Splunk Cloud DDAA Archive 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

• Archive expired Splunk Cloud index data to the Splunk-managed archive, set or change DDAA archival retention, restore archived data, or move an index onto Splunk Archive. Not for DDSS self-storage or generic index administration, which.
• Preview and review the splunk ddaa archive 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-ddaa-archive-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-ddaa-archive-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 renders and applies Dynamic Data Active Archive policy for Splunk Cloud indexes. It is render-first because archival retention is a durable storage policy counted from index creation.

Agent Behavior

Never ask for secrets; ACS auth uses the project credentials file and the configured stack. Applying archival retention refuses to run without --accept-archive-retention. Restore and disable have no ACS API and are emitted as Splunk Web runbooks.

Quick Start

Render a DDAA policy (90 searchable days, 365 total):

bash skills/splunk-ddaa-archive-setup/scripts/setup.sh --index netfw --searchable-days 90 --archival-retention-days 365

Apply it via ACS (gated):

bash skills/splunk-ddaa-archive-setup/scripts/setup.sh --phase apply \
  --index netfw --searchable-days 90 --archival-retention-days 365 --accept-archive-retention

What It Renders

• acs-payload.json - ACS index body with splunkArchivalRetentionDays
• restore-runbook.md - Splunk Web restore steps (30-day searchable copy, <=10% DDAS)
• disable-runbook.md - Splunk Web disable steps (no API)
• status.sh - acs indexes describe <index>

Rules

• splunkArchivalRetentionDays is the TOTAL retention including the searchable period, counted from index creation, and must exceed searchable days and be <= 3650 days (10 years).
• DDAA must be enabled for the stack; if Splunk Archive is greyed out, contact your Splunk account team.
• Generic index CRUD and DDSS self-storage are handled by splunk-cloud-acs-admin-setup.