WatchGuard Support Center

Knowledge Base - Article

Search the WatchGuard Knowledge Base
< Close Tab

000015190
 WatchGuard Technical Search Tips

Information

How do I use WatchGuard Technical Search?
You can use Technical Search to search all WatchGuard technical resources for product information and technical solutions. Technical Search content is divided by tabs:
  • All - Search results compiled from all available technical sources
  • Documentation - The most current Help and related documentation for all currently shipping products
  • Knowledge Base - Knowledge base articles and known issues
  • Video - Video tutorials
  • Courseware - Current technical training courseware (available with WatchGuard website login only)
  • Other - Other technical resources available on the WatchGuard public website, including product datasheets, security articles, and the most recent 6 months of WatchGuard blog posts
In your search results, you can click a tab, and then select options on the left side to further refine your search.

How Search Works

Technical search uses custom algorithms that consider:

  • Your search terms and operators
  • Ignored words in search terms (for example “the,” “to,” and “for”)>
  • Search term stems (for example, a search for “filtering” returns items with “filter”)
  • The proximity of search terms in an article

Basic Keyword Search

To get started, type terms that describe the information you want to find. Separate search terms with spaces. Include information such as product name, OS version, feature name, and any error message.

By default, search is not case sensitive. If you specify search terms without operators, the search looks for items that include all of the words you specified, in any order. The match is not case-sensitive.
 
Example:  BOVPN tunnel route
Searches for items that include the words BOVPN, tunnel, and route, in any order. 

Search automatically matches items that contain other forms of search terms that share the same stem. 
 
Example: route
Searches for items that contain route, routes, routing, and routed. Items that contain the exact search term, route, are ranked higher. 

Prefixes and Operators

In your search you can use these operators, which are described in more detail below:

Exact Match Operators

+ (plus sign)

Search for items that contain the exact term that follows the + prefix. This search is not case sensitive. When you use the + prefix, the search results do not include terms that include the same root form.

Example: +route
Searches for items that contain the term route, and does not search for items that contain related terms such as routing, routed, or routes. 

Note: You cannot use wildcard characters in combination with an exact match prefix.

" " (double quotation marks)

Search for items that contain the exact sequence of terms specified between the double quotation marks. The match is not case-sensitive.

Example: "link aggregation interface"
Searches for items that contain the exact phrase.  

Tip: Do not use double quotation marks for a single term. Instead, use the + prefix.

. : / \ _ - ' (contiguity characters)

Search for items that contain the exact term sequence, with terms only separated by contiguity characters. The match is not case-sensitive.

Examples:
link/aggregation/interface
link.aggregation.interface
link-aggregation-interface

These examples all search for the exact sequence of terms and are equivalent to the search:
"link aggregation interface"

Boolean Operators

You must use use uppercase letters to specify Boolean operators. 

AND

Search for items that contain all terms joined by AND. The term order is not important.

Example: Import AND WebBlocker AND exception
Searches for items that contain all three terms. This search is equivalent to: Import WebBlocker exception

Note: By default, the AND operator is assumed between multiple search terms.

OR

Search for items that contain at least one of the terms joined by OR.

Example: Port OR Interface
Searches for items that contain the words Port or Interface, or both.

NOT

Limit the search to items that do not contain the term preceded by NOT. The - prefix has the same effect.  (See Miscellaneous Operators)

Example: VPN NOT IPSec
Searches for items that do not contain IPSec, but do contain VPN. 

NEAR

Search for items that contain two terms joined by the NEAR operator. By default, the terms must be no more than ten terms away from each other. This operator is useful to eliminate items that contain scattered occurrences of two terms. You can use the NEAR:n operator format to specify the maximum number of terms that can separate the two terms you search for. 

Example: Compliance NEAR:20 Audit
Searches for items that contain Compliance and Audit no more than 20 terms apart.

Boolean Operator Precedence

When you use more than one Boolean operator in a search query, NOT, AND, and NEAR have higher precedence and are evaluated first. OR is evaluated last. When you use multiple Boolean operators you can use parentheses to force evaluation of the OR first. 

Example: You want to find a specific article about VPN access from a smartphone. To narrow down the results, you know the item you want contains the words, iOS and iPhone or iPad within a few words from the phrase "VPN client". You don't want to include articles about L2TP. You type this search query:

iOS AND iPhone OR iPad NEAR "VPN client" NOT L2TP

Because of the Boolean operator precedence rules, the query is interpreted as:

(iOS AND iPhone) OR ((iPad NEAR "VPN client") (NOT L2TP))

But what you meant was this:

((iOS AND (iPhone OR iPad)) NEAR "VPN client") (NOT L2TP)

Tip: Use parentheses for a search that contains multiple Boolean operators to get the expected search results. 

Wildcard Operators

You can use wildcard operators in your search to match a pattern of text.

* (asterisk)

Search for an item that contains a term completed by any number of characters in place of the * character.

Example: *-Proxy
Searches for items that contain terms that end with -Proxy, such as HTTP-Proxy, and SMTP-Proxy.

? (question mark)

Search for an item that contains a term completed by any character in place of the ? character.

Example: m?vpn
Searches for an item that contains words such as movpn and muvpn.

Miscellaneous Operators

- (minus or dash)

Limit the search to items that do not contain the term preceded by the dash. This is equivalent to the NOT Boolean operator.  (see Boolean Operators)

Example: VPN -IPSec
Searches for items that do not contain IPSec, but do contain VPN. 

( ) (parentheses grouping with operators)

Use parentheses to group keywords with operators. You can use parentheses to ensure the desired result when you use multiple Boolean operators in a search query. (see Boolean Operator Precedence).

Example: IPSec AND (VPN NEAR:5 iPhone)
Searches for items that contain the three keywords, but where the keywords VPN and iPhone are no more than five terms apart.