How to improve logs

Throughout this book, we have seen examples of how logs can be used to make applications more effective. We have also talked about how logs can be used to troubleshoot problems. In this last section, we will discuss some basics, recommended by Splunk that should be considered when creating logs.

Including clear key-value pairs

It is important to remember that data should be structured using clear key-value pairs. Doing so will help Splunk carry out automatic field-extraction in the way it is intended to and will do so in a faster and more efficient manner. Remember that we are talking about one of the most useful features of Splunk!

A model for doing this is shown here:

key1=value1, key2=value2, . . . etc. 

As you do this, remember that if it is important to include spaces in the values, in text fields, for example, you should surround the value with quotes:

key1="value1" or user="Matt Nguyen" 

Although you may find this method is lengthier and more verbose, it conveys...