Install the Splunk Add-on for IBM WebSphere Application Server

Installation instructions

See Installing add-ons in Splunk Add-Ons for detailed instructions describing how to install a Splunk add-on in the following deployment scenarios:

• single-instance Splunk Enterprise
• distributed Splunk Enterprise
• Splunk Cloud

Deployment notes

There are three different inputs in this add-on. You can choose to use one or several of them. Keep these requirements in mind as you choose how to install the add-on in your environment.

• The JMX input depends on the Splunk Add-on for JMX, which must be installed on a heavy forwarder or single-instance Splunk Enterprise.
• The HPEL interface modular input must be enabled on a forwarder or single-instance Splunk Enterprise that is installed directly on the machine running your WebSphere application server. This input requires Python. You can configure the input either using the UI or using configuration files. Both Heavy forwarders and Universal forwarders are supported.
• The file monitoring inputs must be enabled on a forwarder or single-instance Splunk Enterprise that is installed directly on the machine running your WebSphere application server. This input does not require Python. You can configure the input either using the UI or using configuration files. Universal forwarders or heavy forwarders are all supported.

If you have many WebSphere application server instances, Universal Forwarders are recommended. You can configure the Add-on on multiple Universal Forwarders using a Deployment Server.

Alternatively, consider using an aggregator between the WebSphere application servers and the Splunk platform. In this configuration scenario, you can install a Splunk forwarder and the Splunk Add-on for IBM WebSphere Application Server on the aggregation server rather than on each WebSphere application server to monitor the HPEL and local server logs.

Distributed deployments

Use the tables below to determine where and how to install this add-on in a distributed deployment of Splunk Enterprise.

Where to install this add-on

This table provides a quick reference for installing this add-on to a distributed deployment of Splunk Enterprise.

Splunk instance type	Supported	Required	Comments
Search Heads	Yes	Yes	Install this add-on to all search heads where IBM WebSphere knowledge management is required.
Indexers	Yes	Conditional	Not required if you use heavy forwarders to collect data. Required if you use universal forwarders to collect data.
Heavy Forwarders	Yes	Conditional	Required for the JMX input. Optional for HPEL and file monitoring inputs. The HPEL and file monitoring inputs must be enabled on a forwarder that is installed directly on the machine running your WebSphere application server.
Universal Forwarders	Yes	Conditional	Not supported for JMX inputs. Supported for HPEL and file monitoring inputs.. The file monitoring inputs must be enabled on a forwarder that is installed directly on the machine running your WebSphere application server. Note If you are using an Universal Forwarder, you must use Python version 3.7 to forward and collect HPEL logs.

This table provides a quick reference for the compatibility of this add-on with Splunk distributed deployment features.

Distributed deployment feature	Supported	Comments
Search Head Clusters	Yes	You can install this add-on on a search head cluster for all search-time functionality, but only configure inputs on forwarders to avoid duplicate data collection. Before installing this add-on to a cluster, make the following changes to the add-on package: - Remove the inputs.conf file.
Indexer Clusters	Yes	Before installing this add-on to a cluster, make the following changes to the add-on package: - Remove the inputs.conf file.
Deployment Server	Yes	Note: Using a deployment server to deploy the configured add-on to multiple forwarders acting as data collectors causes duplication of data.