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

The configuration files that must be modified to connect to an Active Directory LDAP provider are authentication.conf and ldap.conf. The authentication.conf file is used to specify the authentication method and settings for Splunk. The ldap.conf file is used to define the LDAP strategies and servers for Splunk. By editing these files, the customer can configure Splunk to use Active Directory as the external authentication provider, and map the LDAP groups and attributes to Splunk roles and capabilities. Therefore, the correct answer is B. authentication.conf, ldap.conf. References:

Splunk Core Certified Consultant Test Blueprint

Splunk Documentation: Configure Splunk to use LDAP and Active Directory

Splunk Documentation: About authentication.conf

Splunk Documentation: About ldap.conf

The default push mode for a search head cluster deployer app configuration bundle is full. This means that the deployer pushes the entire app configuration bundle to the search head cluster members, overwriting any existing app configurations on the members. The full push mode ensures that the app configurations are consistent and synchronized across the cluster. The other push modes are merge_to_default, default_only, and local_only, which have different effects on how the app configurations are merged or overwritten on the cluster members. Therefore, the correct answer is A. full. References:

Splunk Core Certified Consultant Test Blueprint

Splunk Documentation: Deploy apps to a search head cluster

Splunk Documentation: Push configuration bundle

 Network latency is the time it takes for data to travel from one point to another, and storage IOPS is the number of input/output operations per second. These factors can affect the performance of the migration and should be taken into account when planning and executing the migration.

The CLI commands that you have shown in the image are used to adjust the maximum load that a peer node can handle during bucket replication and rebuilding. These settings can affect the performance and efficiency of an index cluster migration to new hardware. Therefore, some of the factors that you should consider when running these commands are:

Data ingestion rate: The higher the data ingestion rate, the more buckets will be created and need to be replicated or rebuilt across the cluster. This will increase the load on the peer nodes and the network bandwidth. You might want to lower the max_peer_build_load and max_peer_rep_load settings to avoid overloading the cluster during migration.

Network latency and storage IOPS: The network latency and storage IOPS are measures of how fast the data can be transferred and stored between the peer nodes. The lower these values are, the longer it will take for the cluster to replicate or rebuild buckets. You might want to increase the max_peer_build_load and max_peer_rep_load settings to speed up the migration process, but not too high that it causes errors or timeouts.

Distance and location: The distance and location of the peer nodes can also affect the network latency and bandwidth. If the peer nodes are located in different geographic regions or data centers, the data transfer might be slower and more expensive than if they are in the same location. You might want to consider using site replication factor and site search factor settings to optimize the cluster for multisite deployment.

SSL data encryption: If you enable SSL data encryption for your cluster, it will add an extra layer of security for your data, but it will also consume more CPU resources and network bandwidth. This might slow down the data transfer and increase the load on the peer nodes. You might want to balance the trade-off between security and performance when using SSL data encryption.

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

The data retention controls that must be configured to ensure that at least one year of logs are retained for both Windows and Firewall events are maxTotalDataSizeMB and frozenTimePeriodInSecs. These settings are defined in the indexes.conf file, which specifies the index settings and data retention policies for Splunk. The maxTotalDataSizeMB setting determines the maximum size of an index, in megabytes. When the index reaches this size, the oldest data is frozen (deleted or archived). The frozenTimePeriodInSecs setting determines the maximum age of the data in an index, in seconds. When the data exceeds this age, it is frozen. Therefore, by setting these values appropriately for the Windows and Firewall indexes, the customer can ensure that at least one year of logs are retained. References:

Splunk Core Certified Consultant Test Blueprint

Splunk Documentation: Set up multiple indexes

Splunk Documentation: Configure index size and data retention

 The correct method to migrate the indexers from an old set of hardware to a new set of indexers is option C. This method ensures that the new indexers are added to the same site as the old indexers, and that the replication factor is increased by one to instruct the cluster to start replicating data to the new peers. This way, the cluster can maintain data availability and integrity during the migration process. After allowing enough time for the cluster master to fix and migrate buckets to the new hardware, the old indexers can be removed from the cluster master’s list. References:

https://docs.splunk.com/Documentation/Splunk/9.1.1/Indexer/Migrateindexerstodifferenthardware 4

https://docs.splunk.com/Documentation/Splunk/9.1.1/Indexer/Migratetomultisite 5

A heavy forwarder (HF) would be a more appropriate choice than a universal forwarder (UF) when a predictable version of Python is required. This is because the HF includes a bundled version of Python that can be used to run scripts or custom commands, whereas the UF does not include Python and relies on the system version. This can cause compatibility issues or unexpected results if the system version of Python is different from the one expected by the script or command. Therefore, using an HF can ensure that the script or command runs consistently and reliably with the same version of Python. References:

[Splunk Certification Exam Study Guide], page 13

[Splunk Documentation: About forwarding and receiving data]

[Splunk Documentation: About Splunk Enterprise forwarders]

The troubleshooting resource that would provide insight into why the secure logs are not being ingested by regex whitelisting is tailingprocessor. The tailingprocessor is a Splunk Enterprise component that monitors files and directories for new data. It also applies filtering rules based on props.conf settings, such as whitelist and blacklist. By using the btool command with the tailingprocessor option, you can see how Splunk Enterprise evaluates the filtering rules for a given file or directory. Therefore, the correct answer is D, tailingprocessor. References :=

Use btool to troubleshoot configurations

Configure event processing

Monitor files and directories with inputs.conf

The steps to ensure that the Monitoring Console (MC) is aware of the additional indexers are to use the MC setup UI, review and apply the changes. The MC setup UI is a graphical interface that allows you to configure and manage the MC instance and its data sources. When new indexers are added to an indexer cluster, the MC setup UI can detect them automatically and prompt you to review and apply the changes. This will update the MC data sources and enable the MC to monitor the new indexers. References:

https://docs.splunk.com/Documentation/Splunk/9.1.1/DMC/ConfiguretheMonitoringConsole

https://docs.splunk.com/Documentation/Splunk/9.1.1/DMC/Addinstances

The bloomfilter resides in the directory of each bucket that has one. The directory name is composed of the earliest and latest timestamps of the events in the bucket, as well as the bucket ID. For example, $SPLUNK_HOME/var/lib/splunk/indexfoo/db/db_1553504858_1553504507_8 is a possible directory name for a bucket. The bloomfilter is a file named bloomfilter in this directory. Therefore, the correct answer is A, $SPLUNK_HOME/var/lib/splunk/indexfoo/db/db_1553504858_1553504507_8. References :=

Splexicon:Bloomfilter

Indexer cluster configuration overview

The most appropriate method to deploy the LDAP configuration to the search head cluster is to configure the integration in a base configuration app located in shcluster-apps directory on the search head deployer, then deploy the configuration to the search heads using the splunk apply shcluster-bundle command. This method ensures that the LDAP settings are distributed to all cluster members in a consistent and efficient way, and that the configuration bundle is validated before deployment. The base configuration app is a special app that contains settings that apply to all cluster members, such as authentication.conf and authorize.conf. The search head deployer is a Splunk Enterprise instance that manages the configuration bundle for the search head cluster and pushes it to the cluster members. References:

https://docs.splunk.com/Documentation/Splunk/9.1.1/DistSearch/PropagateSHCconfigurationchanges

https://docs.splunk.com/Documentation/Splunk/9.1.1/DistSearch/SHCconfigurationoverview

https://docs.splunk.com/Documentation/Splunk/9.1.1/DistSearch/SHCconfigurationapp