Splunk Configuration Files

Configuration files are an integral part of Splunk Enterprise. Any configuration change that you do via Splunk Web, the CLI, or a RESTful interface will get updated to a conf file directly behind the scenes. Henceforth, whenever encountering terms such as “.conf,” “conf,” “config,” or “configuration file,” they should all be understood to refer to the same concept. There are many such conf files that exist to fulfill a specific purpose. In this chapter, you will find examples of the usage of commonly used files across Splunk components, such as the search head, indexer, and forwarder. These files can be stored in multiple places, such as in user, system, and app directories. You will learn how these files get merged in memory for processing. As you get familiar with the directory structure where the .conf files can be stored, you’ll come to understand their precedence, the order in which they...