Skip to main content

CMDB Search

CMDB Search helps you quickly locate configuration items (CIs) across clouds, regions, and integrations from within CMDB Navigator. It supports keyword and ID lookups, filtering by object type, and a simple query language with wildcards and logical operators.

Interface​

To start a search:

  • Open CMDB Navigator and click the plus (+) icon to create a new search view.
  • Place the cursor in the search bar and start typing an object type, object name, ID, or IP address.
  • As you type, Navigator suggests object types and values; press Enter to execute the search.

Results appear in the main pane, with:

  • A list of matching objects.
  • A filterable Object Type list to the left so you can narrow results (for example, only EC2 Instances or only Security Groups).
  • A Show Deleted toggle to include deleted/decommissioned assets that still exist in CMDB for audit and analysis (retention settings may vary).

Use the CLEAR SELECTED control (where available) to remove an active object‑type filter and return to the full result set.

Search Query Basics​

The search engine splits queries into tokens using spaces and punctuation. You can search by:

  • Numbers – for example, portions of account IDs, IP octets, or numeric identifiers.
  • Single words – like environment names, hostnames, or tag values.
  • Quoted phrases – phrases surrounded by double quotes for exact matches (for example, "10.0.0.0").

Quoted phrases are useful when you want to match an exact IP, full name, or specific tag value without tokenization.

Wildcards​

You can widen your search using wildcard characters:

  • * – matches zero or more characters at the middle or end of a term.

Examples:

  • test* matches test, test-, tests, testing, and any other value starting with test.

Be cautious with very broad patterns (for example, *prod*) on large datasets, as they can return many results.

Logical Operators​

Combine search terms with logical operators to build more expressive queries:

  • " " (quotes) – enforce exact match:
    • "10.0.0.0" returns assets referring to that exact IP address.
  • AND – match all specified terms:
    • test AND billing returns assets that contain both test and billing (for example, billing-test, billing_test).
  • OR – match at least one of the terms:
    • prod OR dev returns assets containing either prod or dev, or both.
  • AND NOT – exclude terms:
    • azu* AND NOT wazu* returns assets that match azu* (for example, Azure resources) but exclude those that also match wazu* (such as Wazuh agents).
  • ( ) – group expressions:
    • ("test") AND ("demo" OR "billing") finds assets containing either test and demo or test and billing.

These operators can be combined to focus searches on specific environments, applications, or patterns without having to build complex list‑view filters by hand.

Working with Results and Scopes​

After running a search:

  • Use object‑type filters and attribute filters in the resulting list view to narrow to a precise scope (for example, “running EC2 instances in production with no backups”).
  • Save useful filtered views as list views so they can be reused and shared.
  • Treat these scopes as building blocks for:
    • Reports and dashboards in CMDB.
    • Playbooks and automations.
    • Compliance Engine policies that operate on specific sets of CIs.

For more on how search ties into navigation and CI views, see: