Install on Linux

Install on Linux

You can install Splunk on Linux using RPM or DEB packages, or a tarball.

RedHat RPM install

To install the Splunk RPM in the default directory /opt/splunk:

rpm -i splunk_package_name.rpm

To install Splunk in a different directory, use the --prefix flag:

rpm -i --prefix=/opt/new_directory splunk_package_name.rpm

To upgrade an existing Splunk installation using the RPM:

rpm -U splunk_package_name.rpm

To upgrade an existing Splunk installation that was done in a different directory, use the --prefix flag:

rpm -U --prefix=/opt/new_directory splunk_package_name.rpm

If you want to automate your RPM install with kickstart, add the following to your kickstart file:

./splunk start --accept-license
./splunk enable boot-start 

Note: The second line is optional for the kickstart file.

Debian DEB install

To install the Splunk DEB package:

dpkg -i splunk_package_name.deb

Note: You can only install the Splunk DEB package in the default location, /opt/splunk.

Tarball install

To install Splunk on a Linux system, expand the tarball into an appropriate directory. The default install directory is /opt/splunk.

When installing with the tarball:

• Splunk does not create the splunk user automatically. If you want Splunk to run as a specific user, you must create the user manually.
• Be sure the disk partition has enough space to hold the uncompressed volume of the data you plan to keep indexed.

What gets installed

Splunk package status:

dpkg --status splunk

List all packages:

dpkg --list

Start Splunk

Splunk can run as any user on the local system. If you run Splunk as a non-root user, make sure that Splunk has the appropriate permissions to read the inputs that you specify. Refer to the instructions for running Splunk as a non-root user for more information.

To start Splunk from the command line interface, run the following command from $SPLUNK_HOME/bin directory (where $SPLUNK_HOME is the directory into which you installed Splunk):

 ./splunk start

By convention, this document uses:

• $SPLUNK_HOME to identify the path to your Splunk installation.
• $SPLUNK_HOME/bin/ to indicate the location of the command line interface.

Startup options

The first time you start Splunk after a new installation, you must accept the license agreement. To start Splunk and accept the license in one step:

 $SPLUNK_HOME/bin/splunk start --accept-license

Note: There are two dashes before the accept-license option.

Launch Splunk Web and log in

After you start Splunk and accept the license agreement,

1. In a browser window, access Splunk Web at http://<hostname>:port.

• hostname is the host machine.
• port is the port you specified during the installation (the default port is 8000).

2. Splunk Web prompts you for login information (default, username admin and password changeme) before it launches. If you switch to Splunk Free, you will bypass this logon page in future sessions.

Now that you've installed Splunk, what comes next?

Uninstall Splunk

Use your local package management commands to uninstall Splunk. In most cases, files that were not originally installed by the package will be retained. These files include your configuration and index files which are under your installation directory.

If you can't use package management commands, follow the instructions for manually uninstalling Splunk components.

RedHat Linux

To uninstall from RedHat Linux

rpm -e splunk_product_name

Debian Linux

To uninstall from Debian Linux:

dpkg -r splunk

To purge (delete everything, including configuration files):

dpkg -P splunk

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