Other deployment considerations

In many applications, the Splunk App for Unix and Linux suite installs on a *nix server and collects data from that server. You then use Splunk Web to browse the app's included dashboards, reports, and saved searches to gain for insight into that data.

Additional uses for the app and add-on

There are additional uses for the app and add-on:

• You can use the add-on to collect *nix data from a number of *nix machines by installing a universal forwarder on each machine and deploying the app to those forwarders. Once the app is installed on each forwarder, you can then forward the data to a receiving indexer that is running the full app. Read "Deploy the Splunk App for Unix and Linux in a distributed Splunk environment" for additional information and instructions.

• You can install the app on a Splunk instance running on Windows. This instance can be an indexer or a search head. In this configuration, you must disable all included inputs that come with the app. Read "Search data received from a forwarder running on a different operating system" for additional details.

• You can also install the add-on on an indexer to provide data inputs for another app installed on that indexer, such as the Splunk App for Enterprise Security.

• If you install the Splunk App for Unix and Linux in a distributed environment and have configured the search heads in that environment to send data to the indexers, you might need to deploy the indexes.conf included with the Splunk Supporting Add-on for Unix and Linux component (SA-nix/default/indexes.conf) onto your indexers to make sure that the unix_summary summary index is available. Failure to do so might cause issues with alerts for the app, as alerts use this special index.

Configure the Splunk App for Unix and Linux on multiple machines

The app has the ability to display data from many hosts. Following is a list of steps to take to get that data:

1. Install the Splunk App for Unix and Linux on a central Splunk instance.

2. Configure the central Splunk instance to be a receiving indexer.

3. On each *nix machine from which you want to get *nix data, install a universal forwarder.

4. Configure each universal forwarder to forward data to the central Splunk receiver.

5. Install the Splunk Add-on for Unix and Linux on each universal forwarder.

6. Configure inputs.conf on each universal forwarder to enable the *nix data inputs.

Note: A deployment server eases management of this and other forwarder configuration files. Consider installing one in your environment if you have not already. The Splunk App for Unix and Linux installation package allows for direct installation into a deployment server for distribution of add-on components to universal forwarders.

7. On the central Splunk instance, open the Splunk App for Unix and Linux and confirm that you are receiving data from the *nix servers that have universal forwarders and the Splunk App for Unix and Linux installed on them.

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