SPLK-4001 Splunk O11y Cloud Certified Metrics User Exam Question and Answers

According to the Splunk O11y Cloud Certified Metrics User Track document1, Observability Cloud has the following rollup functions: Sum: (default for counter metrics): Returns the sum of all data points in the MTS reporting interval. Average (default for gauge metrics): Returns the average value of all data points in the MTS reporting interval. Min: Returns the minimum data point value seen in the MTS reporting interval. Max: Returns the maximum data point value seen in the MTS reporting interval. Latest: Returns the most recent data point value seen in the MTS reporting interval. Lag: Returns the difference between the most recent and the previous data point values seen in the MTS reporting interval. Rate: Returns the rate of change of data points in the MTS reporting interval. Therefore, option A is correct.

According to the Splunk Observability Cloud documentation1, the maximum function is an analytic function that returns the highest value of a metric or a dimension over a specified time interval. The maximum function can be used as a transformation or an aggregation. A transformation applies the function to each metric time series (MTS) individually, while an aggregation applies the function to all MTS and returns a single value. For example, to discover the peak page visits for a site over the last day, you can use the following SignalFlow code:

maximum(24h, counters(“page.visits”))

This will return the highest value of the page.visits counter metric for each MTS over the last 24 hours. You can then use a chart to visualize the results and identify the peak page visits for each MTS.

According to the Splunk Observability Cloud documentation1, to create a detector, you need the following information:

Alert Signal: This is the metric or dimension that you want to monitor and alert on. You can select a signal from a chart or a dashboard, or enter a SignalFlow query to define the signal.

Alert Condition: This is the criteria that determines when an alert is triggered or cleared. You can choose from various built-in alert conditions, such as static threshold, dynamic threshold, outlier, missing data, and so on. You can also specify the severity level and the trigger sensitivity for each alert condition.

Alert Settings: This is the configuration that determines how the detector behaves and interacts with other detectors. You can set the detector name, description, resolution, run lag, max delay, and detector rules. You can also enable or disable the detector, and mute or unmute the alerts.

Alert Message: This is the text that appears in the alert notification and event feed. You can customize the alert message with variables, such as signal name, value, condition, severity, and so on. You can also use markdown formatting to enhance the message appearance.

Alert Recipients: This is the list of destinations where you want to send the alert notifications. You can choose from various channels, such as email, Slack, PagerDuty, webhook, and so on. You can also specify the notification frequency and suppression settings.

The correct answer is A. Only metrics with a dimension of host and a value beginning with test-.

This filter returns the metrics that have a host dimension that matches the pattern test-. For example, test-01, test-abc, test-xyz, etc. The asterisk () is a wildcard character that can match any string of characters1

To learn more about how to filter metrics in Splunk Observability Cloud, you can refer to this documentation2.

1: https://docs.splunk.com/Observability/gdi/metrics/search.html#Filter-metrics 2: https://docs.splunk.com/Observability/gdi/metrics/search.html

According to the web search results, dashboard groups are a feature of Splunk Observability Cloud that allows you to organize and share dashboards with other users in your organization1. You can create dashboard groups based on different criteria, such as service, team, role, or topic. You can also set permissions for each dashboard group, such as who can view, edit, or manage the dashboards in the group. Dashboard groups make it possible to share a collection of charts with your entire SRE organization, or any other group of users that you want to collaborate with.

The correct answer is D. gRPC (4317), SignalFx (9080), Fluentd (8006).

According to the web search results, these are the default ports for the corresponding components in the OpenTelemetry Collector. You can verify this by looking at the table of exposed ports and endpoints in the first result1. You can also see the agent and gateway configuration files in the same result for more details.

1: https://docs.splunk.com/observability/gdi/opentelemetry/exposed-endpoints.html

According to the Splunk Lantern article Resolving flapping detectors in Splunk Infrastructure Monitoring, flapping is a phenomenon where alerts fire and clear repeatedly in a short period of time, due to the signal fluctuating around the threshold value. To reduce flapping, the article suggests the following ways:

Configure a duration or percent of duration for the alert: This means that you require the signal to stay above or below the threshold for a certain amount of time or percentage of time before triggering an alert. This can help filter out noise and focus on more persistent issues.

Apply a smoothing transformation (like a rolling mean) to the input data for the detector: This means that you replace the original signal with the average of its last several values, where you can specify the window length. This can reduce the impact of a single extreme observation and make the signal less fluctuating.

The correct answer is B. Adding logging into the metrics receiver pipeline.

The logging exporter is a component that allows the OpenTelemetry Collector to send traces, metrics, and logs directly to the console. It can be used to diagnose and troubleshoot issues with telemetry received and processed by the Collector, or to obtain samples for other purposes1

To activate the logging exporter, you need to add it to the pipeline that you want to diagnose. In this case, since you are experiencing issues with a new receiver for metrics, you need to add the logging exporter to the metrics receiver pipeline. This will create a new plot that shows the metrics received by the Collector and any errors or warnings that might occur1

The image that you have sent with your question shows how to add the logging exporter to the metrics receiver pipeline. You can see that the exporters section of the metrics pipeline includes logging as one of the options. This means that the metrics received by any of the receivers listed in the receivers section will be sent to the logging exporter as well as to any other exporters listed2

To learn more about how to use the logging exporter in Splunk Observability Cloud, you can refer to this documentation1.

1: https://docs.splunk.com/Observability/gdi/opentelemetry/components/logging-exporter.html 2: https://docs.splunk.com/Observability/gdi/opentelemetry/exposed-endpoints.html

The correct answer is D. Each data marker represents the sum of API calls in the hour leading up to the data marker.

The metric demo.trans.count is a cumulative counter metric, which means that it represents the total number of API calls since the start of the measurement. A cumulative counter metric can be used to measure the rate of change or the sum of events over a time period1

The chart below shows the metric demo.trans.count with a one-hour rollup and a line chart type. A rollup is a way to aggregate data points over a specified time interval, such as one hour, to reduce the number of data points displayed on a chart. A line chart type connects the data points with a line to show the trend of the metric over time2

Each data marker on the chart represents the sum of API calls in the hour leading up to the data marker. This is because the rollup function for cumulative counter metrics is sum by default, which means that it adds up all the data points in each time interval. For example, the data marker at 10:00 AM shows the sum of API calls from 9:00 AM to 10:00 AM3

To learn more about how to use metrics and charts in Splunk Observability Cloud, you can refer to these documentations123.

1: https://docs.splunk.com/Observability/gdi/metrics/metrics.html#Metric-types 2: https://docs.splunk.com/Observability/gdi/metrics/charts.html#Data-resolution-and-rollups-in-charts 3: https://docs.splunk.com/Observability/gdi/metrics/charts.html#Rollup-functions-for-metric-types

The possible ways to add a link to an existing dashboard from an alert are:

Build a global data link. A global data link is a feature that allows you to create a link from any dimension value in any chart or table to a dashboard of your choice. You can specify the source and target dashboards, the dimension name and value, and the query parameters to pass along. When you click on the dimension value in the alert message, you will be taken to the dashboard with the context preserved1

Add a link to the field. A field link is a feature that allows you to create a link from any field value in any search result or alert message to a dashboard of your choice. You can specify the field name and value, the dashboard name and ID, and the query parameters to pass along. When you click on the field value in the alert message, you will be taken to the dashboard with the context preserved2

Therefore, the correct answer is A and C.

To learn more about how to use global data links and field links in Splunk Observability Cloud, you can refer to these documentations12.

1: https://docs.splunk.com/Observability/gdi/metrics/charts.html#Global-data-links 2: https://docs.splunk.com/Observability/gdi/metrics/search.html#Field-links

The correct answer is A. Dimensions.

Dimensions are metadata in the form of key-value pairs that are sent along with the metrics at the time of ingest. They provide additional information about the metric, such as the name of the host that sent the metric, or the location of the server. Along with the metric name, they uniquely identify a metric time series (MTS)1

Changes to dimensions result in a new MTS, because they create a different combination of metric name and dimensions. For example, if you change the hostname dimension from host1 to host2, you will create a new MTS for the same metric name1

Properties, sources, and tags are other types of metadata that can be applied to existing MTSes after ingest. They do not contribute to uniquely identify an MTS, and they do not create a new MTS when changed2

To learn more about how to use metadata in Splunk Observability Cloud, you can refer to this documentation2.

1: https://docs.splunk.com/Observability/metrics-and-metadata/metrics.html#Dimensions 2: https://docs.splunk.com/Observability/metrics-and-metadata/metrics-dimensions-mts.html

According to the web search results1, subscribing to a built-in detector is a way to receive alerts and notifications from Splunk Observability Cloud when certain criteria are met. A built-in detector is a detector that is automatically created and configured by Splunk Observability Cloud based on the data from your integrations, such as AWS, Kubernetes, or OpenTelemetry1. To subscribe to a built-in detector, you need to do the following steps:

Find the built-in detector that you want to subscribe to. You can use the metric finder or the dashboard groups to locate the built-in detectors that are relevant to your data sources1.

Hover over the built-in detector and click the Subscribe button. This will open a dialog box where you can configure your subscription settings1.

Choose an outbound notification channel from the drop-down menu. This is where you can specify how you want to receive the alert notifications from the built-in detector. You can choose from various channels, such as email, Slack, PagerDuty, webhook, and so on2. You can also create a new notification channel by clicking the + icon2.

Enter the notification details for the selected channel. This may include your email address, Slack channel name, PagerDuty service key, webhook URL, and so on2. You can also customize the notification message with variables and markdown formatting2.

Click Save. This will subscribe you to the built-in detector and send you alert notifications through the chosen channel when the detector triggers or clears an alert.

Therefore, option C is correct.