Pass the Splunk Splunk Core Certified Consultant SPLK-3003 Questions and answers with CertsForce

The PS preferred method for data onboarding is to use the inputs.conf file. The inputs.conf file is a configuration file that defines how Splunk Enterprise monitors files and directories, network ports, scripts, Windows event logs, and other data sources. The inputs.conf file allows for more flexibility, control, and automation than the other methods. The inputs.conf file also supports the use of base configurations, which are a set of configuration files that provide consistent, repeatable, and supportable configurations for Splunk deployments. Therefore, the correct answer is C. Use the inputs.conf file. References:

Splunk Core Certified Consultant Test Blueprint

Splunk Documentation: About inputs.conf

Splunk Documentation: About base configurations

 The Splunk Validated Architectures (SVAs) are proven reference architectures for stable, efficient and repeatable Splunk deployments. They offer topology options that consider a wide array of organizational requirements, so the customer can easily understand and find a topology that is right for their needs. The SVAs also provide design principles and best practices to help the customer build an environment that is easier to maintain and troubleshoot. The SVAs are available on the Splunk website and can be customized using the Interactive Splunk Validated Architecture (iSVA) tool.

The other options are incorrect because they do not provide the customer with a reliable and tailored resource to help them design their new architecture. Option A is too vague and does not point the customer to a specific document or section. Option B is irrelevant and does not address the customer’s architectural needs. Option C is unreliable and does not guarantee that the customer will find a suitable solution for their requirements.

 The queue that would be expected to fill up in a worst case scenario when the indexers are struggling to maintain the expected indexing rate due to inefficient regex replacement transforms is the parsing queue. The parsing queue is the queue that holds the events that are being parsed by the indexers. Parsing is the process of extracting fields, timestamps, and other metadata from the raw data. Regex replacement transforms are part of the parsing process, and they can be very CPU-intensive if they are not optimized. Therefore, if the indexers are overloaded with inefficient regex replacement transforms, the parsing queue will fill up faster than it can be emptied, and the indexing rate will suffer. Therefore, the correct answer is B. Parsing. References:

Splunk Core Certified Consultant Test Blueprint

Splunk Documentation: Splunk Enterprise queues

Splunk Documentation: About parsing

Splunk Documentation: Configure transforms for indexed field extraction

 A [script://] input sends data to a Splunk forwarder using the standard output (STDOUT) and standard error (STDERR) streams of the script. A [script://] input is a type of scripted input that runs an executable script on a Splunk forwarder and indexes the data that the script outputs to STDOUT or STDERR. The script can be written in any scripting language, such as Python, Perl, or shell, and it can perform various tasks, such as querying APIs, databases, or remote data interfaces, and formatting the data for indexing. The Splunk forwarder launches the script at a specified interval and reads the data from its STDOUT or STDERR streams.

The other options are incorrect because they are not the methods that a [script://] input uses to send data to a Splunk forwarder. Option A is incorrect because UDP stream is not a method that a [script://] input uses, but rather a method that a network input uses to receive data from UDP ports. Option B is incorrect because TCP stream is not a method that a [script://] input uses, but rather a method that a network input uses to receive data from TCP ports. Option C is incorrect because temporary file is not a method that a [script://] input uses, but rather a method that a monitor input uses to read data from files or directories. References:

Splunk Core Consultant knowledge source documents or study guide: https://www.splunk.com/en_us/resources/splunk-certification-exam-study-guide.html

Splunk Test Blueprint Consultant: https://www.splunk.com/en_us/pdfs/training/splunk-test-blueprint-consultant.pdf

Get data from APIs and other remote data interfaces through scripted inputs1

Configure scripted inputs2

 The indexer cluster is classed as ‘Indexing Ready’ when it has enough indexers to meet the replication factor. In this case, the replication factor is 2, which means that each bucket of data must have two copies across the indexers. Therefore, the cluster is ready to ingest new data after Step 6, when Indexer 2 joins the cluster and replicates the data from Indexer 1. Indexer 3 is not required for the cluster to be indexing ready, although it can provide additional redundancy and search performance. References :=

Indexer cluster configuration overview

The basics of indexer cluster architecture

The best practice for ingesting data from a network device that transmits logs directly with UDP or TCP over SSL is to use a syslog server to aggregate the data to files and use a heavy forwarder to read and transmit the data to the indexing tier. This method has several advantages, such as:

It reduces the load on the network device by sending the data to a dedicated syslog server.

It provides a reliable and secure transport of data by using TCP over SSL between the syslog server and the heavy forwarder.

It allows the heavy forwarder to parse and enrich the data before sending it to the indexing tier.

It preserves the original timestamp and host information of the data by using the syslog-ng or Splunk Connect for Syslog solutions.

Therefore, the correct answer is C, use a syslog server to aggregate the data to files and use a heavy forwarder to read and transmit the data to the indexing tier. References :=

Get data from network sources

Use Splunk Connect for Syslog

Configure event processing

A host that indexes its internal logs locally should be configured as an indexer. An indexer is a Splunk Enterprise instance that indexes data, transforming raw data into events and placing the results into an index. It also searches the indexed data in response to search requests. Indexers can index their own internal logs, such as _internal, _audit, _introspection, and _metrics, which are useful for monitoring and troubleshooting Splunk Enterprise. Indexers can also forward data to other indexers or third-party systems. References:

https://docs.splunk.com/Documentation/Splunk/9.1.1/Capacity/IntroductiontoSplunkarchitecture 1

https://docs.splunk.com/Documentation/Splunk/9.1.1/Indexer/Whatisanindexer 2

https://docs.splunk.com/Documentation/Splunk/9.1.1/Troubleshooting/Abouttheinternalindexes 3

The authorize.conf setting: srchIndexesDefault specifies the default indexes that are searched when a user does not specify an index in their search. If this setting is set to no value, then the user must specify an index in their search, otherwise they will get no results. Therefore, the correct answer is A. Set the authorize.conf setting: srchIndexesDefault to no value. References:

Splunk Core Certified Consultant Test Blueprint

Splunk Documentation: About authorize.conf

Splunk Documentation: Configure user roles with authorize.conf

To set up the HTTP Event Collector (HEC), each HEC input entry must contain a valid token. A token is a string of alphanumeric characters that acts as an identifier and an authentication code for the HEC input. You can generate a token when you create a new HEC input or use an existing token for multiple inputs. A token is required for sending data to HEC and for managing the HEC input settings. References :=

Set up and use HTTP Event Collector in Splunk Web

Configure the Splunk HTTP Event Collector for use with additional data sources

When Splunk indexes events, it extracts metadata fields such as host, source, and source type from the raw data. These fields are used to identify and categorize the events, and to enable efficient searching and filtering. Splunk also assigns a unique identifier (_cd) and a timestamp (_time) to each event. Splunk does not extract the top 10 fields, perform parsing, merging, and typing processes on universal forwarders, or create report acceleration summaries during indexing. These are separate processes that occur either before or after indexing. Therefore, the correct answer is B. Extracts metadata fields such as host, source, source type. References:

Splunk Core Certified Consultant Test Blueprint

Splunk Documentation: How Splunk Enterprise indexes data

Splunk Documentation: About default fields