TodayIsMonday. You can find the log by fuzzy search or exact words, for example, message:Know, or message: TodayIsMonday.

    ASCII Delimiters

    Click Add ASCII Delimiter and enter the ASCII value by referring to ASCII Table.

    Include Chinese

    Indicates whether to distinguish between Chinese and English during query.

    • After the function is enabled, if the log contains Chinese characters, the Chinese content is split based on unigram segmentation and the English content is split based on delimiters.
      NOTE:
      • Unigram segmentation is to split a Chinese string into Chinese characters.
      • The advantage of unigram segmentation is efficient word segmentation of massive logs, and other Chinese segmentation methods have great impact on the write speed.
      • If Include Chinese is enabled, unigram segmentation is used for Chinese characters (each Chinese character is segmented separately). To obtain more accurate search results, use phrases with the syntax #"phrase to be searched for".
    • After this function is disabled, all content is split based on delimiters.

    For example, the content of the message field in the example log is I Know TodayIsMonday.

    • After this function is disabled, the English content is split based on delimiters. The log is split into I, Know, and TodayIsMonday. You can search for the log by message:Know or message:TodayIsMonday.
    • After this function is enabled, the background analyzer of LTS splits the log into I, Know, Today, Is, and Monday. You can search for the log by message:Know or message:Today.

    Quick Analysis

    By default, this option is enabled, indicating that this field will be sampled and collected. For details, see Creating an LTS Quick Analysis Task.

    NOTE:
    • The principle of quick analysis is to collect statistics on 100,000 logs that match the search criteria, not all logs.
    • The maximum length of a field for quick analysis is 2000 bytes.
    • The quick analysis field area displays the first 100 records.

    Operation

    Click to delete the target field.

    Figure 1 Batch configuration

  3. Click OK.

System Reserved Fields

During log collection, LTS adds information such as the collection time, log type, and host IP address to logs in the form of Key-Value pairs. These fields are system reserved fields.

  • When using APIs to write log data or add ICAgent configurations, avoid using the same field names as reserved field names to prevent issues such as duplicate field names and incorrect queries.
  • LTS adds system reserved fields to log data at no cost. However, your usage of these fields will be billed on a pay-per-use basis. Enabling the index function for these fields will also generate a small amount of index traffic and storage fees. For more information, see Price Calculator.
  • A custom log field must not contain double underscores (__) in its name. If it does, indexing cannot be configured for the field.
Table 4 System reserved field description

Field

Data Format

Index and Statistics Settings

Description

collectTime

Integer, Unix timestamp (ms)

Index setting: After indexing is enabled, a field index is created for collectTime by default. The index data type is long.

Enter collectTime : xxx during the query.

Indicates the time when logs are collected by ICAgent.

Example: "collectTime":"1681896081334" indicates 2023-04-19 17:21:21 when converted into standard time.

__time__

Integer, Unix timestamp (ms)

Index setting: After indexing is enabled, a field index is created for time by default. The index data type is long. This field cannot be queried.

Log time refers to the time when a log is displayed on the console.

In the example, "__time__":"1681896081334" is 2023-04-19 17:21:21 when converted into standard time.

By default, the collection time is used as the log time. You can also customize the log time.

lineNum

Integer

Index setting: After indexing is enabled, a field index is created for lineNum by default. The index data type is long.

Line number (offset), which is used to sort logs.

Non-high-precision logs are generated based on the value of collectTime. The default value is collectTime * 1000000 + 1. For high-precision logs, the value is the nanosecond value reported by users.

Example: "lineNum":"1681896081333991900"

category

String

Index setting: After indexing is enabled, a field index is created for category by default. The index data type is string, and the delimiters are empty. Enter category: xxx during the query.

Log type, indicating the source of the log.

Example: The field value of logs collected by ICAgent is LTS, and that of logs reported by a cloud service such as DCS is DCS.

clusterName

String

Index setting: After indexing is enabled, a field index is created for clusterName by default. The index data type is string, and the delimiters are empty. Enter clusterName: xxx during the query.

Cluster name, used in the Kubernetes scenario.

Example: "clusterName":"epstest"

clusterId

String

Index setting: After indexing is enabled, a field index is created for clusterId by default. The index data type is string, and the delimiters are empty. Enter clusterId: xxx during the query.

Cluster ID, used in the Kubernetes scenario. Example: "clusterId":"c7f3f4a5-xxxx-11ed-a4ec-0255ac100b07"

nameSpace

String

Index setting: After indexing is enabled, a field index is created for nameSpace by default. The index data type is string, and the delimiters are empty. Enter nameSpace: xxx during the query.

Namespace used in the Kubernetes scenario.

Example: "nameSpace":"monitoring"

appName

String

Index setting: After indexing is enabled, a field index is created for appName by default. The index data type is string, and the delimiters are empty. Enter appName: xxx during the query.

Component name, that is, the workload name in the Kubernetes scenario.

Example: "appName":"alertmanager-alertmanager"

serviceID

String

Index setting: After indexing is enabled, a field index is created for serviceID by default. The index data type is string, and the delimiters are empty. Enter serviceID: xxx during the query.

Workload ID in the Kubernetes scenario.

Example: "serviceID":"cf5b453xxxad61d4c483b50da3fad5ad"

podName

String

Index setting: After indexing is enabled, a field index is created for podName by default. The index data type is string, and the delimiters are empty. Enter podName: xxx during the query.

Pod name in the Kubernetes scenario.

Example: "podName":"alertmanager-alertmanager-0"

podIp

String

Index setting: After indexing is enabled, a field index is created for podIp by default. The index data type is string, and the delimiters are empty. Enter podIp: xxx during the query.

Pod IP address in the Kubernetes scenario.

Example: "podIp":"10.0.0.145"

containerName

String

Index setting: After indexing is enabled, a field index is created for containerName by default. The index data type is string, and the delimiters are empty. Enter containerName: xxx during the query.

Container name used in the Kubernetes scenario.

Example: "containerName":"config-reloader"

hostName

String

Index setting: After this function is enabled, a field index is created for hostName by default. The index data type is string, and the delimiters are empty. Enter hostName: xxx during the query.

Indicates the host name where ICAgent resides.

Such as "hostName":"epstest-xx518" in the example.

hostId

String

Index setting: After this function is enabled, a field index is created for hostId by default. The index data type is string, and the delimiters are empty. Enter hostId: xxx during the query.

Indicates the host ID where ICAgent resides. The ID is generated by ICAgent. Such as "hostId":"318c02fe-xxxx-4c91-b5bb-6923513b6c34" in the example.

hostIP

String

Index setting: After this function is enabled, a field index is created for hostIP by default. The index data type is string, and the delimiters are empty. Enter hostIP: xxx during the query.

Host IP address where the log collector resides (applicable to IPv4 scenario)

Such as "hostIP":"192.168.0.31" in the example.

hostIPv6

String

Index setting: After this function is enabled, a field index is created for hostIPv6 by default. The index data type is string, and the delimiters are empty. Enter hostIPv6: xxx during the query.

Host IP address where the log collector resides (applicable to IPv6 scenario)

Such as "hostIPv6":"" in the example.

pathFile

String

Index setting: After this function is enabled, a field index is created for pathFile by default. The index data type is string, and the delimiters are empty. Enter pathFile: xxx during the query.

File path is the path of the collected log file.

Such as "pathFile":"stdout.log" in the example.

content

String

Index setting: After Index Whole Text is enabled, the delimiters defined in Index Whole Text are used to delimit the value of the content field. The content field cannot be configured in the field index.

Original log content.

Example: "content":"level=error ts=2023-04-19T09:21:21.333895559Z"

__receive_time__

Integer, Unix timestamp (ms)

Index setting: After this function is enabled, a field index is created for __receive_time__ by default. The index data type is long.

Time when a log is reported to the server, which is same as the time when the LTS collector receives the log.

__client_time__

Integer, Unix timestamp (ms)

Index setting: After indexing is enabled, a field index is created for __client_time__ by default. The index data type is long.

Time when the client reports a device log.

_content_parse_fail_

String

Index setting: After indexing is enabled, a field index is created for _content_parse_fail_ by default. The index data type is string, and the default delimiter is used. Enter _content_parse_fail_: xxx during the query.

Content of the log that fails to be parsed.

__time

Integer, Unix timestamp (ms)

The __time field cannot be configured in the field index.

N/A

logContent

String

The logContent field cannot be configured in the field index.

N/A

logContentSize

Integer

The logContentSize field cannot be configured in the field index.

N/A

logIndexSize

Integer

The logIndexSize field cannot be configured in the field index.

N/A

groupName

String

The groupName field cannot be configured in the field index.

N/A

logStream

String

The logStream field cannot be configured in the field index.

N/A

ASCII Table

Table 5 ASCII table

ASCII Value

Character

ASCII Value

Character

ASCII Value

Character

ASCII Value

Character

0

NUL (Null)

32

Space

64

@

96

`

1

SOH (Start of heading)

33

!

65

A

97

a

2

STX (Start of text)

34

"

66

B

98

b

3

ETX (End of text)

35

#

67

C

99

c

4

EOT (End of transmission)

36

$

68

D

100

d

5

ENQ (Enquiry)

37

%

69

E

101

e

6

ACK (Acknowledge)

38

&

70

F

102

f

7

BEL (Bell)

39

'

71

G

103

g

8

BS (Backspace)

40

(

72

H

104

h

9

HT (Horizontal tab)

41

)

73

I

105

i

10

LF (Line feed)

42

*

74

J

106

j

11

VT (Vertical tab)

43

+

75

K

107

k

12

FF (Form feed)

44

,

76

L

108

l

13

CR (Carriage return)

45

-

77

M

109

m

14

SO (Shift out)

46

.

78

N

110

n

15

SI (Shift in)

47

/

79

O

111

o

16

DLE (Data link escape)

48

0

80

P

112

p

17

DC1 (Device control 1)

49

1

81

Q

113

q

18

DC2 (Device control 2)

50

2

82

R

114

r

19

DC3 (Device control 3)

51

3

83

S

115

s

20

DC4 (Device control 4)

52

4

84

T

116

t

21

NAK (Negative acknowledge)

53

5

85

U

117

u

22

SYN (Synchronous idle)

54

6

86

V

118

v

23

ETB (End of transmission block)

55

7

87

W

119

w

24

CAN (Cancel)

56

8

88

X

120

x

25

EM (End of medium)

57

9

89

Y

121

y

26

SUB (Substitute)

58

:

90

Z

122

z

27

ESC (Escape)

59

;

91

[

123

{

28

FS (File separator)

60

<

92

\

124

|

29

GS (Group separator)

61

=

93

]

125

}

30

RS (Record separator)

62

>

94

^

126

~

31

US (Unit separator)

63

?

95

_

127

DEL (Delete)