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Switch Cribl Stream Destinations from S2S to Splunk HEC

This guide is for users that want to change their Splunk data flow from using Splunk to Splunk (S2S) to HTTP Event Collector (HEC). The guide will provide step-by-step instructions for making this change.

Prerequisites
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You must have the following prerequisites before following this guide:

  • A Cribl Stream instance
  • A Splunk instance

Configure the queue Setting
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If your Splunk Technology Add-ons (TAs) include many index-time operations like SEDCMD or TRANSFORMS, be aware of potential data quality impacts. By default, Splunk HEC sends data through a queue where these operations (often referred to as extractions) may be applied, potentially altering your original data.

To bypass these index-time operations (extractions) and ensure data integrity, configure the queue setting in the inputs.conf file in Splunk to use the rulesetQueue on a per-token stanza level. This approach allows for newer Ingest Actions to be applied through the Ruleset queue.

Modifying the queue setting in the global stanza of inputs.conf will impact all HEC tokens and may have unintended consequences for other HEC-based integrations.

  1. Locate and open the inputs.conf file on your Splunk instance. This file is typically located in the $SPLUNK_HOME/etc/system/local directory.

  2. Add or modify the following within the file:

    [http://cribl]
disabled = 0
index = main
token = ${SPLUNK_HEC_TOKEN}
queue = rulesetQueue

  3. Replace ${SPLUNK_HEC_TOKEN} with your actual HEC token.

  4. Save the inputs.conf file and restart the Splunk instance for the changes to take effect.

If you are using Splunk Cloud, you must open a ticket with Splunk to request a change to the inputs.conf file. Make sure you request that they change the queue setting only for the Cribl integration, not on a global level.

Create the Splunk HTTP Event Collector Token
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Once you complete this section, you will have a new HEC token in Splunk that can receive data from Cribl Stream.

  1. Log in to Splunk.
  2. Navigate to Settings then Add Data.
  3. Select Monitor from the Add Data menu.

Select a Source
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  1. Choose HTTP Event Collector.
  2. Enter a name for your token (cribl-HEC for example).
  3. Click Next.

Validate Input Settings
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  1. For Source type, select Automatic (unless you are setting this token for a specific Sourcetype).

  2. For Index, select your desired Allowed Indexes.

    If you want to send Splunk logs such as data from _internal, set the Allowed Indexes to N/A. You may want different tokens for different types of data.

  3. Click Next.

Review HEC Settings
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  1. Ensure that Allowed indexes it set to N/A, unless you want to restrict users to only send data to specific indexes using this token.
  2. Click Submit.

You should now have a new, valid HTTP Event Collector (HEC) token that you can use with Cribl Stream. This token allows Cribl Stream to receive events for any index that is available in Splunk.

Create a Splunk HEC Destination in Cribl Stream
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Using the token you just created in Splunk, create a Splunk HEC Destination in Cribl Stream.

  1. Log in to Cribl Stream.
  2. Click Data then Destinations.
  3. From the resulting page’s tiles or the Destinations left nav, select Splunk, then > HEC
  4. Click Add Destination to open a New Destination modal and fill in the required fields:
    FieldConfiguration
    Output IDEnter a descriptive name for your Destination.
    Load balancingDecide whether to enable Load Balancing for this Destination.
    Splunk HEC EndpointsEnter the endpoint for your Splunk instance, in the following format: https://http-inputs-<CLOUD_ORG>.splunkcloud.com/services/collector/event
    Authentication methodSet to Manual.
    HEC Auth tokenEnter the Splunk HEC API access token from the Create the Splunk HTTP Event Collector Token section.
  5. Depending on your data volume and event size, you may also want to tune Advanced Settings (Body size limit, Request concurrency, Flush period (sec)). See Splunk HEC Advanced Settings for specific guidance.
  6. Click Save.
  7. In a Distributed deployment, you’ll also need to Commit & Deploy to push the configurations to your Workers.

Test the Destination Connection
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  1. Open the Splunk HEC Destination you just created and click the Test tab.
  2. Add the index field to Test input and click Run test.
  3. Check the bottom of the Test tab. If the banner shows a green Success indicator, your endpoint and token are valid.

Switch from S2S to Splunk HEC
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Now, you can switch from Splunk S2S to HEC Destination.

  1. In Cribl Stream, navigate to Data then Destinations.
  2. Choose either Splunk Single Instance or Splunk Load Balanced depending on which applies to you.
  3. Open the Splunk S2S Destination and check for any QuickConnects Sources.
  4. Click directly on a Source in this column to it.
  5. Switch all QuickConnects Sources from the Splunk S2S Destination to the Splunk HEC Destination.

Check Routes and Packs
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Once you’ve switched all QuickConnects references to Splunk HEC:

  1. Navigate to Processing, Packs and Routing, Data Routes and look for references to the Splunk S2S Destinations:

    • On the Data Routes page.
    • On the Routes page for the Pack.

  2. Change the Splunk S2S Destinations you find to the Splunk HEC Destination.

  3. Once you’re finished, Commit & Deploy the changes. In standalone instances, the changes take place as soon as you save them.

We recommended that you make these changes incrementally and validate each change inside of your Splunk instance for any data irregularities before you move on.

Now, you’ve successfully switched all Splunk S2S Destinations in Cribl Stream to the Splunk HEC Destination.