SPLK-1002 Splunk Core Certified Power User Exam Questions and Answers

An event type in Splunk is defined by a search string that returns a specific set of events. The search string index=games sourcetype=score player=* score>9999 is valid because it filters events based on specific criteria directly within the main search command. This search will find all events in the games index with a sourcetype of score, where the player field exists, and the score is greater than 9999. This specificity and direct filtering make it suitable for defining an event type.

Event types are custom categories of events that are based on search criteria. Event types can be used to label events with meaningful names, such as error, success, login, logout, etc. Event types can also be used to create transactions, alerts, reports, dashboards, etc. Event types can be created in two ways:

By going to the Settings menu and clicking Event Types > New. This will open a form where you can enter the name, description, search string, app context, and tags for the event type.

By selecting an event in search results and clicking Event Actions > Build Event Type. This will open a dialog box where you can enter the name and description for the event type. The search string will be automatically populated based on the selected event.

Event types cannot be created by using the searchtypes command in the search bar, as this command does not exist in Splunk. Event types can also be created by editing the event_type stanza in the transforms.conf file, not the props.conf file.

A field alias is a way to assign an alternative name to an existing field without changing the original field name or value2. You can use field aliases to make your field names more consistent or descriptive across different sources or sourcetypes2. When you run a search without any transforming commands in Smart Mode, Splunk automatically identifies and displays interesting fields in your results2. Interesting fields are fields that appear in at least 20 percent of events or have high variability among values2. If you have created a field alias based on an original field, both the original field name and the alias name will appear in the Interesting Fields list if they meet these criteria2. However, only one of them will appear in each event depending on which one you have specified in your search string2. Therefore, option B is correct, while options A, C and D are incorrect.

https://docs.splunk.com/Documentation/Splunk/8.1.0/SearchReference/ConversionFunctions#tostring.28X.2CY.29

The tostring function in the eval command converts a numeric value to a string value. It can take an optional second argument that specifies the format of the string value. Some of the possible formats are:

hex: converts the numeric value to a hexadecimal string.

commas: adds commas to separate thousands in the numeric value.

duration: converts the numeric value to a human-readable duration string, such as “2h 3m 4s”.

Therefore, the formats A, B, and D can be used with the tostring function.

As mentioned before, there are two types of workflow actions: GET and POST1. Both types of workflow actions can be executed from search results by clicking on an event field value that has a workflow action configured for it1. Another type of workflow action is Search, which runs another search based on the field value1. Therefore, options A, B and D are correct, while option C is incorrect because LOOKUP is not a type of workflow action.

The Splunk Common Information Model (CIM) add-on is a Splunk app that contains data models to help you normalize data from different sources and formats. The CIM add-on defines a common and consistent way of naming and categorizing fields and events in Splunk. This makes it easier to correlate and analyze data across different domains, such as network, security, web, etc. The CIM add-on does not use machine learning to normalize data, but rather relies on predefined field names and values. The CIM add-on does not contain dashboards that show how to map data, but rather provides documentation and examples on how to use the data models. The CIM add-on is not automatically installed in a Splunk environment, but rather needs to be downloaded and installed from Splunkbase.

The Field Extractor (FX) is a tool that helps you extract fields from your events using a graphical interface2. You can create a report using a custom field extracted by the FX and share it with other users in your organization2. However, if another user runs the shared report and no results are returned, there could be two possible reasons. One reason is that the extraction is private, which means that only you can see and use the extracted field2. To make the extraction available to other users, you need to make it global or app-level2. Therefore, option C is correct. Another reason is that the other user does not have access to the index where the events are stored2. To fix this issue, you need to grant the appropriate permissions to the other user for the index2. Therefore, option D is correct. Options A and B are incorrect because they are not related to the field extraction or the report.

The transaction command is used to group events into transactions based on some common characteristics, such as fields, time, or both. The transaction command can also specify start and end constraints for the transactions, such as a field value that indicates the beginning or the end of a transaction. The stats command is used to calculate summary statistics on the events, such as count, sum, average, etc. The stats command cannot group events based on start and end constraints, but only on fields or time buckets. Therefore, the transaction command should be used instead of the stats command when you need to group events based on start and end constraints.

The Splunk Common Information Model (CIM) add-on is a collection of pre-built data models and knowledge objects that help you normalize your data from different sources and make it easier to analyze and report on it3. The CIM add-on includes pre-configured data models that cover various domains such as Alerts, Email, Database, Network Traffic, Web and more3. Therefore, option B is correct. The CIM add-on also includes fields and event category tags that define the common attributes and labels for the data models3. Therefore, option C is correct. The CIM add-on does not include custom visualizations or automatic data model acceleration. Therefore, options A and D are incorrect.

Selected fields are fields that you choose to display in your search results by clicking on them in the Fields sidebar or by using the fields command2. Selected fields are displayed below each event in the search results, along with their values2. Therefore, option A is correct, while options B, C and D are incorrect because they are not places where selected fields are displayed.

Search workflow actions are custom actions that run a search when you click on a field value in your search results. Search workflow actions can be configured with various options, such as label name, search string, time range, app context, etc. One of the options is to define the time range of the search when creating the workflow action. You can choose from predefined time ranges, such as Last 24 hours, Last 7 days, etc., or specify a custom time range using relative or absolute time modifiers. Search workflow actions do not run as real-time searches by default, but rather use the same time range as the original search unless specified otherwise. Search workflow actions cannot be configured as scheduled searches, as they are only triggered by userinteraction. Search workflow actions can be configured with any valid search string that includes any search command, such as transaction.

The relationship between data models and pivots is that data models provide the datasets for pivots. Data models are collections of datasets that represent your data in a structured and hierarchical way. Data models define how your data is organized into objects and fields. Pivots are user interfaces that allow you to create data visualizations that present different aspects of a data model. Pivots let you select options from menus and forms to create charts, tables, maps, etc., without writing any SPL code. Pivots use datasets from data models as their source of data. Pivots and data models are not the same thing, as pivots are tools for visualizing data models. Pivots do not provide datasets for data models, but rather use them as inputs.

Therefore, only statement A is true about the relationship between data models and pivots.

The timechart command is used to create a time-series chart of statistical values based on your search results2. You can use the timechart command with a by clause to split the results by one or more fields and create multiple series in the chart2. However, you can only list one field after the by clause when using the timechart command because _time is already implied as the x-axis of the chart2. Therefore, option B is correct, while options A, C and D are incorrect.

The Field Extractor (FX) allows you to use regular expressions (regex) to extract fields from your events using a graphical interface or by manually editing the regex2. When you use the FX to perform a regex field extraction, you can use the require option to specify a string that must be present in an event for it to be included in the extraction2. This way, you can filter out events that do not contain the required string and focus on the events that are relevant for your extraction2. Therefore, option D is correct, while options A, B and C are incorrect.

The transaction command is a search command that creates a single event from a group of events that share some common characteristics. The transaction command can group events based on fields, time, or both. The transaction command can also create some additional fields for each transaction, such as duration, eventcount, startime, etc. The transaction command does not group a set of transactions based on time, but rather groups a set of events into a transaction based on time. The transaction command does not separate two events based on one or more values, but rather joins multiple events based on one or more values. The transaction command does not return the number of credit card transactions found in the event logs, but rather creates transactions from the events that match the search criteria.

This search uses the transaction command to group events that share a common value for JSESSIONID into transactions1. The transaction command assigns a duration field to each transaction, which is the difference between the latest and earliest timestamps of the events in the transaction1. The search then uses the timechart command to create a time-series chart of the average duration of each transaction1. Therefore, option A is correct because it describes the search accurately. Option B is incorrect because the search does not use the stats command or the pause field. Option C is incorrect because the transaction command does not require the startswith and endswith options, although they can be used to specify how to identify the beginning and end of a transaction1. Option D is incorrect because the transaction command does not have to be the last command in the search pipeline, although it is often used near the end of a search1.

POST workflow actions are custom actions that send a POST request to a web server when you click on a field value in your search results. POST workflow actions can be configured with various options, such as label name, base URL, URI parameters, post arguments, app context, etc. One of the options that are required to create a POST workflow action is post arguments. Post arguments are key-value pairs that are sent in the body of the POST request to provide additional information to the web server. Post arguments can include field values from your data by using dollar signs around the field names.

The Splunk Common Information Model (CIM) add-on helps you normalize your data from different sources and make it easier to analyze and report on it3. One of the functionalities that the CIM add-on relies on to normalize fields with different names is field aliases3. Field aliases allow you to assign an alternative name to an existing field without changing the original field name or value2. By using field aliases, you can map different field names from different sources or sourcetypes to a common field name that conforms to the CIM standard3. Therefore, option B is correct, while options A, C and D are incorrect.

The type of workflow action that sends field values to an external resource (e.g. a ticketing system) is POST. A POST workflow action allows you to send a POST request to a URI location with field values or static values as arguments. For example, you can use a POST workflow action to create a ticket in an external system with information from an event.

 The following search would create a graph similar to the one below:

index_internal sourcetype=Savesplunker | fields sourcetype, status | transaction status maxspan=1d | timechart count by status

The search does the following:

It uses index_internal to specify the internal index that contains Splunk logs and metrics.

It uses sourcetype=Savesplunker to filter events by the sourcetype that indicates the Splunk Enterprise Security app.

It uses fields sourcetype, status to keep only the sourcetype and status fields in the events.

It uses transaction status maxspan=1d to group events into transactions based on the status field with a maximum time span of one day between the first and last events in a transaction.

It uses timechart count by status to create a time-based chart that shows the count of transactions for each status value over time.

The graph shows the following:

It is a line graph with two lines, one yellow and one blue.

The x-axis is labeled with dates from Wed, Apr 4, 2018 to Tue, Apr 10, 2018.

The y-axis is labeled with numbers from 0 to 15.

The yellow line represents “shipped” and the blue line represents “success”.

The yellow line has a steady increase from 0 to 15, while the blue line has a sharp increase from 0 to 5, then a decrease to 0, and then a sharp increase to 10.

The graph is titled “Type”.

Therefore, option C is the correct answer.

The eval command supports a number of functions that you can use in your expressions to perform calculations, conversions, string manipulations and more2. One of the eval command functions is tostring(), which converts a numeric value to a string value2. Therefore, option D is correct, while options A, B and C are incorrect because they are not valid eval command functions.

Tags are a type of knowledge object that enable you to assign descriptive keywords to events based on the values of their fields. Tags can help you to search more efficiently for groups of event data that share common characteristics, such as functionality, location, priority, etc. For example, you can tag all the IP addresses of your routers as router, and then search for tag=router to find all the events related to your routers. Tags can also help you to normalize data from different sources by using the same tag name for equivalent field values. For example, you can tag the field values error, fail, and critical as severity=high, and then search for severity=high to find all the events with high severity level2

1: Splunk Core Certified Power User Track, page 10. 2: Splunk Documentation, About tags and aliases.

The eval command is a Splunk command that allows you to create or modify fields using expressions .

The if function is an expression that evaluates a condition and returns a value based on whether the condition is true or false. The syntax of the if function is if(X,Y,Z), where X is the condition, Y is the value to return if X is true, and Z is the value to return if X is false.

The isnotnull function is an expression that returns true if the argument is not null, and false otherwise. The syntax of the isnotnull function is isnotnull(X), where X is the argument to check.

Therefore, the expression if (isnotnull (src), src, host) returns the value of src if it is not null, and the value of host otherwise. This means that it will provide a new value for host from src if it exists, and keep the original value of host otherwise.

The tag=Priv* search will return events containing a tag named Privileged, as well as any other tag that starts with Priv. The asterisk (*) is a wildcard character that matches zero or more characters. The other searches will not match the exact tag name.

When using multiple expressions in a single eval command in Splunk, the delimiter used is a comma (,). This allows for the execution of multiple operations within a single eval statement, separating each operation clearly.

The correct answer is A. Field alias123.

In Splunk, a field alias is a knowledge object that you can use to assign an alternate name to a field3. This can be particularly useful when you want to normalize your data to comply with the Splunk Common Information Model (CIM)12.

The CIM provides a methodology for normalizing values to a common field name1. It acts as a search-time schema to define relationships in the event data while leaving the raw machine data intact2. By using field aliases, you can map vendor fields to common fields that are the same for each data source in a given domain4. This allows you to correlate events from different source types by normalizing these different occurrences to a common structure and naming convention1.

The correct format for naming a macro with multiple arguments is monthly_sales3. The square brackets indicate that the macro has arguments, and the number indicates how many arguments it has. The arguments are separated by commas when calling the macro, such as monthly_sales[region,salesperson,date].

Using the export function, you can export search results as XML or JSON2. The export function allows you to save your search results in a structured format that can be used by other applications or tools2. You can use the output_mode parameter to specify whether you want to export your results as XML or JSON2. Therefore, options A and B are correct, while options C and D are incorrect because they are not formats that you can export your search results as.

The correct answer is B. Delimiters. This is because the delimiters method is designed for structured event data, such as data from files with headers, where all of the fields in the events are separated by a common delimiter, such as a comma or space. You can select a sample event, identify the delimiter, and then rename the fields that the field extractor finds. You can learn more about the delimiters method from the Splunk documentation1. The other options are incorrect because they are not suitable for comma-separated data. The regular expression methodworks best with unstructured event data, where you select and highlight one or more fields to extract from a sample event, and the field extractor generates a regular expression that matches similar events and extracts the fields from them. The eval expression is a command that lets you calculate new fields or modify existing fields using arithmetic, string, and logical operations. The table extraction is a feature that lets you extract tabular data from PDF files or web pages. You can learn more about these methods from the Splunk documentation23 .

Data model acceleration is a feature that speeds up searches on data models by creating and storing summaries of the data model datasets1. To enable data model acceleration, you must have administrative permissions or the accelerate_datamodel capability1. Therefore, option D is correct. Accelerated data models cannot be edited unless you disable the acceleration first1. Therefore, option B is correct. Private data models cannot be accelerated because they are not visible to other users1. Therefore, option C is correct. Root events can be accelerated as long as they are not based on a search string1. Therefore, option A is incorrect.

Event types allow users to assign labels to events based on predefined search strings. This helps categorize data and makes it easier to reference specific sets of events in future searches.

Tags are a type of knowledge object that enable you to assign descriptive keywords to events. Tags can reference any of the following knowledge objects: extracted fields, field aliases, calculated fields, lookups, and event types. Tags cannot reference other tags or search macros. Tags are applied to events at search time based on the values of the fields that they reference2

1: Splunk Core Certified Power User Track, page 10. 2: Splunk Documentation, About tags and aliases.

The correct answer is D. An argument can be passed to the inner macro by nesting parentheses.

A search macro is a way to reuse a piece of SPL code in different searches. A search macro can take arguments, which are variables that can be replaced by different values when the macro is called. A search macro can also contain another search macro within it, which is called a nested macro. A nested macro can also take arguments, which can be passed from the outer macro or directly from the search string.

To pass an argument to the inner macro, you need to use parentheses to enclose the argument value and separate it from the outer macro argument. For example, if you have a search macronamed outer_macro (1) that contains another search macro named inner_macro (2), and both macros take one argument each, you can pass an argument to the inner macro by using the following syntax:

outer_macro (argument1, inner_macro (argument2))

This will replace the argument1 and argument2 with the values you provide in the search string. For example, if you want to pass “foo” as the argument1 and “bar” as the argument2, you can write:

outer_macro ("foo", inner_macro ("bar"))

This will expand the macros with the corresponding arguments and run the SPL code contained in them.

This search will run the third_party_outages macro and pass the arguments EMEA and -24h to the macro definition. A search macro is a reusable chunk of SPL that can be inserted into other searches. A search macro can take arguments that are used to resolve the search string at execution time. The syntax for using a search macro is macro_name (argument1, argument2, ...).ReferencesSee Use search macros in searches and Search macro examples in the Splunk Documentation.

When creating an event type in Splunk, subsearches are allowed in the search string. Subsearches enable users to perform a secondary search whose results are used as input for the main search. This functionality is useful for more complex event type definitions that require additional filtering or criteria based on another search.

A calculated field in Splunk is created using an eval expression, which allows users to perform calculations or transformations on field values during search time.

A report that is scheduled to run every 15 minutes but takes 17 minutes to complete is in danger of being skipped or deferred2. This means that Splunk may skip some scheduled runs of the report if they overlap with previous runs that are still in progress or defer them until the previous runs are finished2. This can affect the accuracy and timeliness of the report results and notifications2. Therefore, option A is correct, while options B, C and D are incorrect because they are not consequences of a report taking longer than its schedule interval.

The correct answer is D. eval.

A calculated field is a field that is added to events at search time by using an eval expression. A calculated field can use the values of two or more fields that are already present in the events to perform calculations. A calculated field can be defined with Splunk Web or in the props.conf file. They can be used in searches, reports, dashboards, and data models like any other extracted field1.

A calculated field is a shortcut for performing repetitive, long, or complex transformations using the eval command. The eval command is used to create or modify fields by using expressions. The eval command can perform mathematical, string, date and time, comparison, logical, and other operations on fields or values2.

For example, if you want to create a new field named total that is the sum of two fields named price and tax, you can use the eval command as follows:

| eval total=price+tax

However, if you want to use this new field in multiple searches, reports, or dashboards, you can create a calculated field instead of writing the eval command every time. To create a calculated field with Splunk Web, you need to go to Settings > Fields > Calculated Fields and enter the name of the new field (total), the name of the sourcetype (sales), and the eval expression (price+tax). This will create a calculated field named total that will be added to all events with the sourcetype sales at search time. You can then use the total field like any other extracted field without writing the eval expression1.

The other options are not correct because they are not related to calculated fields. These options are:

A. transaction: This command is used to group events that share some common values into a single record, called a transaction. A transaction can span multiple events and multiple sources, and can be useful for correlating events that are related but not contiguous3.

B. lookup: This command is used to enrich events with additional fields from an external source, such as a CSV file or a database. A lookup can add fields to events based on the values of existing fields, such as host, source, sourcetype, or any other extracted field.

C. stats: This command is used to calculate summary statistics on the fields in the search results, such as count, sum, average, etc. It can be used to group and aggregate data by one or more fields.

When you mouse over and click to add a search term from the Fields sidebar or from an event in your search results, Splunk automatically adds the term to your search string with an implied AND operator2. However, this does not apply to some Boolean operators such as OR, NOT and parentheses (). These operators are not implied when you add a search term and you have to typethem manually if you want to use them in your search string2. Therefore, options A, B and D are correct, while option C is incorrect because AND is implied when you add a search term.

Stacked charts represent a series in a single bar with multiple sections. A chart is a graphical representation of data that shows trends, patterns, or comparisons. A chart can have different types, such as column, bar, line, area, pie, etc. A chart can also have different modes, such as split-series, multi-series, stacked, etc. A stacked chart is a type of chart that shows multiple series in a single bar or area with different sections for each series

The timechart command in Splunk requires the _time field to be present in the dataset because it uses time as the primary axis for charting data. The _time field represents the time of events and is essential for commands that generate visualizations based on time, such as timechart. This command groups the events into time intervals and performs statistical functions on those time intervals. Without the _time field, the timechart command will not function properly.

The building block of a data model. Each data model is composed of one or more data model datasets. Each dataset within a data model defines a subset of the dataset represented by the data model as a whole.

Data model datasets have a hierarchical relationship with each other, meaning they have parent-child relationships. Data models can contain multiple dataset hierarchies. There are three types of dataset hierarchies: event, search, and transaction.

https://docs.splunk.com/Splexicon:Datamodeldataset

Highlighted search terms indicate matching search results in Splunk, which means that they show which parts of your events match your search string2. For example, if you search for error OR fail, Splunk will highlight error or fail in your events to show which events match your search string2. Therefore, option D is correct, while options A, B and C are incorrect because they are not indicated by highlighted search terms.

The correct answer is C. By enclosing the macro name in backtick characters (`).

A macro is a way to reuse a piece of SPL code in different searches. A macro can take arguments, which are variables that can be replaced by different values when the macro is called. A macro can also contain another macro within it, which is called a nested macro1.

To reference a macro in a search, you need to enclose the macro name in backtick characters (). For example, if you have a macro named my_macro` that takes one argument, you can reference it in a search by using the following syntax:

| my_macro(argument) | ...

This will replace the macro name and argument with the SPL code contained in the macro definition. For example, if the macro definition is:

[my_macro(argument)] search sourcetype=$argument$

And you reference it in a search with:

index=main | my_macro(web) | stats count by host

This will expand the macro and run the following SPL code:

index=main | search sourcetype=web | stats count by host

When you define a calculated field, you can specify the name of the field that the eval expression will create or modify. If the name of the calculated field matches the name of an existing extracted field, the calculated field will override the extracted field and replace its value with the result of the eval expression. This means that the original value of the extracted field will not be available for searching or analysis. To avoid this, you should use a unique name for your calculated field or use a different name for your extracted field2

1: Splunk Core Certified Power User Track, page 9. 2: Splunk Documentation, Configure calculated fields with props.conf.

The search below would limit an “alert” tag to the “host” field.

tag::host=alert

The search does the following:

It uses tag syntax to filter events by tags. Tags are custom labels that can be applied to fields or field values to provide additional context or meaning for your data.

It specifies tag::host=alert as the tag filter. This means that it will only return events that have an “alert” tag applied to their host field or host field value.

It uses an equal sign (=) to indicate an exact match between the tag and the field or field value.

The correct answer is A. When a log file has values that are separated by the same character, for example, commas.

The Field Extractor (FX) is a utility in Splunk Web that allows you to create new fields from your events by using either regular expressions or delimiters. The FX provides a graphical interface that guides you through the steps of defining and testing your field extractions1.

The FX supports two field extraction methods: regular expression and delimited. The regular expression method works best with unstructured event data, such as logs or messages, that do not have a consistent format or structure. You select a sample event and highlight one or more fields to extract from that event, and the FX generates a regular expression that matches similar events in your data set and extracts the fields from them1.

The delimited method is designed for structured event data: data from files with headers, where all of the fields in the events are separated by a common delimiter, such as a comma, a tab, or a space. You select a sample event, identify the delimiter, and then rename the fields that the FX finds1.

Therefore, you would select the delimited field extraction method when you have a log file that has values that are separated by the same character, for example, commas. This method will allow you to easily extract the fields based on the delimiter without writing complex regular expressions.

The other options are not correct because they are not suitable for the delimited field extraction method. These options are:

B. When a log file contains empty lines or comments: This option does not indicate that the log file has a structured format or a common delimiter. The delimited method might not work well with this type of data, as it might miss some fields or include some unwanted values.

C. With structured files such as JSON or XML: This option does not require the delimited method, as Splunk can automatically extract fields from JSON or XML files by using indexed extractions or search-time extractions2. The delimited method might not work well with this type of data, as it might not recognize the nested structure or the special characters.

D. When the file has a header that might provide information about its structure or format: This option does not indicate that the file has a common delimiter between the fields. The delimited method might not work well with this type of data, as it might not be able to identify the fields based on the header information.

Data model attributes are fields that are added to a dataset from search time field extractions, calculated fields, lookups, or aliases. They can be created within the data model editor or inherited from a parent dataset. They can be edited or removed unless they are required by the data model. They can be added to any type of dataset, not just root search datasets.ReferencesSee About data models, [Define data model attributes], and [Edit data model datasets] in the Splunk Documentation.

The correct answer is C. _time.

The timechart command creates a time series chart with corresponding table of statistics, with time used as the X-axis1. You can specify a split-by field, where each distinct value of the split-by field becomes a series in the chart1. In this case, the split-by field is action, which means that the chart will have different lines for different actions, such as accept, reject, or fail2. The count function will calculate the number of events for each action in each time bin1.

For example, the following image shows a timechart of the count by action for a similar search3:

As you can see, the x-axis is populated by the _time field, which represents the time range of the search. The y-axis is populated by the count function, which represents the number of events for each action. The legend shows the different values of the action field, which are used to split the chart into different series.

The search modes determine how Splunk processes your search and displays your results2. There are three search modes: Fast, Smart and Verbose2. The search mode that automatically returns all extracted fields in the fields sidebar is Verbose2. The Verbose mode shows all the fields that are extracted from your events, including default fields, indexed fields and search-time extractedfields2. The fields sidebar is a panel that shows the fields that are present in your search results2. Therefore, option C is correct, while options A and B are incorrect because they are not search modes that automatically return all extracted fields in the fields sidebar.

In Splunk, the NOT operator is used to exclude events from your search results. The search index=network NOT StatusCode=200 will return all events in the ‘network’ index where the StatusCode is not 200. This includes events where the StatusCode field is present and has a value other than 200, as well as events where the StatusCode field is not present at all.