Last updated at Mon, 30 Oct 2017 13:20:33 GMT
While we here at Logentries use the product every day, even we sometimes miss features meant to make the product more powerful and easier to use. This came to my attention the other day when one of my colleagues said to me, “you know you can highlight a pattern to create a tag, right?” My answer was a resounding, but excited, “no.” And it turns out that there’s more than just this. So, if you’ve ever wanted to use Logentries more efficiently (and who hasn’t?!) here’s a list of five tricks to become a Logentries Power User!
1) Click a pattern to make a tag
We’ll start with the trick that inspired this whole post. Alerts are based on tags, and tags are based on an event matching a certain pattern in your logs. So, it only makes sense that you’ll see the event you want to tag while viewing your logs. This way, you can capture that pattern without having to leave the screen your already on! Just highlight the pattern, hover, and click on the tag icon. Then set up the tag as you normally would.
2) Type in custom timeframes, not just dates (i.e. last 10 minutes)
When analyzing logs, oftentimes you’ll want to look at the last week of logs…or the last 2 weeks…or the last 4 days. Regardless of what timeframe you’re looking for, often it’s just simpler to have an intuitive timeframe rather than a date selector. Well Logentries lets you do that. Everyone knows you can use the date selector…but only the pros know that you can type in a custom timeframe. Try it for yourself!
3) Use graph to zoom in
We’ve all seen it: you’re looking at your logs and you see a spike of activity on the graph during one short time period. Sure, you could always try to figure out exactly what the time frame is and use the date selector…but why? On the graph, just highlight the time period you want to look at and Logentries will automatically that you to that time period in your logs.
4) Clicking on tags
While this may not be the biggest secret, I’ve talked to enough users to know that I wanted to include this tip. If you want to focus on just log events involving a specific tag, you don’t have to use the search function to narrow it down! Tags are like custom, pre-set searches. Just click on the tag you want to see all the related logs for, and Logentries will automatically filter for you.
5) Filter in livetail using search bar
One of the best received features we’ve released in the past year has been livetail. This lets you see your logs live as they stream into Logentries. This can be a bit overwhelming sometimes, though, especially if you’re looking for something specific. Use the search bar (or click on a tags) to narrow down the live logs being shown so that you can focus what you need to.
Now that you know these tricks, you’re ready to jump into Logentries and be more efficient with your logs than ever. Show you’re colleagues your new skills. Or, better yet, get logging and let the results speak for themselves!
