Splunk Ingest Actions 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

• Set up Ingest Actions, filter or mask data at ingest, drop noisy events before indexing, route data to S3 with RFS, or manage ingest-time rulesets. Not for Ingest Processor or Edge Processor pipelines, which are separate skills.
• Preview and review the splunk ingest actions 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-ingest-actions-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-ingest-actions-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 eval, mask, and drop Ingest Actions rules plus RFS S3 destination staging. It is render-first because ingest transforms cannot be reverted for already-indexed events. It does not claim to apply a route-s3 rule through an unverified transport.

Agent Behavior

Never ask for S3 keys in chat; pass them as files (--s3-access-key-file / --s3-secret-key-file) and they are read at apply time, never placed on argv. Apply refuses to run without --accept-irreversible-ingest.

Ingest Actions rulesets are normally authored in Splunk Web (Settings > Data > Ingest Actions) or through the /services/data/ingest/rulesets REST endpoint. This skill renders the equivalent props/transforms for review and config-management distribution. Direct conf-file REST apply is limited to an explicit Splunk Enterprise/customer-managed target. Before apply, --platform auto resolves the configured target; a managed Splunk Cloud target exits 2 without writing props.conf, transforms.conf, or outputs.conf.

For Splunk Cloud Platform 10.5.2605, render the supported ruleset handoff with splunk-ingest-actions-setup --platform cloud --phase render. Use splunk-ingest-processor-setup when the request is for a Cloud control-plane pipeline rather than an Ingest Actions ruleset.

Quick Start

Render a drop rule for a noisy source type:

bash skills/splunk-ingest-actions-setup/scripts/setup.sh \
  --ruleset-sourcetype cisco:asa --ruleset-name drop_debug --rule-type drop --drop-regex 'level=DEBUG'

Apply it live (gated):

bash skills/splunk-ingest-actions-setup/scripts/setup.sh --phase apply \
  --platform enterprise \
  --ruleset-sourcetype cisco:asa --ruleset-name drop_debug \
  --rule-type drop --drop-regex 'level=DEBUG' --accept-irreversible-ingest

Stage an S3 destination and emit the supported ruleset handoff:

bash skills/splunk-ingest-actions-setup/scripts/setup.sh --phase apply \
  --platform enterprise \
  --ruleset-sourcetype cisco:asa --ruleset-name archive_asa --rule-type route-s3 \
  --s3-destination-name asa_archive --s3-path s3://my-bucket/asa --s3-auth-region us-east-1 \
  --s3-access-key-file /tmp/s3_access --s3-secret-key-file /tmp/s3_secret \
  --accept-irreversible-ingest

What It Renders

• props.conf - RULESET-<name> binding on the source type (eval/mask/drop)
• transforms.conf - INGEST_EVAL rule (eval/mask/drop)
• outputs.conf - [rfs:<name>] S3 destination (max 8 per deployment)
• status-rulesets.sh - lists rulesets via /services/data/ingest/rulesets

For route-s3, the skill applies only the [rfs:] destination, emits the "Route to Destination" handoff, and exits nonzero so that destination staging cannot be mistaken for completed routing. Author and verify the rule in the Ingest Actions UI / rulesets endpoint (the internal RFS routing transform is not hand-authored). Only one ruleset is supported per source type.

For managed Splunk Cloud targets, use splunk-ingest-actions-setup for the rendered UI/rulesets-API handoff, splunk-ingest-processor-setup for Cloud control-plane pipelines, and splunk-edge-processor-setup for edge transformation.