SPLK-1002 Splunk Core Certified Power User Exam Questions and Answers

The transaction command allows you to correlate events across multiple sources. The transaction command is a search command that allows you to group events into transactions based on some common characteristics, such as fields, time, or both. A transaction is a group of events that share one or more fields that relate them to each other. A transaction can span across multiple sources or sourcetypes that have different formats or structures of data. The transaction command can help you correlate events across multiple sources by using the common fields as the basis for grouping. The transaction command can also create some additional fields for each transaction, such as duration, eventcount, startime, etc.

When using multiple expressions in a single eval command in Splunk, the delimiter used is a comma (,). This allows for the execution of multiple operations within a single eval statement, separating each operation clearly.

References:

Splunk Docs: Eval command

Splunk Answers: Multiple expressions in eval

 The following search would create a graph similar to the one below:

index_internal sourcetype=Savesplunker | fields sourcetype, status | transaction status maxspan=1d | timechart count by status

The search does the following:

It uses index_internal to specify the internal index that contains Splunk logs and metrics.

It uses sourcetype=Savesplunker to filter events by the sourcetype that indicates the Splunk Enterprise Security app.

It uses fields sourcetype, status to keep only the sourcetype and status fields in the events.

It uses transaction status maxspan=1d to group events into transactions based on the status field with a maximum time span of one day between the first and last events in a transaction.

It uses timechart count by status to create a time-based chart that shows the count of transactions for each status value over time.

The graph shows the following:

It is a line graph with two lines, one yellow and one blue.

The x-axis is labeled with dates from Wed, Apr 4, 2018 to Tue, Apr 10, 2018.

The y-axis is labeled with numbers from 0 to 15.

The yellow line represents “shipped” and the blue line represents “success”.

The yellow line has a steady increase from 0 to 15, while the blue line has a sharp increase from 0 to 5, then a decrease to 0, and then a sharp increase to 10.

The graph is titled “Type”.

Therefore, option C is the correct answer.

This is because event types are added to events as a field named eventtype, and you can use this field as a search term to find events that match a specific event type. For example, eventtype=successful_purchases returns all events that have been categorized as successful purchases by the event type definition. The other options are incorrect because they either use a different field name (tag), a different syntax (Event Type:: or event type—), or have a typo (success ful_purchases). You can learn more about how to use event types in searches from the Splunk documentation1.

Search workflow actions are custom actions that run a search when you click on a field value in your search results. Search workflow actions can be configured with various options, such as label name, search string, time range, app context, etc. One of the options is to define the time range of the search when creating the workflow action. You can choose from predefined time ranges, such as Last 24 hours, Last 7 days, etc., or specify a custom time range using relative or absolute time modifiers. Search workflow actions do not run as real-time searches by default, but rather use the same time range as the original search unless specified otherwise. Search workflow actions cannot be configured as scheduled searches, as they are only triggered by user interaction. Search workflow actions can be configured with any valid search string that includes any search command, such as transaction.

The correct answer is C. _time.

The timechart command creates a time series chart with corresponding table of statistics, with time used as the X-axis1. You can specify a split-by field, where each distinct value of the split-by field becomes a series in the chart1. In this case, the split-by field is action, which means that the chart will have different lines for different actions, such as accept, reject, or fail2. The count function will calculate the number of events for each action in each time bin1.

For example, the following image shows a timechart of the count by action for a similar search3:

As you can see, the x-axis is populated by the _time field, which represents the time range of the search. The y-axis is populated by the count function, which represents the number of events for each action. The legend shows the different values of the action field, which are used to split the chart into different series.

The where command can be used to complete the search below.

… | where failure>successes

The where command is a search command that allows you to filter events based on complex or custom criteria. The where command can use any boolean expression or function to evaluate each event and determine whether to keep it or discard it. The where command can also compare fields or perform calculations on fields using operators such as >, <, =, +, -, etc. The where command can be used after any transforming command that creates a table or a chart.

The search string below does the following:

It uses … to represent any search criteria or commands before the where command.

It uses the where command to filter events based on a comparison between two fields: failure and successes.

It uses the greater than operator (>) to compare the values of failure and successes fields for each event.

It only keeps events where failure is greater than successes.

The transaction command groups events that share a common value in a specified field, such as JSESSIONID, and that occur within a specified time range. The search command filters the results to show only the events that match the given value of JSESSIONID. This search groups the events by JSESSIONID and then shows only the events that have the value SD462K101C2F267 for JSESSIONID2

1: Splunk Core Certified Power User Track, page 9. 2: Splunk Documentation, transaction command.

To group events by JSESSIONID, the correct search is index=web sourcetype=access_combined | transaction JSESSIONID | search SD470K92802F117 (Option B). The transaction command groups events that share the same JSESSIONID value, allowing for the analysis of all events associated with a specific session as a single transaction. The subsequent search for SD470K92802F117 filters these grouped transactions to include only those related to the specified session ID.

A calculated field in Splunk is created using an eval expression, which allows users to perform calculations or transformations on field values during search time.

References:

Splunk Docs - Calculated fields

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Data model attributes are fields that are added to a dataset from search time field extractions, calculated fields, lookups, or aliases. They can be created within the data model editor or inherited from a parent dataset. They can be edited or removed unless they are required by the data model. They can be added to any type of dataset, not just root search datasets.ReferencesSee About data models, [Define data model attributes], and [Edit data model datasets] in the Splunk Documentation.

An event type in Splunk is defined by a search string that returns a specific set of events. The search string index=games sourcetype=score player=* score>9999 is valid because it filters events based on specific criteria directly within the main search command. This search will find all events in the games index with a sourcetype of score, where the player field exists, and the score is greater than 9999. This specificity and direct filtering make it suitable for defining an event type.

References:

Splunk Docs: Create event types

Splunk Answers: Defining event types

The Splunk Common Information Model (CIM) provides a methodology to normalize data from different sources and source types. The CIM defines a common set of fields and tags for different types of data, such as web, network, email, etc. This allows you to search and analyze data from different sources in a consistent way.

The correct command to show the total bytes for each unique combination of page and server is index=web | stats sum (bytes) BY page server. In Splunk, the stats command is used to calculate aggregate statistics over the dataset, such as count, sum, avg, etc. When using the BY clause, it groups the results by the specified fields. The correct syntax does not include commas or the word ‘AND’ between the field names. Instead, it simply lists the field names separated by spaces within the BY clause.

References:The usage of the stats command with the BY clause is confirmed by examples in the Splunk Community, where it’s explained that stats with a by foo bar will output one row for every unique combination of the by fields1.

The correct syntax to find events associated with a tag in Splunk is tag=1. So, the correct answer is D. tag=. This syntax allows you to annotate specified fields in your search results with tags1.

In Splunk, tags are a type of knowledge object that you can use to add meaningful aliases to field values in your data1. For example, if you have a field called status_code in your data, you might have different status codes like 200, 404, 500, etc. You can create tags for these status codes like success for 200, not_found for 404, and server_error for 500. Then, you can use the tag command in your searches to find events associated with these tags1.

Here is an example of how you can use the tag command in a search:

index=main sourcetype=access_combined | tag status_code

In this search, the tag command annotates the status_code field in the search results with the corresponding tags. If you have tagged the status code 200 with success, the status code 404 with not_found, and the status code 500 with server_error, the search results will include these tags1.

You can also use the tag command with a specific tag value to find events associated with that tag. For example, the following search finds all events where the status code is tagged with success:

index=main sourcetype=access_combined | tag status_code | search tag::status_code=success

In this search, the tag command annotates the status_code field with the corresponding tags, and the search command filters the results to include only events where the status_code field is tagged with success1.

The eval command is a Splunk command that allows you to create or modify fields using expressions .

The if function is an expression that evaluates a condition and returns a value based on whether the condition is true or false. The syntax of the if function is if(X,Y,Z), where X is the condition, Y is the value to return if X is true, and Z is the value to return if X is false.

The isnotnull function is an expression that returns true if the argument is not null, and false otherwise. The syntax of the isnotnull function is isnotnull(X), where X is the argument to check.

Therefore, the expression if (isnotnull (src), src, host) returns the value of src if it is not null, and the value of host otherwise. This means that it will provide a new value for host from src if it exists, and keep the original value of host otherwise.

In Splunk, a variable for a macro is defined by placing the variable name inside dollar signs, like this: $variable name$. This syntax allows the macro to dynamically replace the variable with the appropriate value when the macro is invoked within a search. Using this method ensures that the search strings can be dynamically adjusted based on the variable's value at runtime.

References:

Splunk Docs: Use macros

Splunk Answers: Defining and Using Macros

The transaction command is used to group events that are related by some common fields or conditions, such as start/end values, time span, or pauses. The stats command is used to calculate statistics on a group of events by a common field value.

References

Splunk Community

Splunk Transaction - Exact Details You Need

When performing an outer join in Splunk using the | join employeeNumber type=outer command, it combines the rows from both tables based on the employeeNumber field. An outer join returns all rows from both tables, with matching rows from both sides where available. If there is no match, the result is NULL on the side of the join where there is no match.

In the provided tables, there are five rows in the first table and three in the second. Since it’s an outer join, all rows from both tables will be returned. This means the new table will have a total of eight rows, combining the matched rows and the unmatched rows from both tables.

References:

Splunk Documentation on the join command.

Splunk Community discussions on the usage of join and types of joins.

A comparison operator is a symbol that compares two values and returns a Boolean result (true or false)2. Splunk supports various comparison operators such as <, >, =, !=, <=, >=, IN and LIKE2. However, ?= is not a valid comparison operator in Splunk and will cause a syntax error if used in a search string2. Therefore, option E is correct, while options A, B, C and D are incorrect because they are valid comparison operators in Splunk

One of the valid options to speed up reports is to edit acceleration, which means that you can enable summary indexing or data model acceleration for your reports to improve their performance2. Summary indexing allows you to create reports that run over large amounts of data by storing the results of scheduled searches in a summary index and using that index for faster reporting2. Data model acceleration allows you to create reports that use data models by creating and storing summaries of the data model datasets and using them for faster reporting2. Therefore, option C is correct, while options A, B and D are incorrect because they are not options to speed up reports.

The correct answer is C. Creates reports without using SPL. This is because the Pivot tool is a feature of Splunk that allows you to report on a specific data set without using the Splunk Search Processing Language (SPL). You can use a drag-and-drop interface to design and generate pivots that present different aspects of your data in the form of tables, charts, and other visualizations. You can learn more about the Pivot tool from the Splunk documentation1 or watch a video tutorial2. The other options are incorrect because they do not describe the features of the Pivot tool. The Pivot tool requires data models and datasets to define the data that you want to work with. Data models and datasets are designed by the knowledge managers in your organization. You can learn more about data models and datasets from the Splunk documentation3. The Pivot tool does not create lookups, which are tables that match field values to other field values. You can create lookups using SPL or the Lookup Editor. You can learn more about lookups from the Splunk documentation.

The correct answer is C. Product, count: addtocart, count: remove, count: purchase, sum: addtocart, sum: remove, sum: purchase1.

In Splunk, the chart command is used to create a table or a chart visualization from your data2. The chart command takes at least one function and one field, and optionally another field to group by2.

In the given search, the chart command is used with two functions (count and sum), two fields (domain and price), and two fields to group by (product and action). The usenull=f and useother=f options are used to exclude null values and other values from the chart2.

The chart command creates a table with headers that match the order of the fields and functions in the command1. The headers for the count function are prefixed with count:, and the headers for the sum function are prefixed with sum:1. The values of the product and action fields are used as the suffixes for the headers1.

Therefore, the table headers created by this command are Product, count: addtocart, count: remove, count: purchase, sum: addtocart, sum: remove, and sum: purchase1.

The correct answer is C. When events contain unstructured data.

The regular expression method works best with unstructured event data, such as log files or text messages, where the fields are not separated by a common delimiter, such as a comma or space1. You select a sample event and highlight one or more fields to extract from that event, and the field extractor generates a regular expression that matches similar events in your dataset and extracts the fields from them1. The regular expression method provides several tools for testing and refining the accuracy of the regular expression. It also allows you to manually edit the regular expression1.

The delimiters method is designed for structured event data: data from files with headers, where all of the fields in the events are separated by a common delimiter, such as a comma or space1. You select a sample event, identify the delimiter, and then rename the fields that the field extractor finds1. This method is simpler and faster than the regular expression method, but it may not work well with complex or irregular data formats1.

The Splunk Common Information Model (CIM) Add-on includes a variety of data models designed to normalize data from different sources to allow for cross-source reporting and analysis. Among the data models included, Alerts (Option B) and Email (Option D) are part of the CIM. The Alerts data model is used for data related to alerts and incidents, while the Email data model is used for data pertaining to email messages and transactions. User permissions (Option A) and Databases (Option C) are not data models included in the CIM; rather, they pertain to aspects of data access control and specific types of data sources, respectively, which are outside the scope of the CIM's predefined data models.

Event types allow users to assign labels to events based on predefined search strings. This helps categorize data and makes it easier to reference specific sets of events in future searches.

References:

Splunk Docs - Event types

The correct answer is D. An argument can be passed to the inner macro by nesting parentheses.

A search macro is a way to reuse a piece of SPL code in different searches. A search macro can take arguments, which are variables that can be replaced by different values when the macro is called. A search macro can also contain another search macro within it, which is called a nested macro. A nested macro can also take arguments, which can be passed from the outer macro or directly from the search string.

To pass an argument to the inner macro, you need to use parentheses to enclose the argument value and separate it from the outer macro argument. For example, if you have a search macro named outer_macro (1) that contains another search macro named inner_macro (2), and both macros take one argument each, you can pass an argument to the inner macro by using the following syntax:

outer_macro (argument1, inner_macro (argument2))

This will replace the argument1 and argument2 with the values you provide in the search string. For example, if you want to pass “foo” as the argument1 and “bar” as the argument2, you can write:

outer_macro ("foo", inner_macro ("bar"))

This will expand the macros with the corresponding arguments and run the SPL code contained in them.

References:

Search macro examples

Use search macros in searches

This search string is not valid: index=web status=50* | chart count over host,status2. This search string uses an invalid syntax for the chart command. The chart command requires one field after the over clause and optionally one field after the by clause. However, this search string has two fields after the over clause separated by a comma. This will cause a syntax error and prevent the search from running. Therefore, option A is correct, while options B and C are incorrect because they are valid search strings that use the chart command correctly.

A delimiter field extraction is a method of extracting fields from data that uses a character or a string to separate fields in each event. A delimiter field extraction can be performed by using the Field Extractor (FX) tool or by editing the props.conf file. A delimiter field extraction can be applied to any file format that uses a delimiter to separate fields, such as CSV, TSV, PSV, etc. A CSV file is a comma-separated values file that uses commas as delimiters. Therefore, a CSV file can be extracted using a delimiter field extraction.

The rex command allows you to extract fields from events using regular expressions. You can use the rex command to specify a named group that matches the port number in the event. For example:

rex "\+\+\+\+port (?\d+)"

This will create a field called port with the value 54 for the event.

The delimiter method is not suitable for this event because there is no consistent delimiter between the fields. The regular expression method is not a valid option for the Field Extractor tool. The Field Extractor tool can extract regular expressions, but it is not a method by itself.

The statement that fields extracted using the Field Extractor persist as knowledge objects is true. The Field Extractor (FX) is a graphical tool that allows you to extract fields from raw events using regular expressions or delimiters. The fields extracted by the FX are saved as knowledge objects that can be used in future searches or shared with other users.

https://docs.splunk.com/Documentation/Splunk/8.0.2/Knowledge/CreateworkflowactionsinSplunkWeb

Highlighted search terms indicate matching search results in Splunk, which means that they show which parts of your events match your search string2. For example, if you search for error OR fail, Splunk will highlight error or fail in your events to show which events match your search string2. Therefore, option D is correct, while options A, B and C are incorrect because they are not indicated by highlighted search terms.

Data models and pivot are both knowledge objects in Splunk that allow you to analyze and visualize your data in different ways. Data models are collections of datasets that represent your data in a structured and hierarchical way. Data models define how your data is organized into objects and fields. Pivot is a user interface that allows you to create data visualizations that present different aspects of a data model. Pivot does not require users to input SPL searches on data models, but rather lets them select options from menus and forms. Data models are not created out of datasets called pivots, but rather pivots are created from datasets in data models.

GET workflow actions are custom actions that open a URL link when you click on a field value in your search results. GET workflow actions can be configured with various options, such as label name, base URL, URI parameters, app context, etc. One of the options is to choose whether to open the URL link in the current window or in a new window. GET workflow actions do not have to be configured with POST arguments, as they use GET method to send requests to web servers. Configuration of GET workflow actions does not include choosing a sourcetype, as they do not generate any data in Splunk. Label names for GET workflow actions must include a field name surrounded by dollar signs, as this indicates the field value that will be used to replace the variable in the URL link.

As mentioned before, there are two types of workflow actions: GET and POST1. Both types of workflow actions can be executed from search results by clicking on an event field value that has a workflow action configured for it1. Another type of workflow action is Search, which runs another search based on the field value1. Therefore, options A, B and D are correct, while option C is incorrect because LOOKUP is not a type of workflow action.

A workflow action is a link that appears when you click an event field value in your search results1. A workflow action can open a web page or run another search based on the field value1. There are two types of workflow actions: GET and POST1. A GET workflow action appends the field value to the end of a URI and opens it in a web browser1. A POST workflow action sends the field value as part of an HTTP request to a web server1. You can configure a workflow action to open a web page in either the same window or a new window1. Therefore, option D is correct, while options A, B and C are incorrect.

A space is an implied AND in a search string, which means that it acts as a logical operator that returns events that match both terms on either side of the space2. For example, status=200 method=GET will return events that have both status=200 and method=GET2. Therefore, option B is correct, while options A, C and D are incorrect because they are not implied by a space in a search string.

 The data model command allows you to run searches on data models that have been accelerated1. The syntax for using the data model command is | datamodel [search ]1. Therefore, option A is the correct way to use the data model command to search fields in the data model within the web dataset. Options B and C are incorrect because they do not follow the syntax for the data model command. Option D is incorrect because it does not use the data model command at all.

The Splunk Common Information Model (CIM) add-on is a Splunk app that contains data models to help you normalize data from different sources and formats. The CIM add-on defines a common and consistent way of naming and categorizing fields and events in Splunk. This makes it easier to correlate and analyze data across different domains, such as network, security, web, etc. The CIM add-on does not use machine learning to normalize data, but rather relies on predefined field names and values. The CIM add-on does not contain dashboards that show how to map data, but rather provides documentation and examples on how to use the data models. The CIM add-on is not automatically installed in a Splunk environment, but rather needs to be downloaded and installed from Splunkbase.

The transaction command is used to group events into transactions based on some common characteristics, such as fields, time, or both. The transaction command can also specify start and end constraints for the transactions, such as a field value that indicates the beginning or the end of a transaction. The stats command is used to calculate summary statistics on the events, such as count, sum, average, etc. The stats command cannot group events based on start and end constraints, but only on fields or time buckets. Therefore, the transaction command should be used instead of the stats command when you need to group events based on start and end constraints.

The Splunk Common Information Model (CIM) add-on helps you normalize your data from different sources and make it easier to analyze and report on it3. One of the functionalities that the CIM add-on relies on to normalize fields with different names is field aliases3. Field aliases allow you to assign an alternative name to an existing field without changing the original field name or value2. By using field aliases, you can map different field names from different sources or sourcetypes to a common field name that conforms to the CIM standard3. Therefore, option B is correct, while options A, C and D are incorrect.

The command sourcetype=access_combined | transaction JSESSIONID does three things:

It filters the events by the sourcetype access_combined, which is a predefined sourcetype for Apache web server logs.

It groups the events by the field JSESSIONID, which is a unique identifier for each user session.

It creates a single event from each group of events that share the same JSESSIONID value. This single event will have some additional fields created by the transaction command, such as duration, eventcount, and startime.

Therefore, the statements B, C, and D are true.

Selected fields are fields that you choose to display in your search results by clicking on them in the Fields sidebar or by using the fields command2. Selected fields are displayed below each event in the search results, along with their values2. Therefore, option A is correct, while options B, C and D are incorrect because they are not places where selected fields are displayed.

The eval command is used to create new fields or modify existing fields based on an expression2. The eval command can perform various actions such as calculations, conversions, string manipulations and more2. One of the actions that the eval command can perform is to create or replace an existing field with a new value based on an expression2. For example, | eval status=if(status="200","OK","ERROR") will create or replace the status field with either OK or ERROR depending on the original value of status2. Therefore, option B is correct, while options A, C and D are incorrect because they are not actions that the eval command can perform.

Field aliases are alternative names for fields in Splunk. Field aliases can be used to normalize data across different sources and sourcetypes that have different field names for the same concept. For example, you can create a field alias for src_ip that maps to clientip, source_address, or any other field name that represents the source IP address in different sourcetypes. Field aliases can also be used in lookup file definitions to map fields in your data to fields in the lookup file. For example, you can use a field alias for src_ip to map it to ip_address in a lookup file that contains geolocation information for IP addresses. Field alias names do not replace the original field name, but rather create a copy of the field with a different name. Field alias names are case sensitive when used as part of a search, meaning that src_ip and SRC_IP are different fields.

The search string below creates a table of the total count of mysterymeat corndogs split by user.

| stats count by user | where corndog=mysterymeat

The search string does the following:

It uses the stats command to calculate the count of events for each value of the user field. The stats command creates a table with two columns: user and count.

It uses the where command to filter the results by the value of the corndog field. The where command only keeps the rows where corndog equals mysterymeat.

Therefore, the search string creates a table of the total count of mysterymeat corndogs split by user.

The timechart command is used to create a time-series chart of statistical values based on your search results2. You can use the timechart command with a by clause to split the results by one or more fields and create multiple series in the chart2. However, you can only list one field after the by clause when using the timechart command because _time is already implied as the x-axis of the chart2. Therefore, option B is correct, while options A, C and D are incorrect.

The Field Extractor (FX) is a tool that helps you extract fields from your events using a graphical interface2. You can create a report using a custom field extracted by the FX and share it with other users in your organization2. However, if another user runs the shared report and no results are returned, there could be two possible reasons. One reason is that the extraction is private, which means that only you can see and use the extracted field2. To make the extraction available to other users, you need to make it global or app-level2. Therefore, option C is correct. Another reason is that the other user does not have access to the index where the events are stored2. To fix this issue, you need to grant the appropriate permissions to the other user for the index2. Therefore, option D is correct. Options A and B are incorrect because they are not related to the field extraction or the report.

Tags are aliases or alternative names for field values in Splunk. They can make your data more understandable by using common or descriptive terms instead of cryptic or technical terms. For example, you can tag a field value such as “200” with “OK” or “success” to indicate that it is a HTTP status code for a successful request. Tags are case sensitive, meaning that “OK” and “ok” are different tags. Tags are created at search time, meaning that they are applied when you run a search on your data. Tags are searched by using the syntax tag::, where  is the name of the tag you want to search for.

A field alias is a way to assign an alternative name to an existing field without changing the original field name or value2. You can use field aliases to make your field names more consistent or descriptive across different sources or sourcetypes2. When you run a search without any transforming commands in Smart Mode, Splunk automatically identifies and displays interesting fields in your results2. Interesting fields are fields that appear in at least 20 percent of events or have high variability among values2. If you have created a field alias based on an original field, both the original field name and the alias name will appear in the Interesting Fields list if they meet these criteria2. However, only one of them will appear in each event depending on which one you have specified in your search string2. Therefore, option B is correct, while options A, C and D are incorrect.

Auto-Extracted fields in Splunk Data Models are derived directly from the indexed data based on the existing fields within the events. These fields are identified and extracted by Splunk automatically, without the need for explicit field extractions configured by the user. Understanding the characteristics of Auto-Extracted fields is crucial for effectively managing Data Models and utilizing them in Pivot tables for analysis.

A. Auto-Extracted fields can be hidden in Pivot. This is true. When building a Data Model, you have the option to hide certain fields from appearing in Pivot, making the Pivot table cleaner and more focused on the fields that are most relevant for analysis. This helps in reducing clutter and focusing on the data that matters most to the users.

B. Auto-Extracted fields can have their data type changed. This statement is not typically accurate for Auto-Extracted fields. The data type of an Auto-Extracted field is determined by Splunk based on the field's content in the indexed data. While you can assign a type to a field when you manually create a field in a data model, the inherent data type of Auto-Extracted fields is not something that is changed within the Data Model itself.

C. Auto-Extracted fields can be given a friendly name for use in Pivot. This is correct. Within Data Models, you can assign a more user-friendly, descriptive name to an Auto-Extracted field. This feature is particularly useful in making Data Models more intuitive and easier to use for those who may not be familiar with the original field names or when the original field names are not descriptive or user-friendly.

D. Auto-Extracted fields can be added if they already exist in the dataset with constraints. This is true. Auto-Extracted fields are based on fields that already exist in the data. When you define a dataset within a Data Model, you can apply constraints to narrow down the events that the dataset includes. The Auto-Extracted fields are then identified from this constrained dataset. This means that the fields must already be present in the data that meets the dataset's constraints to be available for auto-extraction.

In summary, Auto-Extracted fields in Splunk Data Models offer a flexible and efficient way to utilize existing data fields within Pivot tables, with options to rename them for clarity and hide unnecessary fields to streamline data analysis.

This search uses the transaction command to group events that share a common value for JSESSIONID into transactions1. The transaction command assigns a duration field to each transaction, which is the difference between the latest and earliest timestamps of the events in the transaction1. The search then uses the timechart command to create a time-series chart of the average duration of each transaction1. Therefore, option A is correct because it describes the search accurately. Option B is incorrect because the search does not use the stats command or the pause field. Option C is incorrect because the transaction command does not require the startswith and endswith options, although they can be used to specify how to identify the beginning and end of a transaction1. Option D is incorrect because the transaction command does not have to be the last command in the search pipeline, although it is often used near the end of a search1.

The eval command is used to create new fields or modify existing fields based on an expression2. The sort command is used to sort the results by one or more fields in ascending or descending order2. If you want to convert numeric field values to strings and also sort on those values, you should use the sort command first, then use the eval command to convert the values to strings2. This way, the sort command will use the original numeric values for sorting, rather than the converted string values which may not sort correctly. Therefore, option C is correct, while options A, B and D are incorrect.

To create a macro that accepts arguments, you must include the number of arguments in parentheses at the end of the macro name1. For example, my_macro(3) is a macro that accepts three arguments. The number of arguments in the macro name must match the number of arguments in the definition1. Therefore, option A is correct, while options B, C and D are incorrect.

The search string below returns events from the data model named Application_State.

| datamodel Application_State All_Application_State search

The search string does the following:

It uses the datamodel command to access a data model in Splunk. The datamodel command takes two arguments: the name of the data model and the name of the dataset within the data model.

It specifies the name of the data model as Application_State. This is a predefined data model in Splunk that contains information about web applications.

It specifies the name of the dataset as All_Application_State. This is a root dataset in the data model that contains all events from all child datasets.

It uses the search command to filter and transform the events from the dataset. The search command can use any search criteria or command to modify the results.

Therefore, the search string returns events from the data model named Application_State.