Skip to main content

Splunk Observability
On demand

Reading time: 0 minute(s) (0 words)

Splunk Observability allows users to search, monitor, and analyze machine-generated big data. Splunk Observability facilitates collecting and monitoring metrics, logs, and traces from common data sources. Data collection and monitoring in one place ensure full-stack, end-to-end observability of the entire infrastructure.

Splunk Observability is different from the Splunk Core that powers Splunk Cloud / Enterprise and is the traditional log management solution from Splunk. Nobl9 also integrates to that through a different set of APIs.

Splunk Observability parameters and supported features in Nobl9
General support:
Release channel: Alpha
Connection method: Agent, Direct
Replay and SLI Analyzer: Not supported
Event logs: Not supported
Query checker: Not supported
Query parameters retrieval: Supported
Timestamp cache persistence: Supported
Query parameters:
Query interval: 1 min
Query delay: 5 min
Jitter: 15 sec
Timeout: 30 sec
Agent details and minimum required versions for supported features:
Plugin name: n9splunk_observability
Query delay environment variable: SPLUNK_QUERY_DELAY
Timestamp cache persistence: 0.65.0
Additional notes:
Available on demand
Maximum query delay for Splunk Observability is 15 minutes

On-demand feature

The Splunk Observability integration with Nobl9 is available on demand. Fill in the request form to access it.

Authentication​

SplunkObservability is SaaS but the URL which indicates the realm (region) needs to be provided. For more details, refer to Realms in Endpoints | Splunk Observability documentation.

When deploying the Nobl9 agent for SplunkObservability, it is required to provide

SPLUNK_OBSERVABILITY_ACCESS_TOKEN

as an environment variable for authentication with organization API Access Token (see Create an Access Token | Splunk Observability documentation). There is a placeholder for that value in configuration obtained from installation instructions on the Nobl9 Web (refer to the Agent configuration on the Nobl9 Web section).

Adding Splunk Observability Realm​

Splunk Observability connection also requires entering your organization’s Realm. Follow the below instructions to get your API endpoint for the Realm in Splunk:

  1. In your Splunk account, go to Settings > Profile.

  2. Go to the Endpoints section

  3. Choose the URL from the API field.

Image 1: Endpoints section in the Splunk account
note

  • Access tokens are valid for 30 days.

  • Customers could use Org tokens which are valid for 5 years. Org tokens can also be used to generate session tokens

    • Sample access token for Splunk Observability: t4QJpMY1XLcECzm1c5Jb0A

Adding Splunk Observability as a data source​

You can add the Splunk Observability data source using the direct or agent connection methods.

Direct connection method​

Direct connection to Splunk Observability requires users to enter their credentials which Nobl9 stores safely.

Nobl9 Web​

To set up this type of connection:

  1. Navigate to Integrations > Sources.
  2. Click .
  3. Click the required Source button.
  4. Choose Direct.
  1. Select one of the following Release Channels:
    • The stable channel is fully tested by the Nobl9 team. It represents the final product; however, this channel does not contain all the new features of a beta release. Use it to avoid crashes and other limitations.
    • The beta channel is under active development. Here, you can check out new features and improvements without the risk of affecting any viable SLOs. Remember that features in this channel can change.

  2. Enter your organization's Realm to connect your data source.
    Refer to the Authentication section above for more details.

  3. Enter the Access Token environment variable for authentication with the organization API Access Token.
    Refer to the Authentication section above for more details.

  1. Select a Project.
    Specifying a project is helpful when multiple users are spread across multiple teams or projects. When the Project field is left blank, Nobl9 uses the default project.
  2. Enter a Display Name.
    You can enter a user-friendly name with spaces in this field.
  3. Enter a Name.
    The name is mandatory and can only contain lowercase, alphanumeric characters, and dashes (for example, my-project-1). Nobl9 duplicates the display name here, transforming it into the supported format, but you can edit the result.
  4. Enter a Description.
    Here you can add details such as who is responsible for the integration (team/owner) and the purpose of creating it.
  5. Specify the Query delay to set a customized delay for queries when pulling the data from the data source.
    • The default value in Splunk Observability integration for Query delay is 5 minutes.
    info
    Changing the Query delay may affect your SLI data. For more details, check the Query delay documentation.
  6. Click Add Data Source.

sloctl​

  1. Create a YAML definition to set up a direct connection with Splunk Observability. For this, refer to the following example:
YAML definition for the direct connection method
apiVersion: n9/v1alpha
kind: Direct
metadata:
  name: splunk-observability
  displayName: Splunk Observability Direct
  project: default
spec:
  description: Example Splunk Observability Direct
  releaseChannel: alpha
  splunkObservability:
    realm: us1
    accessToken: "[secret]"
  queryDelay:
    value: 6
    unit: Minute
FieldTypeDescription
queryDelay.unit
mandatory
enumSpecifies the unit for the query delay. Possible values: Second | Minute.
• Check query delay documentation for default unit of query delay for each source.
queryDelay.value
mandatory
numericSpecifies the value for the query delay.
• Must be a number less than 1440 minutes (24 hours).
• Check query delay documentation for default unit of query delay for each source.
releaseChannel
mandatory
enumSpecifies the release channel. Accepted values: beta | stable.
Source-specific fields
splunkObservability.realm
mandatory
stringSee realms in endpoints | Splunk Observability documentation for more details.
splunkObservability.accessToken
mandatory
string, secretEnvironment variable used for authentication with the organization API Access Token. See authentication section above for more details.
  1. Apply your YAML definition using the sloctl apply command.

Agent connection method​

Nobl9 Web​

Follow the instructions below to configure your Splunk Observability agent.

  1. Navigate to Integrations > Sources.
  2. Click .
  3. Click the required Source button.
  4. Choose Agent.
  1. Select one of the following Release Channels:
    • The stable channel is fully tested by the Nobl9 team. It represents the final product; however, this channel does not contain all the new features of a beta release. Use it to avoid crashes and other limitations.
    • The beta channel is under active development. Here, you can check out new features and improvements without the risk of affecting any viable SLOs. Remember that features in this channel can change.

  2. Enter your organization's Realm to connect your data source.

  1. Select a Project.
    Specifying a project is helpful when multiple users are spread across multiple teams or projects. When the Project field is left blank, Nobl9 uses the default project.
  2. Enter a Display Name.
    You can enter a user-friendly name with spaces in this field.
  3. Enter a Name.
    The name is mandatory and can only contain lowercase, alphanumeric characters, and dashes (for example, my-project-1). Nobl9 duplicates the display name here, transforming it into the supported format, but you can edit the result.
  4. Enter a Description.
    Here you can add details such as who is responsible for the integration (team/owner) and the purpose of creating it.
  5. Specify the Query delay to set a customized delay for queries when pulling the data from the data source.
    • The default value in Splunk Observability integration for Query delay is 5 minutes.
    info
    Changing the Query delay may affect your SLI data. For more details, check the Query delay documentation.
  6. Click Add Data Source.
  7. Deploy your agent in a Kubernetes cluster or Docker container.

sloctl​

  1. Create a YAML definition to set up an agent connection with Splunk Observability. For this, refer to the following example:
YAML definition for the agent connection method
apiVersion: n9/v1alpha
kind: Agent
metadata:
  name: splunk-observability
  displayName: Splunk Observability Agent
  project: default
spec:
  description: Example Splunk Observability Agent
  releaseChannel: stable
  splunkObservability:
    realm: us1
  queryDelay:
    value: 6
    unit: Minute
FieldTypeDescription
queryDelay.unit
mandatory
enumSpecifies the unit for the query delay. Possible values: Second | Minute.
• Check query delay documentation for default unit of query delay for each source.
queryDelay.value
mandatory
numericSpecifies the value for the query delay.
• Must be a number less than 1440 minutes (24 hours).
• Check query delay documentation for default unit of query delay for each source.
logCollectionEnabled
optional
booleanOptional. Defaults to false. Set to true if you'd like your direct to collect event logs. Contact us to activate it.
releaseChannel
mandatory
enumSpecifies the release channel. Accepted values: beta | stable.
Source-specific fields
splunkObservability.realm
mandatory
stringSee realms in endpoints | Splunk Observability documentation for more details.
  1. Apply your YAML definition using the sloctl apply command.
  2. Deploy your agent in a Kubernetes cluster or Docker container.

Log sampling for the Splunk Observability agent​

The Splunk Observability agent features a logging mechanism to handle burstable log loads. It applies only to redundant points dropping information. Other logs are logged normally.

You can decide whether you want to use log sampling or not by setting SPLUNK_OBSERVABILITY_DATA_POINT_LOG_SAMPLING_CONFIG environment variable. It's a JSON object with the following fields:

Here's an example of Kubernetes deployment YAML with activated burst logs:

# DISCLAIMER: This Deployment description is containing only the necessary fields for the purpose of this demo.
# It is not a ready-to-apply k8s deployment description and the client_id as well as the client_secret are only exemplary values.

apiVersion: v1
kind: Secret
metadata:
  name: nobl9-agent-nobl9-dev-dwq-ble
  namespace: default
type: Opaque
stringData:
  splunk_observability_access_token: "<SPLUNK_OBSERVABILITY_ACCESS_TOKEN>"
  client_id: "<CLIENT_ID>"
  client_secret: "<CLIENT_SECRET>"
---
apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
  name: nobl9-agent-nobl9-dev-splunkobs-deployment
  namespace: default
spec:
  replicas: 1
  selector:
    matchLabels:
      nobl9-agent-name: "splunkobs"
      nobl9-agent-project: "deployment"
      nobl9-agent-organization: "nobl9-dev"
  template:
    metadata:
      labels:
        nobl9-agent-name: "splunkobs"
        nobl9-agent-project: "deployment"
        nobl9-agent-organization: "nobl9-dev"
    spec:
      containers:
        - name: agent-container
          image: nobl9/agent:0.88.0
          resources:
            requests:
              memory: "350Mi"
              cpu: "0.1"
          env:
            - name: N9_CLIENT_ID
              valueFrom:
                secretKeyRef:
                  key: client_id
                  name: nobl9-agent-nobl9-dev-splunkobs-deployment
            - name: N9_CLIENT_SECRET
              valueFrom:
                secretKeyRef:
                  key: client_secret
                  name: nobl9-agent-nobl9-dev-dwq-ble
            - name: SPLUNK_OBSERVABILITY_ACCESS_TOKEN
              valueFrom:
                secretKeyRef:
                  key: splunk_observability_access_token
                  name: nobl9-agent-nobl9-dev-dwq-ble
            - name: N9_METRICS_PORT
              value: "9090"
            - name: SPLUNK_OBSERVABILITY_DATA_POINT_LOG_SAMPLING_CONFIG
              value: '{ \"burst\": 3, \"period\": 120, \"enabled\": true}'

Here's an alternative way to activate burst logs via a YAML config:

            - name: SPLUNK_OBSERVABILITY_DATA_POINT_LOG_SAMPLING_CONFIG
              value: '{"enabled":true}'

The above YAMLs default .enabled to false so that agents by default don't use it.

If only the .enabled variable is set to true, it defaults .burst to 1, and .period to 900, which is an equivalent to log 1 message each 15 minutes per organization.

Here's an example of configuration that allows to log 3 messages per 120 seconds per organization:

"{ \"burst\": 3, \"period\": 120, \"enabled\": true}"
For a more in-depth look, consult additional resources:
Agent metricsAgentCreating SLOs via TerraformTerraformCreating agents via TerraformTerraformSplunk Observability cloud documentationExternal docsCreate an Access TokenExternal docsRealms in endpointsExternal docsSignalflow: sample queriesExternal docsOrg token limitsExternal docsSystem limits for Splunk infrastructure monitoringExternal docs
On this page