Installation overview for the Splunk Add-on for AWS

1. Download the Splunk Add-on for AWS from Splunkbase or Splunk Web.
2. Use the tables in this topic to determine where to install this add-on.
3. Perform any prerequisite steps specified in the tables before installing.
4. Use the links in the Installation walkthrough section to perform the installation.

Distributed deployments

Use the following tables to install the Splunk Add-on for AWS in a deployment that uses forwarders to get data in, such as a distributed deployment. You might need to install the add-on in multiple places.

Where to install this add-on

Unless otherwise noted, you can safely install all supported add-ons to all tiers of a distributed Splunk platform deployment. See Where to install Splunk add-ons in Splunk Add-ons for more information.

This table provides a reference for installing this specific add-on to a distributed deployment of the Splunk platform:

Splunk platform component	Supported	Required	Comments
Search heads	Yes	Yes	Data inputs for this add-on require large amounts of memory. See Hardware and software requirements for the Splunk Add-on for AWS.
Indexers	Yes	Conditional	Not required when the parsing operations occur on the heavy forwarders. When using an HTTP Event Collector (HEC) token, installation is required on indexers.
Heavy forwarders	Yes	Yes	This add-on requires heavy forwarders to perform data collection through modular inputs and to perform the setup and authentication with AWS in Splunk Web.
Universal forwarders	No	No	This add-on requires heavy forwarders.

Distributed deployment compatibility

This table provides a quick reference for the compatibility of this add-on with Splunk distributed deployment features:

Distributed deployment feature	Supported	Comments
Search head clusters	Yes	You can install this add-on on a search head cluster for all search-time functionality, but configure inputs on forwarders to avoid duplicate data collection. Before installing this add-on to a cluster, make the following changes to the add-on package: Remove the inputs.conf file.
Indexer clusters	Yes	Before installing this add-on to a cluster, make the following changes to the add-on package: Remove the inputs.conf file.
Deployment server	No	Deployment servers support deploying unconfigured add-ons only. Using a deployment server to deploy the configured add-on to multiple forwarders acting as data collectors causes duplication of data. The add-on uses the credential vault to secure your credentials, and this credential management solution is incompatible with the deployment server.

Installation walkthroughs

See the following links, or About installing Splunk add-ons in the Splunk Add-Ons manual, for an installation walkthrough specific to your deployment scenario:

• Install the Splunk Add-on for AWS in a Splunk Cloud deployment
• Install the Splunk Add-on for AWS in a single-instance Splunk Enterprise deployment
• Install the Splunk Add-on for AWS in a distributed Splunk Enterprise deployment

Configure Add-on Configurations & Accounts with Command Line Utility

The Splunk Add-on for AWS is shipped with the Command Line Utility which enables users to configure accounts, IAM roles and inputs in bulk.

For step-by-step instructions on how to use the utility, see the README.md file located at: $SPLUNK_HOME/etc/apps/Splunk_TA_aws/bin/tools/configure/README.md