SPLK-1003 Indexes And Data Management — Timed 15 Questions

Question 1

An administrator needs to manually move a bucket to frozen state immediately for compliance reasons. What is the best method?

Accepted Answer

Update the retention policy to 0 seconds and restart.. The best method to manually move a bucket to frozen state immediately is to update the retention policy to 0 seconds and restart Splunk. This forces the bucket to roll to frozen based on the retention policy, which is a supported and safe method.

Answer

Delete the bucket folder from the OS.

Answer

Rename the bucket folder to start with 'frozen'.

Answer

Use the 'splunk edit index' command.

Question 2

You need to ensure that Data Models are accelerated. Where are the acceleration summaries stored?

Accepted Answer

Within the index itself in a sub-directory.. Data Model acceleration summaries are stored within the index itself in a sub-directory, specifically in the 'datamodel' directory under the index's bucket structure. This allows the summaries to be managed alongside the index data and replicated across indexers in a cluster.

Answer

In the system/bin directory.

Answer

On the Search Head in a separate index.

Answer

In the Splunk KV Store.

Question 3

An administrator needs to move an existing index's raw data to a new storage location without losing searchability. What is the recommended approach?

Accepted Answer

Update homePath and coldPath in indexes.conf to the new volume paths.. The correct approach is to update the homePath and coldPath settings in indexes.conf to point to the new volume paths. This tells Splunk where to find the existing bucket data, preserving searchability because the index metadata and bucket structure remain intact. Splunk will then use the new location for future data and continue to serve searches from the moved buckets. This is the documented method for relocating index data without data loss or reindexing.

Answer

Rename the index directory in the OS.

Answer

Delete and recreate the index with the new path.

Answer

Use the 'splunk revert' command.

Question 4

A bucket in the 'warm' state is currently locked. What process is likely happening?

Accepted Answer

The bucket is being rolled.. A bucket in the 'warm' state that is locked is likely undergoing a roll to 'cold' or being optimized. The lock prevents other processes from modifying the bucket during this transition. Rolling is a common operation that moves buckets between states based on age or size policies.

Answer

The bucket is being searched.

Answer

The bucket is being indexed.

Answer

The bucket is undergoing a summary rebuild.

Question 5

Which configuration file is used to define volume-based storage?

Accepted Answer

volumes.conf. volumes.conf is the specific configuration file for defining volume paths and their size limits.

Answer

server.conf

Answer

indexes.conf

Answer

inputs.conf

Question 6

You need to modify the retention of a specific index without affecting others. Where should you make this change in a distributed environment?

Accepted Answer

On the Indexer via the Deployment Server.. Index retention is controlled by the 'frozenTimePeriodInSecs' setting in indexes.conf, which must be configured on the indexers where the index physically resides. In a distributed environment, the correct way to push this configuration to indexers is via the Deployment Server (or a cluster manager for indexer clusters). The Search Head and License Master do not control index retention.

Answer

In the local.meta file.

Answer

In the web UI on the License Master.

Answer

On the Search Head.

Question 7

Which TWO settings are required to enable cold-to-frozen archiving?

Accepted Answer

coldToFrozenDir. In MongoDB's WiredTiger storage engine, cold-to-frozen archiving is enabled by setting the storage.wiredTiger.engineConfig.coldToFrozenDir option (C), which specifies the directory where the storage engine moves data files that are no longer needed by the running instance, and by setting the storage.wiredTiger.engineConfig.coldToFrozenScript option (E), which specifies the script that WiredTiger runs to move those files to the frozen directory. Both settings are required together: coldToFrozenDir defines the destination for archived files, while coldToFrozenScript defines the mechanism that performs the migration, so neither alone enables the feature. The other options do not belong: frozenPath and maxFrozenSize are not WiredTiger engineConfig parameters for this feature, and enableArchive is not a valid MongoDB configuration setting for cold-to-frozen archiving.

Answer

frozenPath

Answer

maxFrozenSize

Answer

enableArchive = true

Question 8

Which TWO actions should be taken before manually moving an index to a new storage volume?

Accepted Answer

Verify the file system permissions of the new path.. Before manually moving an index to a new storage volume, you must verify the file system permissions of the new path (B) so that the Splunk service account (e.g., the splunk user) has the correct read/write/execute access to the destination directory; otherwise the indexer cannot read or write the bucket files after the move. You must also stop the Splunk service on the indexer (D) to ensure no processes are actively reading from or writing to the index while its files are being relocated, preventing data corruption or inconsistent bucket states. Modifying indexes.conf (A) is not required for a manual move because the index's homePath/coldPath already point to the location being relocated, and changing paths is a separate configuration task. Clearing the license master cache (C) is unrelated to index file relocation and has no bearing on moving index buckets. Deleting the existing index (E) is incorrect and destructive, since the goal is to preserve and relocate the index data, not remove it.

Answer

Modify the indexes.conf file.

Answer

Clear the license master cache.

Answer

Delete the existing index.

Question 9

Which THREE pieces of information can be obtained using the 'splunk fsck' command?

Accepted Answer

Time range of events in a bucket.. Option B is correct because 'splunk fsck' reports bucket metadata, including the time range (earliest and latest timestamps) of events stored in each bucket. Option D is correct because the primary purpose of 'splunk fsck' is to check and report the integrity status of index buckets, identifying any corruption or inconsistencies. Option E is correct because 'splunk fsck' output includes the event count within each bucket as part of its bucket inspection. Option A is not correct because the current user's role is unrelated to bucket filesystem checking and is obtained via authentication or authorization commands, not 'splunk fsck'. Option C is not correct because network latency to the indexer is a connectivity/performance metric, not something 'splunk fsck' measures or reports.

Answer

The current user's role.

Answer

Network latency to the indexer.

Question 10

Which THREE items are included in a bucket's directory?

Accepted Answer

tsidx files. In a Splunk index bucket directory, the tsidx files (option B) are the time-series index files that store the keyword-to-event mappings enabling fast searches, so they are a core component of every bucket. The rawdata (option D) is the journal/compressed file holding the actual indexed events, which is also always present in a bucket. The bucket.meta (option E) is the metadata file that records the bucket's state and properties (such as its ID, checksum, and whether it is hot, warm, cold, or frozen), making it a required part of the bucket directory. Options A (config.json) and C (license.key) are not bucket contents: config.json is not a standard Splunk bucket file, and license.key is a licensing file stored elsewhere in the Splunk installation, not inside an index bucket.

Answer

config.json

Answer

license.key

Question 11

Which TWO methods can be used to monitor the disk usage of an index?

Accepted Answer

Settings > Data > Indexes page.. Option A is correct because the Settings > Data > Indexes page in Splunk Web displays each index's current size and other storage details, providing a direct GUI method to monitor disk usage of an index. Option D is correct because the CLI command 'splunk list indexes' outputs index metadata including current size (and related usage figures), allowing administrators to monitor disk usage from the command line. Option B is incorrect because searching the _audit index returns audit events about user activity, not disk usage metrics. Option C is incorrect because license_usage.log tracks indexed license volume per index/sourcetype, not on-disk storage consumption. Option E is incorrect because web.conf configures Splunk Web settings, not index disk usage.

Answer

Running a search on _audit.

Answer

Viewing the license_usage.log.

Answer

Checking the web.conf file.

Question 12

Which THREE features are associated with Indexer Clustering?

Accepted Answer

Cluster Master.. Indexer clustering in Splunk is built around a Cluster Master (A), which coordinates the cluster, manages the replication and search factors, and tells peers which buckets to replicate and search. Search affinity (B) is a clustering feature that routes searches to indexers holding the relevant replicated buckets, reducing search overhead across peers. Bucket replication (E) is the core mechanism of indexer clustering, where the replication factor determines how many copies of each bucket are maintained across peer nodes for data availability and resilience. The unmarked options do not belong: data model encryption (C) is not an indexer clustering feature, and universal forwarder load balancing (D) is a forwarding/parsing concern handled by forwarders and indexers, not by indexer clustering itself.

Answer

Data model encryption.

Answer

Universal forwarder load balancing.

Question 13

A Splunk administrator is configuring an index to retain data for exactly 90 days. The indexer cluster has a replication factor of 3 and a search factor of 2. Which TWO settings in indexes.conf control the retention period for this index? (Choose two.)

Accepted Answer

maxTotalDataSizeMB. Retention for an index is controlled by two settings in indexes.conf: frozenTimePeriodInSecs for time-based retention and maxTotalDataSizeMB for size-based retention. These settings determine when buckets are frozen and removed from the index. Other settings like coldToFrozenDir only specify archiving location, and maxDataSize affects bucket rolling, not retention.

Answer

maxDataSize

Answer

coldToFrozenDir

Answer

retentionPeriodDays

Question 14

A Splunk administrator is troubleshooting an indexer that is not receiving data for a specific index. The index is configured with a volume that has maxVolumeDataSizeMB set to 500000. The volume's current size is 499000 MB. The administrator notices that new data is being rejected. What is the most likely cause?

Accepted Answer

The volume's maxVolumeDataSizeMB limit has been reached, so Splunk is preventing new data from being indexed into that volume.. The volume's maxVolumeDataSizeMB setting defines the maximum total size of all indexes within that volume. When the volume reaches this limit, Splunk stops indexing new data into any index on that volume to prevent exceeding the limit. The administrator must either increase the limit or reduce the volume's size by adjusting retention policies or moving indexes.

Answer

The index's frozenTimePeriodInSecs has been exceeded, so buckets are being frozen and new data cannot be written.

Answer

The volume has reached its maximum size, and Splunk is deleting the oldest buckets to make room, causing data loss.

Answer

The indexer's disk is full, so Splunk has entered a read-only mode for all indexes.

Question 15

An administrator is troubleshooting why data from a specific index is not being replicated across an indexer cluster. The index is configured with a replication factor of 2 and a search factor of 2. What should be checked first?

Accepted Answer

Verify that the index is enabled on all peer nodes.. Replication requires the index to be present and enabled on all peer nodes. If the index is missing or disabled on any peer, buckets cannot be replicated to that peer, causing replication failures. Other factors like search head configuration or frozen status are not directly related to replication. Thus, verifying index enablement across peers is the correct first check.

Answer

Check the replication factor setting in indexes.conf.

Answer

Confirm that the index is not set to frozen.

Answer

Ensure the search head is configured to search the index.