SPLK-1003 Sample Questions Answers

Hot/warm/cold/thawed bucket types are searchable. Frozen isn't searchable because its either deleted at that state or archived.

URLhttps://docs.splunk.com/Documentation/Splunk/8.2.2/DistSearch/Configuredistributedsearch

"To activate distributed search, you add search peers, or indexers, to a Splunk Enterprise instance that you desingate as a search head. You do this by specifying each search peer manually."

https://docs.splunk.com/Documentation/Splunk/8.1.1/Data/Monitornetworkports

https://docs.splunk.com/Documentation/Splunk/latest/Indexer/Setaretirementandarchivingpolicy

The app local directories move to second in the priority list. This is explained in the Splunk documentation, which states:

In a clustered environment, the precedence of configuration files changes slightly from that of a standalone deployment. The app local directories move to second in the priority list, after the peer-apps local directory. This means that any configuration files in the app local directories on the individual peers are overridden by configuration files of the same name and type in the peer-apps local directory on the master node.

https://docs.splunk.com/Documentation/Splunk/latest/Deploy/Datapipeline "The data pipeline segments in depth. INPUT - In the input segment, Splunk software consumes data. It acquires the raw data stream from its source, breaks it into 64K blocks, and annotates each block with some metadata keys. The keys can also include values that are used internally, such as the character encoding of the data stream, and values that control later processing of the data, such as the index into which the events should be stored. PARSING Annotating individual events with metadata copied from the source-wide keys. Transforming event data and metadata according to regex transform rules."

http://www.splunk.com/view/SP-CAAAGPR

When using a directory monitor input, specific source types can be selectively overridden using the props.conf file. According to the Splunk documentation1, “You can specify a source type for data based on its input and source. Specify source type for an input. You can assign the source type for data coming from a specific input, such as /var/log/. If you use Splunk Cloud Platform, use Splunk Web to define source types. If you use Splunk Enterprise, define source types in Splunk Web or by editing the inputs.conf configuration file.” However, this method is not very granular and assigns the same source type to all data from an input. To override the source type on a per-event basis, you need to use the props.conf file and the transforms.conf file2. The props.conf file contains settings that determine how the Splunk platform processes incoming data, such as how to segment events, extract fields, and assign source types2. The transforms.conf file contains settings that modify or filter event dataduring indexing or search time2. You can use these files to create rules that match specific patterns in the event data and assign different source types accordingly2. For example, you can create a rule that assigns a source type of apache_error to any event that contains the word “error” in the first line2.

https://docs.splunk.com/Documentation/Splunk/8.0.3/DistSearch/Distributedsearchgroups

• The inputs.conf file is used to configure inputs, distributed inputs such as forwarders, and file system monitoring in Splunk1.
• The [script://myscript.sh] stanza specifies a script input, which means that Splunk runs the script and indexes its output1.
• The interval setting determines how often Splunk runs the script. If the interval is set to 0, the script runs only once when Splunk starts up1. If the interval is omitted, the script runs at the default interval of 60 seconds2.
• Therefore, option C is correct, and the other options are incorrect.

https://docs.splunk.com/Documentation/Splunk/9.0.0/DistSearch/Distributedsearchgroups

https://www.splunk.com/en_u s/blog/tips-and-tricks/what-is-this-fishbucket-thing.html

"Every Splunk instance has a fishbucket index, except the lightest of hand-tuned lightweight forwarders, and if you index a lot of files it can get quite large. As any other index, you can change the retention policy to control the size via indexes.conf"

Reference https://community.splunk.com/t5/Archive/How-to-reindex-data-from-a-forwarder/td-p/93310

According to the Splunk documentation1, a heavy forwarder is a Splunk Enterprise instance that can parse and filter data before forwarding it to an indexer. A heavy forwarder can perform line breaking, which is the process of splitting incoming data into individual events based on a set of rules2. A heavy forwarder can also apply other transformations to the data, such as field extractions, event type matching, or masking sensitive data3.

https://docs.splunk.com/D ocumentation/Splunk/8.0.4/Data/Whitelistorblacklistspecificincomingdata

"It is not necessary to define both an allow list and a deny list in a configuration stanza. The settings are independent. If you do define both filters and a file matches them both, Splunk Enterprise does not index that file, as the blacklist filter overrides the whitelist filter." Source:https://docs.splunk.com/Documentation/S plunk/8.1.0/Data/Whitelistorblacklistspecificincomingdata

https://docs.splunk.com/Documentation/Forwarder/8.0.5/Forwarder/Configuretheuniversalforwarder

--Key configuration files are: inputs.conf controls how the forwarder collects data. outputs.conf controls how the forwarder sends data to an indexer or other forwarder server.conf for connection and performance tuning deploymentclient.conf for connecting to a deployment server

Setting: ignoreOlderThan = Description: "Causes the input to stop checking files for updates if the file modification time has passed the threshold." Default: 0 (disabled)

https://docs.splunk.com/Documentation/Splunk/8.1.1/Knowledge/Configureadvancedextractionswithfieldtransforms

use transformations with props.conf and transforms.conf to:

– Mask or delete raw data as it is being indexed

–Override sourcetype or host based upon event values

– Route events to specific indexes based on event content

– Prevent unwanted events from being indexed

 Indexers, search head, deployment server, license master, universal forwarder. This is the combination of Splunk component instances that are needed to handle the volume of data from collecting log files from 50 Linux servers and 200 Windows servers, following the best practices. The roles and functions of these components are:

• Indexers: These are the Splunk instances that index the data and make it searchable. They also perform some data processing, such as timestamp extraction, line breaking, and field extraction. Multiple indexers can be clustered together to provide high availability, data replication, and load balancing.
• Search head: This is the Splunk instance that coordinates the search across the indexers and merges the results from them. It also provides the user interface for searching, reporting, and dashboarding. A search head can also be clustered with other search heads to provide high availability, scalability, and load balancing.
• Deployment server: This is the Splunk instance that manages the configuration and app deployment for the universal forwarders. It allows the administrator to centrally control the inputs.conf, outputs.conf, and other configuration files for the forwarders, as well as distribute apps and updates to them.
• License master: This is the Splunk instance that manages the licensing for the entire Splunk deployment. It tracks the license usage of all the Splunk instances and enforces the license limits and violations. It also allows the administrator to add, remove, or change licenses.
• Universal forwarder: These are the lightweight Splunk instances that collect data from various sources and forward it to the indexers or other forwarders. They do not index or parse the data, but only perform minimal processing, such as compression and encryption. They are installed on the Linux and Windows servers that generate the log files.

https://docs.splunk.com/Documentation/Splunk/7.3.1/Admin/Configurationfiledirectories

Section titled, Configuration file directories, states "A detailed list of settings for each configuration file is provided in the .spec file names for that configuration file. You can find the latest version of the .spec and .example files in the $SPLUNK_HOME/etc system/README folder of your Splunk Enterprise installation..."

The CLI command "Splunk add forward-server indexer:" is used to define the indexer and the listening port on forwards. The command creates this kind of entry "[tcpout-server://:]" in the outputs.conf file.

https://docs.splunk.com/Documentation/Forwarder/8.2.2/Forwarder/Configureforwardingwithoutputs.conf

https://docs.splunk.com/Documentation/Splunk/8.2.2/Data/Howdoyouwanttoadddata

The fastest way to add data to your Splunk Cloud instance or Splunk Enterprise deployment is to use Splunk Web. After you access the Add Data page, choose one of three options for getting data into your Splunk platform deployment with Splunk Web: (1) Upload, (2) Monitor, (3) Forward The Upload option lets you upload a file or archive of files for indexing. When you choose Upload option, Splunk Web opens the upload process page. Monitor. For Splunk Enterprise installations, the Monitor option lets you monitor one or more files, directories, network streams, scripts, Event Logs (on Windows hosts only), performance metrics, or any other type of machine data that the Splunk Enterprise instance has access to.

"When ingesting event data, the measured data volume is based on the new raw data that is placed into the indexing pipeline. Because the data is measured at the indexing pipeline, data that is filetered and dropped prior to indexing does not count against the license volume qota."

https://docs.splunk.com/Documentation/Splunk/8.0.6/Admin/HowSplunklicensingworks

The following items in the phases below are listed in the order Splunk applies them (ie LINE_BREAKER occurs before TRUNCATE).

Input phase

inputs.conf

props.conf

CHARSET

NO_BINARY_CHECK

CHECK_METHOD

CHECK_FOR_HEADER (deprecated)

PREFIX_SOURCETYPE

sourcetype

wmi.conf

regmon-filters.conf

Structured parsing phase

props.conf

INDEXED_EXTRACTIONS, and all other structured data header extractions

Parsing phase

props.conf

LINE_BREAKER, TRUNCATE, SHOULD_LINEMERGE, BREAK_ONLY_BEFORE_DATE, and all other line merging settings

TIME_PREFIX, TIME_FORMAT, DATETIME_CONFIG (datetime.xml), TZ, and all other time extraction settings and rules

TRANSFORMS which includes per-event queue filtering, per-event index assignment, per-event routing

SEDCMD

MORE_THAN, LESS_THAN

transforms.conf

stanzas referenced by a TRANSFORMS clause in props.conf

LOOKAHEAD, DEST_KEY, WRITE_META, DEFAULT_VALUE, REPEAT_MATCH

The correct answer is C. On Deployment Server, $SPLUNK_HOME/etc/deployment-apps.

A deployment server is a Splunk Enterprise instance that acts as a centralized configuration manager for any number of other instances, called “deployment clients”.A deployment client can be a universal forwarder, a non-clustered indexer, or a search head1.

A deployment app is a directory that contains any content that you want to download to a set of deployment clients.The content can include a Splunk Enterprise app, a set of Splunk Enterprise configurations, or other content, such as scripts, images, and supporting files2.

You create a deployment app by creating a directory for it on the deployment server. The default location is $SPLUNK_HOME/etc/deployment-apps, but this is configurable through the repositoryLocation attribute in serverclass.conf. Underneath this location, each app must have its own subdirectory.The name of the subdirectory serves as the app name in the forwarder management interface2.

The other options are incorrect because:

• A. On Universal Forwarder, $SPLUNK_HOME/etc/apps. This is the location where the deployment app resides after it is downloaded from the deployment server to the universal forwarder.It is not the location of the app before it is deployed2.
• B. On Deployment Server, $SPLUNK_HOME/etc/apps. This is the location where the apps that are specific to the deployment server itself reside.It is not the location where the deployment apps for the clients are stored2.
• D. On Universal Forwarder, $SPLUNK_HOME/etc/deployment-apps. This is not a valid location for any app on a universal forwarder.The universal forwarder does not act as a deployment server and does not store deployment apps3.

https://docs.splunk.com/Documentation/Splunk/8.2.2/Updating/Aboutdeploymentserver

"The deployment server is the tool for distributing configurations, apps, and content updates to groups of Splunk Enterprise instances."

To verify the integrity of a local bucket. The command ./splunk check-integrity -bucketPath [bucket path] [-verbose] is used to verify the integrity of a local bucket by comparing the hashes stored in the l1Hashes and l2Hash files with the actual data in the bucket1. This command can help detect any tampering or corruption of the data.

"Where to place the scripts for scripted inputs. The script that you refer to in $SCRIPT can reside in only one of the following places on the host file system:

$SPLUNK_HOME/etc/system/bin

$SPLUNK_HOME/etc/apps//bin

$SPLUNK_HOME/bin/scripts

As a best practice, put your script in the bin/ directory that is nearest to the inputs.conf file that calls your script on the host file system."

The correct methods to connect a deployment client to a deployment server are A and C. You can either run the command splunk set deploy-poll : from the command line of the deployment client1 or create and edit a deploymentclient.conf file in $SPLUNK_HOME/etc/system/local on the deployment client2. Both methods require you to specify the IP address, hostname, and management port of the deployment server that you want the client to connect to.

https://docs.splunk.com/Documentation/Splunk/latest/Admin/Outputsconf

# Compression

#

# This example sends compressed events to the remote indexer.

# NOTE: Compression can be enabled TCP or SSL outputs only.

# The receiver input port should also have compression enabled.

[tcpout]

server = splunkServer.example.com:4433

compressed = true

https://docs.splunk.com/Documentation/Splunk/8.0.6/Security/ManageSplunkuserroleswithLDAP

• A Heavy Forwarder is a Splunk instance that can parse and filter data before forwarding it to another Splunk instance, such as an indexer1. A Heavy Forwarder can also perform index-time field extractions using the TRANSFORMS setting2.
• The TRANSFORMS setting is used to configure data transformations in the transforms.conf file3. The transforms.conf file contains settings and values that you canuse to configure host and source type overrides, anonymize sensitive data, route events to different indexes, create index-time and search-time field extractions, and set up lookup tables3.
• The TRANSFORMS setting can be deployed to the Heavy Forwarder where the syslog files are being monitored, so that the logs can be rerouted based on the event message before they are forwarded to the indexer2. This can improve the performance and efficiency of data processing and indexing2.

https://docs.splunk.com/Documentation/Splunk/latest/Security/Aboutusersandroles#Role_inheritance

https://docs.splunk.com/Documentation/Splunk/7.3.1/Security/Aboutusersandroles#How_users_inherit_capabilities

https://docs.splunk.com/Documentation/Splunk/7.3.0/Admin/Wheretofindtheconfigurationfiles

"To determine the order of directories for evaluating configuration file precendence, Splunk software considers each file's context. Configuration files operate in either a global context or in the context of the current app and user"

The Data Preview feature should be used when validating the parsing of data. The Data Preview feature allows you to preview how Splunk software will index your data before you commit the data to an index.You can use the Data Preview feature to check the following aspects of data parsing1:

• Timestamp recognition: You can verify that Splunk software correctly identifies the timestamps of your events and assigns them to the _time field.
• Event breaking: You can verify that Splunk software correctly breaks your data stream into individual events based on the line breaker and should linemerge settings.
• Source type assignment: You can verify that Splunk software correctly assigns a source type to your data based on the props.conf file settings. You can also manually override the source type if needed.
• Field extraction: You can verify that Splunk software correctly extracts fields from your events based on the transforms.conf file settings. You can also use the Interactive Field Extractor (IFX) to create custom field extractions.

The Data Preview feature is available in Splunk Web under Settings > Data inputs > Data preview.You can access the Data Preview feature when you add a new input or edit an existing input1.

The other options are incorrect because:

• A. When extracting fields for ingested data. The Data Preview feature can be used to verify the field extraction for data that has not been ingested yet, but not for data that has already been indexed.To extract fields from ingested data, you can use the IFX or the rex command in the Search app2.
• B. When previewing the data before searching. The Data Preview feature does not allow you to search the data, but only to view how it will be indexed. To preview thedata before searching, you can use the Search app and specify a time range or a sample ratio.
• C. When reviewing data on the source host. The Data Preview feature does not access the data on the source host, but only the data that has been uploaded or monitored by Splunk software. To review data on the source host, you can use the Splunk Universal Forwarder or the Splunk Add-on for Unix and Linux.

• A Splunk deployment server is a system that distributes apps, configurations, and other assets to groups of Splunk Enterprise instances. You can use it to distribute updates to most types of Splunk Enterprise components: forwarders, non-clustered indexers, and search heads2.
• A Splunk deployment server is available on every full Splunk Enterprise instance. To use it, you must activate it by placing at least one app into %SPLUNK_HOME%\etc\deployment-apps on the host you want to act as deployment server3.
• A Splunk deployment server maintains the list of server classes and uses those server classes to determine what content to distribute to each client. A server class is a group of deployment clients that share one or more defined characteristics1.
• A Splunk deployment client is a Splunk instance remotely configured by a deployment server. Deployment clients can be universal forwarders, heavy forwarders, indexers, or search heads. Each deployment client belongs to one or more server classes1.
• A Splunk deployment app is a set of content (including configuration files) maintained on the deployment server and deployed as a unit to clients of a server class. A deployment app can be an existing Splunk Enterprise app or one developed solely to group some content for deployment purposes1.

Therefore, option C is correct, and the other options are incorrect.

https://docs.splunk.com/Documentation/Splunk/8.0.3/Data/Monitornetworkports

The deployer is a Splunk Enterprise instance that you use to distribute apps and certain other configuration updates to search head cluster members. The set of updates that the deployer distributes is called the configuration bundle.https://docs.splunk. com/Documentation/Splunk/8.1.3/DistSearch/PropagateSHCconfigurationchanges#:~:text=The%20deployer%20is%20a%20Splunk,is%20called%20the%20configuration%20bundle.

https://docs.splunk.com/Documentation/Splunk/8.0.5/Updating/Updateconfigurations

First line says it all: "The deployment server distributes deployment apps to clients."