What does splunk do with overlapping index definitions?

[msarro]

Greetings. Suppose I create an indexes.conf file to be distributed to all of my indexers which contains a HOT and COLD volume definition. Then I distribute several apps to the indexer, which each contain their own indexes.conf file defining additional indexes, and referring to the HOT and COLD volumes.

What happens if two of those applications contain the same indexes.conf index stanza? For instance, if indexes.conf A contains [MyIndex], and then indexes.conf B also contains [MyIndex]. Will splunk just take the first definition (not an issue here, they're both defined the same), or will it cause an error on the indexer??

[linu1988]

It overlooks the existing definition if the index is defined in system folder. If the indexes.conf is defined in the app folders, it depends on the precedence of the app[http://docs.splunk.com/Documentation/Splunk/latest/admin/Wheretofindtheconfigurationfiles -> How app directory names affect precedence ]. I have tested myself, splunk works fine. It only creates a new folders with same index names. But i am not sure about the old data if it's searchable or not.

there is a good explanation of it, slightly related to the question

http://splunk-base.splunk.com/answers/50881/indexesconf-location