Splunk Enterprise Certified Admin Practice Test

What would be a suitable use case for Scripted Inputs?

1. Monitoring the size of log files at regular intervals

2. Collecting system metrics from a monitoring script

3. Sending alerts based on time intervals

4. Aggregating data from multiple static sources

The correct answer is: Collecting system metrics from a monitoring script

Scripted Inputs in Splunk are designed for situations where you want to collect and ingest data that is generated dynamically or through custom scripts. This makes collecting system metrics from a monitoring script a prime use case. For instance, an administrator could write a script that gathers various system metrics such as CPU usage, memory consumption, or disk space. The script could run at specified intervals and send the collected data to Splunk for indexing and analysis. This dynamic data ingestion allows for real-time monitoring and alerting based on the system's health and performance metrics, making it essential in maintaining optimal operations. In contrast, the other choices either don't align with the capabilities of Scripted Inputs or suggest use cases better suited for other data collection methods in Splunk. Monitoring log file sizes might be better addressed with file monitoring techniques, sending alerts based on time intervals typically involves alert actions rather than data input mechanisms, and aggregating data from multiple static sources points more towards configuration of data inputs rather than scripting custom collection methods.