SPLK-1005 Splunk Cloud Certified Admin Questions and Answers

In Splunk Cloud, configuring indexes is one of the primary responsibilities of a Splunk Cloud administrator. This task includes setting up new indexes, managing retention policies, and configuring index settings as required by the organization ' s data retention and compliance policies. Other tasks like configuring deployer, cluster master, or indexers are typically handled by Splunk Enterprise administrators, not Splunk Cloud administrators.

Splunk Documentation Reference: Splunk Cloud Administrator Guide

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

In a Splunk Cloud environment, the Data Preview feature is used to create and test new sourcetypes. This feature allows you to upload sample data, configure parsing settings, and define sourcetypes interactively without directly editing configuration files like props.conf or using the CLI.

Splunk Documentation Reference: Data Preview

Explanation : Splunk Cloud enables only a subset of REST API endpoints for customer use to ensure security and control over the environment, allowing essential functionality while maintaining a secure setup. [Reference: Splunk Docs on REST API access in Splunk Cloud]

Explanation : Any modifications in capacity or configurations within Splunk Cloud require an official support ticket, as they are managed by Splunk Cloud support teams to ensure consistent and secure changes. [Reference: Splunk Docs on Splunk Cloud support requests]

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

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

Option B is the correct approach because it properly uses a TRANSFORMS stanza in props.conf to reference the transforms.conf for removing sensitive data. The transforms stanza in transforms.conf uses a regular expression (REGEX) to locate the sensitive data (in this case, the SuperSecretNumber) and replaces it with a masked version using the FORMAT directive.

In detail:

props.conf refers to the transforms.conf stanza remove_sensitive_data by setting TRANSFORMS-cleanup = remove_sensitive_data.

transforms.conf defines the regular expression that matches the sensitive data and specifies how the sensitive data should be replaced in the FORMAT directive.

This approach ensures that sensitive information is masked before indexing without altering the structure of the log files.

Splunk Cloud Reference: For further reference, you can look at Splunk ' s documentation regarding data masking and transformation through props.conf and transforms.conf.

Source:

Splunk Docs: Anonymize data

Splunk Docs: Props.conf and Transforms.conf

The correct SEDCMD setting to mask the credit card numbers, ensuring that the masked version replaces each digit with an " x " character, is Option A.

The SEDCMD syntax works as follows:

s/ starts the substitute command.

(?cc_num=\d{7})\d{9}/ matches the specific pattern of the credit card number in the logs.

\1xxxxxxxxx replaces the matched portion with the first captured group (the first 7 digits of the cc_num), followed by 9 " x " characters to mask the remaining digits.

/g ensures that the substitution is applied globally, throughout the string.

Thus, Option A correctly implements this requirement.

Splunk Documentation Reference: SEDCMD for Masking Data

In the context of Splunk, when configuring data inputs to monitor specific directories, the correct syntax must match the directory paths accurately and adhere to the format recognized by Splunk.

Option A : [monitor:///apache/*/logs] - This syntax would attempt to monitor all directories under /apache/ that contain the word logs, which is not what the question is asking. It is incorrect for the paths given in the question.

Option B : [monitor:///apache/foo/logs, /apache/bar/logs, /apache/bar/1/logs] - This syntax correctly lists the specific paths /apache/foo/logs, /apache/bar/logs, an d /apache/bar/1/logs separately. This is the correct answer as it precisely matches the paths given in the question.

Option C : [monitor:///apache/.../logs] - The triple dots syntax (...) is used to match any subdirectories under /apache/. This would monitor all logs directories within any subdirectory structure under /apache/, which again, does not specifically match the paths given in the question.

Option D : [monitor:///apache/foo/logs, /apache/bar/logs, and /apache/bar/1/logs] - This syntax includes the word " and " , which is not valid in the Splunk monitor stanza. The syntax should list the paths separated by commas, without additional words.

Thus, Option B is the correct syntax to monitor the specified paths in Splunk.

For additional reference, you can check the official Splunk documentation on monitoring inputs which provides guidelines on how to configure monitoring of files and directories.

The correct monitor statement to retrieve only files that start with " access " in the directory /opt/log/www2/ is [monitor:///opt/log/www2/access*]. This configuration specifically targets files that begin with the name " access " and will match any such files within that directory, such as " access.log " .

Splunk Documentation Reference: Monitor files and directories

When creating a deployment app in Splunk, certain files and folders are considered essential to ensure proper configuration and operation:

app.conf (in default or local): This is required as it defines the app ' s metadata and behaviors.

local.meta: This file is important for defining access permissions for the app and is often included.

metadata folder: The metadata folder contains files like local.meta and default.meta and is typically required for defining permissions and other metadata-related settings.

props.conf: While props.conf is essential for many Splunk apps, it is not mandatory unless you need to define specific data parsing or transformation rules.

D. props.conf is the correct answer because, although it is commonly used, it is not a mandatory part of every deployment app. An app may not need data parsing configurations, and thus, props.conf might not be present in some apps.

Splunk Documentation References:

Building Splunk Apps

Deployment Apps

This confirms that props.conf is not a required part of a deployment app, making it the correct answer.

In Splunk Cloud, you can install apps via self-service, which allows you to install certain approved apps without involving Splunk Support. This self-service capability is provided for apps that have already been vetted and approved for use in the Splunk Cloud environment.

Option A typically requires support involvement because premium apps often need licensing or other special considerations.

Option B might involve the Request Install button, but some apps might still require vetting or support approval.

Option D is incorrect because apps that have not gone through the vetting process cannot be installed via self-service and would require Splunk Support for evaluation and approval.

Splunk Documentation Reference: Install apps on Splunk Cloud

In Splunk, it ' s considered best practice to create small, single-purpose deployment apps rather than large, multi-purpose ones. This approach ensures better manageability, easier updates, and clearer version control. Option D, which suggests creating large, multi-purpose deployment apps, is not a best practice.

Splunk Documentation Reference: Deployment Server Best Practices

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]

The correct monitor statement that will capture all variations of the syslog file paths across different systems is [monitor:///var/log/network/syslog*/linux_secure/*].

This configuration works because:

syslog* matches directories that start with " syslog " (like syslog01, syslog02, etc.).

The wildcard * after linux_secure/ will capture all files within that directory, including different filenames like syslog.log and syslog.log.2020090801.

This setup will ensure that all the necessary files from the different syslog hosts are monitored.

Splunk Documentation Reference: Monitor files and directories

A private app in Splunk is one that is created and used within a specific organization, and is not publicly available in the Splunkbase app store.

C. An app that is created and used only by a specific organization is the correct answer. This type of app is developed internally and used by a particular organization, often tailored to meet specific internal needs. It is not shared with other organizations and remains private within that organization’s Splunk environment.

Splunk Documentation References:

Private Apps in Splunk

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

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

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

Explanation : The default port for HTTP Event Collector (HEC) in Splunk Cloud is 8088, which is used for data ingestion via HEC. [Reference: Splunk Docs on HTTP Event Collector settings]