Top 20+ Splunk Interview Questions 2023-2024 [UPDATED] (2024)

Splunk Interview Questions: Now, after covering the above information you may feel confident to crack the Splunk interview questions but wait there is much more to learn and showcase during the interview. Here is what you should know before walking into the interview room.

1. What is Splunk?

Although it is one of the most obvious questions that you witness on every corner, you must answer it with confidence. You can start your answer by defining Splunk stating “It is a big data tool that gathers the machine-generated data and works as a search engine to search, visualize, report, and monitor the data. As an advanced tool, Splunk turns scattered data into valuable and powerful operational intelligence by providing readable information, real-time insights, alerts, charts, reports, etc.” This Splunk Interview answer will surely win the Interviewer.

2. Can you list out the number of command categories in Splunk?

The commands help in various tasks ranging from searching, filtering, arranging, and generating data reports. As a professional, you should know that there are 6 main categories of commands in Splunk:

Distributed streaming command
Transforming command
Centralized command
Generating command
Database processing command
Orchestrating command

3. What is the role of the eval command?

Eval command in Splunk is used for calculating an expression, which is similar to a mathematical expression. In Splunk, you can add multiple expressions in a single search with a comma.

4. Define replace command.

You can use this command to replace specific field values with required values.

5. Describe the usage of the stat command.

The stat command is used to calculate the statistical aggregation of the dataset including sum, average, and count.

6. What is a table command?

In Splunk, you can use this command to go back to the tabular view of the results.

7. What does the xyseries command do?

xyseries command is used to convert the search result into a format that can be used for easy graphical presentation. For example; – Pie chart, column, line chart, and more.

8. Describe the role of spath command.

As a professional, you should know that If you want to extract fields from structured data formats such as XML, JSON, etc.

9. How will you use the sort command to get ascending and descending order searches?

You have to fill the following commands to get ascending and descending order search:

Ascending order: sort + / sort displays search
Descending order: sort – sort displays search

10. What is the join command?

As you can already figure out from the term “join” itself, this command in Splunk is used to combine the results of two search results. However, the field must be common to join the end results.

11. Differentiate between stats and time chart commands.

There are different factors that actually set time charts apart from stats. In your Splunk interview question, you can describe these commands on two main factors:
Aggregate

12. What is a regex command?

The regex command in Splunk is used to provide the results that match the desired regular expression.

13. Explain the use of the top command in Splunk.

The top command is used to display the count and percentage of occurrence of a value of a certain field in the result set.

14. Describe the difference between stats and eventstats commands?

Stats command in Splunk is used for the summary statistics of the existing fields available in the search and later store it in the new fields. On the other hand, eventstats command is used to add the aggregation results of every event only if aggregation applies to that certain event.

15. When do you need a lookup command?

In Splunk, the lookup command is used to compare your event data with the external file. By using the command, you can further narrow down the results that match fields in event data.

16. Stats vs. Transaction commands: How do you differentiate them?

The transaction command is used in a condition where the unique ID is not enough to differentiate between two transactions. For example; in the mail server’s log, you can find both sender id and recipient id for different events with the same MID. As it will be challenging to differentiate between two transactions, you will use the transaction command to gather all events with the same MID.

In other cases, professionals prefer to use stats as it delivers better performance, and can be easily used in the distributed search environment.

17. What is the role of Splunk Alert?

There are some situations, when you may want to monitor and respond to a certain event. In that particular situation, you can use Splunk alert. Let’s take an example to understand it in a better way. You send a notification to the user every time there are more than 5 failed attempts to log in to ensure no one else is breaking into the account.

18. How do you extract fields?

There are basically two different ways to extract fields in Splunk known as:

Interactive Field Extractor
Regular Expression

19. What do you know about Pivot and data models?

In Splunk, Pivot is used to create the front views of the output and then, you can choose the relevant filter for a better view. These are the ideal options for those who come from a non-technical background.

On the other hand, data models are used to create hierarchical models of data. However, it can also be used when you have a large pile of unstructured data in hand. Through this command, you can make use of the information without any complex search queries.

20. What do you understand about the default field?

There are 5 default fields that you can spot in Splunk. These includes:

Host
Source
Source type
Index
Timestamp

We hope you can successfully crack the Splunk Interview Questions with all the basic information and interview questions. However, if you want to stay updated regarding other technical topics, then feel free to visit htmlkick.com today.