Splunk Dev

API Login not working - Splunk 6. 4 Free

pinVie
Path Finder

Hi all,

I am not sure why this python code is not working:

import splunklib.client as client

service = client.connect(
    host="192.168.2.125",
    port=8089)

All I get is the following trace

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "C:/Users/Name/Desktop/test/splunk/splkTest.py", line 13, in <module>
    port=8089)
  File "C:\Python27\lib\site-packages\splunk_sdk-1.6.0-py2.7.egg\splunklib\client.py", line 321, in connect
    s.login()
  File "C:\Python27\lib\site-packages\splunk_sdk-1.6.0-py2.7.egg\splunklib\binding.py", line 865, in login
    raise AuthenticationError("Login failed.", he)
splunklib.binding.AuthenticationError: Login failed.

I even tried to define username="admin" in the login but the effect is the same.
Is this a limitation of the splunk free version (6.4.1) or I am doing it wrong?

Thank you !

0 Karma
1 Solution

ChrisG
Splunk Employee
Splunk Employee

Generally speaking, Splunk Free doesn't have authentication. See About Splunk Free in the Admin Manual.

But see jkat54's comment, immediately below.

View solution in original post

0 Karma

ChrisG
Splunk Employee
Splunk Employee

Generally speaking, Splunk Free doesn't have authentication. See About Splunk Free in the Admin Manual.

But see jkat54's comment, immediately below.

0 Karma

jkat54
SplunkTrust
SplunkTrust

https://answers.splunk.com/answers/43809/does-splunk-free-license-allow-usage-of-rest-api.html

This seems to suggest it will support the API and login will not be required... there's just a small step of setting something in server.conf.

ChrisG
Splunk Employee
Splunk Employee

Innnnteresting. TIL. 🙂

0 Karma

pinVie
Path Finder

Ah damn it I knew this page but had a mistake in my code.
So the login is working - code has to look like this in python

service = client.connect(
    host="192.168.2.125",
    port=8089,
    username="admin")

Thank you

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!

Painting a Clearer Picture: Creating Cross-Domain Visibility with AI Canvas

    Thursday, June 25, 2026  |  11AM PDT / 2PM EDT  Duration: 1 Hour (Includes live Q&A) Register to ...

Analytics Workspace deprecation

As of Splunk Cloud Platform 10.4.2604 and Splunk Enterprise 10.4, Analytics Workspace is now deprecated. ...

Splunk Developer Day Recap: Building, Publishing, and Growing on the Splunk Platform

Splunk Developer Day brought the Splunk developer community together for a practical look at what it means to ...