Splunk Enterprise Certified Admin Practice Test

Which function would you use to ensure that only new data is indexed while omitting older files?

1. Follow existing

2. Ignore entire input

3. Set the followTail option

4. Override input exclusion

The correct answer is: Set the followTail option

Using the followTail option is the correct choice for ensuring that only new data is indexed while omitting older files. This option is particularly useful in scenarios where you have log files that are actively being written to but may contain historical data that you do not want to index. By enabling followTail, Splunk will efficiently monitor the end of the file for new entries, starting from the last indexed position, rather than reprocessing the entire file. This results in a more efficient indexing process and prevents the duplication of older data that has already been processed. The other options do not effectively address the requirement to index only new data. Following existing would generally mean that Splunk will monitor files that have already been indexed, including their historical data. Ignoring entire input would result in the complete cessation of data indexing for that particular input, therefore not meeting the need for continual monitoring. Override input exclusion can allow for specific files to be indexed, but it does not directly focus on indexing only the new data while omitting the older data, which makes it less relevant in this context.