Best Practices for implementing Unix and Linux OS monitoring?

[sloshburch]

I see a lot of posts within the validated_best-practice tag related to Unix and Linux OS monitoring. Is there a list of these best practices for implementing Unix and Linux OS Monitoring?

I know there could be a lot to say on this topic but I'm specifically focused on guidance for rapid deployment of the Splunk Add-on for Unix and Linux such that data collection is ready to be enabled based on my use case needs.

[sloshburch · Accepted solution]

The Splunk Product Best Practices team provided this response. Read more about How Crowdsourcing is Shaping the Future of Splunk Best Practices.

Yes! Before you implement Unix and Linux OS monitoring, it’s important that you are familiar with the Splunk components such as forwarders, indexers, and search heads.

Installation

As you noted, the Splunk Add-on for Unix and Linux is an excellent choice for a variety of data sources necessary for Unix and Linux OS monitoring use cases. The Documentation for the Splunk Add-on for Unix and Linux has everything you need, but for those in a rush, these two topics are critical:

1. Install the Add-on as per the documented instructions to install the Splunk Add-on for Unix and Linux.
2. Familiarize yourself with the instructions to enable data and scripted inputs for the Splunk Add-on for Unix and Linux. This knowledge will be used as data sources are enabled for your use case implementation.

Best Practices

With the Installation complete, refer to the following validated best practices:

• What are best practices for deploying the Splunk Add-on for Unix and Linux in a distributed environm...
• What's the best practice for collecting UNIX OS data?
• What are the Best Practices for collectd.conf for Infrastructure Monitoring?
• Which UNIX permissions are best for monitoring files?
• What are the best practices to create a local configuration file?
• What are best practices for referencing a scripted input from another app?
• What are best practices for deploying an add-on with slightly different configurations?