Splunk Enterprise Certified Admin Practice Test

Which files are utilized during the parsing phase in Splunk?

1. metadata.conf and inputs.conf

2. props.conf and transforms.conf

3. outputs.conf and metrics.conf

4. inputs.conf and outputs.conf

The correct answer is: props.conf and transforms.conf

During the parsing phase in Splunk, the primary focus is on transforming and categorizing incoming data based on predefined rules. The files that play crucial roles in this phase are props.conf and transforms.conf. Props.conf is responsible for defining the source type of the incoming data, as well as various parsing options such as line breaking, timestamp extraction, and event segmentation. This configuration helps Splunk understand the structure and characteristics of the data, which is essential for accurate indexing and searching. Transforms.conf complements props.conf by allowing you to manipulate the data even further. It can be used for routing events to different indexes, performing field extractions, and even anonymizing sensitive data. This level of customization helps ensure that the data is indexed in a way that aligns with your organization's specific needs and compliance requirements. While the other configurations like metadata.conf and inputs.conf are important within the overall Splunk architecture, they do not directly influence the parsing phase. Outputs.conf and metrics.conf also serve different purposes—primarily related to data routing and performance monitoring, respectively. Thus, props.conf and transforms.conf are specifically designed to handle the parsing of data, making them the correct choices for this question.