Extending Splunk UI using Custom JS and CSS

Introduction

Splunk provides powerful visualization and analytics out of the box, advanced use cases often require UI-level enhancements. The article demonstrates how Custom JavaScript and Custom CSS can be used to modify layout, behavior, and visual elements in Splunk dashboards to improve usability and user experience.

Key Takeaways

• Custom JavaScript adds tooltips, dynamic icons, and hover effects to Splunk dashboards.
• Custom CSS overrides defaults for checkboxes, branding, and enhanced table layouts.
• JavaScript enables interactive features like user-driven graph reordering.
• Extensions provide out-of-box solutions, improving usability and dashboard redesign.

Cyber Security companies are facing challenges to find reliable IT consulting firms to build dashboards quickly within popular SIEM products that will allow enterprise security professionals to track and record activities within their IT environments.

Loginsoft has expertise in Splunk and has created several custom dashboards with rich visualization using Tables, Columns, Timelines, Pie Charts, Bar Charts, Single Values, etc., for leading Threat Intelligence products. For a leading Threat Intel Gateway Product company, Loginsoft configured Dashboards for Visualization of network traffic from multiple endpoints. In addition, Vulnerability Intel Report Dashboards with custom icons were created for leading companies in Cybersecurity Ratings and Cybercrime Intelligence.

Extending Splunk UI using custom JavaScript and CSS

The following custom features can be used to create highly personalized and diverse dashboards.

Custom Tooltip and Icons using JavaScript:

When logs are sent to the Splunk Application, there is no option to create a custom Tooltip i.e. a mouse hover popup on a data point in the timeline graph.

Loginsoft has leveraged Jquery and JavaScript to implement this feature which is not otherwise available.

We also leveraged JavaScript to create custom icons and also change the color for the text based on an event trigger for one of the dashboards as shown below.

Configuration Bundle with Custom CSS:

Users cannot show Checkbox options alongside count in Splunk. To mitigate this, Loginsoft bundled a Checkbox Input with column data from Splunk by overwriting Splunk’s default style with Loginsoft’s custom CSS.

Additionally, Loginsoft has leveraged JavaScript to add functionalities that allow users to append graphs in order of selection.

How can this approach benefit the Organizations?

• Thinking outside the box to address client's Splunk requirements
• Enhancing Splunk's technical features
• Leveraging the productivity and delivery support with high standards
• Redesigning entire dashboard page as per client's branding and styles
• Adding custom icons in Splunk tables and displaying custom Tooltips on mouse hover event to expand icon description.

Conclusion

Extending the Splunk UI using Custom JavaScript and Custom CSS allows organizations to tailor dashboards and interfaces to their specific operational needs. By customizing visual elements and interactive behavior, teams can improve clarity, usability, and user engagement without impacting Splunk’s core functionality. Thoughtful UI extensions help transform standard dashboards into more intuitive and effective analytical tools.

FAQ

Q1. What is Splunk?

Splunk is a robust data platform that ingests, indexes, and analyzes vast streams of machine-generated data like logs, metrics, and events from any source in real time, which transforms raw data into actionable insights via intuitive dashboards, alerts, and visualizations, serving as a central hub for operational intelligence across IT monitoring, security threat detection, troubleshooting, compliance, and data-driven business decisions.

Q2. What role does Custom CSS play in Splunk UI customization?

Custom CSS is key to Splunk UI customization, letting admins override defaults to apply tailored branding, themes, and visual tweaks, which enables, Branding and theming, targeted adjustments, UI Consistency, Accessibility Enhancements

Q3. How is Custom JavaScript used in Splunk dashboards?

Custom JavaScript in Splunk extends Classic Dashboards (Simple XML) far beyond built-in options, which enables developers to add dynamic interactivity, custom behaviors, and enhanced visuals, programmatically controlling dashboard elements, responding to user actions, and interacting with Splunk's backend for richer, more tailored experiences.

Q4. Does UI customization affect Splunk’s core functionality?

No. Splunk UI customization impacts only the presentation layer, dashboards, visuals, branding, and user interaction in the Web interface.

Q5. Is it safe to use Custom JavaScript and CSS in Splunk?

Yes, when implemented properly and tested, Custom JavaScript and Custom CSS provide a safe way to extend the Splunk UI’s functionality and design.