SPLK-3003 Sample Questions Answers

 The updated dashboard will not be available to the power user; they will see their modified version. This is because the Splunk App for AWS is a prebuilt app that is installed on the deployer and pushed to the search head cluster members. When a power user modifies a dashboard in the app on one of the search head cluster members, the changes are stored in the local directory of that member. When the app is upgraded to the latest version by following the instructions via the deployer, the changes in the default directory of the app are overwritten, but the changes in the local directory are preserved. Therefore, the power user will still see their modified version of the dashboard, while other users will see the updated version of the dashboard.

The other options are incorrect because they do not reflect what happens when a prebuilt app is upgraded in a search head cluster. Option A is incorrect because the updated dashboard will be deployed globally to all users, except for the power user who modified it. Option B is incorrect because applying the search head cluster bundle will not fail due to the conflict, as the local changes are not pushed back to the deployer. Option C is incorrect because the updated dashboard will not be available to the power user, as their local changes will take precedence over the default changes. 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
• Install a prebuilt app on a search head cluster1
• How configuration file precedence works2

 This is the minimum and least disruptive change necessary to protect the searchability of the indexer cluster in case of indexer failure, because it ensures that there are always at least two copies of each bucket in the cluster, one of which is searchable. This way, if one indexer fails, the cluster can still serve search requests from the remaining copy. Increasing the replication factor and search factor also improves the cluster’s resiliency and availability.

The other options are incorrect because they either do not protect the searchability of the cluster, or they require more changes and disruptions to the cluster. Option A is incorrect because enabling maintenance mode on the CM does not prevent excessive fix-up, but rather delays it until maintenance mode is disabled. Maintenance mode also prevents searches from running on the cluster, which defeats the purpose of protecting searchability. Option B is incorrect because leaving replication_factor=2 means that there is only one searchable copy of each bucket in the cluster, which is not enough to protect searchability in case of indexer failure. Enabling summary_replication does not help with this issue, as it only applies to summary indexes, not all indexes. Option C is incorrect because converting the cluster to multi-site requires a lot of changes and disruptions to the cluster, such as reassigning site attributes to all nodes, reconfiguring network settings, and rebalancing buckets across sites. It also does not guarantee that there will always be a searchable copy of each bucket in each site, unless the site replication factor and site search factor are set accordingly. 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 Search Job Inspector can be used to debug searches if the search has not expired. This means that the search artifact still exists on the search head and can be inspected for performance and error information. The Search Job Inspector can be accessed from the Job menu in Splunk Web, or by using the btool command with the job_inspector option. The search does not need to be running or queued to use the Search Job Inspector, as long as it has not expired. Therefore, the correct answer is A, if the search has not expired. References :=

• View search job properties
• Use btool to troubleshoot configurations

The universal forwarder (UF) can cause truncation of events greater than 64K if it does not have the proper props.conf settings. The best practice magic 6 or great 8 props.conf settings are a set of attributes that control how the UF handles event breaking, line merging, timestamp extraction, and host extraction. These settings ensure that the UF preserves the integrity of the events and does not truncate or break them incorrectly. Therefore, the correct answer is B, configure the best practice magic 6 or great 8 props.conf settings. References :=

• Configure event processing
• The magic six or great eight props.conf settings

 The difference in the Splunk2Splunk payload traffic sent between a universal forwarder (UF) and indexer compared to the payload sent between a heavy forwarder (HF) and the indexer layer is that the UF sends a stream of data containing one set of metadata fields to represent the entire stream, whereas the HF sends individual events, each with their own metadata fields attached, resulting in a larger payload. This is because the UF does not parse or index the data before forwarding it, but rather sends it as raw data in 64K TCP chunks. The metadata fields, such as host, source, sourcetype, etc., are applied to the entire stream based on the inputs.conf configuration. The HF, on the other hand, parses and indexes the data before forwarding it, which means that it breaks the data into individual events and assigns metadata fields to each event based on props.conf and transforms.conf configuration. This results in a larger payload size, but also allows for more granular control over event processing and routing. References:

• [Splunk Certification Exam Study Guide], page 14
• [Splunk Documentation: How Splunk Enterprise processes incoming data]
• [Splunk Documentation: Forwarding parsed data]

 The least expensive and easiest way to improve search performance for a multisite cluster with limited bandwidth between sites is to configure site_search_factor to ensure a searchable copy exists in the local site for each search head. This option allows the search heads to use search affinity, which means they will prefer to search the data on their local site, avoiding network traffic across sites. This option also preserves the disaster recovery benefit of multisite clustering, as each site still has a full copy of the data. Therefore, the correct answer is A, configure site_search_factor to ensure a searchable copy exists in the local site for each search head. References :=

• Multisite indexer clusters
• Configure multisite indexer clusters with the CLI
• Search affinity

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

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

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 pass4SymmKey is a security key that lets various components of Splunk Enterprise authenticate securely with one another. The pass4SymmKey for an indexer cluster is configured in the server.conf file under the [clustering] stanza. To find the pass4SymmKey of an indexer cluster, the most efficient command is C, $SPLUNK_HOME/bin/splunk btool server list clustering | grep pass4SymmKey. This command uses btool to list the effective settings for the clustering service from the server.conf file and filters the output by grep to show only the pass4SymmKey value. The other commands are either incorrect or less efficient. References :=

• Secure Splunk Enterprise services with pass4SymmKey
• Use btool to troubleshoot configurations

The Monitoring Console (MC) is a Splunk app that provides a comprehensive view of the health and performance of a Splunk environment. The MC can be configured to monitor a single instance or a distributed deployment. To monitor a distributed deployment, the MC instance needs to be configured as a search head that can run distributed searches across the other instances in the environment. Therefore, the MC instance needs to have the other search heads, the deployment server, the license master, and the cluster master/master node as distributed search peers. The MC instance does not need to have the indexers as distributed search peers, because the cluster master/master node already provides access to the indexed data in the cluster. Therefore, the correct answer is C. Search heads, deployment server, license master, cluster master/master node. References:

• Splunk Core Certified Consultant Test Blueprint
• Splunk Documentation: About the Monitoring Console
• Splunk Documentation: Configure a Monitoring Console instance
• Splunk Documentation: Add search peers

 The user who is assigned to the operations role only will have access to search the operations, network, _internal, and _audit indexes. This is because the srchIndexesAllowed setting of authorize.conf specifies the indexes that a role can search, but it does not restrict the indexes that a role inherits from other roles. The operations role inherits the user role, which by default can search the _internal and _audit indexes. The operations role also inherits the security role, which can search the network index. Therefore, the user who belongs to the operations role can search all these indexes, in addition to the operations index that is specified for the operations role. Therefore, the correct answer is A. operations, network, _internal, _audit. References:

• Splunk Core Certified Consultant Test Blueprint
• Splunk Documentation: About authorize.conf
• Splunk Documentation: Configure user roles with authorize.conf

 Base configurations are a set of configuration files that provide consistent, repeatable, and supportable configurations for Splunk deployments. Base configurations are not meant to be a one-size-fits-all solution, but rather a starting point that can be customized to meet customer requirements. Base configurations can help reduce errors, simplify maintenance, and improve performance by providing best practices and common settings for Splunk components. Therefore, the correct answer is D. To provide settings that can be customized to meet customer requirements. References:

• Splunk Core Certified Consultant Test Blueprint
• Splunk Documentation: About base configurations
• Splunk Documentation: Use base configurations

 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 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

As a best practice, the following should be used to ingest data on clustered indexers: splunktcp, splunktcp-ssl, HTTP Event Collector (HEC). These are the methods that allow data to be sent to the indexers by forwarders or other data sources, without requiring any configuration on the indexers themselves. The indexers can receive the data on specific ports and index it according to the cluster settings. These methods also support load balancing and encryption of the data. Therefore, the correct answer is D. splunktcp, splunktcp-ssl, HTTP Event Collector (HEC). References:

• Splunk Core Certified Consultant Test Blueprint
• Splunk Documentation: Forward data to an indexer cluster
• Splunk Documentation: About forwarding and receiving data

The Splunk Validated Architectures (SVAs) document provides a series of approved Splunk topologies that are designed to meet different deployment needs, such as scale, resilience, performance, and cost. The document also provides guidance on how to select the best topology for a customer’s requirements, as well as design principles and best practices to ensure a successful implementation. Therefore, the best way to use the SVAs document is to identify the customer’s requirements, provisionally choose an approved design that meets them, then consider design principles and best practices to come to an informed design decision. This approach allows the customer to find a topology that is suitable for their specific use cases and environment, while also following Splunk’s recommendations and standards. References:

• https://docs.splunk.com/Documentation/SVA/current/Architectures/Introduction4
• https://docs.splunk.com/Documentation/SVA/current/Architectures/Selectingatopology5
• https://docs.splunk.com/Documentation/SVA/current/Architectures/Designprinciplesandbestpractices

This is because the bucket freezing process in a clustered indexer is controlled by the cluster master, which ensures that all copies of the bucket are frozen at the same time. This way, the cluster master can maintain the consistency and availability of the data across the cluster, and avoid any conflicts or errors due to mismatched bucket states.

The other options are incorrect because they do not reflect what happens when a bucket rolls from cold to frozen on a clustered indexer. Option A is incorrect because all replicated copies will not be rolled to frozen, while original copies will remain. This would violate the replication factor and search factor settings of the cluster, and cause data loss or unavailability. Option B is incorrect because replicated copies of the bucket will not remain on all other indexers, and the cluster master will not assign a new primary bucket. This would create duplicate and outdated data in the cluster, and cause search inefficiency or inconsistency. Option D is incorrect because nothing will not happen, and replicated copies of the bucket will not remain on all other indexers until a local retention rule causes it to roll. This would create different retention policies for different copies of the same bucket, and cause data fragmentation or corruption. 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
• How indexer clusters handle frozen data1
• How Splunk Enterprise handles frozen data2

The correct statement is that in general, search commands that can be distributed to the search peers should occur as early as possible in a well-tuned search. This is because distributed commands can leverage the parallel processing power of the search peers, which reduces the load on the search head and improves the search performance. Distributed commands are also known as streaming commands, which operate on each event individually and can be run on remote indexes. Some examples of distributed commands are eval, fields, rename, and where. References:

• [Splunk Certification Exam Study Guide], page 25
• [Splunk Documentation: About optimizing search performance]
• [Splunk Documentation: About streaming and transforming commands]

 The Monitoring Console (MC) uses a REST endpoint to query the server and determine its role(s) based on the configuration files and processes running on the server. The MC does not rely on manual assignment, distsearch.conf, or default roles to identify the server role(s). References:

• : Splunk Documentation: Monitoring Console: Identify roles of Splunk Enterprise instances
• : Splunk Documentation: Monitoring Console: How the Monitoring Console identifies instance roles