Splunk® Enterprise

Admin Manual

Splunk Enterprise version 8.0 is no longer supported as of October 22, 2021. See the Splunk Software Support Policy for details. For information about upgrading to a supported version, see How to upgrade Splunk Enterprise.
This documentation does not apply to the most recent version of Splunk® Enterprise. For documentation on the most recent version, go to the latest release.

Share data in Splunk Enterprise

Splunk Inc. collects critical data so that we can enhance the value of your investment in Splunk software.

We use this data to optimize your deployment, prioritize our features, improve your experience, notify you of patches, and develop high quality product functionality.

Changes in version 8.0.0

Splunk has changed its data collection practices and default settings in version 8.0.0. Even if you opted out of data collection in a previous release, version 8.0.0 resets aggregated usage data, support usage data, and license usage data collection to new default settings, which enable sharing this data with Splunk. When you upgrade to version 8.0.0 or install Splunk Enterprise 8.0.0 for the first time, the first user who logs in and is a member of the Splunk Admin role sees a pop-up notification summarizing the new data collection practices. This pop-up appears once in each deployment, new or upgraded, regardless of what previous opt-in or opt-out settings previously applied to the deployment.

Splunk also collects software version data. If you opted out of sharing software version data using configuration settings in previous releases, those settings are unchanged by the upgrade.

You can opt out of data sharing at any time. See How to opt out.

Benefits of sharing data with Splunk

When you share data with Splunk Inc., you receive the following benefits:

  • Improved product quality. By collecting accurate information about the topology decisions and deployment scale used by our customers, we can replicate those topology configurations and scale in our internal testing, helping us improve your product experience.
  • Timely notification of known bugs, version incompatibilities, and configuration issues. When you share data about the product versions you have deployed, we can provide accurate messages and support to help you with bugs, upgrade tasks, version compatibility problems, and other configuration issues you might experience.
  • Relevant feature enhancements. We prioritize what features to develop and enhance first based on the features customers use the most. By sharing your data, you influence these data-driven decisions in favor of the features you use at your organization.

For more information, see How Splunk uses the data it collects.

What data Splunk collects

The table below summarizes the data that your Splunk platform deployment sends to Splunk when data collection is enabled. Follow the links to see examples of this data.

Type of data Description Examples
Aggregated usage data Includes features used, deployment topology, and performance metrics in both the platform and apps. This data is not associated with your license ID. Aggregated usage data examples
App usage data examples
Support usage data Support usage data is the same as the aggregated usage data, but the license ID remains associated with your data when it reaches Splunk Inc. Aggregated usage data examples
App usage data examples
License usage data Includes your license ID, active license group and subgroup, total license stack quota, total license pool consumption, license stack type, license pool quota, license pool consumption. License usage data examples
Software version data Includes the version of Splunk Enterprise and of each installed app, along with relevant metadata about deployment architecture. Software version data examples

Splunk does not collect the contents of your indexed data.

Some cloud and hybrid products modify the kinds of data that Splunk collects. When that happens, a separate agreement or notification states how the data collection differs for that product.

For instructions on how to view the data that your deployment collects and sends to Splunk, see View what data is sent from your deployment.

Examples of data sent to Splunk

Aggregated usage, support usage, and license usage data is sent to Splunk as a JSON packet that includes information like the component name and deployment ID, in addition to the data for the specific data collection component. The deploymentID is unique to a deployment and does not change on upgrade or even after uninstall and reinstall of Splunk Enterprise on the same machine.

Here is an example of a complete JSON packet: 

{
component: deployment.app
   data: { [-]
     enabled: true
     host: 878e7b21bf98580dbdb4ed3baf6c35d78aa5bc3d3c824eb8714a313c
     name: search
     version: 8.0.0
   }
   date: 2019-09-23
   deploymentID: d6d8e776-a8d3-5467-a03b-375577646cbb
   executionID: 2FC293C59049AC0D44B677D3A9D786
   timestamp: 1569294102
   transactionID: 4E1CFC7E-BE9F-355D-7DDE-D4F8D5E4852D
   version: 3
   visibility: anonymous,support
}

The following tables list the component names, descriptions, and an example of what data is collected for that component. For ease of use, the examples for aggregated usage and license data show examples of only the data field from the JSON object.

Aggregated usage data examples

The following example demonstrates the data sent to Splunk when sharing of aggregated usage data is enabled.

Component Description Example
app.session.dashboard.load Dashboard characteristics, generated as session data when a dashboard loads. 
{ [-]
     app: search
     dashboard: { [-]
       autoRun: false
       hideAppBar: false
       hideChrome: false
       hideEdit: false
       hideExport: false
       hideFilters: false
       hideSplunkBar: false
       hideTitle: false
       isScheduled: false
       isVisible: true
       numCustomCss: 0
       numCustomJs: 0
       refresh: 0
       submitButton: false
       theme: light
     }
     elementTypeCounts: { [-]
       statistics: 1
     }
     formInputTypeCounts: { [-]
     }
     layoutType: row-column-layout
     numElements: 1
     numFormInputs: 0
     numPanels: 1
     numPrebuiltPanels: 0
     numSearches: 1
     page: splunker
     searchTypeCounts: { [-]
       saved: 1
     }
   }
app.session.page.load Tracks loads and whether web services are supported, generated as session data when a page loads. 
{ [-] 
     allowWebService: true 
     app: $SPLUNK_PLATFORM 
     page: manager/search/adddata 
   }
app.session.pageview Page view session data, generated whenever a user visits a new page. 
{ [-]
     app: launcher
     page: home
   }
app.session.pivot.interact Changes to pivots, generated as session data when a user makes a change to a pivot. 
{ [-]
     app: search
     context: pivot
     eventAction: change
     eventCategory: PivotEditorReportContent
     eventLabel: Pivot - Report Content
     eventValue: { [-]
       transient: true
     }
     numAggregations: 1
     numColumnSplits: 0
     numCustomFilters: 0
     numRowSplits: 1
     page: pivot
     reportProps: { [-]
       display.general.type: visualizations
       display.statistics.show: 1
       display.visualizations.charting.chart: area
       display.visualizations.charting.chart.rangeValues: [0,30,70,100]
       display.visualizations.charting.gaugeColors: ["0x53a051","0xf8be34","0xdc4e41"]
       display.visualizations.charting.legend.placement: none
       display.visualizations.show: 1
       display.visualizations.singlevalue.rangeColors: ["0x53a051","0x0877a6","0xf8be34","0xf1813f","0xdc4e41"]
       display.visualizations.singlevalue.trendInterval: auto
       display.visualizations.type: charting
       earliest: -24h@h
       latest: now
       windowedEarliest: 2019-09-23T03:00:00.000+00:00
       windowedLatest: 2019-09-24T03:58:52.000+00:00
     }
   }
app.session.pivot.load Pivot characteristics, generated as session data when a pivot loads. 
{ [-]
     app: search
     context: pivot
     eventAction: load
     eventCategory: PivotEditor
     eventLabel: Pivot - Page
     numAggregations: 1
     numColumnSplits: 0
     numCustomFilters: 0
     numRowSplits: 1
     page: pivot
     reportProps: { [-]
       display.general.type: visualizations
       display.statistics.show: 1
       display.visualizations.charting.chart: area
       display.visualizations.charting.chart.rangeValues: [0,30,70,100]
       display.visualizations.charting.gaugeColors: ["0x53a051","0xf8be34","0xdc4e41"]
       display.visualizations.charting.legend.placement: none
       display.visualizations.show: 1
       display.visualizations.singlevalue.rangeColors: ["0x53a051","0x0877a6","0xf8be34","0xf1813f","0xdc4e41"]
       display.visualizations.singlevalue.trendInterval: auto
       display.visualizations.type: charting
       earliest: -24h@h
       latest: now
       windowedEarliest: 2019-09-23T03:00:00.000+00:00
       windowedLatest: 2019-09-24T03:58:52.000+00:00
     }
   }
app.session.roles.srchFilter Event actions on the authoritzation/roles page of Splunk Web 
{ [-]
  app: $SPLUNK_PLATFORM
       context: authorization/roles
       eventAction: CreateEditRole
       eventCategory: SrchFilterInRoles
       eventLabel: Search Filter in role - admin
       eventValue: *
       page: manager/launcher/authorization/roles
     }
app.session.search.interact Search page interactions, session data generated by each user interaction with the search page. 
{ [-]
     app: search
     context: search
     eventAction: submit
     eventCategory: CreateReportDialog
     eventLabel: Search App - Actions
     eventValue: success
     page: search
     reportProps: { [-]
       dispatch.sample_ratio: 1
       display.events.table.sortDirection: asc
       display.general.type: statistics
       display.page.search.mode: smart
       display.prefs.events.offset: 0
       display.prefs.statistics.offset: 0
       display.statistics.format.0:
       display.statistics.format.0.colorPalette:
       display.statistics.format.0.colorPalette.colors:
       display.statistics.format.0.field:
       display.statistics.format.0.scale:
       display.statistics.format.0.scale.thresholds:
       display.statistics.sortColumn: Number of Users
       display.statistics.sortDirection: asc
       display.visualizations.charting.chart: bar
       earliest: -24h@h
       latest: now
       workload_pool:
     }
   }
app.session.session_start Session data generated when a user is first authenticated. Contains the deploymentID (identifier for deployment), eventID (identifier for this specific event), experienceID (identifier for this session), userID (hashed username), data.guid (GUID for instance serving the page). 
{ [-]
     app: launcher
     browser: Chrome
     browserVersion: 68.0.3440.106
     device: Linux x86_64
     guid: 0C4C7528-375A-4DA5-ABF8-09189051BB51
     locale: en-US
     os: Linux
     osVersion: not available
     page: home
     splunkVersion: 8.0.0
   }
authentication.jwt Metrics tracking usage of the authentication token (JsonWebToken) feature: Whether or not the feature is enabled, the number of times tokens were created, whether or not the scripted extensions feature is being used, and the number of failures associated with token usage. 
{ [-]
     disabled: 0, 
     created: 8, 
     scriptedExtensionsEnabled: 1, 
     failures: 0
}
deployment.app Apps installed on search head and peers. 
{ [-]
     enabled: true
     host: 878e7b21bf98580dbdb4ed3baf6c35d78aa5bc3d3c824eb8714a313c
     name: search
     version: 8.0.0
   }
deployment.clustering.indexer Host name of an indexer, replication factor, and search factor for indexer cluster. 
{ [-]
     enabled: false
     host: 06d3392e0644587c3c3131833c81bfa6a7be78361e35e2ba8edf9c92
     timezone: -0700
   }
deployment.clustering.member Indexer cluster member status. 
{ [-]
     master: 1b83dc9e131f02b53329dfc1d3700aea92dd8223a22325d274e5aa3a
     member: { [-]
       guid: 14B1E1C3-ABD1-4D02-88D5-3A6964EF8376
       host: 942796f349f59b3ae64b47e507299b64b9a638fc9fc7a2580863f951
       status: Up
     }
     site: default
   }
deployment.clustering.searchhead Indexer cluster and search head connection status. 
{ [-]
     master: 1b83dc9e131f02b53329dfc1d3700aea92dd8223a22325d274e5aa3a
     searchhead: { [-]
       guid: 141D5E4A-3C5C-4051-B2DB-E679027A0D57
       host: f7724a2690f17f0fe3ea97418c92fffde62a890b517261377b1060f4
       status: Connected
     }
     site: default
   }
deployment.distsearch.peer Distributed search peer status. 
{ [-]
     host: 33b1957bfe1d0f7d3aac34e8655cf49f74375fb5043cb756f9a48405
     peer: { [-]
       guid: 676F6738-BA57-44EC-94F0-A6821739DF8C
       host: 76e4ed3636a6f4dc9737d119fde51e0007713c7f87af7acf0dc057a7
       status: Up
     }
   }
deployment.forwarders Forwarder architecture: Number of hosts, number of forwarder instances, OS/version, CPU architecture, Splunk Enterprise version, distribution of forwarding volume 
{ [-]
     architecture: x86_64
     bytes: { [-]
       avg: 632367800
       max: 689339847
       min: 602231091
       p10: 602891365
       p20: 603551640
       p30: 604211914
       p40: 604872189
       p50: 605532463
       p60: 622293940
       p70: 639055417
       p80: 655816893
       p90: 672578370
     }
     hosts: 3
     instances: 3
     os: Linux
     splunkVersion: 8.0.0
     type: full
   }
deployment.index Index type and configuration. 
{ [-]
     app: search
     buckets: { [-]
       cold: { [-]
         count: 0
         events: 0
         sizeGB: 0
       }
       coldCapacityGB: unlimited
       homeCapacityGB: unlimited
       homeEventCount: 871
       hot: { [-]
         count: 0
         max: 3
         sizeGB: 0
       }
       thawed: { [-]
         count: 0
         events: 0
         sizeGB: 0
       }
       warm: { [-]
         count: 6
         sizeGB: 0
       }
     }
     host: 6aac2d36b0f11492299b161a6c5a4f79451708e195b98a5dbaa47b9b
     name: uba_alarms
     total: { [-]
       buckets: 6
       currentDBSizeGB: 0
       events: 871
       maxDataSizeGB: 500
       maxTime: 1568987048
       minTime: 1567603567
       rawSizeGB: 0
     }
     type: event
   }
deployment.licensing.slave License slaves. 
{ [-]
     master: 33b1957bfe1d0f7d3aac34e8655cf49f74375fb5043cb756f9a48405
     slave: { [-]
       guid: 1E7D1EA4-9E76-410B-825F-36CDA037F377
       host: 33b1957bfe1d0f7d3aac34e8655cf49f74375fb5043cb756f9a48405
       pool: auto_generated_pool_enterprise
     }
   }
deployment.node GUID, host, number of virtual and physical cores, CPU architecture, memory size, storage (partition) capacity, OS/version, Splunk Enterprise version 
 data: { [-]
     cpu: { [-]
       architecture: x86_64
       coreCount: 8
       utilization: { [-]
         avg: 0.01
         max: 0.15
         min: 0.01
         p10: 0.01
         p20: 0.01
         p30: 0.01
         p40: 0.01
         p50: 0.01
         p60: 0.01
         p70: 0.01
         p80: 0.01
         p90: 0.02
       }
       virtualCoreCount: 8
     }
     guid: XXXXXXXXXX
     host: YYYYYYYYY
     memory: { [-]
       capacity: 32655630402
       utilization: { [-]
         avg: 0.67
         max: 0.74
         min: 0.5
         p10: 0.6
         p20: 0.62
         p30: 0.64
         p40: 0.66
         p50: 0.67
         p60: 0.69
         p70: 0.7
         p80: 0.71
         p90: 0.72
       }
     }
     os: Linux
     osExt: Linux
     osVersion: 4.15.0-1031-aws
     partitions: [ [-]
       { [-]
         capacity: 208111882207
         fileSystem: ext4
         utilization: 0.91
       }
     ]
     splunkVersion: 8.0.0
   }
deployment.shclustering.member Search cluster member status. 
{ [-]
     captain: 208999515adad3c46696443afe61049c8f8bfe56b6330feadbc64b48
     member: { [-]
       guid: 45B3EA5E-4868-4243-9BEA-109C2F76F02A
       host: 258a814c13167915bedd945acd0f5e16c058a8b1bab8972206f82120
       status: Up
     }
     site: default
   }
instrumentation.performance Performance of instrumentation queries. 
{ [-]
     instance_type: Single
     queries: [ [-]
       { [-]
         component: deployment.app
         isFailed: 0
         resultCount: 145
         runDuration: 0.843
         scanCount: 0
         searchProviders: 3
         sid: 1569294993.84
       }
       { [-]
         component: deployment.app
         isFailed: 0
         resultCount: 145
         runDuration: 1.079
         scanCount: 0
         searchProviders: 3
         sid: 1569294995.85
       }
       { [-]
         component: deployment.distsearch.peer
         isFailed: 0
         resultCount: 2
         runDuration: 0.211
         scanCount: 0
         searchProviders: 3
         sid: 1569294996.86
       }
       { [-]
         component: deployment.licensing.slave
         isFailed: 0
         resultCount: 1
         runDuration: 0.781
         scanCount: 0
         searchProviders: 3
         sid: 1569294997.87
       }
       { [-]
         component: usage.search.report_acceleration
         isFailed: 0
         resultCount: 1
         runDuration: 0.387
         scanCount: 0
         searchProviders: 3
         sid: 1569294998.88
       }
       { [-]
         component: usage.search.report_acceleration
         isFailed: 0
         resultCount: 1
         runDuration: 0.36
         scanCount: 0
         searchProviders: 3
         sid: 1569294998.89
       }
       { [-]
         component: usage.search.searchTelemetry
         isFailed: 0
         resultCount: 1
         runDuration: 1.2650000000000001
         scanCount: 14
         searchProviders: 3
         sid: 1569294999.90
       }
       { [-]
         component: usage.lookups.lookupDefinitions
         isFailed: 0
         resultCount: 1
         runDuration: 0.28700000000000003
         scanCount: 0
         searchProviders: 1
         sid: 1569295000.91
       }
       { [-]
         component: performance.bundleReplication
         isFailed: 0
         resultCount: 3
         runDuration: 1.238
         scanCount: 2784
         searchProviders: 3
         sid: 1569295001.92
       }
       { [-]
         component: performance.indexing
         isFailed: 0
         resultCount: 8
         runDuration: 6.098
         scanCount: 35273
         searchProviders: 3
         sid: 1569295010.93
       }
       { [-]
         component: performance.search
         isFailed: 0
         resultCount: 3
         runDuration: 21.253
         scanCount: 213234
         searchProviders: 3
         sid: 1569295016.94
       }
       { [-]
         component: usage.search.concurrent
         isFailed: 0
         resultCount: 8
         runDuration: 8.671
         scanCount: 167724
         searchProviders: 3
         sid: 1569295038.96
       }
       { [-]
         component: usage.users.active
         isFailed: 0
         resultCount: 3
         runDuration: 9.34
         scanCount: 56960
         searchProviders: 3
         sid: 1569295047.97
       }
       { [-]
         component: deployment.node
         isFailed: 0
         resultCount: 15
         runDuration: 9.965
         scanCount: 1166
         searchProviders: 3
         sid: 1569295056.98
       }
       { [-]
         component: deployment.index
         isFailed: 0
         resultCount: 113
         runDuration: 14.809000000000001
         scanCount: 0
         searchProviders: 3
         sid: 1569295067.99
       }
       { [-]
         component: usage.search.type
         isFailed: 0
         resultCount: 3
         runDuration: 17.365000000000002
         scanCount: 167724
         searchProviders: 3
         sid: 1569295082.100
       }
       { [-]
         component: licensing.stack
         isFailed: 0
         resultCount: 5
         runDuration: 1.772
         scanCount: 10
         searchProviders: 3
         sid: 1569295100.101
       }
       { [-]
         component: deployment.forwarders
         isFailed: 0
         resultCount: 28
         runDuration: 8.309000000000001
         scanCount: 268106
         searchProviders: 3
         sid: 1569295102.102
       }
       { [-]
         component: usage.indexing.sourcetype
         isFailed: 0
         resultCount: 1373
         runDuration: 45.673
         scanCount: 735929
         searchProviders: 3
         sid: 1569295111.103
       }
       { [-]
         component: deployment.clustering.indexer
         isFailed: 0
         resultCount: 1
         runDuration: 3.157
         scanCount: 0
         searchProviders: 1
         sid: 1569295160.104
       }
       { [-]
         component: usage.app.page
         isFailed: 0
         resultCount: 9
         runDuration: 0.795
         scanCount: 65
         searchProviders: 3
         sid: 1569295163.105
       }
     ]
     roles: { [-]
       cluster_master: false
       in_cluster: false
       indexer: true
       kv_store: true
       lead_node: true
       license_master: true
       search_head: true
     }
     timezone: +0000
   }
licensing.stack Licensing quota and consumption. 
{  
     consumption: 127025471 
     guid: C131C257-98FE-4E8B-9595-CB4D93246F98 
     host: Splunk 
     name: enterprise 
     pools: [ 
       { 
         consumption: 127025471 
         quota: 6442450944 
       } 
     ] 
     product: enterprise 
     quota: 6442450944 
     subgroup: Production 
     type: enterprise 
   }
performance.bundleReplicationCycle Metrics for the bundle replication cycle. 
{ [-]
     avgBundleBytes: 0
     avgPeerCount: 1
     avgPeerSuccessCount: 1
     avgReplicationTimeMsec: 1
     cycleCount: 144
     replicationPolicy: classic
   }
performance.indexing Indexing performance: Core utilization, storage utilization, memory usage, indexing throughput, search latency. 
{ [-]
     host: 3c4681a5be1881de8554c8bab7be78e8d151557ef571e6a72bdad589
     thruput: { [-]
       avg: 1903
       max: 7854
       min: 4
       p10: 1419
       p20: 1433
       p30: 1452
       p40: 1806
       p50: 1860
       p60: 1865
       p70: 1878
       p80: 2046
       p90: 2326
       total: 7138077
     }
   }
performance.search Search performance: Core utilization, storage utilization, memory usage, indexing throughput, search latency. 
{ [-]
     buckets: { [-]
       avg: 1.9
       max: 27
       min: 0
       p10: 0
       p20: 0
       p30: 0
       p40: 0
       p50: 0
       p60: 0.88
       p70: 2
       p80: 6
       p90: 6
     }
     dayRange: { [-]
       avg: 876.81
       max: 18162.29
       min: 0
       p10: 0
       p20: 0
       p30: 0
       p40: 0
       p50: 0
       p60: 0.01
       p70: 0.01
       p80: 0.01
       p90: 0.03
     }
     latency: { [-]
       avg: 2.31
       max: 19744.69
       min: 0.01
       p10: 0.02
       p20: 0.02
       p30: 0.09
       p40: 0.47
       p50: 1.6
       p60: 1.85
       p70: 2.05
       p80: 2.23
       p90: 2.64
     }
     scanCount: { [-]
       avg: 344030.32
       max: 38060408
       min: 0
       p10: 0
       p20: 0
       p30: 0
       p40: 0
       p50: 1.59
       p60: 90.32
       p70: 1156.18
       p80: 25454.25
       p90: 308440.56
     }
     searches: 30576
     slices: { [-]
       avg: 5034.33
       max: 219740
       min: 0
       p10: 0
       p20: 0
       p30: 0
       p40: 0
       p50: 0
       p60: 0
       p70: 2246.06
       p80: 11491.43
       p90: 14170.42
     }
   }
usage.app.page App name, page name, locale, number of users, number of page loads, generated as session data. 
{ [-]
     app: search
     locale: en-US
     occurrences: 1
     page:
     users: 1
   }
usage.authMethod.config Authentication method: Hashed host and GUID, authentication method (Splunk, LDAP, or SAML), MFA type (none, Duo, or RSA). 
{ [-]
     authentication method: Splunk
     guid: C099BFA3-E5B5-4AB1-AB64-471703C54388
     host: 8cd44b23a1bd3ae283f21a7d9c5434163181efc8
     mfa type: none
   }
usage.healthMonitor.report Health report manager: Alert actions and enabled status, feature thresholds and enabled status. 
{ [-]
     alert: { [-]
       alert_action:email: { [-]
         action/ action.to/ action.url/ action.integration_url_override: empty
         disabled: 0
       }
       alert_action:webhook: { [-]
         action/ action.to/ action.url/ action.integration_url_override: empty
         disabled: 0
       }
       health_reporter: { [-]
         action/ action.to/ action.url/ action.integration_url_override: email
         disabled: 0
       }
     }
     feature:batchreader: { [-]
       enabled: 1
       threshold: { [-]
         indicator:data_out_rate:red: 2
         indicator:data_out_rate:yellow: 1
       }
     }
     feature:buckets: { [-]
       enabled: 1
       threshold: { [-]
         indicator:buckets_created_last_60m:red: 60
         indicator:buckets_created_last_60m:yellow: 40
         indicator:percent_small_buckets_created_last_24h:red: 50
         indicator:percent_small_buckets_created_last_24h:yellow: 30
       }
     }
     feature:cluster_bundles: { [-]
       enabled: 1
       threshold: { [-]
         indicator:cluster_bundles:yellow: 1
       }
     }
     feature:data_durability: { [-]
       enabled: 1
       threshold: { [-]
         indicator:cluster_replication_factor:red: 1
         indicator:cluster_search_factor:red: 1
       }
     }
     feature:data_searchable: { [-]
       enabled: 1
       threshold: { [-]
         indicator:data_searchable:red: 1
       }
     }
     feature:ddaa_archived_buckets: { [-]
       enabled: 1
       threshold: { [-]
         indicator:archived_buckets_failed_last_24h:red: 80
         indicator:archived_buckets_failed_last_24h:yellow: 40
       }
     }
     feature:disk_space: { [-]
       enabled: 1
       threshold: { [-]
         indicator:disk_space_remaining_multiple_minfreespace:red: 1
         indicator:disk_space_remaining_multiple_minfreespace:yellow: 2
       }
     }
     feature:indexers: { [-]
       enabled: 1
       threshold: { [-]
         indicator:detention:red: 1
         indicator:detention:yellow: 1
         indicator:missing_peers:red: 1
         indicator:missing_peers:yellow: 1
       }
     }
     feature:indexing_ready: { [-]
       enabled: 1
       threshold: { [-]
         indicator:indexing_ready:red: 1
       }
     }
     feature:master_connectivity: { [-]
       enabled: 1
       threshold: { [-]
         indicator:master_connectivity:red: 1
       }
     }
     feature:replication_failures: { [-]
       enabled: 1
       threshold: { [-]
         indicator:replication_failures:red: 10
         indicator:replication_failures:yellow: 5
       }
     }
     feature:s2s_autolb: { [-]
       enabled: 1
       threshold: { [-]
         indicator:s2s_connections:red: 70
         indicator:s2s_connections:yellow: 20
       }
     }
     feature:search_lag: { [-]
       enabled: 1
       threshold: { [-]
         indicator:count_extremely_lagged_searches_last_hour:red: 1
         indicator:count_extremely_lagged_searches_last_hour:yellow: 0
         indicator:percent_searches_lagged_high_priority_last_24h:yellow: 10
         indicator:percent_searches_lagged_non_high_priority_last_24h:yellow: 40
       }
     }
     feature:searches_delayed: { [-]
       enabled: 1
       threshold: { [-]
         indicator:percent_searches_delayed_high_priority_last_24h:red: 10
         indicator:percent_searches_delayed_high_priority_last_24h:yellow: 5
         indicator:percent_searches_delayed_non_high_priority_last_24h:red: 20
         indicator:percent_searches_delayed_non_high_priority_last_24h:yellow: 10
       }
     }
     feature:searches_skipped: { [-]
       enabled: 1
       threshold: { [-]
         indicator:percent_searches_skipped_high_priority_last_24h:red: 10
         indicator:percent_searches_skipped_high_priority_last_24h:yellow: 5
         indicator:percent_searches_skipped_non_high_priority_last_24h:red: 20
         indicator:percent_searches_skipped_non_high_priority_last_24h:yellow: 10
       }
     }
     feature:searchheadconnectivity: { [-]
       enabled: 1
       threshold: { [-]
         indicator:master_connectivity:red: 1
         indicator:master_version_compatibility:yellow: 1
       }
     }
     feature:shc_captain_common_baseline: { [-]
       enabled: 1
       threshold: { [-]
         indicator:common_baseline:red: 1
       }
     }
     feature:shc_captain_connection: { [-]
       enabled: 1
       threshold: { [-]
         indicator:captain_connection:red: 1
         indicator:captain_existence:red: 1
       }
     }
     feature:shc_captain_election_overview: { [-]
       enabled: 1
       threshold: { [-]
         indicator:dynamic_captain_quorum:yellow: 1
       }
     }
     feature:shc_members_overview: { [-]
       enabled: 1
       threshold: { [-]
         indicator:detention:red: 1
         indicator:detention:yellow: 1
         indicator:replication_factor:yellow: 1
         indicator:status:red: 1
         indicator:status:yellow: 1
       }
     }
     feature:shc_snapshot_creation: { [-]
       enabled: 1
       threshold: { [-]
         indicator:snapshot_creation:red: 20
         indicator:snapshot_creation:yellow: 10
       }
     }
     feature:slave_state: { [-]
       enabled: 1
       threshold: { [-]
         indicator:slave_state:red: 1
         indicator:slave_state:yellow: 1
       }
     }
     feature:slave_version: { [-]
       enabled: 1
       threshold: { [-]
         indicator:slave_version:red: 1
       }
     }
     feature:splunkoptimize_processes: { [-]
       enabled: 1
       threshold: { [-]
         indicator:concurrent_optimize_processes_percent:yellow: 100
       }
     }
     feature:tailreader: { [-]
       enabled: 1
       threshold: { [-]
         indicator:data_out_rate:red: 2
         indicator:data_out_rate:yellow: 1
       }
     }
     feature:wlm_configuration_check: { [-]
       enabled: 1
       threshold: { [-]
         indicator:configuration_check:red: 0
       }
     }
     feature:wlm_system_check: { [-]
       enabled: 1
       threshold: { [-]
         indicator:system_check:red: 0
       }
     }
   }
usage.indexing.sourcetype Indexing volume, number of events, number of hosts, source type name. 
{ [-]
     bytes: 90962
     events: 354
     hosts: 1
     name: splunk_telemetry
   }
usage.kvstore Metrics and performance data about KV store. 
{ [-]
     usage.flushAverageMs: 5.3538461538461535
     usage.instanceType: primary
     usage.memRamMb: 0
     usage.memVirtualMb: 0
     usage.oplogEndTime: 1569301264
     usage.oplogStartTime: 1569222045
     usage.oplogTimeRange: 79219
     usage.readLatencyToUpTime: 0.000153653421585191
     usage.readLatencyUsPerOp: 0.02158053280617528
     usage.storageEngine: mmapv1
     usage.upTime: 3956
     usage.version: 3.6.12-splunk
     usage.writeLatencyToUpTime: 0.000153653421585191
     usage.writeLatencyUsPerOp: 0.00048009036995199094
   }
usage.lookups.lookupDefinitions Lookup definition metadata with hashed lookup names. 
{ [-]
     lookups: [ [-]
       { [-]
         _timediff:
         is_temporal: 0
         name: 96117ed21e74f16d452027ed8e16c5d32fddd229
         sharing: system
         size:
         type: external
       }
       { [-]
         _timediff:
         is_temporal: 0
         name: 256d0fae9448acc55cd2e5cbabe7dbec576158c2
         sharing: global
         size: 18053
         type: file
       }
       { [-]
         _timediff:
         is_temporal: 0
         name: 88767984d9dc6308309ffde5dc3591fa3865e7f2
         sharing: global
         size: 832
         type: file
       }
       { [-]
         _timediff:
         is_temporal: 0
         name: 1b0131dbc851786586e269a2ba8b2f08bbd6834f
         sharing: global
         size:
         type: geo
       }
       { [-]
         _timediff:
         is_temporal: 0
         name: 6d47b91d0c0753e9332ec2c0f8c956151c9b1e16
         sharing: global
         size:
         type: geo
       }
     ]
   }
usage.passwordPolicy.config Password policy management: hashed host and GUID, attribute configurations. 
{ [-]
     constant login time: 0.000
     days until password expires: 90
     enable lockout users: false
     enable password expiration: false
     enable password history: false
     enable verbose login fail message: true
     expiration alert in days: 15
     failed login attempts: 5
     force existing users to change weak passwords: false
     guid: 32BEE8DE-E64D-4B02-B2FE-4F13F18A0CAE
     host: b8758da2f94fd58e648bce573fa3d9dc5797566d
     lockout duration in minutes: 30
     lockout threshold in minutes: 5
     minimum number of characters: 1
     minimum number of digits: 0
     minimum number of lowercase letters: 0
     minimum number of special characters: 0
     minimum number of uppercase letters: 0
     password history count: 24
   }
usage.python Default setting for Python version in the app, path of the script with its name hashed, version of Python used in the script. 
{ [-]
     pythonDefault: python2
     scriptPath: /usr/local/bamboo/splunk-install/current/etc/apps/SplunkEnterpriseSecuritySuite/bin/D7A80DE23601F645B8A06995DF910A3D08AB9EAA
     scriptPythonVersion: python2
   }
usage.search.concurrent Distribution of concurrent searches. 
{ [-]
     host: 3c4681a5be1881de8554c8bab7be78e8d151557ef571e6a72bdad589
     searches: { [-]
       avg: 2
       max: 2
       min: 1
       p10: 1
       p20: 1
       p30: 1
       p40: 1
       p50: 2
       p60: 2
       p70: 2
       p80: 2
       p90: 2
     }
   }
usage.search.report_acceleration Report acceleration metrics. 
{ [-]
     existing_report_accelerations: 0
   }
usage.search.searchTelemetry List of commands and corresponding counts for all searches run on the system in the span of one day. 
{ [-]
     commands: [ [-]
       { [-]
         count: 1
         name: addinfo
       }
       { [-]
         count: 5
         name: eval
       }
       { [-]
         count: 6
         name: external_command
       }
       { [-]
         count: 9
         name: fields
       }
       { [-]
         count: 1
         name: inputlookup
       }
       { [-]
         count: 1
         name: join
       }
       { [-]
         count: 1
         name: litsearch
       }
       { [-]
         count: 2
         name: makemv
       }
       { [-]
         count: 1
         name: mvcombine
       }
       { [-]
         count: 2
         name: mvexpand
       }
       { [-]
         count: 2
         name: noop
       }
       { [-]
         count: 4
         name: prerest
       }
       { [-]
         count: 1
         name: prestats
       }
       { [-]
         count: 4
         name: presummarize
       }
       { [-]
         count: 2
         name: rename
       }
       { [-]
         count: 4
         name: rest
       }
       { [-]
         count: 1
         name: search
       }
       { [-]
         count: 3
         name: stats
       }
       { [-]
         count: 4
         name: summarize
       }
       { [-]
         count: 6
         name: timeliner
       }
       { [-]
         count: 1
         name: where
       }
     ]
   }
usage.search.searchtelemetry.type Search type, count, average bytes read, max bytes read, duration. 
{ [-]
     searchTypeInformation: [ [-]
       { [-]
         avg(bytes_read): 90531.02683363149
         count: 559
         duration: 1488.45949719
         max(bytes_read): 46382154
         type: adhoc
       }
       { [-]
         avg(bytes_read): 0
         count: 3224
         duration: 199.042348043
         max(bytes_read): 0
         type: scheduled
       }
     ]
   }
usage.search.searchtelemetry.sourcetypeUsage Sourcetype usage. 
{ [-]
     sourcetypeUsage: [ [-]
       { [-]
         http_event_collector_metrics: 1
         kvstore: 1
         mongod: 3
         search_telemetry: 1
         splunk_disk_objects: 1
         splunk_resource_usage: 1
         splunk_web_service: 3
         splunkd: 11
         splunkd_remote_searches: 3
         splunkd_ui_access: 2
       }
     ]
   }
usage.search.type Number of searches of each type. 
{ [-]
     ad-hoc: 3619
     datamodel acceleration: 1
     other: 2
     report acceleration: 1
     scheduled: 34412
     summary index: 506
   }
usage.smartStore.Config SmartStore global configuration, per index configuration, hashed internal and external index names. 
{ [-]
     global config: { [-]
       cachemanager: { [-]
         eviction_padding: 5120
         hotlist_bloom_filter_recency_hours: 360
         hotlist_recency_secs: 86400
         max_cache_size: 0
       }
       clustering: { [-]
         mode: disabled
       }
       diskUsage: { [-]
         minFreeSpace: 5000
       }
     }
     list of indexes: { [-]
       non-SmartStore enabled: ea9f4255e269599dd961c3efd8775ab5ac1d3948,f1b1f1f40216ee2e2b5a526eec43c8f71cccef5d,302a11446cd560395417c9e2d2177a7a0fa8d74d,568b2f85dcc1c8608d713a66a0eabd5b88956547,d140ef99de26b2f8b6f54081084d0b8b2f59f36f,5a74588fcf73bdd06619007f6659c41827885700,66f79d8a6327c82c9033e6d65ff03322a3766c87,b28b7af69320201d1cf206ebf28373980add1451,f4f77578164d1b03fb4c931f727a3e2966e541d4,0d176ba3aa7be325bcaeaf13ea2da4d155f04e33,87da723b9f33eb0f1bcad8ea3405d8c2d248f862,05535ecff78ef61038725b6ed3016b8c9a037496,f397214775e4f8191c17e838b4d518cb90051672
     }
     per index config: { [-]
       external_05535ecff78ef61038725b6ed3016b8c9a037496: { [-]
         frozenTimePeriodInSecs: 188697600
         hotlist_bloom_filter_recency_hours: none
         hotlist_recency_secs: none
         maxGlobalDataSizeMB: 0
         maxHotSpanSecs: 7776000
       }
       external_0d176ba3aa7be325bcaeaf13ea2da4d155f04e33: { [-]
         frozenTimePeriodInSecs: 188697600
         hotlist_bloom_filter_recency_hours: none
         hotlist_recency_secs: none
         maxGlobalDataSizeMB: 0
         maxHotSpanSecs: 7776000
       }
       external_66f79d8a6327c82c9033e6d65ff03322a3766c87: { [-]
         frozenTimePeriodInSecs: 604800
         hotlist_bloom_filter_recency_hours: none
         hotlist_recency_secs: none
         maxGlobalDataSizeMB: 0
         maxHotSpanSecs: 7776000
       }
       external_87da723b9f33eb0f1bcad8ea3405d8c2d248f862: { [-]
         frozenTimePeriodInSecs: 188697600
         hotlist_bloom_filter_recency_hours: none
         hotlist_recency_secs: none
         maxGlobalDataSizeMB: 0
         maxHotSpanSecs: 7776000
       }
       external_b28b7af69320201d1cf206ebf28373980add1451: { [-]
         frozenTimePeriodInSecs: 188697600
         hotlist_bloom_filter_recency_hours: none
         hotlist_recency_secs: none
         maxGlobalDataSizeMB: 0
         maxHotSpanSecs: 7776000
       }
       external_f397214775e4f8191c17e838b4d518cb90051672: { [-]
         frozenTimePeriodInSecs: 188697600
         hotlist_bloom_filter_recency_hours: none
         hotlist_recency_secs: none
         maxGlobalDataSizeMB: 0
         maxHotSpanSecs: 7776000
       }
       external_f4f77578164d1b03fb4c931f727a3e2966e541d4: { [-]
         frozenTimePeriodInSecs: 188697600
         hotlist_bloom_filter_recency_hours: none
         hotlist_recency_secs: none
         maxGlobalDataSizeMB: 0
         maxHotSpanSecs: 7776000
       }
       internal_302a11446cd560395417c9e2d2177a7a0fa8d74d: { [-]
         frozenTimePeriodInSecs: 1209600
         hotlist_bloom_filter_recency_hours: none
         hotlist_recency_secs: none
         maxGlobalDataSizeMB: 0
         maxHotSpanSecs: 7776000
       }
       internal_568b2f85dcc1c8608d713a66a0eabd5b88956547: { [-]
         frozenTimePeriodInSecs: 1209600
         hotlist_bloom_filter_recency_hours: none
         hotlist_recency_secs: none
         maxGlobalDataSizeMB: 0
         maxHotSpanSecs: 7776000
       }
       internal_5a74588fcf73bdd06619007f6659c41827885700: { [-]
         frozenTimePeriodInSecs: 2419200
         hotlist_bloom_filter_recency_hours: none
         hotlist_recency_secs: none
         maxGlobalDataSizeMB: 0
         maxHotSpanSecs: 7776000
       }
       internal_d140ef99de26b2f8b6f54081084d0b8b2f59f36f: { [-]
         frozenTimePeriodInSecs: 63072000
         hotlist_bloom_filter_recency_hours: none
         hotlist_recency_secs: none
         maxGlobalDataSizeMB: 0
         maxHotSpanSecs: 7776000
       }
       internal_ea9f4255e269599dd961c3efd8775ab5ac1d3948: { [-]
         frozenTimePeriodInSecs: 188697600
         hotlist_bloom_filter_recency_hours: none
         hotlist_recency_secs: none
         maxGlobalDataSizeMB: 0
         maxHotSpanSecs: 7776000
       }
       internal_f1b1f1f40216ee2e2b5a526eec43c8f71cccef5d: { [-]
         frozenTimePeriodInSecs: 2592000
         hotlist_bloom_filter_recency_hours: none
         hotlist_recency_secs: none
         maxGlobalDataSizeMB: 0
         maxHotSpanSecs: 432000
       }
     }
     total storage capacity: { [-]
       0: { [-]
         available: 130459.672
         capacity: 476802.039
         free: 142405.105
         fs_type: apfs
       }
     }
   }
usage.users.active The number of active users per day. 
{ [-]
     active: 1
   }
usage.workloadManagement.report Workload management: Hashed host and GUID, OS/version, server roles, WLM support and enable status, pool configurations, rule configurations. 
{ [-]
     categories: { [-]
       ingest: { [-]
         allocated cpu percent: 20.00
         allocated mem limit: 100.00
       }
       misc: { [-]
         allocated cpu percent: 10.00
         allocated mem limit: 10.00
       }
       search: { [-]
         allocated cpu percent: 70.00
         allocated mem limit: 70.00
       }
     }
     guid: F3DC7C6B-DF89-4585-A7A6-B4A3510D957D
     host: eadc124359ea492c6b04c079dcf3bec3be2fb32c
     os: Linux
     osVersion: 4.9.184-linuxkit
     pools: { [-]
       total count: 0
     }
     rules: { [-]
       total count: 0
     }
     server roles: indexer, license_master, kv_store
     wlm enabled: 0
     wlm supported: 1
   }

Support usage data examples

Support usage data is the same data as the aggregated usage data, but if you opt to send support usage data, Splunk can use the license GUID to identify usage data from a specific customer account to help troubleshoot support cases.

See Aggregated usage data examples.

Support usage data is distinct from diagnostic file data. Diagnostic files are never automatically generated and can only be sent to Splunk Support manually by a user with the appropriate permissions. For more about diagnostic files, see Generate a diag in the Troubleshooting Manual.

License usage data examples

The following example demonstrates the type of data sent to Splunk when sharing of license usage data is enabled.

Component Description Example
licensing.stack Licensing quota and consumption 
{ [-]
     consumption: 14462827
     guid: 12345678-90AB-CDE
     host: abcdea12b3456789012c345dea
     name: enterprise
     pools: [ [-]
       { [-]
         consumption: 14462827
         quota: 53687091200
       }
     ]
     product: enterprise
     quota: 53687091200
     subgroup: Production
     type: enterprise
   }
deployment.node GUID, host, number of virtual and physical cores, CPU architecture, memory size, storage (partition) capacity, OS/version, Splunk Enterprise version 
{ [-]
   data: { [-]
     cpu: { [-]
       architecture: x86_64
       coreCount: 4
       utilization: { [-]
         avg: 0.34
         max: 1
         min: 0.01
         p10: 0.11
         p20: 0.15
         p30: 0.2
         p40: 0.24
         p50: 0.29
         p60: 0.34
         p70: 0.41
         p80: 0.49
         p90: 0.63
       }
       virtualCoreCount: 8
     }
     guid: 12345678-90AB-CDE
     host: abcdea12b3456789012c345dea
     memory: { [-]
       capacity: 31618072838
       utilization: { [-]
         avg: 0.17
         max: 0.29
         min: 0.07
         p10: 0.1
         p20: 0.11
         p30: 0.12
         p40: 0.12
         p50: 0.14
         p60: 0.22
         p70: 0.22
         p80: 0.23
         p90: 0.23
       }
     }
     os: Linux
     osExt: Linux
     osVersion: 4.14.121-85.96.amzn1.x86_64
     partitions: [ [-]
       { [-]
         capacity: 6341226332684
         fileSystem: ext4
         utilization: 0.85
       }
     ]
     splunkVersion: 8.0.3
   } 
   }

Software version data examples

The following example demonstrates the software version data sent to Splunk for Splunk Enterprise when sharing of software version data is enabled.

Description Example
CPU architecture x86_64
Operating system Linux
Product enterprise
Splunk roles admin
License group, subgroup, and hashed GUID Enterprise, Production, <GUID>
Splunk software version 7.0.0

The following example demonstrates the software version data sent to Splunk for each app when sharing of software version data is enabled for that app.

Description Example
App ID, name, and version gettingstarted, Getting Started, 1.0
Splunk version 7.0
Platform, architecture Darwin, x86_64

App usage data examples

In addition to the data enumerated in this topic, certain apps collect usage data. See the documentation for each app for details and examples.

How Splunk collects the data

If aggregated, support, or license usage data collection is enabled, a few instances in your Splunk Enterprise deployment collect data through scheduled searches. Most of the searches run in sequence, starting at 3:05 AM on the node that runs the searches, unless you change the schedule. All searches are triggered with a scripted input.

In addition, when aggregated or support data collection is enabled, session data about user activity transmits from the browser directly to the Splunk telemetry API.

Which instance runs the searches and sends data to Splunk

One primary instance in your deployment runs distributed searches that collect most of the usage data. This primary instance is also responsible for sending the data to Splunk. The instance that acts as the primary instance depends on the details of your deployment:

  • If indexer clustering is enabled, the cluster master is the primary instance. If you have more than one indexer cluster, each cluster master is a primary instance.
  • If search head clustering is enabled but not indexer clustering, each search head captain is a primary instance.
  • If your deployment does not use clustering, the searches run on a search head.

If you opt out of instrumentation, the searches from the primary instance do not run.

Additional instances in your deployment run a smaller number of searches, depending on colocation details. If data collection is enabled, the data from these searches is collected by the primary node and sent to Splunk. If you opt out, these searches still run, but no data is sent.

For your deployment to send data to Splunk, the primary instance responsible for the searches must be connected to the internet with no firewall rules or proxy server configurations that prevent outbound traffic to https://quickdraw.splunk.com/telemetry/destination or https://*.api.splkmobile.com. If necessary, whitelist these URLs for outbound traffic.

Instrumentation in the Splunk Enterprise file system

After the searches run, the searched data is packaged and sent to Splunk, as well as indexed to the _telemetry index. Session data is transmitted directly to the telemetry API from the browser and is not persisted in the _telemetry index. The _telemetry index is retained for two years by default and is limited in size to 256 MB.

The instrumentation app resides in the file system at $SPLUNK_HOME/etc/apps/splunk_instrumentation.

How Splunk uses the data it collects

If you share aggregated usage data, Splunk collects data about your Splunk software usage and aggregates it together with similar data from other deployments so Splunk can understand what features and workflows are most important to users and improve its products and services over time. Collected license IDs are used only to verify that data is received from a valid Splunk product and persisted only for deployments opting into license or support usage reporting. These license IDs help Splunk analyze how different Splunk products are being deployed across the population of customers and are not attached to any aggregated usage data.

If you share support usage data, Splunk links the data about your software usage to your installed license ID so that Splunk can provide improved support and services for your deployment. Support usage data is used by Support and Customer Success teams to troubleshoot support issues that you file and improve your Splunk software implementation.

If you share license usage data, Splunk uses the data to ensure compliance with your purchased offering.

If you share Splunk product version data, Splunk uses the data to track how many deployments use particular versions of Splunk software offerings and to provide in-product notifications when updates are available. For apps, version data is correlated with information about app downloads to populate app analytics views on Splunkbase provided to the app's developer, and to compute the number of installs on the app details page.

How Splunk transmits and stores the data it collects

When you enable aggregated, support, and license usage data sharing, Splunk Enterprise runs searches to collect this data and sends the search summaries to a collection endpoint. Session data and Splunk software version data is not included in the searches. Session data is sent from your browser as the events are generated. Version data about Splunk Enterprise is sent to Splunk by your browser after you log into Splunk Web. Version data about your Splunk apps is sent to Splunk daily through a REST call from splunkd to splunkbase.splunk.com. Data is transmitted to Splunk from a single primary instance in your deployment. See Which instance runs the searches and sends data to Splunk.

Telemetry data is SSL encrypted before it leaves your deployment, and the certificates are verified before the data is securely stored in a Splunk Cloud instance. The Splunk Cloud instance used for customer telemetry has strict access controls that are subject to regular audit. For more information about how Splunk collects, uses, and discloses information about the data collected, see the Splunk Privacy Policy. For more information about Splunk's data privacy, security, and compliance practices, see Splunk Protects.

View what data is sent from your deployment

You can view aggregated usage, support usage, and license usage data that your deployment has recently sent in Splunk Web.

  1. Navigate to Settings > Instrumentation.
  2. Click the category of data you wish to view in Search.

This log is available only after the first run of the collection. To inspect the type of data that gets sent before you opt in on your production environment, you can opt in on your sandbox environment.

To view the browser session data, use JavaScript logging in your browser. Look for network events sent to a URL containing splkmobile. Events are triggered by user actions such as navigating to a new page in Splunk Web.

To view version data that is sent for Splunk Enterprise, watch JavaScript network traffic as you log into Splunk Web. The data is sent inside a call to quickdraw.splunk.com.

How to opt out

Splunk collects support usage, aggregated usage, license data, and software version data by default. You can opt in or out at any time.

Prerequisite
To enable or disable collection of usage data, your user role must include the edit_telemetry_settings capability.

Opt out of sharing aggregated or support usage data

To change your aggregated or support usage data sharing settings, follow these steps:

  1. Click Settings > Instrumentation in Splunk Web.
  2. Click the gear icon next to Usage Data.
  3. Adjust the sliders to enable or disable sharing aggregated or support usage data.

Opt out of sharing license data automatically

By default, Splunk collects license usage data based on your installed license to ensure compliance with your purchased offering. To disable sharing license data automatically, edit your local copy of telemetry.conf file and set sendLicenseUsage = false in the [general] stanza, then restart Splunk Enterprise.

Certain license programs require that you report your license usage. The easiest way to do this is to automatically send this information to Splunk. If you disable automatic license data sharing, you can send license data manually. Follow these steps each time you want to send data manually:

  1. On a search head, log into Splunk Web.
  2. Select Settings > Instrumentation.
  3. Click Export.
  4. Select a date range and data type.
  5. Click Send to send data to Splunk directly or click Export to export the data to your local machine and send the data to Splunk using another mechanism.

Opt out of sharing software version data

To stop sending Splunk data about the version of Splunk Enterprise you have installed, set the value of the updateCheckerBaseURL setting to 0 in your local copy of web.conf.

In addition, you can turn off version data sharing for each Splunk app. To disable notifications of new versions and stop sending Splunk data about the app version, set check_for_updates to false in the local copy of the app.conf file for each app.

Opt out of sharing data and prevent future admins from opting in

To opt out from all collection of aggregated usage, support, and license data and prevent other admins from enabling it in the future, do the following on one search head in each cluster and on each nonclustered search head:

  1. Click Settings > Instrumentation in Splunk Web.
  2. Click the gear icon next to Usage Data.
  3. Disable all options.
  4. Click Settings > Access controls > Roles.
  5. Remove the edit_telemetry_settings capability from the admin role. Users with this role no longer receive notifications about data collection, nor can they access Settings > Instrumentation in Splunk Web.

If you want to disable collection of usage information across multiple deployments of the Splunk platform that are not centrally managed, block DNS resolution of e1345286.api.splkmobile.com.

How to adjust your data collection schedule

If you share data, the collection process begins daily at 3:00 AM by default. You can change the frequency and timing of this collection.

If all instances in your deployment are running Splunk Enterprise version 7.1.0 or later, you can schedule instrumentation to run starting at any hour of the day on a daily or a weekly schedule. The collection process runs a few searches in sequence on several instances in your deployment. Depending on the size of your deployment and whether you run instrumentation daily or weekly, it can take a few minutes before the final searches run on the primary instance to package and send the data to Splunk. See Which instance runs the searches.

Changing the instrumentation collection schedule has trade-offs. Scheduling the collection to run weekly instead of daily might decrease the total search load for the week. A weekly collection takes longer than a daily collection, because it gathers data from all seven days. If you choose weekly collection, set it for a day and time when you expect the search load to be low.

Change the collection schedule using Splunk Web

  1. On a search head, in Splunk Web, navigate to Settings > Instrumentation.
  2. Next to Usage Data, click the gear icon.
  3. Click Edit usage data schedule.
  4. Select a frequency, day, and time.
  5. Click Save.

You do not need to restart the search head.

Change the collection schedule using configuration files

You can change the collection schedule by editing the telemetry.conf file. For guidelines on editing this file, see telemetry.conf.

  1. At the command line on any search head, navigate to $SPLUNK_HOME/etc/apps/splunk_instrumentation/local/.
  2. Create or edit telemetry.conf.
  3. Edit the values for any of scheduledHour, scheduledDay, and reportStartDate according to the guidelines in telemetry.conf.spec.

Performance impact

Aggregated usage, support usage, and license usage data is summarized and sent once per day at 3 AM by default. Splunk tested the performance impact on a deployment of one search head and three indexers and found the following performance impacts during the time that the searches were running:

  • 4.5% increase in CPU overhead
  • Negligible effects on memory, disk, and network overhead
  • Up to 5% increase on the search time of regular search workloads

Session data and update checker data is sent from your browser as the events are generated. The performance implications are negligible.

Last modified on 03 September, 2021
Secure your configuration   How Splunk Enterprise licensing works

This documentation applies to the following versions of Splunk® Enterprise: 8.0.8, 8.0.9, 8.0.10

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