===============================
Zeek Log Formats and Inspection
===============================

Zeek creates a variety of logs when run in its default configuration. This
data can be intimidating for a first-time user. In this section, we will
process a sample packet trace with Zeek, and take a brief look at the sorts
of logs Zeek creates. We will look at logs created in the traditional format,
as well as logs in JSON format. We will also introduce a few command-line
tools to examine Zeek logs.

Working with a Sample Trace
===========================

For the examples that follow, we will use Zeek on a Linux system to process
network traffic captured and stored to disk. We saved this trace file earlier
in packet capture (PCAP) format as :file:`tm1t.pcap`. The command line protocol
analyzer Tcpdump, which ships with most Unix-like distributions, summarizes the
contents of this file.

.. code-block:: console

  zeek@zeek:~/zeek-test$ tcpdump -n -r tm1t.pcap

::

  reading from file tm1t.pcap, link-type EN10MB (Ethernet)
  14:39:59.305988 IP 192.168.4.76.36844 > 192.168.4.1.53: 19671+ A? testmyids.com. (31)
  14:39:59.306059 IP 192.168.4.76.36844 > 192.168.4.1.53: 8555+ AAAA? testmyids.com. (31)
  14:39:59.354577 IP 192.168.4.1.53 > 192.168.4.76.36844: 8555 0/1/0 (94)
  14:39:59.372840 IP 192.168.4.1.53 > 192.168.4.76.36844: 19671 1/0/0 A 31.3.245.133 (47)
  14:39:59.430166 IP 192.168.4.76.46378 > 31.3.245.133.80: Flags [S], seq 3723031366, win 65535, options [mss 1460,sackOK,TS val 3137978796 ecr 0,nop,wscale 11], length 0
  14:39:59.512232 IP 31.3.245.133.80 > 192.168.4.76.46378: Flags [S.], seq 2993782376, ack 3723031367, win 28960, options [mss 1460,sackOK,TS val 346747623 ecr 3137978796,nop,wscale 7], length 0
  14:39:59.512284 IP 192.168.4.76.46378 > 31.3.245.133.80: Flags [.], ack 1, win 32, options [nop,nop,TS val 3137978878 ecr 346747623], length 0
  14:39:59.512593 IP 192.168.4.76.46378 > 31.3.245.133.80: Flags [P.], seq 1:78, ack 1, win 32, options [nop,nop,TS val 3137978878 ecr 346747623], length 77: HTTP: GET / HTTP/1.1
  14:39:59.600488 IP 31.3.245.133.80 > 192.168.4.76.46378: Flags [.], ack 78, win 227, options [nop,nop,TS val 346747711 ecr 3137978878], length 0
  14:39:59.604000 IP 31.3.245.133.80 > 192.168.4.76.46378: Flags [P.], seq 1:296, ack 78, win 227, options [nop,nop,TS val 346747713 ecr 3137978878], length 295: HTTP: HTTP/1.1 200 OK
  14:39:59.604020 IP 192.168.4.76.46378 > 31.3.245.133.80: Flags [.], ack 296, win 33, options [nop,nop,TS val 3137978970 ecr 346747713], length 0
  14:39:59.604493 IP 192.168.4.76.46378 > 31.3.245.133.80: Flags [F.], seq 78, ack 296, win 33, options [nop,nop,TS val 3137978970 ecr 346747713], length 0
  14:39:59.684281 IP 31.3.245.133.80 > 192.168.4.76.46378: Flags [F.], seq 296, ack 79, win 227, options [nop,nop,TS val 346747796 ecr 3137978970], length 0
  14:39:59.684346 IP 192.168.4.76.46378 > 31.3.245.133.80: Flags [.], ack 297, win 33, options [nop,nop,TS val 3137979050 ecr 346747796], length 0

This is a simple exchange involving domain name system (DNS) traffic followed
by HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP) traffic.

Rather than run Zeek against a live interface, we will ask Zeek to digest this
trace. This process allows us to vary Zeek’s run-time operation, keeping the
traffic constant.

First we make two directories to store the log files that Zeek will produce.
Then we will move into the “default” directory.

.. code-block:: console

  zeek@zeek:~/zeek-test$ mkdir default
  zeek@zeek:~/zeek-test$ mkdir json
  zeek@zeek:~/zeek-test$ cd default/

Zeek TSV Format Logs
====================

From this location on disk, we tell Zeek to digest the :file:`tm1t.pcap` file.

.. code-block:: console

  zeek@zeek:~/zeek-test/default$ zeek -C -r ../tm1t.pcap

The ``-r`` flag tells Zeek where to find the trace of interest.

The ``-C`` flag tells Zeek to ignore any TCP checksum errors. This happens on
many systems due to a feature called “checksum offloading,” but it does not
affect our analysis.

Zeek completes its task without reporting anything to the command line. This is
standard Unix-like behavior. Using the :program:`ls` command we see what files
Zeek created when processing the trace.

.. code-block:: console

  zeek@zeek:~/zeek-test/default$ ls -al

::

  total 28
  drwxrwxr-x 2 zeek zeek 4096 Jun  5 14:48 .
  drwxrwxr-x 4 zeek zeek 4096 Jun  5 14:43 ..
  -rw-rw-r-- 1 zeek zeek  737 Jun  5 14:48 conn.log
  -rw-rw-r-- 1 zeek zeek  778 Jun  5 14:48 dns.log
  -rw-rw-r-- 1 zeek zeek  712 Jun  5 14:48 files.log
  -rw-rw-r-- 1 zeek zeek  883 Jun  5 14:48 http.log
  -rw-rw-r-- 1 zeek zeek  254 Jun  5 14:48 packet_filter.log

Zeek created five files. We will look at the contents of Zeek log data in
detail in later sections. For now, we will take a quick look at each file,
beginning with the :file:`conn.log`.

We use the :program:`cat` command to show the contents of each log.

.. code-block:: console

  zeek@zeek:~/zeek-test/default$ cat conn.log

::

  #separator \x09
  #set_separator  ,
  #empty_field    (empty)
  #unset_field    -
  #path   conn
  #open   2020-06-05-14-48-32
  #fields ts      uid     id.orig_h       id.orig_p       id.resp_h       id.resp_p       proto   service duration        orig_bytes      resp_bytes      conn_state    local_orig      local_resp      missed_bytes    history orig_pkts       orig_ip_bytes   resp_pkts       resp_ip_bytes   tunnel_parents
  #types  time    string  addr    port    addr    port    enum    string  interval        count   count   string  bool    bool    count   string  count   count count    count   set[string]
  1591367999.305988       CazOhH2qDUiJTWMCY       192.168.4.76    36844   192.168.4.1     53      udp     dns     0.066852        62      141     SF      -    -0       Dd      2       118     2       197     -
  1591367999.430166       CLqEx41jYPOdfHF586      192.168.4.76    46378   31.3.245.133    80      tcp     http    0.254115        77      295     SF      -    -0       ShADadFf        6       397     4       511     -
  #close  2020-06-05-14-48-32

Next we look at Zeek’s :file:`dns.log`.

.. code-block:: console

  zeek@zeek:~/zeek-test/default$ cat dns.log

::

  #separator \x09
  #set_separator  ,
  #empty_field    (empty)
  #unset_field    -
  #path   dns
  #open   2020-06-05-14-48-32
  #fields ts      uid     id.orig_h       id.orig_p       id.resp_h       id.resp_p       proto   trans_id        rtt     query   qclass  qclass_name     qtypeqtype_name       rcode   rcode_name      AA      TC      RD      RA      Z       answers TTLs    rejected
  #types  time    string  addr    port    addr    port    enum    count   interval        string  count   string  count   string  count   string  bool    bool bool     bool    count   vector[string]  vector[interval]        bool
  1591367999.306059       CazOhH2qDUiJTWMCY       192.168.4.76    36844   192.168.4.1     53      udp     8555    -       testmyids.com   1       C_INTERNET   28       AAAA    0       NOERROR F       F       T       F       0       -       -       F
  1591367999.305988       CazOhH2qDUiJTWMCY       192.168.4.76    36844   192.168.4.1     53      udp     19671   0.066852        testmyids.com   1       C_INTERNET    1       A       0       NOERROR F       F       T       T       0       31.3.245.133    3600.000000     F
  #close  2020-06-05-14-48-32

Next we look at Zeek’s :file:`files.log`.

.. code-block:: console

  zeek@zeek:~/zeek-test/default$ cat files.log

::

  #separator \x09
  #set_separator  ,
  #empty_field    (empty)
  #unset_field    -
  #path   files
  #open   2020-06-05-14-48-32
  #fields ts      fuid    tx_hosts        rx_hosts        conn_uids       source  depth   analyzers       mime_type       filename        duration        local_orig    is_orig seen_bytes      total_bytes     missing_bytes   overflow_bytes  timedout        parent_fuid     md5     sha1    sha256  extracted       extracted_cutoff      extracted_size
  #types  time    string  set[addr]       set[addr]       set[string]     string  count   set[string]     string  string  interval        bool    bool    countcount    count   count   bool    string  string  string  string  string  bool    count
  1591367999.604000       FEEsZS1w0Z0VJIb5x4      31.3.245.133    192.168.4.76    CLqEx41jYPOdfHF586      HTTP    0       (empty) text/plain      -       0.000000      -       F       39      39      0       0       F       -       -       -       -       -       -       -
  #close  2020-06-05-14-48-32

Next we look at Zeek’s :file:`http.log`.

.. code-block:: console

  zeek@zeek:~/zeek-test/default$ cat http.log

::

  #separator \x09
  #set_separator  ,
  #empty_field    (empty)
  #unset_field    -
  #path   http
  #open   2020-06-05-14-48-32
  #fields ts      uid     id.orig_h       id.orig_p       id.resp_h       id.resp_p       trans_depth     method  host    uri     referrer        version user_agent    origin  request_body_len        response_body_len       status_code     status_msg      info_code       info_msg        tags    username        password      proxied orig_fuids      orig_filenames  orig_mime_types resp_fuids      resp_filenames  resp_mime_types
  #types  time    string  addr    port    addr    port    count   string  string  string  string  string  string  string  count   count   count   string  countstring   set[enum]       string  string  set[string]     vector[string]  vector[string]  vector[string]  vector[string]  vector[string]  vector[string]
  1591367999.512593       CLqEx41jYPOdfHF586      192.168.4.76    46378   31.3.245.133    80      1       GET     testmyids.com   /       -       1.1     curl/7.47.0   -       0       39      200     OK      -       -       (empty) -       -       -       -       -       -       FEEsZS1w0Z0VJIb5x4      -       text/plain
  #close  2020-06-05-14-48-32

Finally, we look at Zeek’s :file:`packet_filter.log`.  This log shows any
filters that Zeek applied when processing the trace.

.. code-block:: console

  zeek@zeek:~/zeek-test/default$ cat packet_filter.log

::

  #separator \x09
  #set_separator  ,
  #empty_field    (empty)
  #unset_field    -
  #path   packet_filter
  #open   2020-06-05-14-48-32
  #fields ts      node    filter  init    success
  #types  time    string  string  bool    bool
  1591368512.420771       zeek    ip or not ip    T       T
  #close  2020-06-05-14-48-32

As we can see with each log file, there is a set of headers beginning with the
hash character (``#``) followed by metadata about the trace. This format is the
standard version of Zeek data, represented as tab separated values (TSV).

Interpreting this data as shown requires remembering which “column” applies to
which “value.” For example, in the :file:`dns.log`, the third field is
``id.orig_h``, so when we see data in that field, such as ``192.168.4.76``, we
know that ``192.168.4.76`` is ``id.orig_h``.

One of the common use cases for interacting with Zeek log files requires
analyzing specific fields. Investigators may not need to see all of the fields
produced by Zeek when solving a certain problem. The following sections offer a
few ways to address this concern when processing Zeek logs in text format.

Zeek TSV Format and :program:`awk`
==================================

A very traditional way of interacting with Zeek logs involves using native
Unix-like text processing tools like :program:`awk`. Awk requires specifying
the fields of interest as positions in the log file. Take a second look at the
:file:`dns.log` entry above, and consider the parameters necessary to view only
the source IP address, the query, and the response. These values appear in the
3rd, 10th, and 22nd fields in the Zeek TSV log entries. Therefore, we could
invoke :program:`awk` using the following syntax:

.. code-block:: console

  zeek@zeek:~/zeek-test/default$ awk '/^[^#]/ {print $3, $10, $22}' dns.log

::

  192.168.4.76 testmyids.com -
  192.168.4.76 testmyids.com 31.3.245.133

Now we have a much more compact view, with just the fields we want.
Unfortunately, this requires specifying fields by location. If we were to
modify the log output, or if the Zeek project were to change the log output,
any scripts we built using :program:`awk` and field locations would require
modification.  For this reason, the Zeek project recommends alternatives like
the following.

Zeek TSV Format and :program:`zeek-cut`
=======================================

The Zeek project provides a tool called :program:`zeek-cut` to make it easier
for analysts to interact with Zeek logs in TSV format. It parses the header in
each file and allows the user to refer to the specific columnar data available.
This is in contrast to tools like :program:`awk` that require the user to refer
to fields referenced by their position.

Consider the :file:`dns.log` generated earlier. If we process it with
:program:`zeek-cut`, without any modifications, this is the result:

.. code-block:: console

  zeek@zeek:~/zeek-test/default$ cat dns.log | zeek-cut

::

  1591367999.306059       CazOhH2qDUiJTWMCY       192.168.4.76    36844   192.168.4.1     53      udp     8555    -       testmyids.com   1       C_INTERNET   28       AAAA    0       NOERROR F       F       T       F       0       -       -       F
  1591367999.305988       CazOhH2qDUiJTWMCY       192.168.4.76    36844   192.168.4.1     53      udp     19671   0.066852        testmyids.com   1       C_INTERNET    1       A       0       NOERROR F       F       T       T       0       31.3.245.133    3600.000000     F

That is the :file:`dns.log`, minus the header fields showed earlier. Note we
have to invoke the cat utility in a pipeline to process files with
:program:`zeek-cut`.

If we pass :program:`zeek-cut` the fields we wish to see, the output looks like
this:

.. code-block:: console

  zeek@zeek:~/zeek-test/default$ cat dns.log | zeek-cut id.orig_h query answers

::

  192.168.4.76    testmyids.com   -
  192.168.4.76    testmyids.com   31.3.245.133

The sequence of field names given to :program:`zeek-cut` determines the output
order. This means you can also use :program:`zeek-cut` to reorder fields. For
example:

.. code-block:: console

  zeek@zeek:~/zeek-test/default$ cat dns.log | zeek-cut query answers id.orig_h

::

  testmyids.com   -               192.168.4.76
  testmyids.com   31.3.245.133    192.168.4.76

This feature can be helpful when piping output into programs like :program:`sort`.

:program:`zeek-cut` uses output redirection through the :program:`cat` command
and ``|`` operator. Whereas tools like :program:`awk` allow you to indicate the
log file as a command line option, :program:`zeek-cut` only takes input through
redirection such as ``|`` and ``<``.

For example, instead of using :program:`cat` and the pipe redirector, we could
obtain the previous output with this syntax:

.. code-block:: console

  zeek@zeek:~/zeek-test/default$ zeek-cut id.orig_h query answers < dns.log

::

  192.168.4.76    testmyids.com   -
  192.168.4.76    testmyids.com   31.3.245.133

Note that in its default setup using ZeekControl (but not with a simple
command-line invocation like ``zeek -i eth0``), watching a live interface and
writing logs to disk, Zeek will rotate log files on an hourly basis. Zeek will
move the current log file into a directory named using the format
``YYYY-MM-DD``. Zeek will use :program:`gzip` to compress the file with a naming
convention that includes the log file type and time range of the file.

When processing a compressed log file, use the :program:`zcat` tool instead of
:program:`cat` to read the file. Consider working with the gzip-encoding file
created in the following example. For demonstration purposes, we create a copy
of the :file:`dns.log` file as :file:`dns1.log`, :program:`gzip` it, and then
read it with :program:`zcat` instead of :program:`cat`.

.. code-block:: console

  so16@so16:~/zeek-test/default$ cp dns.log dns1.log
  so16@so16:~/zeek-test/default$ gzip dns1.log
  so16@so16:~/zeek-test/default$ zcat dns1.log.gz

::

  #separator \x09
  #set_separator  ,
  #empty_field    (empty)
  #unset_field    -
  #path   dns
  #open   2020-06-05-14-48-32
  #fields ts      uid     id.orig_h       id.orig_p       id.resp_h       id.resp_p       proto   trans_id        rtt     query   qclass  qclass_name     qtypeqtype_name       rcode   rcode_name      AA      TC      RD      RA      Z       answers TTLs    rejected
  #types  time    string  addr    port    addr    port    enum    count   interval        string  count   string  count   string  count   string  bool    bool bool     bool    count   vector[string]  vector[interval]        bool
  1591367999.306059       CazOhH2qDUiJTWMCY       192.168.4.76    36844   192.168.4.1     53      udp     8555    -       testmyids.com   1       C_INTERNET   28       AAAA    0       NOERROR F       F       T       F       0       -       -       F
  1591367999.305988       CazOhH2qDUiJTWMCY       192.168.4.76    36844   192.168.4.1     53      udp     19671   0.066852        testmyids.com   1       C_INTERNET    1       A       0       NOERROR F       F       T       T       0       31.3.245.133    3600.000000     F
  #close  2020-06-05-14-48-32

:program:`zeek-cut` accepts the flag ``-d`` to convert the epoch time values in
the log files to human-readable format. For example, observe the default
timestamp value:

.. code-block:: console

  zeek@zeek:~/zeek-test/default$ zcat dns1.log.gz | zeek-cut ts id.orig_h query answers

::

  1591367999.306059       192.168.4.76    testmyids.com   -
  1591367999.305988       192.168.4.76    testmyids.com   31.3.245.133

Now see the effect of using the ``-d`` flag:

.. code-block:: console

  zeek@zeek:~/zeek-test/default$ cat dns.log | zeek-cut -d ts id.orig_h query answers

::

  2020-06-05T14:39:59+0000        192.168.4.76    testmyids.com   -
  2020-06-05T14:39:59+0000        192.168.4.76    testmyids.com   31.3.245.133

Converting the timestamp from a log file to UTC can be accomplished with the
``-u`` option.

The default time format when using the ``-d`` or ``-u`` is the ``strftime``
format string ``%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%S%z`` which results in a string with year,
month, day of month, followed by hour, minutes, seconds and the timezone
offset.

The default format can be altered by using the ``-D`` and ``-U`` flags, using the
standard ``strftime`` syntax. For example, to format the timestamp in the
US-typical “Middle Endian” you could use a format string of:
``%d-%m-%YT%H:%M:%S%z``

.. code-block:: console

  zeek@zeek:~/zeek-test/default$ cat dns.log | zeek-cut -D %d-%m-%YT%H:%M:%S%z ts id.orig_h query answers

::

  05-06-2020T14:39:59+0000        192.168.4.76    testmyids.com   -
  05-06-2020T14:39:59+0000        192.168.4.76    testmyids.com   31.3.245.133

Using :program:`awk` and :program:`zeek-cut` have been the traditional method
of interacting with Zeek logs. In the next section we will look at the
possibilities once we enable an alternative output format.

Zeek JSON Format Logs
=====================

During the last decade, the Javascript Object Notation (JSON) format has become
a standard way to label and store many types of data. Zeek offers support for
this format. In the following example we will re-run the :file:`tm1t.pcap` trace
through Zeek, but request that it output logs in JSON format.

First we change into the json directory to avoid overwriting our existing log
files.

.. code-block:: console

  zeek@zeek:~/zeek-test/default$ cd ../json/

Next we tell Zeek to output logs in JSON format using the command as shown.

.. code-block:: console

  zeek@zeek:~/zeek-test/json$ zeek -C -r ../tm1t.pcap LogAscii::use_json=T

When we look at the directory contents, we see the same five output files.

.. code-block:: console

  zeek@zeek:~/zeek-test/json$ ls -al

::

  total 28
  drwxrwxr-x 2 zeek zeek 4096 Jun  5 14:47 .
  drwxrwxr-x 4 zeek zeek 4096 Jun  5 14:43 ..
  -rw-rw-r-- 1 zeek zeek  708 Jun  5 14:47 conn.log
  -rw-rw-r-- 1 zeek zeek  785 Jun  5 14:47 dns.log
  -rw-rw-r-- 1 zeek zeek  325 Jun  5 14:47 files.log
  -rw-rw-r-- 1 zeek zeek  405 Jun  5 14:47 http.log
  -rw-rw-r-- 1 zeek zeek   90 Jun  5 14:47 packet_filter.log

However, if we look at the file contents, the format is much different.

First we look at :file:`packet_filter.log`.

.. code-block:: console

  zeek@zeek:~/zeek-test/json$ cat packet_filter.log

::

  {"ts":1591368442.854585,"node":"zeek","filter":"ip or not ip","init":true,"success":true}
  zeek@zeek:~/zeek-test/json$ cat conn.log
  {"ts":1591367999.305988,"uid":"CMdzit1AMNsmfAIiQc","id.orig_h":"192.168.4.76","id.orig_p":36844,"id.resp_h":"192.168.4.1","id.resp_p":53,"proto":"udp","service":"dns","duration":0.06685185432434082,"orig_bytes":62,"resp_bytes":141,"conn_state":"SF","missed_bytes":0,"history":"Dd","orig_pkts":2,"orig_ip_bytes":118,"resp_pkts":2,"resp_ip_bytes":197}
  {"ts":1591367999.430166,"uid":"C5bLoe2Mvxqhawzqqd","id.orig_h":"192.168.4.76","id.orig_p":46378,"id.resp_h":"31.3.245.133","id.resp_p":80,"proto":"tcp","service":"http","duration":0.25411510467529297,"orig_bytes":77,"resp_bytes":295,"conn_state":"SF","missed_bytes":0,"history":"ShADadFf","orig_pkts":6,"orig_ip_bytes":397,"resp_pkts":4,"resp_ip_bytes":511}

Next we look at :file:`dns.log`.

.. code-block:: console

  zeek@zeek:~/zeek-test/json$ cat dns.log

::

  {"ts":1591367999.306059,"uid":"CMdzit1AMNsmfAIiQc","id.orig_h":"192.168.4.76","id.orig_p":36844,"id.resp_h":"192.168.4.1","id.resp_p":53,"proto":"udp","trans_id":8555,"query":"testmyids.com","qclass":1,"qclass_name":"C_INTERNET","qtype":28,"qtype_name":"AAAA","rcode":0,"rcode_name":"NOERROR","AA":false,"TC":false,"RD":true,"RA":false,"Z":0,"rejected":false}
  {"ts":1591367999.305988,"uid":"CMdzit1AMNsmfAIiQc","id.orig_h":"192.168.4.76","id.orig_p":36844,"id.resp_h":"192.168.4.1","id.resp_p":53,"proto":"udp","trans_id":19671,"rtt":0.06685185432434082,"query":"testmyids.com","qclass":1,"qclass_name":"C_INTERNET","qtype":1,"qtype_name":"A","rcode":0,"rcode_name":"NOERROR","AA":false,"TC":false,"RD":true,"RA":true,"Z":0,"answers":["31.3.245.133"],"TTLs":[3600.0],"rejected":false}

Next we look at :file:`files.log`.

.. code-block:: console

  zeek@zeek:~/zeek-test/json$ cat files.log

::

  {"ts":1591367999.604,"fuid":"FEEsZS1w0Z0VJIb5x4","tx_hosts":["31.3.245.133"],"rx_hosts":["192.168.4.76"],"conn_uids":["C5bLoe2Mvxqhawzqqd"],"source":"HTTP","depth":0,"analyzers":[],"mime_type":"text/plain","duration":0.0,"is_orig":false,"seen_bytes":39,"total_bytes":39,"missing_bytes":0,"overflow_bytes":0,"timedout":false}

Next we look at the :file:`http.log`.

.. code-block:: console

  zeek@zeek:~/zeek-test/json$ cat http.log

::

  {"ts":1591367999.512593,"uid":"C5bLoe2Mvxqhawzqqd","id.orig_h":"192.168.4.76","id.orig_p":46378,"id.resp_h":"31.3.245.133","id.resp_p":80,"trans_depth":1,"method":"GET","host":"testmyids.com","uri":"/","version":"1.1","user_agent":"curl/7.47.0","request_body_len":0,"response_body_len":39,"status_code":200,"status_msg":"OK","tags":[],"resp_fuids":["FEEsZS1w0Z0VJIb5x4"],"resp_mime_types":["text/plain"]}

Comparing the two log styles, we see strengths and weaknesses for each. For
example, the TSV format shows the Zeek types associated with each entry, such
as ``string``, ``addr``, ``port``, and so on. The JSON format does not include
that data.  However, the JSON format associates each field “key” with a
“value,” such as ``"id.orig_p":46378``. While this necessarily increases the
amount of disk space used to store the raw logs, it makes it easier for
analysts and software to interpret the data, as the key is directly associated
with the value that follows. For this reason, most developers and analysts have
adopted the JSON output format for Zeek logs. That is the format we will use
for the log analysis sections of the documentation.

Zeek JSON Format and :program:`jq`
==================================

Analysts sometimes choose to inspect JSON-formatted Zeek files using
applications that recognize JSON format, such as :program:`jq`,  which is a
JSON parser by Stephen Dolan, available at Github
(https://stedolan.github.io/jq/). It may already be installed on your Unix-like
system.

In the following example we process the :file:`dns.log` file with the ``.``
filter, which tells :program:`jq` to simply output what it finds in the file.
By default :program:`jq` outputs JSON formatted data in its “pretty-print”
style, which puts one key:value pair on each line as shown.

.. code-block:: console

  so16@so16:~/zeek-test/json$ jq . dns.log

::

  {
    "ts": 1591367999.306059,
    "uid": "CMdzit1AMNsmfAIiQc",
    "id.orig_h": "192.168.4.76",
    "id.orig_p": 36844,
    "id.resp_h": "192.168.4.1",
    "id.resp_p": 53,
    "proto": "udp",
    "trans_id": 8555,
    "query": "testmyids.com",
    "qclass": 1,
    "qclass_name": "C_INTERNET",
    "qtype": 28,
    "qtype_name": "AAAA",
    "rcode": 0,
    "rcode_name": "NOERROR",
    "AA": false,
    "TC": false,
    "RD": true,
    "RA": false,
    "Z": 0,
    "rejected": false
  }
  {
    "ts": 1591367999.305988,
    "uid": "CMdzit1AMNsmfAIiQc",
    "id.orig_h": "192.168.4.76",
    "id.orig_p": 36844,
    "id.resp_h": "192.168.4.1",
    "id.resp_p": 53,
    "proto": "udp",
    "trans_id": 19671,
    "rtt": 0.06685185432434082,
    "query": "testmyids.com",
    "qclass": 1,
    "qclass_name": "C_INTERNET",
    "qtype": 1,
    "qtype_name": "A",
    "rcode": 0,
    "rcode_name": "NOERROR",
    "AA": false,
    "TC": false,
    "RD": true,
    "RA": true,
    "Z": 0,
    "answers": [
      "31.3.245.133"
    ],
    "TTLs": [
      3600
    ],
    "rejected": false
  }

We can tell :program:`jq` to output what it sees in “compact” format using the
``-c`` switch.

.. code-block:: console

  so16@so16:~/zeek-test/json$ jq . -c dns.log

::

  {"ts":1591367999.306059,"uid":"CMdzit1AMNsmfAIiQc","id.orig_h":"192.168.4.76","id.orig_p":36844,"id.resp_h":"192.168.4.1","id.resp_p":53,"proto":"udp","trans_id":8555,"query":"testmyids.com","qclass":1,"qclass_name":"C_INTERNET","qtype":28,"qtype_name":"AAAA","rcode":0,"rcode_name":"NOERROR","AA":false,"TC":false,"RD":true,"RA":false,"Z":0,"rejected":false}
  {"ts":1591367999.305988,"uid":"CMdzit1AMNsmfAIiQc","id.orig_h":"192.168.4.76","id.orig_p":36844,"id.resp_h":"192.168.4.1","id.resp_p":53,"proto":"udp","trans_id":19671,"rtt":0.06685185432434082,"query":"testmyids.com","qclass":1,"qclass_name":"C_INTERNET","qtype":1,"qtype_name":"A","rcode":0,"rcode_name":"NOERROR","AA":false,"TC":false,"RD":true,"RA":true,"Z":0,"answers":["31.3.245.133"],"TTLs":[3600],"rejected":false}

The power of :program:`jq` becomes evident when we decide we only want to see
specific values. For example, the following tells :program:`jq` to look at the
:file:`dns.log` and report the source IP of systems doing DNS queries, followed
by the query, and any answer to the query.

.. code-block:: console

  so16@so16:~/zeek-test/json$ jq -c '[."id.orig_h", ."query", ."answers"]' dns.log

::

  ["192.168.4.76","testmyids.com",null]
  ["192.168.4.76","testmyids.com",["31.3.245.133"]]

For a more comprehensive description of the capabilities of :program:`jq`,
see the `jq manual <https://stedolan.github.io/jq/manual/>`_.

With this basic understanding of how to interact with Zeek logs, we can now
turn to specific logs and interpret their values.

Conclusion
==========

This section showed a sample of the sorts of logs that Zeek generates when
processing a simple network trace. It explained the differences between logs in
the traditional TSV format and the newer JSON format. It also demonstrated the
use of a few simple command line tools to inspect Zeek logs in both formats.
