SPLK-1003 Splunk Enterprise Certified Admin Question and Answers

https://docs.splunk.com/Documentation/Splunk/8.0.5/Data/Usingforwardingagents

Scroll down to the section Titled, How to configure forwarder inputs, and subsection Here are the main ways that you can configure data inputs on a forwarder Install the app or add-on that contains the inputs you wants

https://docs.splunk.com/Documentation/Splunk/8.0.5/Updating/Updateconfigurations First line says it all: " The deployment server distributes deployment apps to clients. "

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

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

 The setting that allows the configuration of Splunk to allow events to span over more than one line is SHOULD_LINEMERGE. This setting determines whether consecutive lines from a single source should be concatenated into a single event. If SHOULD_LINEMERGE is set to true, Splunk will attempt to merge multiple lines into one event based on certain criteria, such as timestamps or regular expressions. Therefore, option A is the correct answer. References: Splunk Enterprise Certified Admin | Splunk, [Configure event line merging - Splunk Documentation]

The correct attribute is:

_TCP_ROUTING = < target_group >

In inputs.conf, _TCP_ROUTING is used to route data from a specific input to a specific TCP output group. The target group must be defined in outputs.conf.

Example:

# inputs.conf

[monitor:///var/log/app.log]

index = app_index

_TCP_ROUTING = indexer_group_1

The corresponding group is defined in outputs.conf:

[tcpout:indexer_group_1]

server = indexer1.example.com:9997,indexer2.example.com:9997

This allows specific inputs to be sent to particular indexer groups.

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/8.2.2/Admin/Inputsconf

-Scroll down to source = < string >

*Default: the input file path

https://docs.splunk.com/Documentation/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/Splunk/8.1.0/Data/Whitelistorblacklistspecificincomingdata

The HTTP Event Collector (HEC) supports indexer acknowledgment to confirm event delivery. Each acknowledgment is associated with a uniqueGUID(Globally Unique Identifier).

GUID ensures events are not re-indexed in the case of retries.

Incorrect Options:

B, C, D:These are not valid channel values in HEC acknowledgments.

https://docs.splunk.com/Documentation/Splunk/latest/Data/Configureeventlinebreaking

Attribute : SHOULD_LINEMERGE = [true|false]

Description : When set to true, the Splunk platform combines several input lines into a single event, with configuration based on the settings described in the next section.

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 failOpen setting in the [duoMFA] stanza determines how Splunk software handles authentication requests when it cannot connect to the Duo Security service. If failOpen is set to True, as in this example, Splunk software allows users to log in without completing a multifactor challenge. If failOpen is set to False, Splunk software denies all logins when it cannot connect to Duo Security. This setting is independent of the authentication type or the secretKey protection. References = Connect to Duo Security for multifactor authentication

https://docs.splunk.com/Documentation/Splunk/8.1.0/Data/ConsiderationsfordecidinghowtomonitorWindowsdata

" The Splunk platform collects remote Windows data for indexing in one of two ways: From Splunk forwarders, Using Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI). For Splunk Cloud deployments, you must use the Splunk Universal Forwarder on a Windows machines to montior remote Windows data. "

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

Add your data to Splunk Enterprise. With Splunk Enterprise, you can add data using Splunk Web or Splunk Apps. In addition to these methods, you also can use the following methods. -The Splunk Command Line Interface (CLI) -The inputs.conf configuration file. When you specify your inputs with Splunk Web or the CLI, the details are saved in a configuartion file on Splunk Enterprise indexer and heavy forwarder instances.

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

- Section: About channels and sending data

Sending events to HEC with indexer acknowledgment active is similar to sending them with the setting off. There is one crucial difference: when you have indexer acknowledgment turned on, you must specify a channel when you send events. The concept of a channel was introduced in HEC primarily to prevent a fast client from impeding the performance of a slow client. When you assign one channel per client, because channels are treated equally on Splunk Enterprise, one client can ' t affect another. You must include a matching channel identifier both when sending data to HEC in an HTTP request and when requesting acknowledgment that events contained in the request have been indexed. If you don ' t, you will receive the error message, " Data channel is missing. " Each request that includes a token for which indexer acknowledgment has been enabled must include a channel identifier, as shown in the following example cURL statement, where < data > represents the event data portion of the request

because transforms.conf is the right configuration file to state the regex expression.https://docs.splunk.com/Documentation/Splunk/8.1.0/Admin/Transformsconf

The answer to your question is C. services/data/collector. This is the endpoint URI used to collect data in a customer managed Splunk Enterprise environment.According to the Splunk documentation1, “The HTTP Event Collector REST API endpoint is /services/data/collector.You can use this endpoint to send events to HTTP Event Collector on a Splunk Enterprise or Splunk Cloud Platform deployment.” You can also use this endpoint to send events to a specific token or index1. For example, you can use the following curl command to send an event with the token 578254cc-05f5-46b5-957b-910d1400341a and the index main:

curl -k https://localhost:8088/services/data/collector -H ' Authorization: Splunk 578254cc-05f5-46b5-957b-910d1400341a ' -d ' { " index " : " main " , " event " : " Hello, world! " } '

curl “https://mysplunkserver.example.com:8088/services/collector” \ -H “Authorization: Splunk DF4S7ZE4-3GS1-8SFS-E777-0284GG91PF67” \ -d ‘{“event”: “Hello World”}, {“event”: “Hola Mundo”}, {“event”: “Hallo Welt”}’. This is the correct curl command to send multiple events through HTTP Event Collector (HEC), which is a token-based API that allows you to send data to Splunk Enterprise from any application that can make an HTTP request. The command has the following components:

The URL of the HEC endpoint, which consists of the protocol (https), the hostname or IP address of the Splunk server (mysplunkserver.example.com), the port number (8088), and the service name (services/collector).

The header that contains the authorization token, which is a unique identifier that grants access to the HEC endpoint. The token is prefixed with Splunk and enclosed in quotation marks. The token value (DF4S7ZE4-3GS1-8SFS-E777-0284GG91PF67) is an example and should be replaced with your own token value.

The data payload that contains the events to be sent, which are JSON objects enclosed in curly braces and separated by commas. Each event object has a mandatory field called event, which contains the raw data to be indexed. The event value can be a string, a number, a boolean, an array, or another JSON object. In this case, the event values are strings that say hello in different languages.

IgnoreOlderThan:This setting filters files for indexing based on their age. It does not prevent indexing of old data already in the file.

allowList:This setting allows specifying patterns to include files for monitoring, but it does not control indexing of pre-existing data.

monitor:This is the default method for monitoring files but does not address indexing pre-existing data.

followTail:This attribute, when set in inputs.conf, ensures that Splunk starts reading a file from the end (tail) and does not index existing old data. It is ideal for scenarios with large files where only new updates are relevant.

https://docs.splunk.com/Documentation/Splunk/8.0.5/Admin/Inputsconf

[tcp:// < remote server > : < port > ]

*Configures the input to listen on a specific TCP network port.

*If a < remote server > makes a connection to this instance, the input uses this stanza to configure itself.

*If you do not specify < remote server > , this stanza matches all connections on the specified port.

*Generates events with source set to " tcp: < port > " , for example: tcp:514

*If you do not specify a sourcetype, generates events with sourcetype set to " tcp-raw "

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

In Splunk Enterprise , when knowledge bundles (which include lookup files, configurations, and other knowledge objects) are replicated between search heads and indexers, administrators can control the maximum size of lookup files that are eligible for replication.

The correct parameter to use is excludeReplicatedLookupSize , defined in distsearch.conf . This parameter specifies a maximum file size (in megabytes) beyond which lookup files are excluded from bundle replication . By setting this to 500, any lookup file larger than 500 MB will not be replicated to search peers.

This is especially important for performance optimization and preventing unnecessary network load during search head to indexer communication.

Example configuration (distsearch.conf):

[replicationSettings]

excludeReplicatedLookupSize = 500

Reference (Splunk Documentation):

distsearch.conf.spec and example → excludeReplicatedLookupSize

Splunk® Enterprise Distributed Search Manual → “Control knowledge bundle replication between search heads and indexers”

Splunk Admin Manual → “Prevent large lookup files from being replicated”

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 < IP_address/hostname > : < management_port >  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.

After an app is downloaded, it resides under $SPLUNK_HOME/etc/apps on the deployment clients. But it resided in the $SPLUNK_HOME/etc/deployment-apps location in the deployment server.

The correct answer is D. The timezone of the forwarder will be added to the event as part of indexing.

According to the Splunk documentation1, Splunk software determines the time zone to assign to a timestamp using the following logic in order of precedence:

Use the time zone specified in raw event data (for example, PST, -0800), if present.

Use the TZ attribute set in props.conf, if the event matches the host, source, or source type that the stanza specifies.

If the forwarder and the receiving indexer are version 6.0 or higher, use the time zone that the forwarder provides.

Use the time zone of the host that indexes the event.

In this case, the event does not have a time zone specified in the raw data, nor does it have a TZ attribute set in props.conf. Therefore, the next rule applies, which is to use the time zone that the forwarder provides. A universal forwarder is a lightweight agent that can forward data to a Splunk deployment, and it knows its systemtime zone and sends that information along with the events to the indexer2. The indexer then converts the event time to UTC and stores it in the _time field1.

The other options are incorrect because:

A. Universal Coordinated Time (UTC) is not the time zone that Splunk adds to the event as part of indexing, but rather the time zone that Splunk uses to store the event time in the _time field. Splunk software converts the event time to UTC based on the time zone that it determines from the rules above1.

B. The timezone of the search head is not relevant for indexing, as the search head is a Splunk component that handles search requests and distributes them to indexers, but it does not process incoming data3. The search head uses the user’s timezone setting to determine the time range in UTC that should be searched and to display the timestamp of the results in the user’s timezone2.

C. The timezone of the indexer that indexed the event is only used as a last resort, if none of the other rules apply. In this case, the forwarder provides the time zone information, so the indexer does not use its own time zone1.

This option corresponds to the file path “$SPLUNK_HOME/etc/apps/splunk_TA_nginx/local/inputs.conf”. This is the configuration file that the user needs to edit to ingest the NGINX access logs to ensure it remains unaffected after upgrade. This is explained in the Splunk documentation, which states:

The local directory is where you place your customized configuration files. The local directory is empty when you install Splunk Enterprise. You create it when you need to override or add to the default settings in a configuration file. The local directory is never overwritten during an upgrade.

When Splunk is integrated with LDAP, most of the user attributes are managed by the LDAP server and cannot be changed in the Splunk UI. However, one exception is the default app attribute, which specifies which app a user sees when they log in to Splunk. This attribute can be changed in the Splunk UI by editing the user settings. Therefore, option A is the correct answer. References: Splunk Enterprise Certified Admin | Splunk, [Configure Splunk to use LDAP and map groups - Splunk Documentation]

According to the Splunk documentation1, to customize a configuration file, you need to create a new file with the same name in a local or app directory. Then, add the specific settings that you want to customize to the local configuration file. Never change or copy the configuration files in the default directory. The files in the default directory must remain intact and in their original location. The Splunk Enterprise upgrade process overwrites the default directory.

To deploy configuration files to deployment clients, you need to use the deployment server. The deployment server is a Splunk Enterprise instance that distributes content and updates to deployment clients2. The deployment server uses a directory called $SPLUNK_HOME/etc/deployment-apps to store the apps and configuration files that itdeploys to clients2. To update the configuration files in this directory, you need to edit them manually and then run the command $SPLUNK_HOME/bin/sp1unk reload deploy—server to make the changes take effect2.

Therefore, option A is incorrect because it does not include the reload command. Option B is incorrect because it makes the change on a deployment client instead of the deployment server. Option D is incorrect because it changes the default directory instead of the local directory.

 [monitor::/opt/log/crashlog/Jan27crash.txt]. This stanza means that Splunk is monitoring a single local file named Jan27crash.txt in the /opt/log/crashlog/ directory1. The monitor input type is used to monitor files and directories for changes and index any new data that is added2.

The Splunk indexing process consists of three main phases: Input, Parsing, and Indexing. Understanding these phases is crucial for configuring data inputs and managing data flow within Splunk.

Input Phase: Splunk receives data from various sources, such as files, network ports, or scripted inputs.

Parsing Phase: Splunk breaks the data into individual events, applies transformations, and extracts timestamps.

Indexing Phase: Splunk writes the parsed events to disk and creates indexes for efficient searching.

From the official Splunk documentation:

" The data pipeline consists of three main phases: input, parsing, and indexing. "

— How the Splunk platform indexes data - Splunk Documentation

Therefore, the correct order of the indexing process is: Input phase → Parsing phase → Indexing phase.

According to the Splunk system admin course PDF, When adding native users, Username and Password ARE REQUIRED

The correct answer is B. in props.conf:

[identity]

SEDCMD-redact_pw = s/password=([^,|/s]+)/ ####REACTED####/g

According to the Splunk documentation1, to redact sensitive data from raw events, you need to use the SEDCMD attribute in the props.conf file. The SEDCMD attribute applies a sed expression to the raw data before indexing. The sed expression can use the s command to replace a pattern with a substitution string. For example, the following sed expression replaces any occurrence of password= followed by any characters until a comma, whitespace, or slash with ####REACTED####:

s/password=([^,|/s]+)/ ####REACTED####/g

The g flag at the end means that the replacement is applied globally, not just to the first match.

Option A is incorrect because it uses the REGEX attribute instead of the SEDCMD attribute. The REGEX attribute is used to extract fields from events, not to modify them.

Option C is incorrect because it uses the transforms.conf file instead of the props.conf file. The transforms.conf file is used to define transformations that can be applied to fields or events, such as lookups, evaluations, or replacements. However, these transformations are applied after indexing, not before.

Option D is incorrect because it uses both the wrong attribute and the wrong file. There is no REGEX-redact_pw attribute in the transforms.conf file.

When a user is assignedmultiple rolesin Splunk and each has a defined srchFilter, Splunk combines these filters using alogical ANDoperation. This ensures that the user can only search within the intersection of constraints imposed by each role.

From Splunk Docs:

" If a user has multiple roles assigned and multiple roles specify srchFilter, Splunk softwareANDs the filters together. "

— Source: Splunk Documentation – authorize.conf

Let’s break it down:

role_A specifies: sourcetype!=json AND index=main

role_B specifies: sourcetype=csv

To evaluate the effective search filter for the user, Splunk willANDthe two conditions:

(sourcetype=csv) AND (sourcetype!=json AND index=main)

This means the user ' s search is limited to events where:

sourcetype=csv (from role_B)

sourcetype!=json AND index=main (from role_A)

Combining them together logically:

srchFilter = ((sourcetype=csv) AND (sourcetype!=json AND index=main))

This is exactly what is shown inOption A.

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.

You can have a role inherit certain properties from one or more existing rolehttps://docs.splunk.com/Documentation/Splunk/8.0.5/Security/Aboutusersandroles

The correct answer is A. splunk add one shot / opt/ incident [data . log —index incident

According to the Splunk documentation1, the splunk add one shot command adds a single file or directory to the Splunk index and then stops monitoring it. This is useful for ingesting static files that do not change or update. The command takes the following syntax:

splunk add one shot < file > -index < index_name >

The file parameter specifies the path to the file or directory to be indexed. The index parameter specifies the name of the index where the data will be stored. If the index does not exist, Splunk will create it automatically.

Option B is incorrect because the splunk edit monitor command modifies an existing monitor input, which is used for ingesting files or directories that change or update over time. This command does not create a new monitor input, nor does it stop monitoring after indexing.

Option C is incorrect because the splunk add monitor command creates a new monitor input, which is also used for ingesting files or directories that change or update over time. This command does not stop monitoring after indexing.

Option D is incorrect because the splunk edit oneshot command does not exist. There is no such command in the Splunk CLI.

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... "

https://docs.splunk.com/Documentation/Splunk/8.2.2/Knowledge/Usedefaultfields splunk_server

The splunk server field contains the name of the Splunk server containing the event. Useful in a distributed Splunk environment. Example: Restrict a search to the main index on a server named remote. splunk_server=remote index=main 404

The correct answer is C. MonitorNoHandle.

MonitorNoHandle is a type of input stanza that allows a Splunk forwarder to read files on Windows systems as Windows writes to them. It does this by using a kernel-mode filter driver to capture raw data as it gets written to the file1. This input stanza is useful for files that get locked open for writing, such as the Windows DNS server log file2.

The other options are incorrect because:

A. Tail Reader is not a valid input stanza in Splunk. It is a component of the Tailing Processor, which is responsible for monitoring files and directories for new data3.

B. Upload is a type of input stanza that allows Splunk to index a single file from a local or network file system. It is not suitable for files that are constantly being updated, as it only indexes the file once and does not monitor it for changes4.

D. Monitor is a type of input stanza that allows Splunk to monitor files and directories for new data. However, it may not work for files that Windows prevents Splunk from reading while they are open. In such cases, MonitorNoHandle is a better option2.

A Splunk forwarder is a lightweight agent that can forward data to a Splunk deployment. There are two types of forwarders: universal and heavy. A universal forwarder can only forward data, while a heavy forwarder can also perform parsing, filtering, routing, and aggregation on the data before forwarding it5.

An input stanza is a section in the inputs.conf configuration file that defines the settings for a specific type of input, such as files, directories, network ports, scripts, or Windows event logs. An input stanza starts with a square bracket, followed by the input type and the input path or name. For example, [monitor:///var/log] is an input stanza for monitoring the /var/log directory.

The Universal Forwarder (UF) handles data forwarding to indexers. When monitoring a continuous and high-volume syslog stream over TCP, the UF may not detect an end-of-file (EOF) condition, which is typicallyrequired to trigger load balancing between multiple indexers. This can result in the UF continuously sending data to a single indexer, potentially leading to uneven load distribution.

To address this, Splunk provides the forceTimebasedAutoLB setting in the outputs.conf configuration file. Enabling this setting allows the UF to switch between indexers at regular time intervals, regardless of EOF detection. This ensures a more balanced distribution of data across multiple indexers, even in scenarios with continuous data streams like syslog.

The outputs.conf file defines how forwarders send data to receivers1. You can specify some output configurations at installation time (Windows universal forwarders only) or the CLI, but most advanced configuration settings require that you edit outputs.conf1.

The [tcpout:…] stanza specifies a group of forwarding targets that receive data over TCP2. You can define multiple groups with different names and settings2.

The server setting lists one or more receiving hosts for the group, separated by commas2. If you specify multiple hosts, the forwarder load balances the data across them2.

Therefore, option A is correct, because the forwarder will send data to both inputsl.mysplunkhfs.corp:9997 and inputs2.mysplunkhfs.corp:9997, even if 145.188.183.184:9097 is unreachable.

--reset Reset the fishbucket for the given key or file in the btree. Resetting the checkpoint for an active monitor input reindexes data, resulting in increased license use.https://docs.splunk.com/Documentation/Splunk/8.1.1/Troubleshooting/CommandlinetoolsforusewithSupport

Per the provided reference URLhttps://docs.splunk.com/Documentation/Splunk/7.3.1/Admin/User-seedconf

" To set the default username and password, place user-seed.conf in $SPLUNK_HOME/etc/system/local. You must restart Splunk to enable configurations. If the $SPLUNK_HOME/etc/passwd file is present, the settings in this file (user-seed.conf) are not used. "