Splunk Core Certified User Practice Exam

An alert in Splunk is an action triggered by which of the following?

1. Selected field

2. Tag

3. Report

4. Saved search

The correct answer is: Saved search

An alert in Splunk is fundamentally an action that is triggered by a saved search. A saved search is a configuration that stores the specific search criteria and parameters that you want to track over time. When the conditions defined in the saved search are met during the execution of that search, the alert is triggered. The functionality of alerts ties closely to the way saved searches are designed. For example, a user can define a saved search to look for specific events, error messages, or unexpected patterns in the data. Once this saved search has been created, it can be set to run on a schedule or in real-time. When the defined condition or threshold is met (for example, if the number of specific events exceeds a certain count), Splunk can then take an action, such as sending an email notification, executing a script, or creating a dashboard. This relationship between alerts and saved searches is essential for monitoring and response in real-time or near-real-time scenarios, as it allows organizations to stay informed about critical events and issues as they occur. In contrast, the other options do not serve as direct triggers for alerts: selected fields and tags are used for data categorization and organization but do not inherently initialize actions like alerts. Reports, while they can