CCNA Getting Data IN And Forwarder Management Questions

Filtering before indexing requires the parsing phase on the Heavy Forwarder, where `props.conf` triggers a transform and `transforms.conf` defines the regex-based `DEST_KEY` or nullQueue action. This satisfies the stem's constraint that sensitive data never reaches the Indexer, since filtering happens in the ingestion pipeline rather than at search time.

Heavy Forwarders run the full Splunk parsing pipeline, including index-time transformations, field extraction and line breaking, before forwarding. Universal Forwarders only collect and send raw data, leaving parsing to the indexer, which is the exclusive capability here.

Editing inputs.conf directly on the Universal Forwarder is a supported configuration method, satisfying the requirement for valid input configuration. The forwarder reads stanzas such as [monitor://] and [splunktcp://] from this file at startup, so manual edits persist across restarts without requiring a deployment server or Microsoft Entra ID integration.

`splunk list monitor` queries the Splunk instance directly and returns every path currently tracked by monitor stanzas, satisfying the need to confirm whether the file is registered. Unlike filesystem checks, it reflects the running configuration, so an untracked path appears absent even when the file exists on disk.

autoLBFrequency sets how often a forwarder re-evaluates its indexer list and redistributes events across the pool, directly controlling the load-balancing interval. Without it, balancing occurs only at startup, so this setting satisfies the requirement for periodic redistribution.

Splunk-to-Splunk (S2S) is the proprietary protocol Universal Forwarders use by default to send data to indexers, operating over TCP port 9997. It carries raw events plus metadata and handles acknowledgement and compression, unlike syslog or HTTP Event Collector, which serve different ingestion paths.

Setting the deploymentServer attribute in deploymentclient.conf tells the forwarder to contact the specified Deployment Server for configuration updates. This enables centralized management, allowing the administrator to push apps and configurations to many forwarders without manual intervention. The forwarder will periodically poll the Deployment Server for changes.

The Universal Forwarder's own splunkd.log records connection failures, parsing errors and output pipeline issues before any data leaves the host. Since the indexer shows no incoming traffic, the fault lies on the forwarder side, so checking $SPLUNK_HOME/var/log/splunk/splunkd.log first isolates whether the forwarder is failing to connect or failing to read its inputs.

The forwarder's deploymentclient.conf holds the targetUri setting, which specifies the Deployment Server's address and management port. Without this stanza, the forwarder never phones home, so the administrator's server-class and app deployment policies cannot reach it. This file satisfies the stem's requirement for establishing Deployment Server communication.

A Universal Forwarder contacts the Deployment Server over TCP port 8089; if a firewall blocks that path, the forwarder never checks in and appears as 'missing'. Ping success does not prove the management port is open, so connectivity is the most common cause.

The 'reload deploy-server' command forces the Deployment Server to push new configurations to clients.

outputs.conf defines multiple target groups, each pointing to a separate indexer cluster, while transforms.conf uses a routing rule to select the target group per sourcetype. This combination satisfies the requirement to route data to two clusters based on sourcetype.

The Deployment Server centrally distributes configuration files and apps to forwarders through server classes, satisfying the requirement for managing many distributed instances from one point. It pushes updated configurations to clients via phone-home, rather than relying on manual edits per host, which is precisely the centralised management role described.

The script stanza uses the script:// scheme with the script path, and interval = 60 schedules execution every 60 seconds. This satisfies the requirement to poll the script output once per minute, with Splunk indexing each run's stdout.

`$SPLUNK_HOME/etc/system/local` holds locally authored configuration that overrides defaults, satisfying the need to locate admin-created settings on a Splunk instance. Splunk merges this directory at highest precedence within the system layer, so custom `inputs.conf`, `outputs.conf` and `server.conf` changes made directly on the host reside here.

Heavy Forwarders run the full Splunk parsing pipeline, so they can inspect event content and apply transforms.conf routing rules to direct data by field or sourcetype. This content-based routing capability distinguishes them from Universal Forwarders, which forward raw data only.

The 'splunk list forward-server' command displays the indexers that the forwarder is configured to send data to. If it shows no active forwarders, it indicates that the forwarder has no indexer targets defined, which is typically due to a missing or incorrect outputs.conf. This file specifies the indexer addresses and settings.

When two different inputs read the same file, each input processes the data independently and sends it to the indexer, resulting in duplicate events. In this scenario, the file monitor input and the scripted input are both configured to read the same file, so every event is ingested twice. This is a common misconfiguration when administrators add a scripted input without disabling the existing file monitor. The solution is to remove one of the inputs or ensure they target different data sources.

This file on the Deployment Server defines server classes and maps them to deployment clients using filters such as host, IP, or DNS name. It is the correct location to specify which forwarders receive a particular app. The administrator would create a server class, add the app to it, and set the appropriate whitelist or blacklist to target the subset of forwarders.

Editing `log-local.cfg` on the Universal Forwarder sets per-component logging levels, satisfying the requirement to change one component's verbosity without affecting others. Splunk merges this file over `log.cfg`, so your stanza, such as `[component_name]` with `loglevel = DEBUG`, overrides defaults and persists across upgrades.

Heavy Forwarders run the full Splunk Enterprise instance, enabling index-time parsing, field extraction and routing before data leaves the host. Universal Forwarders only forward raw data, leaving parsing to the indexers. This satisfies the requirement for parsing at the collection point, reducing indexer load and enabling selective forwarding.

This stanza configures the forwarder to monitor the Windows Security event log. It is one of the required inputs to collect Event Log data. The stanza specifies the event log channel to monitor, and additional settings like disabled = 0 enable it. This satisfies the requirement to monitor Windows Event Logs.

Setting followTail=1 makes the monitor input skip existing file content and read only data appended after the input starts. This satisfies the requirement to ingest only new data, unlike default behaviour which reads from the beginning.

The whitelist ensures only .log files are monitored. The ignoreOlderThan setting tells the forwarder to skip files whose modification time is older than 7 days. This directly meets both requirements: filtering by extension and age. This is the correct and efficient configuration.

Duplicate serverName values cause Splunk to treat both Universal Forwarders as one logical source, so their internal metrics are aggregated under a single identity. This corrupts per-forwarder reporting and monitoring, since the licence and health data merge rather than remaining distinct.

Listing multiple indexers in the server attribute and enabling autoLB = true allows the forwarder to distribute data across all listed indexers. If one indexer becomes unavailable, the forwarder will attempt to send to the remaining ones. This provides both load balancing and failover. The forwarder uses a round-robin algorithm based on the number of events or bytes, depending on the autoLBFrequency setting.

On connection, the deployment server evaluates the forwarder against configured server classes, matching by hostname, IP or DNS. That mapping determines which app bundles the client is entitled to receive, satisfying the server-class matching step.

outputs.conf is the correct file to configure SSL for data forwarding. Within a [tcpout] stanza, you can set clientCert and sslCertPath to point to the certificate, and enable SSL by setting sslVerifyServerCert and other related parameters. This file controls how the forwarder sends data to indexers, including encryption settings. Thus, it is the appropriate place to specify SSL certificates and enable SSL.

This is correct because the Deployment Server identifies forwarders by their 'serverName' (which defaults to the hostname). If the serverName is different from the actual hostname, and the serverclass.conf filters are based on hostname, the forwarders will not match the serverclass and thus will not receive the app. The serverName is used as the client name in the deployment process. Therefore, mismatched serverName can cause deployment failures.

The Universal Forwarder is a lightweight Splunk agent that reads local files via inputs.conf and forwards raw data with minimal resource use. It satisfies the stem's efficiency constraint for monitoring a local Windows text file and sending data to an indexer.

This is the correct approach. In transforms.conf, you define a transform that sets the _TCP_ROUTING field to the name of a tcpout group based on a condition (e.g., sourcetype=cisco:asa). In props.conf, you reference that transform. Then in outputs.conf, you define the tcpout groups with their respective indexers. The Heavy Forwarder will then route events accordingly. This allows conditional routing based on event metadata.

The `index` attribute belongs in `inputs.conf`, which governs data collection on the Universal Forwarder. Defining it there satisfies the stem's requirement that the forwarder itself selects the correct target index, rather than relying on `outputs.conf` (which only routes to receivers) or server-side `props.conf` and `transforms.conf`.

The forwarder uses outputs.conf to define the target indexer's host and port, directing where parsed data is sent. Without this file, the forwarder defaults to no output destination, so events never leave the host. It satisfies the requirement that data reaches the Indexer, complementing inputs.conf, which handles collection.

Whitelist and blacklist entries in serverclass.conf restrict app deployment to named forwarder hosts or IPs, so only matching clients receive the app. This satisfies the requirement to filter which forwarders receive the app, rather than controlling what the app contains.

The 'splunk reload deploy-server' CLI command forces the Deployment Server to re-read all serverclass.conf and app configurations, immediately making new or modified deployment apps available to forwarders. Without it, the Deployment Server only refreshes on its configured reload interval (default 60 seconds for client polling or on restart). This is the documented method for administrators to push changes on demand.

The Universal Forwarder service runs under the Local System account by default, which cannot access network resources that require domain authentication. Changing the service logon account to a domain user with appropriate permissions allows the forwarder to authenticate to the network share and read the files.

The `deploymentServer` attribute specifies the URI of the deployment server the client contacts, satisfying the requirement to identify which server delivers its apps and configuration. Without this target address, the client cannot poll for content, so `deploymentclient.conf` must define it for the deployment mechanism to function.

outputs.conf is used to configure forwarding destinations and SSL settings. It contains stanzas like [tcpout] and [tcpout:groupname] where you can specify server, sslCertPath, sslPassword, sslVerifyServerCert, and sslRootCAPath. This is the correct file to enable SSL/TLS and provide certificate paths for secure communication with indexers.

Scripts referenced by scripted inputs must live in an app's bin directory so Splunk resolves the relative path and runs them with the correct environment. Storing it under $SPLUNK_HOME/etc/apps/my_app/bin/ satisfies the Universal Forwarder's requirement that the script be packaged within an app.

Network bandwidth limits directly constrain how quickly a Universal Forwarder can transmit indexed data to the indexer, making throughput the bottleneck when links saturate or latency is high. Insufficient bandwidth causes buffering and queue build-up, delaying event delivery and reducing effective forwarding performance under heavy load.

Running `$SPLUNK_HOME/bin/splunk restart` invokes the forwarder's own CLI, which stops and starts the splunkd process under the account that owns the installation. This satisfies the Linux Universal Forwarder scenario without requiring systemd or init.d privileges, and it works identically across supported distributions.