Getting Data In

How to encrypt communication between a universal forwarder and heavy forwarder?

shaileshmali
Path Finder

I am not able to configure heavy forwarder inputs.conf file to receive encrypted traffic.

1) config inputs.conf on heavy forwarder is given below. but netstat -an does not show heavy forwarder is listening on port 9998

[splunktcp-ssl:9998]
compressed = true

[SSL]
password = $1$YJqLPm4skNlFOQ==
rootCA = /opt/splunk/etc/certs/ca.pem
serverCert = /opt/splunk/etc/certs/splunk-dev.pem

2) On universal forwarder I am using app with outputs.conf

[tcpout]
defaultGroup = splunkssl
sendCookedData = true
dnsResolutionInterval = 300

[tcpout:splunkssl]
compressed = true
server = heavy forwarder name :9998
sslCertPath = C:\Program Files\SplunkUniversalForwarder\etc\apps\FW_DEV_NA_Encrypt\default\certs\splunk-dev.pem
sslPassword = testmy123
sslRootCAPath = C:\Program Files\SplunkUniversalForwarder\etc\apps\FW_DEV_NA_Encrypt\default\certs\ca.pem
sslVerifyServerCert = false
0 Karma

m4him7
Path Finder

I had a similar issue and found that I had an outputs.conf file in my etc/system/local directory that was being used instead of the outputs.conf in my app directory. I renamed the wrong outputs.conf file and restarted Splunk. You can tell if your outputs.conf file is being used as the sslPassword = testmy123 will be encrypted after it is read the first time. If you have an outputs.conf file in another directory being used first it may be that it is using a different port which is another indication that the wrong outputs.conf file is being used.

0 Karma
Got questions? Get answers!

Join the Splunk Community Slack to learn, troubleshoot, and make connections with fellow Splunk practitioners in real time!

Meet up IRL or virtually!

Join Splunk User Groups to connect and learn in-person by region or remotely by topic or industry.

Get Updates on the Splunk Community!

Monitoring AI Agents with Splunk Observability Cloud

Let’s say I’m running a travel planning AI app in production. A user asks for three concise hotel options in ...

[Puzzles] Solve, Learn, Repeat: Tiling

This puzzle (first published here) is based on finding groups of tessellated tiles (inspired by floor tiles I ...

SOK it to Me: Top 3 Benefits of Using Splunk Operator on Kubernetes that’ll Make ...

    Thursday, July 9, 2026  |  11:00AM–12:00PM PDT Duration: 1 hour (includes Q&A) Managing can feel like a ...