splunk user group - automating splunk with ansible

Automating Splunk Configuration

Mark Phillips

Topics• Which tool?

• Demo: Configuration storage

• Demo: Enabling forwarding

• Demo: Installing and managing forwarders

• Demo: Maintaining apps

About Me

• Linux tinkerer since 1992

• Automating stuff since 1993

• “Done time” in small organisations through to Investment Banks

• I’m lazy

–Albert Einstein

“Make everything as simple as possible, but not simpler”

Infrastructure as code

Ansible• Agent less

• SSH for transport

• Common language - YAML

• Easy to learn quickly

Learn More• Slides from DevOps Cardif (Puppet vs Chef vs Ansible)

• Blog post I wrote last year

• Splunk's recent blog on Splunk + Ansible

• Get started with Ansible

El Reg: "Are your servers PETS or CATTLE?"

(The Splunk GUI is fine for managing a small estate)

(But as you get larger, really you need more help: automation)

Demos

Github repo used to build the demos: http://github.com/phips/splunkbox/tree/jldemo

Ansible Tower

http://www.ansible.com/tower

Mark Phillips mark@vntx.cc

@vntxuk

Blog: probably.co.uk