Skip to main content
USM Anywhere enables you to use operators in orchestration rules to match specific events or alarms. The following table lists the orchestration rule operators, their meanings, and an example for each. Orchestration Rules: Operators

Examples of Using the Assign or Equal Operator

Monitor Fields with Variable Values

Without using the Assign or Equal operator, a rule cannot be created that distinguishes between variable values in fields such as logins by different users. Example: Using unique logins Use the Assign or Equal operator to create a rule that monitors unique logins by triggering an alarm if any user successfully logs in more than three times in five minutes, with an hour mute time. This alarm triggers regardless of whether a separate user has also triggered the alarm within the mute time. For example:
By using the Assign or Equal operator, when a user successfully logs in their unique name is assigned to a list. If that same user logs in again, that username is equal to a value in the list, therefore that value is incremented by one. Once that value reaches 3 within 5 minutes, the alarm is triggered. Mute is applied at this point for this user only.

Use as a Comparison

Assign and Equal can be used to compare values in logs. Example: Comparing IP addresses Use the Assign or Equal operator to apply a rule if the source IP and destination IP are the same. USM Anywhere assigns the source IP address to the variable var_source_address and then compares the destination_address against that variable. For example:

Using Regular Expressions in USM Anywhere

The Match and Match, case insensitive operators enable you to use regular expressions (regex) to define a pattern to match the content of a field.
Important: USM Anywhere uses the Java Regular Expression Syntax, which is different from JavaScript, Perl, Gnu, and other flavors of regex. Be sure to read their documentation and familiarize yourself with the differences.It is highly recommended that you find and use a tool to test your regular expressions before saving them into rules. Some popular examples include Java Regular Expression Tester or RegexPlanet.
When using regular expressions in USM Anywhere, keep the following in mind:
  • The expression pattern must be delimited with the forward slash (”/”) character. For example:
  • Use a backslash (”\”) to escape special characters that would otherwise be interpreted as regex syntax, which includes the ”\” character itself. For example:
    Note: Since the backslashes are not used as literals in Java code, but are carried as data in strings in the system, you do not need to double-escape them like you would if you were putting a regex pattern into a Java literal in coding.
  • You can use capture and grouping syntax such as \1, $1, or (?:).
  • Modifiers such as /i, /x, /m, and /s are not supported.

Possible Messages When Creating Rules

When you are creating a rule, you may receive one or more of the following messages. Rules Messages
To view other related training videos, click here.