Search jobs in Microsoft Sentinel are powerful tools that allow security analysts to perform large-scale historical searches across archived log data. Unlike standard queries that search hot cache data, search jobs can scan through long-term retention storage, making them essential for threat hunti…Search jobs in Microsoft Sentinel are powerful tools that allow security analysts to perform large-scale historical searches across archived log data. Unlike standard queries that search hot cache data, search jobs can scan through long-term retention storage, making them essential for threat hunting and forensic investigations.
To create a search job, navigate to the Microsoft Sentinel workspace in the Azure portal. Go to the Search section under the General menu. Here you can define your search criteria using Kusto Query Language (KQL). Specify the time range for your search, which can extend back months or even years depending on your data retention settings.
When configuring a search job, you must provide a descriptive name and select the target table containing the data you want to analyze. The system will estimate the amount of data to be scanned and provide cost approximations before execution. This helps analysts make informed decisions about resource utilization.
Once submitted, the search job runs asynchronously in the background, allowing analysts to continue other tasks. The job processes data and stores results in a new table with the naming convention SearchName_SRCH. These results remain available for querying according to your configured retention period.
To manage existing search jobs, use the Search Jobs tab where you can monitor progress, view status updates, and access completed results. You can cancel running jobs if necessary or delete completed job results when they are no longer needed.
Best practices include using specific time ranges to minimize costs, writing efficient KQL queries to filter relevant data, and scheduling resource-intensive searches during off-peak hours. Search jobs are particularly valuable when investigating potential breaches that occurred in the past or when compliance requirements demand historical data analysis. Understanding these capabilities enhances an analyst's ability to respond to security incidents effectively.
Create and Manage Search Jobs in Microsoft Sentinel
Why It Is Important
Search jobs in Microsoft Sentinel are essential for security analysts who need to investigate historical data that extends beyond the standard interactive query limits. When dealing with large-scale security incidents or compliance investigations, you often need to search through massive amounts of archived data. Search jobs enable you to query data stored in long-term retention without the time and row limitations of regular queries, making them critical for thorough threat hunting and forensic analysis.
What Are Search Jobs?
Search jobs are asynchronous queries that run in the background against archived log data in Microsoft Sentinel. Unlike interactive queries that have a 10-minute timeout and return limited results, search jobs can:
• Query data in the Archive tier (data older than the interactive retention period) • Run for extended periods (up to 24 hours) • Process larger datasets • Store results in a new table for further analysis
The results are saved to a table with the suffix _SRCH appended to the original table name, allowing you to query the results interactively afterward.
How Search Jobs Work
1. Initiation: You create a search job from the Logs page in Microsoft Sentinel by selecting the search job mode or using the search command in KQL.
2. Query Execution: The query runs asynchronously against archived data in Azure Monitor Logs.
3. Result Storage: Results are written to a new search results table in your Log Analytics workspace.
4. Access Results: Once complete, you can query the results table using standard interactive queries.
Key KQL Syntax:
search in (TableName) "search term" - Basic search syntax
You can also create search jobs through the Azure portal by clicking on Search job mode in the Logs blade.
Important Considerations:
• Search jobs incur additional costs based on data scanned • Results tables are retained for 30 days by default • You can have multiple search jobs running concurrently • Search jobs support time range selection for the archived data period
Exam Tips: Answering Questions on Create and Manage Search Jobs in Sentinel
1. Know the use case: Search jobs are specifically for querying archived or long-term retention data. If a question mentions historical data beyond interactive retention, search jobs are likely the answer.
2. Remember the naming convention: Results are stored in tables ending with _SRCH. This is a common exam detail.
3. Understand the limitations: Search jobs have a maximum runtime of 24 hours and are billed based on data scanned.
4. Differentiate from Restore: Restore operations bring archived data back to the hot tier temporarily, while search jobs query archived data and store only matching results. Know when to use each approach.
5. Cost awareness: Questions may test your understanding that search jobs have cost implications based on the volume of data processed.
6. Portal navigation: Be familiar with accessing search jobs through the Logs blade and the Search job mode toggle.
7. Retention of results: Remember that search job results are kept for 30 days by default in the results table.
8. Scenario-based questions: When a scenario describes investigating an incident from several months ago with data in archive storage, search jobs are typically the correct solution.