SAML is an open standard for exchanging authentication and authorization data between parties, especially between an identity provider and a service provider1. SAML supports multi-factor authentication by allowing the identity provider to require the user to present two or more factors of evidence to prove their identity2. For example, the user may need to enter a password and a one-time code sent to their phone, or scan their fingerprint and face.

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 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

--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

https://docs.splunk.com/Documentation/Splunk/latest/Forwarding/Protectagainstlossofin-flightdata#:~:text=The%20default%20for%20the%20maxQueueSize,wait%20queue%20size%20is%2021MB .

https://docs.splunk.com/Documentation/Splunk/latest/Forwarding/Protectagainstlossofin-flightdata

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

The fastest way to add data to your Splunk Cloud instance or Splunk Enterprise deployment is to use Splunk Web. After you access the Add Data page, choose one of three options for getting data into your Splunk platform deployment with Splunk Web: (1) Upload, (2) Monitor, (3) Forward The Upload option lets you upload a file or archive of files for indexing. When you choose Upload option, Splunk Web opens the upload process page. Monitor. For Splunk Enterprise installations, the Monitor option lets you monitor one or more files, directories, network streams, scripts, Event Logs (on Windows hosts only), performance metrics, or any other type of machine data that the Splunk Enterprise instance has access to.

https://docs.splunk.com/Documentation /Splunk/8.1.1/DistSearch/Forwardsearchheaddata

Per the provided Splunk reference URL by @hwangho, scroll to section Forward search head data, subsection titled, 2. Configure the search head as a forwarder. "Create an outputs.conf file on the search head that configures the search head for load-balanced forwarding across the set of search peers (indexers)."

homePath = $SPLUNK_DB/hatchdb/db

coldPath = $SPLUNK_DB/hatchdb/colddb

thawedPath = $SPLUNK_DB/hatchdb/thaweddb

https://docs.splunk.com/Documentation/Splunk/latest/Admin/Indexesconf

https://docs.splunk.com/Documentation/Splunk/7.3.1/Admin/Indexesconf#PER_INDEX_OPTIONS

 Indexers, search head, deployment server, license master, universal forwarder. This is the combination of Splunk component instances that are needed to handle the volume of data from collecting log files from 50 Linux servers and 200 Windows servers, following the best practices. The roles and functions of these components are:

Indexers: These are the Splunk instances that index the data and make it searchable. They also perform some data processing, such as timestamp extraction, line breaking, and field extraction. Multiple indexers can be clustered together to provide high availability, data replication, and load balancing.

Search head: This is the Splunk instance that coordinates the search across the indexers and merges the results from them. It also provides the user interface for searching, reporting, and dashboarding. A search head can also be clustered with other search heads to provide high availability, scalability, and load balancing.

Deployment server: This is the Splunk instance that manages the configuration and app deployment for the universal forwarders. It allows the administrator to centrally control the inputs.conf, outputs.conf, and other configuration files for the forwarders, as well as distribute apps and updates to them.

License master: This is the Splunk instance that manages the licensing for the entire Splunk deployment. It tracks the license usage of all the Splunk instances and enforces the license limits and violations. It also allows the administrator to add, remove, or change licenses.

Universal forwarder: These are the lightweight Splunk instances that collect data from various sources and forward it to the indexers or other forwarders. They do not index or parse the data, but only perform minimal processing, such as compression and encryption. They are installed on the Linux and Windows servers that generate the log files.

The correct answer is D. Place both props . conf and transforms . conf on the Heavy Forwarder for source A, and place both props . conf and transforms . conf on the indexer for source B.

According to the Splunk documentation1, to mask sensitive data from raw events, you need to use the SEDCMD attribute in the props.conf file and the REGEX attribute in the transforms.conf file. The SEDCMD attribute applies a sed expression to the raw data before indexing, while the REGEX attribute defines a regular expression to match the data to be masked. You need to place these files on the Splunk instance that parses the data, which is usually the indexer or the heavy forwarder2. The universal forwarder does not parse the data, so it does not need these files.

For source A, the data is routed through a heavy forwarder, which can parse the data before sending it to the indexer. Therefore, you need to place both props.conf and transforms.conf on the heavy forwarder for source A, so that the masking takes place before indexing.

For source B, the data is routed directly to the indexer, which parses and indexes the data. Therefore, you need to place both props.conf and transforms.conf on the indexer for source B, so that the masking takes place before indexing.

References: 1: Redact data from events - Splunk Documentation 2: Where do I configure my Splunk settings? - Splunk Documentation

REGEX =

* Enter a regular expression to operate on your data.

FORMAT =

* NOTE: This option is valid for both index-time and search-time field extraction. Index-time field extraction configuration require the FORMAT settings. The FORMAT settings is optional for search-time field extraction configurations.

* This setting specifies the format of the event, including any field names or values you want to add.

DEST_KEY =

* NOTE: This setting is only valid for index-time field extractions.

* Specifies where SPLUNK software stores the expanded FORMAT results in accordance with the REGEX match.

Using the Splunk reference URL https://docs.splunk.com/Splexicon:Searchpeer

"search peer is a splunk platform instance that responds to search requests from a search head. The term "search peer" is usally synonymous with the indexer role in a distributed search topology. However, other instance types also have access to indexed data, particularly internal diagnostic data, and thus function as search peers when they respond to search requests for that data."

The correct answer is C. On Deployment Server, $SPLUNK_HOME/etc/deployment-apps.

A deployment server is a Splunk Enterprise instance that acts as a centralized configuration manager for any number of other instances, called “deployment clients”. A deployment client can be a universal forwarder, a non-clustered indexer, or a search head1.

A deployment app is a directory that contains any content that you want to download to a set of deployment clients. The content can include a Splunk Enterprise app, a set of Splunk Enterprise configurations, or other content, such as scripts, images, and supporting files2.

You create a deployment app by creating a directory for it on the deployment server. The default location is $SPLUNK_HOME/etc/deployment-apps, but this is configurable through the repositoryLocation attribute in serverclass.conf. Underneath this location, each app must have its own subdirectory. The name of the subdirectory serves as the app name in the forwarder management interface2.

The other options are incorrect because:

A. On Universal Forwarder, $SPLUNK_HOME/etc/apps. This is the location where the deployment app resides after it is downloaded from the deployment server to the universal forwarder. It is not the location of the app before it is deployed2.

B. On Deployment Server, $SPLUNK_HOME/etc/apps. This is the location where the apps that are specific to the deployment server itself reside. It is not the location where the deployment apps for the clients are stored2.

D. On Universal Forwarder, $SPLUNK_HOME/etc/deployment-apps. This is not a valid location for any app on a universal forwarder. The universal forwarder does not act as a deployment server and does not store deployment apps3.

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.

https://docs.splunk.com/Documentation/Splunk/latest/Data/Whitelistorblacklistspecificincomingdata#Include_or_exclude_specific_incoming_data

Set the stanza to have a server value equal to a comma-separated list of IP addresses and indexer ports for each of the indexers in the environment. This is explained in the Splunk documentation1, which states:

To enable automatic load balancing, set the stanza to have a server value equal to a comma-separated list of IP addresses and indexer ports for each of the indexers in the environment. For example:

[tcpout] server=10.1.1.1:9997,10.1.1.2:9997,10.1.1.3:9997

The forwarder then distributes data across all of the indexers in the list.

The correct answer is D. No, because the event time is greater than the retention time.

According to the Splunk documentation1, the frozenTimePeriodInSecs setting in indexes.conf determines how long Splunk software retains indexed data before deleting it or archiving it to a remote storage. The default value is 188697600 seconds, which is equivalent to six years. The setting can be overridden on a per-index basis.

In this case, the cat_facts index has a frozenTimePeriodInSecs setting of 2630000 seconds, which is equivalent to about 30 days. This means that any event that is older than 30 days from the current time will be removed from the index and will not be searchable.

The event timestamp was 3739283 seconds ago, which is equivalent to about 43 days. This means that the event is older than the retention time of the cat_facts index and will not be searchable.

The other settings in the stanza, such as maxHotSpanSecs and maxTota1DataSizeMB, do not affect the retention time of the events. They only affect the size and duration of the buckets that store the events.

References: 1: Set a retirement and archiving policy - Splunk Documentation

Begin generating internal Splunk logs. Immediately after installation, a Universal Forwarder will start generating internal Splunk logs that contain information about its own operation, such as startup and shutdown events, configuration changes, data ingestion, and forwarding activities1. These logs are stored in the $SPLUNK_HOME/var/log/splunk directory on the Universal Forwarder machine2.

 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]

https://docs.splunk.com/Documentation/Splunk/latest/Admin/Outputsconf

# Compression

#

# This example sends compressed events to the remote indexer.

# NOTE: Compression can be enabled TCP or SSL outputs only.

# The receiver input port should also have compression enabled.

[tcpout]

server = splunkServer.example.com:4433

compressed = true

"Where to place the scripts for scripted inputs. The script that you refer to in $SCRIPT can reside in only one of the following places on the host file system:

$SPLUNK_HOME/etc/system/bin

$SPLUNK_HOME/etc/apps//bin

$SPLUNK_HOME/bin/scripts

As a best practice, put your script in the bin/ directory that is nearest to the inputs.conf file that calls your script on the host file system."

https://docs.splunk.com/Documentation/Splunk/8.0.3/Admin/Distdeploylicenses#Clustered_deployments_and_licensing_issues

https://docs.splunk.com/Documentation/Splunk/8.0.5/Forwarding/Forwarddatatothird-partysystemsd

"You can specify a SEDCMD configuration in props.conf to address data that contains characters that the third-party server cannot process. "

https://docs.splunk.com/Documentation/Splunk/7.3.1/DistSearch/Howuserscancontroldistributedsearches

"From the user standpoint, specifying and running a distributed search is essentially the same as running any other search. Behind the scenes, the search head distributes the query to its search peers, and consolidates the results when presenting them to the user."

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!"}'

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

"The HTTP Event Collector (HEC) lets you send data and application events to a Splunk deployment over the HTTP and Secure HTTP (HTTPS) protocols. HEC uses a token-based authentication model. You can generate a token and then configure a logging library or HTTP client with the token to send data to HEC in a specific format. This process eliminates the need for a Splunk forwarder when you send application events."

https://docs.splunk.com/Documentation/Splunk/7.3.0/Data/Specifyinputpathswithwildcards

The ellipsis wildcard searches recursively through directories and any number of levels of subdirectories to find matches.

If you specify a folder separator (for example, //var/log/.../file), it does not match the first folder level, only subfolders.

* The asterisk wildcard matches anything in that specific folder path segment.

Unlike ..., * does not recurse through subfolders.

https://www.splunk.com/en_u s/blog/tips-and-tricks/what-is-this-fishbucket-thing.html

"Every Splunk instance has a fishbucket index, except the lightest of hand-tuned lightweight forwarders, and if you index a lot of files it can get quite large. As any other index, you can change the retention policy to control the size via indexes.conf"

Reference https://community.splunk.com/t5/Archive/How-to-reindex-data-from-a-forwarder/td-p/93310

https://docs.splunk.com/Documentation/Splunk/8.1.1/Knowledge/Configureadvancedextractionswithfieldtransforms

use transformations with props.conf and transforms.conf to:

– Mask or delete raw data as it is being indexed

–Override sourcetype or host based upon event values

– Route events to specific indexes based on event content

– Prevent unwanted events from being indexed

https://docs.splunk.com/Documentation/Splunk/latest/Admin/Howtoeditaconfigurationfile#Clear%20a%20setting

"You can group your search peers to facilitate searching on a subset of them. Groups of search peers are known as "distributed search groups." You specify distributed search groups in the distsearch.conf file"

The CLI command "Splunk add forward-server indexer:" is used to define the indexer and the listening port on forwards. The command creates this kind of entry "[tcpout-server://:]" in the outputs.conf file.

https://docs.splunk.com/Documentation/Forwarder/8.2.2/Forwarder/Configureforwardingwithoutputs.conf

A Splunk Enterprise trial license gives you access to all the features of Splunk Enterprise for a limited period of time, usually 60 days1. After the trial period expires, you can either purchase a Splunk Enterprise license or switch to a Free license1.

A Splunk Enterprise Free license allows you to index up to 500 MB of data per day, but some features are disabled, such as authentication, distributed search, and alerting2. You can switch to a Free license at any time during the trial period or after the trial period expires1.

A Splunk Enterprise Forwarder license is used with forwarders, which are Splunk instances that forward data to other Splunk instances. A Forwarder license does not allow indexing or searching of data3. You can install a Forwarder license on any Splunk instance that you want to use as a forwarder4.

A Splunk Enterprise commercial end-user license is a license that you purchase from Splunk based on either data volume or infrastructure. This license gives you access to all the features of Splunk Enterprise within a defined limit of indexed data per day (volume-based license) or vCPU count (infrastructure license). You can purchase and install this license after the trial period expires or at any time during the trial period1.

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 represents the event data portion of the request

The deployer is a Splunk Enterprise instance that you use to distribute apps and certain other configuration updates to search head cluster members. The set of updates that the deployer distributes is called the configuration bundle. https://docs.splunk. com/Documentation/Splunk/8.1.3/DistSearch/PropagateSHCconfigurationchanges#:~:text=The%20deployer%20is%20a%20Splunk,is%20called%20the%20configuration%20bundle.

https://docs.splunk.com/Documentation/Splunk/8.0.5/Updating/Updateconfigurations

First line says it all: "The deployment server distributes deployment apps to clients."

The inputs.conf file is used to configure inputs, distributed inputs such as forwarders, and file system monitoring in Splunk1.

The [script://myscript.sh] stanza specifies a script input, which means that Splunk runs the script and indexes its output1.

The interval setting determines how often Splunk runs the script. If the interval is set to 0, the script runs only once when Splunk starts up1. If the interval is omitted, the script runs at the default interval of 60 seconds2.

Therefore, option C is correct, and the other options are incorrect.

 The eval command is a distributable streaming command, which means that it can run on the search peers in a distributed environment1. The search peers are the indexers that store the data and perform the initial steps of the search processing2. The eval command calculates an expression and puts the resulting value into a search results field1. In your search, you are using the eval command to create a new field called “responsible_team” based on the values in the “account” field.

https://docs.splunk.com/Documentation/Splunk/8.0.1/Troubleshooting/Usebtooltotroubleshootconfigurations

"The btool command simulates the merging process using the on-disk conf files and creates a report showing the merged settings."

"The report does not necessarily represent what's loaded in memory. If a conf file change is made that requires a service restart, the btool report shows the change even though that change isn't active."