SPLK-1003 License Management — 20 Questions

Question 1

Which command is used to check the current license status from the Splunk CLI?

Accepted Answer

splunk show licenser-status. The 'splunk show licenser-status' command provides the current state of the license.

Answer

splunk list license

Answer

splunk get license-info

Answer

splunk status

Question 2

An administrator has configured a License Pool and assigned specific indexers to it. However, the indexers are still consuming from the 'default' pool. What is the most likely cause?

Accepted Answer

The license_pool attribute in server.conf was not mapped correctly to the License Master.. The license pool configuration requires the indexers to be explicitly configured to point to the License Master, and the License Master must be aware of the specific pool assignment for those slaves.

Answer

License pools only apply to search heads.

Answer

The indexers have not been restarted.

Answer

The indexers are using a trial license.

Question 3

A customer wants to split their 1TB license into two 500GB pools for different departments. How is this achieved?

Accepted Answer

By creating two license pools on the License Master.. License pools are defined on the License Master and are limited by quotas per pool.

Answer

By using different license keys on indexers.

Answer

By creating two separate License Masters.

Answer

By modifying the license file directly.

Question 4

When a Splunk license violation occurs, how long does the warning period last before search is blocked?

Accepted Answer

14 days. The warning period for a license violation is typically 14 days, allowing the admin to resolve the overage.

Answer

30 days

Answer

3 days

Answer

7 days

Question 5

A Splunk administrator observes that the license master is reporting an 'indexer-slave' mismatch. Which configuration file should the admin check on the license slave?

Accepted Answer

server.conf. The slave's connection to the master is defined in the [license] stanza of server.conf.

Answer

outputs.conf

Answer

inputs.conf

Answer

indexes.conf

Question 6

A company is migrating from an Enterprise license to a Free license. What is the most significant functional impact on their Splunk deployment?

Accepted Answer

Authentication and roles are disabled.. The Free license disables authentication, meaning all users are logged in as admin by default.

Answer

Distributed search is enabled by default.

Answer

The maximum daily indexing volume is increased.

Answer

Data retention is extended to 90 days.

Question 7

What happens to Splunk search capabilities when the license limit is reached for the first time in a 30-day period?

Accepted Answer

Search continues to function.. A violation occurs, but search is not blocked on the first occurrence within a rolling 30-day window.

Answer

Data indexing is halted.

Answer

Search is immediately disabled.

Answer

The Splunk service stops.

Question 8

A Splunk administrator needs to identify how much data is being indexed across multiple indexers to ensure they do not exceed their daily license quota. Where should the admin look first?

Accepted Answer

Settings > Licensing. The License Master view provides the centralized dashboard for daily license usage reporting.

Answer

Settings > Distributed Search

Answer

Settings > Indexer Clustering

Answer

Settings > Forwarder Management

Question 9

Where does an administrator configure the License Master URL for an indexer?

Accepted Answer

In the server.conf file.. The URL is configured in the server.conf file of the indexer (the slave).

Answer

In the license.conf file.

Answer

In the web.conf file.

Answer

In the Splunk Web UI under Licensing.

Question 10

What happens if the License Master becomes unreachable?

Accepted Answer

Indexing continues for 72 hours.. The indexers (slaves) will continue to index data for a grace period (typically 72 hours) before stopping.

Answer

Indexing continues indefinitely.

Answer

Indexing stops immediately.

Answer

Search heads stop working.

Question 11

An administrator needs to identify which indexer is responsible for a license violation. Where should they check?

Accepted Answer

The License Master's usage report.. The License Master's monitoring page displays usage per slave (indexer).

Answer

The license slave's internal logs.

Answer

The search head's search logs.

Answer

The forwarder's metrics.log.

Question 12

What is the impact of placing a forwarder in a license pool?

Accepted Answer

Forwarders cannot be part of a license pool.. Forwarders do not consume license quota; only indexers consume license. Therefore, assigning a forwarder to a pool has no effect.

Answer

It reduces the forwarder's data throughput.

Answer

The forwarder will consume the pool's quota.

Answer

It limits the amount of data the forwarder can send.

Question 13

An administrator wants to see a daily breakdown of license usage for the last 30 days. Which view is most appropriate?

Accepted Answer

Settings > Licensing > Usage Report. The 'Usage Report' within the Licensing section of Splunk Web provides this historical visualization.

Answer

Settings > Indexer Clustering

Answer

Settings > Licensing > Master

Answer

Settings > Forwarder Management

Question 14

A company is using a Trial license. How does this affect their ability to add more indexers?

Accepted Answer

They are limited to the total volume specified in the trial key.. Trial licenses have very specific volume limits and usually restrict the number of indexers or the volume they can process.

Answer

They can add unlimited indexers.

Answer

Trial licenses do not support distributed indexing.

Answer

They can only have one indexer.

Question 15

A Splunk admin wants to implement license pooling to ensure that certain indexers do not consume more than a fixed portion of the total license. What is the correct order of operations?

Accepted Answer

Define the pool on the Master, then assign slaves to the pool.. First, configure the master, then define the pool, then assign indexers (slaves) to that pool.

Answer

Assign slaves to the pool, then create the pool on the Master.

Answer

Modify server.conf on slaves, then restart the Master.

Answer

Create a separate license file for each pool.

Question 16

Why might an administrator need to use the 'splunk edit licenser-localslave' command?

Accepted Answer

To configure the local instance to be a license slave.. This command allows the local instance to be configured as a license slave if it wasn't during installation.

Answer

To reset the license violation counter.

Answer

To create a new license pool.

Answer

To delete an expired license.

Question 17

Which license type does not support license clustering?

Accepted Answer

Free License. The Free license is a standalone, single-instance license and does not support clustering or license pools.

Answer

Enterprise License

Answer

Trial License

Answer

Developer License

Question 18

What is the impact of a license warning on data indexing?

Accepted Answer

Indexing continues unaffected.. A license warning does not stop indexing, though it indicates that the volume limit is being exceeded.

Answer

Indexing is permanently disabled.

Answer

Indexing is throttled.

Answer

Indexing is paused for 24 hours.

Question 19

If a user is assigned to a role that does not have the 'license_tab' capability, what will they see in the Settings menu?

Accepted Answer

The Licensing menu item will be hidden.. The 'license_tab' capability controls visibility of the Licensing menu item in Settings.

Answer

They will be prompted for admin credentials.

Answer

They will see the menu but it will be greyed out.

Answer

They will see the menu but receive an error on click.

Question 20

Which of the following describes the purpose of a License Pool?

Accepted Answer

To distribute license quota among indexer groups.. License pools allow an administrator to allocate specific license quotas to different indexer groups.

Answer

To enable data replication across indexers.

Answer

To speed up data ingestion.

Answer

To increase the total license volume.