Splunk Agent Management Setup

Prerequisites

Tool or access	Purpose	Verify
Bash and Python 3	Run bundled setup and validation helpers	bash --version && python3 --version
Required product/platform access	Inspect or configure the selected target	Complete the documented preflight
Credential files for live modes	Keep secrets out of chat	Verify paths only

Workflow Overview

┌───────────┐   ┌───────────────┐   ┌───────────────┐   ┌─────────────────┐
│ Preflight │ → │ Render/review │ → │ Apply/handoff │ → │ Validate evidence │
└───────────┘   └───────────────┘   └───────────────┘   └─────────────────┘

When to Activate

• Manage universal forwarder or heavy forwarder fleets, create serverclass.conf, configure deploymentclient.conf, or prepare Splunk 10.x Agent Management / legacy Deployment Server workflows.
• Preview and review the splunk agent management setup workflow before any live apply phase.
• Diagnose failed prerequisites, generated assets, configuration, or validation evidence.

Scope

Follow the documented read-only or render-first path whenever it is available. This skill does not imply permission to mutate live systems. Require explicit apply flags, protected credentials, and operator review for state changes.

Examples

Inspect the supported setup modes before selecting one:

bash skills/splunk-agent-management-setup/scripts/setup.sh --help

Expected output: usage, supported modes, and required arguments are displayed without changing the target environment.

Inspect validation modes before running completion checks:

bash skills/splunk-agent-management-setup/scripts/validate.sh --help

Expected output: offline, live, and completion options are displayed when the skill supports them; help exits without mutation.

Troubleshooting

Issue	Cause	Resolution
Preflight fails	A required tool or access path is missing	Resolve it before rendering or applying
Rendered assets are incomplete	Required non-secret inputs are absent	Complete intake and render again
Apply is blocked	Review, credentials, or explicit acceptance is missing	Use the documented handoff
Validation is incomplete	Live evidence is unavailable	Record the gap and keep completion open

This skill manages the Splunk Enterprise Agent Management control plane, formerly known as Deployment Server. It renders reviewable serverclass.conf, deployment app, and deploymentclient.conf assets before any apply phase.

Agent Behavior

Never ask for secrets in chat. This workflow does not need passwords unless the operator chooses to run Splunk commands through their own shell session.

Use template.example for non-secret values:

• agent manager URI
• server class names
• deployment app names
• whitelist and blacklist filters
• client names
• Splunk home path

Quick Start

Render a Linux forwarder server class and client app:

bash skills/splunk-agent-management-setup/scripts/setup.sh \
  --mode both \
  --agent-manager-uri https://am01.example.com:8089 \
  --serverclass-name all_linux_forwarders \
  --deployment-app-name ZZZ_cisco_skills_forwarder_base \
  --whitelist "*.example.com" \
  --machine-types-filter linux-x86_64

Apply after review on the relevant host:

bash skills/splunk-agent-management-setup/scripts/setup.sh \
  --mode agent-manager \
  --phase apply \
  --agent-manager-uri https://am01.example.com:8089

Important Details

• Agent management can manage universal forwarders, heavy forwarders, indexers, search heads, and OTel collectors, but OTel support is currently fleet overview only.
• Do not use agent management to push configuration directly to indexer cluster peers or search head cluster members. Use cluster bundles or the SHC deployer for those clustered roles.
• The rendered serverclass.conf sets app-level filterType explicitly because Splunk Enterprise 9.4.3 and later changed the implicit app-level default.
• Deployment clients are configured with serverRepositoryLocationPolicy = rejectAlways by default so apps land under $SPLUNK_HOME/etc/apps unless the operator changes it.
• The rendered apply-deployment-client.sh runs splunk restart after writing deploymentclient.conf because the new configuration only takes effect after splunkd restarts. Pass --client-restart-splunkd false if another orchestrator (image bake, configuration management) is responsible for the restart; the rendered script will then install the file and exit without restarting.

Validation

Static validation:

bash skills/splunk-agent-management-setup/scripts/validate.sh

Live validation runs the rendered status.sh:

bash skills/splunk-agent-management-setup/scripts/validate.sh --live

Read reference.md for researched behavior and official documentation links.

Hand-off Contracts

• DS runtime (bootstrap, phoneHome tuning, REST fleet inspection, HA pair, client migration): handled by splunk-deployment-server-setup. This skill owns serverclass.conf authoring; splunk-deployment-server-setup owns DS runtime operations.
• UF enrollment: handled by splunk-universal-forwarder-setup for the client side of DS enrollment.