Splunk Core Certified User Practice Exam

Which command returns a list of sources, sourcetypes, or hosts from a specified index?

1. source command

2. metadata command

3. search command

4. lookup command

The correct answer is: metadata command

The metadata command is specifically designed to return a list of sources, sourcetypes, or hosts from a specified index. This command provides information about the indexed data without retrieving the event data itself. It is quite useful when you want to gain insight into the characteristics of your data, such as understanding what sources are available for your analysis or identifying how many sourcetypes exist within a specific index. In contrast, the source command is more focused on filtering data based on specified sources rather than listing them. The search command is used for querying data from the indexed events, allowing for a range of search capabilities but not specifically for retrieving list metadata. The lookup command is typically utilized to enrich your event data with additional information from external data sources, rather than providing metadata about the indexed data itself.