Search for Resources
Search is a powerful tool that is often useful when automating tasks. Each endpoint in the API provides operations for searching resources. For example you can use the Search Computers operation of the /api/computers endpoint to search for computers.
To use a search operation you provide a search filter object that contains one or more search criteria. A search criteria object includes properties for configuring the following types of searches:
- Boolean: Search on boolean values.
- Choice: Search fields that have a defined set of valid values
- ID: Search unique ID's
- Null: Search on null values
- Numeric: Search on numeric values
- String: Search on string values
- Date range: Search on date values
Searches that use multiple criteria return results that satisfy all of the criteria.
As mentioned in Notes about Resource Property Values, when you use the API directly, you use 0 to represent a null value. However, to search for a null value you use a Null search. You do not perform a numeric search for 0.
Search criteria include the following items:
- The name of the field (the property of the resource) that you are searching -- note that field names are case-sensitive
- A value to search for (or, for date values, a range of dates)
- An operator to test against field values (this does not apply to date-value searches)
- The maximum number of items to return (default is 5000)
When performing an ID search, you do not include the name of the field as it is assumed to be the ID field.
The type of value that you are searching on determines the operators that are available.
| Type | Operators |
|---|---|
| Boolean | true (default) false |
| Choice (for fields that have a defined set of valid values) | equal (default) not-equal |
| Date | Date-related searches employ date ranges and you do not explicitly use operators. |
| ID (for unique ID's) | equal (default) greater-than greater-than-or-equal less-than less-than-or-equal not-equal |
| Null | true (default; true indicates null) false |
| Numeric | equal (default) greater-than greater-than-or-equal less-than less-than-or-equal not-equal |
| String | equal not-equal |
The following example performs a simple search on policy names.
# Set search criteria search_criteria = api.SearchCriteria() search_criteria.field_name = "name" search_criteria.string_test = "equal" search_criteria.string_value = name # Create a search filter search_filter = api.SearchFilter(None, [search_criteria]) search_filter.max_items = 1 # Perform the search policies_api = api.PoliciesApi(api.ApiClient(configuration)) return policies_api.search_policies(api_version, search_filter=search_filter)
// Search criteria
const searchCriteria = new api.SearchCriteria();
searchCriteria.fieldName = "name";
searchCriteria.stringTest = api.SearchCriteria.StringTestEnum.equal;
searchCriteria.stringValue = name;
// Add criteria to search filter
const searchFilter = new api.SearchFilter();
searchFilter.maxItems = 1;
searchFilter.searchCriteria = [searchCriteria];
// Add search filter to a search options object
const searchOptions = {
searchFilter: searchFilter,
overrides: false
};
// Perform the search
const policiesApi = new api.PoliciesApi();
policiesApi.searchPolicies(apiVersion, searchOptions)
.then(policies => {
resolve(policies);
})
.catch(error => {
reject(error);
}
// Create a search criteria
SearchCriteria searchCriteria = new SearchCriteria();
searchCriteria.setFieldName("name");
searchCriteria.setStringValue(name);
searchCriteria.setStringTest(SearchCriteria.StringTestEnum.EQUAL);
// Create and configure a search filter
SearchFilter searchFilter = new SearchFilter();
// Return only one policy
searchFilter.setMaxItems(Integer.valueOf(1));
searchFilter.addSearchCriteriaItem(searchCriteria);
// Search
PoliciesApi policiesApi = new PoliciesApi();
Policies policies = policiesApi.searchPolicies(searchFilter, Boolean.FALSE, apiVersion);
The following example shows how to create a search filter that contains multiple criteria.
# Set search criteria for platform policy_criteria = api.SearchCriteria() policy_criteria.field_name = "policyID" policy_criteria.numeric_test = "equal" policy_criteria.numeric_value = policy_id # Set search criteria for relay relay_criteria = api.SearchCriteria() relay_criteria.field_name = "relayListID" relay_criteria.numeric_test = "equal" relay_criteria.numeric_value = relay_list_id # Create the search filter search_filter = api.SearchFilter(None, [policy_criteria, relay_criteria])
// Search criteria for the platform const relayCriteria = new api.SearchCriteria(); relayCriteria.fieldName = "relayListID"; relayCriteria.numericTest = api.SearchCriteria.NumericTestEnum.equal; relayCriteria.numericValue = relayListID; // Search criteria for the policy ID const policyCriteria = new api.SearchCriteria(); policyCriteria.fieldName = "policyID"; policyCriteria.numericTest = api.SearchCriteria.NumericTestEnum.equal; policyCriteria.numericValue = policyID; // Add search criteria to a SearchFilter const searchFilter = new api.SearchFilter(); searchFilter.searchCriteria = [relayCriteria, policyCriteria];
// Search criteria for platform
SearchCriteria relayCrit = new SearchCriteria();
relayCrit.setFieldName("relayListID");
relayCrit.setNumericValue(relayListID);
relayCrit.setNumericTest(SearchCriteria.NumericTestEnum.EQUAL);
// Search criteria for policy ID
SearchCriteria policyCrit = new SearchCriteria();
policyCrit.setFieldName("policyID");
policyCrit.setNumericValue(policyID);
policyCrit.setNumericTest(SearchCriteria.NumericTestEnum.EQUAL);
// Search filter
SearchFilter searchFilter = new SearchFilter();
searchFilter.addSearchCriteriaItem(relayCrit);
searchFilter.addSearchCriteriaItem(policyCrit);
For information about authenticating API calls, see Authenticate with Deep Security Manager
Searchable fields
The API Reference indicates which fields of a resource are searchable. You can find the information for the fields in the response objects for the operations.
- Click an operation that returns the type of resource that you are searching. For example, the
Describe a Computeroperation returns a computer resource. - Click 200 successful operation in the Responses section.
- Read the description of the field. The descriptions of searchable fields contain "Searchable as datatype", where datatype can be String, Numeric, ID, Date, Boolean, and Choice.
Field names are case-sensitive.
The following fields are not searchable:
- The
localefield of any object - Most fields that have an object as a value, such as the
policySettingsfield of aPolicyobject (see "Search computer sub-objects" below for exceptions).
When you search a field that is not searchable, you receive an error similar to Invalid SearchFilter: unknown fieldName: platform.
Search computer sub-objects
Although fields that have an object as a value are generally not searchable, several exceptions are present in the computer class. For example, the value of the ec2VirtualMachineSummary field is an object and several of that object's fields are searchable, such as accountID and the availabilityZone. Similarly, you can search the name field of computer interfaces. (See the response schema for the Describe a Computer operation in the API reference for more searchable sub-objects.) The following JSON shows these sub-objects in the computer object's data structure:
{
"hostName": "gui2-336",
"displayName": "",
"description": "",
...
"interfaces": {
"name": "ethernet",
...
},
"ec2VirtualMachineSummary": {
"accountID": "123456789012",
"availabilityZone": "ap-northeast-1",
...
},
...
"ID": 201
}
In search criteria, the field name of a sub-object is expressed as a path, for example ec2VirtualMachineSummary/publicIPAddress andinterfaces/name.
Use the expand parameter when you search to include only the information that you need in the returned computer objects. For more information, see "Minimize computer response size" in the Performance Tips guide.
When you search on a computer sub-object, the sub-object is automatically included in the returned Computer objects, except when expand is set to none (no sub-objects are returned). For example, if you search on the EC2 account ID and expand is set to tasks, the returned Computer objects include the tasks and ec2VirtualMachineSummary properties. If expand is set to ec2VirtualMachineSummary, the returned Computer objects include the ec2VirtualMachineSummary property.
# Search criteria computer_criteria = api.SearchCriteria() computer_criteria.field_name = "ec2VirtualMachineSummary/accountID" computer_criteria.string_test = "equal" computer_criteria.string_value = account_id # Search filter max_items = None search_filter = api.SearchFilter(max_items, computer_criteria) # Include only the EC2 virtual machine summary in the returned computers expand = api.Expand(api.Expand.ec2_virtual_machine_summary) # Perform the search computers_api = api.ComputersApi(api.ApiClient(configuration)) return computers_api.search_computers(api_version, search_filter=search_filter, expand=expand.list(), overrides=False)
// Search criteria
const searchCriteria = new api.SearchCriteria();
searchCriteria.fieldName = "ec2VirtualMachineSummary/accountID";
searchCriteria.stringTest = api.SearchCriteria.StringTestEnum.equal;
searchCriteria.stringValue = accountID;
// Add criteria to search filter
const searchFilter = new api.SearchFilter();
searchFilter.searchCriteria = [searchCriteria];
// Include only the EC2 virtual machine summary in the returned computers
const expand = new api.Expand.Expand(api.Expand.OptionsEnum.ec2VirtualMachineSummary);
// Search options object
const searchOptions = {
searchFilter: searchFilter,
expand: expand.list(),
overrides: false
};
// Perform the search
const computersApi = new api.ComputersApi();
return computersApi.searchComputers(apiVersion, searchOptions);
// Search criteria for the account ID
SearchCriteria computerCriteria = new SearchCriteria();
computerCriteria.setFieldName("ec2VirtualMachineSummary/accountID");
computerCriteria.setStringValue(accountID);
computerCriteria.setStringTest(SearchCriteria.StringTestEnum.EQUAL);
// Search filter
SearchFilter searchFilter = new SearchFilter();
searchFilter.addSearchCriteriaItem(computerCriteria);
// Include only ec2VirtualMachineSummary in the returned computer objects
Expand expand = new Expand();
expand.add(Expand.OptionsEnum.EC2_VIRTUAL_MACHINE_SUMMARY);
ComputersApi computersApi = new ComputersApi();
return computersApi.searchComputers(searchFilter, expand.list(), Boolean.FALSE, apiVersion);
Field names in Python code
When using the Python client libraries, ensure that you use the correct field name in your searches. Some field names are comprised of multiple concatenated words and use camel-case lettering, such as the lastUpdated property of Intrusion Prevention rules. The corresponding Python property uses an underscore character (_) to delimit concatenated words instead of camel-case lettering, for example last_updated. When you search on a field, you must provide the field name that you are searching on (lastUpdated) and not the class property (last_updated).
When you use an incorrect field name, you receive an error with the message Invalid SearchFilter: unknown fieldName.
Use the following algorithm to translate Python class properties to field names when the name of the property includes one or more underscore characters (_):
- Capitalize the letter that directly follows each underscore.
- Delete each underscore.
Use wildcards in string searches
String searches support the use of two wildcards in string values:
%: Matches zero or more characters_; Matches 1 character
For example, the string value %Security matches Deep Security, and it also matches Security. The string value version_ matches version1, and does not match version. If you want to search for the literal % or _ characters, you can disable wildcards. However, the use of wildcards is enabled by default. The following search filter can be used to find the policy named "Base Policy".
# Create the search criteria search_criteria = api.SearchCriteria() search_criteria.field_name = "name" search_criteria.string_test = "equal" search_criteria.string_value = "Base%"
// Create the search criteria const searchCriteria = new api.SearchCriteria(); searchCriteria.fieldName = "name"; searchCriteria.stringValue = "Base%"; searchCriteria.stringTest = "equal";
// Create and configure a search criteria
SearchCriteria searchCriteria = new SearchFilter();
searchCriteria.setFieldName("name");
searchCriteria.setStringValue("Base%");
searchCriteria.setStringTest(StringTestEnum.EQUAL);
stringWildcards property of the SearchCriteria object to false:
search_criteria.string_wildcards = "false"
searchCriteria.stringWildcards = "false";
searchCriteria.stringWildcards(false);
Perform a date-range search
You can search fields that contains date values that fall within two specified dates. The following search criteria fields define the date range:
- FirstDate: The earlier date in the range. The default value is the earliest possible date.
- FirstDateInclusive: A boolean value that indicates whether the range includes the FirstDate (true) or not (false). The default value is false.
- LastDate: The later date in the range. The default value is the latest possible date.
- LastDateInclusive:A boolean value that indicates whether the range includes the LasteDate (true) or not (false). The default value is false.
The values for FirstDate and LastDate are expressed as the number of milliseconds since January 1, 1970 (GMT).
The following example searches for Intrusion Prevention rules based on when they were last updated.
# Time that rules were last updated current_time_in_ms = int(round(time.time() * 1000)) last_updated_in_ms = current_time_in_ms - (num_days * 24 * 60 * 60 * 1000) # Set search criteria for the date range search_criteria = api.SearchCriteria() search_criteria.field_name = "lastUpdated" search_criteria.first_date_value = last_updated_in_ms search_criteria.last_date_value = current_time_in_ms search_criteria.first_date_inclusive = True search_criteria.last_date_inclusive = True # Create a search filter search_filter = api.SearchFilter(None, [search_criteria]) # Perform the search intrusion_prevention_rules_api = api.IntrusionPreventionRulesApi(api.ApiClient(configuration)) return intrusion_prevention_rules_api.search_intrusion_prevention_rules(api_version, search_filter=search_filter)
// Time that rules were last updated
const updateTime = Date.now() - numDays * 24 * 60 * 60 * 1000;
// Search criteria for the date range
const searchCriteria = new api.SearchCriteria();
searchCriteria.fieldName = "lastUpdated";
searchCriteria.firstDateValue = updateTime;
searchCriteria.lastDateValue = Date.now();
searchCriteria.firstDateInclusive = true;
searchCriteria.lastDateInclusive = true;
// Add search criteria to a SearchFilter
const searchFilter = new api.SearchFilter();
searchFilter.searchCriteria = [searchCriteria];
// Add search filter to a search options object
const searchOptions = {
searchFilter: searchFilter,
overrides: false
};
// Perform the search
const ipRulesApi = new api.IntrusionPreventionRulesApi();
return ipRulesApi.searchIntrusionPreventionRules(apiVersion, searchOptions);
// Dates to search
Long last = Long.valueOf(Calendar.getInstance().getTimeInMillis());
Long first = Long.valueOf(last.intValue() - TimeUnit.DAYS.toMillis(days));
// Create a search criteria
SearchCriteria searchCriteria = new SearchCriteria();
searchCriteria.setFieldName("lastUpdated");
searchCriteria.setFirstDateValue(first);
searchCriteria.setLastDateValue(last);
searchCriteria.setFirstDateInclusive(Boolean.TRUE);
searchCriteria.setLastDateInclusive(Boolean.TRUE);
// Create the search filter
SearchFilter searchFilter = new SearchFilter();
searchFilter.addSearchCriteriaItem(searchCriteria);
// Perform the search
IntrusionPreventionRulesApi ipRulesApi = new IntrusionPreventionRulesApi();
return ipRulesApi.searchIntrusionPreventionRules(searchFilter, apiVersion);
Also see the Search Intrusion Prevention Rules operation in the API Reference. For information about authenticating API calls, see Authenticate with Deep Security Manager.
Search for null values
Use a null-test search to find resources based on whether a field has no value (null), or any value at all. For example, thelastSendPolicySuccess field of a computer indicates the last time the computer's policy was successfully updated. To find computers that have never received a policy update, you perform a null-test search on that field.
For this type of search, the search criteria includes the name of the field to search on, and whether you want to find resources that have no value (null_test = true) or any value at all (null_test = false).
The following example searches for computers that have never received a policy update:
# Search criteria computer_criteria = api.SearchCriteria() computer_criteria.field_name = "lastSendPolicySuccess" computer_criteria.null_test = True # Search filter max_items = None search_filter = api.SearchFilter(max_items, computer_criteria) # Include minimal information in the returned computers expand = api.Expand(api.Expand.none) # Perform the search computers_api = api.ComputersApi(api.ApiClient(configuration)) return computers_api.search_computers(api_version, search_filter=search_filter, expand=expand.list(), overrides=False)
// Search criteria
const searchCriteria = new api.SearchCriteria();
searchCriteria.fieldName = "lastSendPolicySuccess";
searchCriteria.nullTest = true;
// Add criteria to search filter
const searchFilter = new api.SearchFilter();
searchFilter.searchCriteria = [searchCriteria];
// Include minimal information in the returned computers
const expand = new api.Expand.Expand(api.Expand.OptionsEnum.none);
// Search options object
const searchOptions = {
searchFilter: searchFilter,
expand: expand.list(),
overrides: false
};
// Perform the search
const computersApi = new api.ComputersApi();
return computersApi.searchComputers(apiVersion, searchOptions);
// Search criteria for the lastSendPolicySuccess field
SearchCriteria computerCriteria = new SearchCriteria();
computerCriteria.setFieldName("lastSendPolicySuccess");
computerCriteria.setNullTest(Boolean.TRUE);
// Search filter
SearchFilter searchFilter = new SearchFilter();
searchFilter.addSearchCriteriaItem(computerCriteria);
// Include minimal information in the returned computer objects
Expand expand = new Expand();
expand.add(Expand.OptionsEnum.NONE);
ComputersApi computersApi = new ComputersApi();
return computersApi.searchComputers(searchFilter, expand.list(), Boolean.FALSE, apiVersion);
For more information, see the Search Computers operation in the API Reference.
Sort order
The characteristics of the search criteria determine the sort order of search results:
- Boolean, Choice, Null, and String searches: Sorted by the ID of the returned object, in ascending order.
- ID searches: Sorted by ID. The operator determines whether the order is ascending or descending:
- less-than and less-than-or-equal: descending
- All other operators: ascending
- Numeric searches: Sorted by the field that is searched. The operator determines whether the order is ascending or descending:
- less-than and less-than-or-equal: descending
- All other operators: ascending When multiple search results have the same value for the searched field, those objects are secondarily sorted by ID.
- Date searches: Sorted by the field that is searched. The date range parameters that are provided for the search determine the sort order:
- Only LastDate is provided: descending
- Any other combination: ascending When multiple search results have the same value for the searched date field, those objects are secondarily sorted by ID.
- Multiple search criteria: Searches that use multiple search criteria are sorted by ID (ascending), regardless of the default sort order of the individual criteria.
SearchFilter objects enable you to override the default sort order and order by the ID of the returned objects.
Limit search results and paging
Use the maxItems field of a search filter to limit the number of returned objects. The maximum number of returned objects is 5000 by default, and cannot exceed 5000.
You can also use the maxItems field to implement paging of the results of ID searches:
- Search by ID using the greater-than operator
- Use maxItems to estabish the page size
- Calculate the value of the ID to search on based on the highest ID in the previous page of results.
The following example shows how to use searches to retrieve all computers in a series of pages.
# Set search criteria
search_criteria = api.SearchCriteria()
search_criteria.id_value = 0
search_criteria.id_test = "greater-than"
# Create a search filter with maximum returned items
page_size = 10
search_filter = api.SearchFilter()
search_filter.max_items = page_size
search_filter.search_criteria = [search_criteria]
# Include the minimum information in the returned Computer objects
expand = api.Expand(api.Expand.none)
# Perform the search and do work on the results
computers_api = api.ComputersApi(api.ApiClient(configuration))
paged_computers = []
while True:
computers = computers_api.search_computers(api_version, search_filter=search_filter, expand=expand.list(), overrides=False)
num_found = len(computers.computers)
current_paged_computers = []
if num_found == 0:
print("No computers found.")
break
for computer in computers.computers:
current_paged_computers.append(computer)
paged_computers.append(current_paged_computers)
# Get the ID of the last computer in the page and return it with the number of computers on the page
last_id = computers.computers[-1].id
search_criteria.id_value = last_id
print("Last ID: " + str(last_id), "Computers found: " + str(num_found))
return paged_computers
exports.pagedSearchComputers = function(api, apiVersion) {
return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
const results = [];
const pageSize = 10;
function getPageOfComputers(pageSearchOptions) {
// Checks the search results to see if we're done
function checkResults(searchResults) {
const numFound = searchResults.computers.length;
// If the number found is zero we are done
if (numFound == 0) {
return results;
}
// Get the ID of the last computer found, and the number found
const lastID = searchResults.computers[numFound - 1].ID;
// Uncomment to see the page details as they are obtained
// console.log(`last ID: ${lastID}; numfound: ${numFound}`);
results.push(searchResults.computers);
// Search filter for the next page of computers
const nextSearchCriteria = new api.SearchCriteria();
nextSearchCriteria.idValue = lastID;
nextSearchCriteria.idTest = api.SearchCriteria.IdTestEnum["greater-than"];
const nextSearchFilter = new api.SearchFilter();
nextSearchFilter.maxItems = pageSize;
nextSearchFilter.searchCriteria = [nextSearchCriteria];
// Add search filter to a search options object
const Options = api.Expand.OptionsEnum;
const expand = new api.Expand.Expand(Options.none);
const nextSearchOpts = {
searchFilter: nextSearchFilter,
expand: expand.list(),
overrides: false
};
// Get the next page of computers
return getPageOfComputers(nextSearchOpts);
}
// Perform the next search
const computersApi = new api.ComputersApi();
return computersApi.searchComputers(apiVersion, pageSearchOptions).then(checkResults);
}
// Search criteria for first page of computers
const searchCriteria = new api.SearchCriteria();
searchCriteria.idValue = 0;
searchCriteria.idTest = api.SearchCriteria.IdTestEnum["greater-than"];
// Search filter with maximum returned items
const computerSearchFilter = new api.SearchFilter();
computerSearchFilter.maxItems = pageSize;
computerSearchFilter.searchCriteria = [searchCriteria];
// Add search filter to a search options object
const Options = api.Expand.OptionsEnum;
const expand = new api.Expand.Expand(Options.none);
const searchOpts = {
searchFilter: computerSearchFilter,
expand: expand.list(),
overrides: false
};
// Perform the search
getPageOfComputers(searchOpts)
.then(results => {
resolve(results);
})
.catch(error => {
reject(error);
});
});
};
public static void pagedSearchComputers(Integer pageSize, String apiVersion) throws ApiException {
// Create a search criteria
SearchCriteria searchCriteria = new SearchCriteria();
searchCriteria.setIdValue(Long.valueOf(0L));
searchCriteria.setIdTest(SearchCriteria.IdTestEnum.GREATER_THAN);
// Set up the search filter
SearchFilter searchFilter = new SearchFilter();
searchFilter.setMaxItems(pageSize);
searchFilter.addSearchCriteriaItem(searchCriteria);
// Include the minimum information in returned Computer objects
Expand expand = new Expand(Expand.OptionsEnum.NONE);
ComputersApi computersApi = new ComputersApi();
// Use in loop exit expression
int found;
do {
// Find a page of computers and save the number found
Computers computers = computersApi.searchComputers(searchFilter, expand.list(), Boolean.FALSE, apiVersion);
found = computers.getComputers().size();
if (found > 0) {
// Print some page details
System.out.println("Computers in page:");
for (Computer computer : computers.getComputers()) {
System.out.println(computer.getHostName());
}
// Get the highest ID found and adjust the search filter for the next search
Integer lastID = computers.getComputers().get(computers.getComputers().size() - 1).getID();
searchCriteria.setIdValue(Long.valueOf(lastID.toString()));
}
} while (found > 0); // Exit loop when no computers are found
}
Also see the Search Computers operation in the API Reference. For information about authenticating API calls, see Authenticate with Deep Security Manager.