Splunk SPLK-1005 Splunk Cloud Certified Admin Exam Practice Test

The delete command in Splunk does not remove events from disk but rather marks them as "deleted" in the index. This means the events are not accessible via searches, but they still occupy space on disk. Only users with the can_delete capability (typically admins) can use the delete command.

Splunk Documentation Reference: Delete Command

A Universal Forwarder (UF) can indeed be configured as an Intermediate Forwarder. This means that the UF can receive data from other forwarders and then forward that data on to indexers or Splunk Cloud, effectively acting as a relay point in the data forwarding chain.

Option A is incorrect because a Universal Forwarder does not need to contact the license master; only indexers and search heads require this.

Option B is incorrect as Universal Forwarders can connect directly to Splunk Cloud or via other forwarders.

Option D is also incorrect because the default output bandwidth limit for a UF is typically much higher than 500KBps (default is 256KBps per pipeline, but can be configured).

Splunk Documentation Reference: Universal Forwarder

Splunk Cloud Support should be contacted when issues arise that cannot be resolved internally or when problem isolation has been unsuccessful.

C. When unable to resolve issues or perform problem isolation is the correct answer. Splunk Cloud Support is typically involved when internal troubleshooting has been exhausted, and the issue requires expert assistance or deeper investigation. While scripted input troubleshooting might be handled by internal teams, contacting support for unresolved issues is the appropriate step.

Splunk Documentation References:

When to Contact Splunk Support

The best approach to meet the requirements of the marketing department is to create a new role that inherits the user role but with restricted access to only the marketing_data index. This setup allows users to perform searches and view dashboards while ensuring they cannot access other indexes such as those containing security or operations data.

Splunk Documentation Reference: Splunk Role-based Access Control

Intermediate Forwarders are special types of forwarders that sit between Universal Forwarders and indexers to perform additional processing tasks such as routing, filtering, or load balancing data before it reaches the indexers.

B. All Intermediate Forwarders must be Heavy Forwarders is the correct answer. Heavy Forwarders are the only type of forwarder that can perform the necessary tasks required of an Intermediate Forwarder, such as parsing data, applying transformations, and routing based on specific rules. Universal Forwarders are lightweight and cannot perform these complex tasks, thus cannot serve as Intermediate Forwarders.

Splunk Documentation References:

Intermediate Forwarders

The valid method for creating index-time field extractions is to create a configuration app that includes the necessary props.conf and/or transforms.conf configurations. This app can then be uploaded via the UI. Index-time field extractions must be defined in these configuration files to ensure that fields are extracted correctly during indexing.

Splunk Documentation Reference: Index-time field extractions

The recommended approach to collect data from network devices is to use a Syslog server with a Universal Forwarder (UF) installed. The network devices send data to the Syslog server, which then forwards the data to Splunk Cloud using the Universal Forwarder. This method ensures reliable data ingestion and processing while maintaining flexibility in handling different types of network device data.

Splunk Documentation Reference: Best practices for getting data in

Explanation: Default Splunk Cloud roles include power, user, and admin, each with unique permissions suitable for common operational and administrative functions. [Reference: Splunk Docs on user roles in Splunk Cloud]

Windows inputs in Splunk, particularly those that involve more advanced data collection capabilities beyond simple file monitoring, can utilize scripts or custom inputs. These are typically referred to as Modular Inputs.

C. Modular: This is the correct answer. Modular Inputs are designed to be configurable via the Splunk Web UI and can collect data using custom or predefined scripts, handling more complex data collection tasks. This is the type of input that is used for collecting Windows-specific data such as Event Logs, Performance Monitoring, and other similar inputs.

Splunk Documentation References:

Modular Inputs

Windows Data Collection

Explanation: When events lack a timestamp, Splunk defaults to using the file modification time, which is accessible metadata for parsing time information if no timestamp is present in the log entry. [Reference: Splunk Docs on timestamp recognition]

In Splunk Cloud, only apps that have been certified and vetted by Splunk are supported. This is because Splunk Cloud is a managed service, and Splunk ensures that all apps meet specific security, performance, and compatibility requirements before they can be installed. This certification process guarantees that the apps won’t negatively impact the overall environment, ensuring a stable and secure cloud service.

Self-service installation is available, but it is limited to apps that are certified for Splunk Cloud. Non-certified apps cannot be installed directly; they require a review and approval process by Splunk support.

Splunk Cloud Reference: Refer to Splunk’s documentation on app installation and the list of Cloud-vetted apps available on Splunkbase to understand which apps can be installed in Splunk Cloud.

Source:

Splunk Docs: About apps in Splunk Cloud

Splunkbase: Splunk Cloud Apps

In Splunk, to ingest data from files or directories, the basic configuration in inputs.conf requires at least the following elements:

monitor stanza: Specifies the file or directory to be monitored.

sourcetype: Identifies the format or type of the incoming data, which helps Splunk to correctly parse it.

index: Determines where the data will be stored within Splunk.

The host attribute is optional, as Splunk can auto-assign a host value, but specifying it can be useful in certain scenarios. However, it is not mandatory for data ingestion.

Splunk Cloud Reference: For more details, you can consult the Splunk documentation on inputs.conf file configuration and best practices.

Source:

Splunk Docs: Monitor files and directories

Splunk Docs: Inputs.conf examples

SEDCMD is a directive used within the props.conf file in Splunk to perform inline data transformations. Specifically, it uses sed-like syntax to modify data as it is being processed.

A. Can only be used to mask or truncate raw data: This is the correct answer because SEDCMD is typically used to mask sensitive data, such as obscuring personally identifiable information (PII) or truncating parts of data to ensure privacy and compliance with security policies. It is not used for more complex transformations such as changing the sourcetype per event.

B. Configured in props.conf and transform.conf: Incorrect, SEDCMD is only configured in props.conf.

C. Can be used to manipulate the sourcetype per event: Incorrect, SEDCMD does not manipulate the sourcetype.

D. Operates on a REGEX pattern match of the source, sourcetype, or host of an event: Incorrect, while SEDCMD uses regex for matching patterns in the data, it does not operate on the source, sourcetype, or host specifically.

Splunk Documentation References:

SEDCMD Usage

Mask Data with SEDCMD

In Splunk, to configure a TCP input on a specific port and restrict traffic from certain IP addresses, you can use the acceptFrom setting. The correct stanza that enables a TCP input on port 1025 and allows traffic from all IP addresses except 10.5.5.1 would look like this:

[tcp://1025]

acceptFrom = !10.5.5.1

Here, !10.5.5.1 denotes that traffic from this IP should be denied, while all other IP addresses are allowed. Therefore, Option B is correct.

Splunk Documentation Reference: Inputs.conf - acceptFrom

transforms.conf is used for various advanced data processing tasks in Splunk, including:

Per-Event Sourcetype: Dynamically assigning a sourcetype based on event content.

Per-Event Host Name: Dynamically setting the host field based on event content.

Per-Event Index Routing: Directing specific events to different indexes based on their content.

Option B correctly identifies these common uses of transforms.conf.

Splunk Documentation Reference: transforms.conf - Configuration

Splunk executes scripts from specific directories that are structured within its installation paths. These directories typically include:

SPLUNK_HOME/etc/system/bin: This directory is used to store scripts that are part of the core Splunk system configuration.

SPLUNK_HOME/etc/apps/<app name>/bin: Each Splunk app can have its own bin directory where scripts specific to that app are stored.

SPLUNK_HOME/bin/scripts: This is a standard directory for storing scripts that may be globally accessible within Splunk's environment.

However, C. SPLUNKHOMS/ctc/scripts/local is not a recognized or standard path used by Splunk for executing scripts. This path does not adhere to the typical directory structure within the SPLUNK_HOME environment, making it the correct answer as it does not correspond to a valid script execution path in Splunk.

Splunk Documentation References:

Using Custom Scripts in Splunk

Directory Structure of SPLUNK_HOME

To mask unstructured data before sending it to Splunk Cloud, the SEDCMD should be configured in the props.conf file on a Heavy Forwarder. The Heavy Forwarder is responsible for data parsing and transformation before forwarding the data to Splunk Cloud. This ensures that sensitive data is masked before it reaches the indexing stage.

Splunk Documentation Reference: Using SEDCMD to Mask Data

Explanation: SEDCMD in props.conf applies regular expressions to modify data as it is ingested. It is useful for transforming raw event data before indexing. [Reference: Splunk Docs on SEDCMD]

Explanation: For setting up a deployment client, the correct stanza syntax in inputs.conf includes specifying targetUri with the port 8089, which is the management port for Splunk instances, not the data port 9997. [Reference: Splunk Docs on deployment server configurations]

In Splunk, when configuring file and directory monitor inputs, several settings are available that control how data is indexed and processed. These settings are defined in the inputs.conf file. Among the given options:

host: Specifies the hostname associated with the data. It can be set to a static value, or dynamically assigned using settings like host_regex or host_segment.

index: Specifies the index where the data will be stored.

sourcetype: Defines the data type, which helps Splunk to correctly parse and process the data.

TCP_Routing: Used to route data to specific indexers in a distributed environment based on TCP routing rules.

host_regex: Allows you to extract the host from the path or filename using a regular expression.

host_segment: Identifies the segment of the directory structure (path) to use as the host.

Given the options:

Option B is correct because it includes host, index, sourcetype, TCP_Routing, host_regex, and host_segment. These are all valid settings for file and directory monitor inputs in Splunk.

Splunk Documentation References:

Monitor Inputs (inputs.conf)

Host Setting in Inputs

TCP Routing in Inputs

By referring to the Splunk documentation on configuring inputs, it's clear that Option B aligns with the valid settings used for file and directory monitoring, making it the correct choice.

Explanation: In Splunk Cloud, expired events can be archived to customer-managed storage solutions, such as on-premises storage. This allows organizations to retain data beyond the standard retention period if needed. [Reference: Splunk Docs on data archiving in Splunk Cloud]

Explanation: The _internal index stores logs that are valuable for troubleshooting, including information about system operations, indexers, and search head logs. This index provides insights necessary to diagnose many common issues. [Reference: Splunk Docs on indexes]

When monitoring directories containing mixed file types, the sourcetype should typically be overridden in props.conf rather than defined in inputs.conf. This is because sourcetype is meant to classify the type of data being ingested, and when dealing with mixed file types, setting a single sourcetype in inputs.conf would not be effective for accurate data classification. Instead, you can use props.conf to define rules that apply different sourcetypes based on the file path, file name patterns, or other criteria. This allows for more granular and accurate assignment of sourcetypes, ensuring the data is properly parsed and indexed according to its type.

Splunk Cloud Reference: For further clarification, refer to Splunk's official documentation on configuring inputs and props, especially the sections discussing monitoring directories and configuring sourcetypes.

Source:

Splunk Docs: Monitor files and directories

Splunk Docs: Configure event line breaking and input settings with props.conf

The recommended approach for setting the host values based on their origin when files from multiple systems are stored on a centralized log server is to use the host_segment setting. This setting allows you to dynamically set the host value based on a specific segment of the file path, which can be particularly useful when organizing logs from different servers into directories.

Splunk Documentation Reference: Inputs.conf - host_segment