automation-suite

2023.10

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Automation Suite on EKS/AKS installation guide

Last updated Mar 9, 2026

How to forward application logs to Splunk

Note:

This section applies only to Automation Suite versions 2023.10.6 and earlier. For newer Automation Suite versions, refer to Forwarding application logs to external tools.
This section covers exporting POD logs. For exporting robot logs, see Orchestrator - About Logs.
Splunk is an external tool, and UiPath® does not have an opinion on how you should configure your Splunk setting. For more details about HTTP Event Collector, see Splunk official documentation.

The Splunk-Fluentd stack is a centralized logging solution that allows you to search, analyze, and visualize log data. Fluentd collects and sends the logs to Splunk. Splunk retrieves the logs and lets you visualize and analyze the data.

Creating a secret with a token

Create a Kubernetes secret with the HTTP Event Collector (HEC) token generated in the Splunk UI. This token is used for the authentication between Automation Suite and Splunk.

kubectl -n logging create secret generic splunk-hec-token --from-literal=splunk_hec_token=<splunk_hec_token>
kubectl -n logging create secret generic splunk-hec-token --from-literal=splunk_hec_token=<splunk_hec_token>

ClusterOutput to Splunk

A ClusterOutput defines where your logs are sent to and describes the configuration and authentication details.

To configure the ClusterOutput for Splunk, run the following command:

kubectl -n logging apply -f - <<"EOF"
apiVersion: logging.banzaicloud.io/v1beta1
kind: ClusterOutput
metadata:
  name: splunk-output
spec:
  splunkHec:
    buffer:
      tags: '[]'
      timekey: <splunk_hec_timekey>
      timekey_use_utc: true
      timekey_wait: 10s
      type: file
    hec_host: <splunk_hec_host>
    hec_port: <splunk_hec_port>
    hec_token:
      valueFrom:
        secretKeyRef:
          key: splunk_hec_token
          name: splunk-hec-token
    index: <splunk_hec_index>
    insecure_ssl: true
    protocol: <splunk_hec_protocol>
    source: <splunk_hec_source>
    sourcetype: <splunk_hec_source_type>
EOF
kubectl -n logging apply -f - <<"EOF"
apiVersion: logging.banzaicloud.io/v1beta1
kind: ClusterOutput
metadata:
  name: splunk-output
spec:
  splunkHec:
    buffer:
      tags: '[]'
      timekey: <splunk_hec_timekey>
      timekey_use_utc: true
      timekey_wait: 10s
      type: file
    hec_host: <splunk_hec_host>
    hec_port: <splunk_hec_port>
    hec_token:
      valueFrom:
        secretKeyRef:
          key: splunk_hec_token
          name: splunk-hec-token
    index: <splunk_hec_index>
    insecure_ssl: true
    protocol: <splunk_hec_protocol>
    source: <splunk_hec_source>
    sourcetype: <splunk_hec_source_type>
EOF

Note:

Replace the attributes between angle brackets < > with the corresponding values used in your Splunk configuration. For details, see the following table:

Attribute	Description
`splunk_hec_host`	The network host of your Splunk instance. This is usually the IP address or FQDN of Splunk.
`splunk_hec_port`	The Splunk port for client communication. This port usually differs from the port on which you launch the Splunk dashboard. The conventional HEC port for Splunk is `8088`.
`secret_key`	The secret key of the Splunk token. This is the name of the key in the secret you created in the previous step, which holds Splunk HEC token. The presented manifest already contains the key: `splunk_hec_token`. If you have not altered the command to create a secret, you do not need to change this value.
`splunk_hec_timekey` value in `splunkHec.buffer`	The output frequency, or how often you want to push logs. We recommend using a 30-seconds (`30s`) interval.
`protocol`	The URL protocol. Valid values are `http` and `https`. You must use HTTPS protocol if you have SSL communication enabled on Splunk.
`splunk_hec_index`	The identifier for the Splunk index. Used to index events.
`splunk_hec_source`	The source field for events.
`splunk_hec_source_type`	The source type field for events.

Note:

To filter logs in Splunk by environment type (dev, test, etc.), use the source attribute.

The following example is based on the configuration presented on this page.

docs image

ClusterFlow in Fluentd

Use the ClusterFlow to define:

the logs you want to collect and filter;
the ClusterOutput to send the logs to.

To configure ClusterFlow in Fluentd, run the following command:

kubectl -n logging apply -f - <<"EOF"
apiVersion: logging.banzaicloud.io/v1beta1
kind: ClusterFlow
metadata:
  name: splunk-flow
  namespace: logging
spec:
  filters:
  - tag_normaliser:
      format: ${namespace_name}/${pod_name}.${container_name}
  globalOutputRefs:
  - splunk-output
  match:
  - select:
      container_names:
      - istio-proxy
      namespaces:
      - istio-system
  - exclude:
      container_names:
      - istio-proxy
      - istio-init
      - aicenter-hit-count-update
      - istio-configure-executor
      - on-prem-tenant-license-update
      - curl
      - recovery
      - aicenter-oob-scheduler
      - cert-trustor
  - exclude:
      namespaces:
      - default
  - exclude:
      labels:
        app: csi-snapshotter
  - exclude:
      labels:
        app: csi-resizer
  - select: {}
EOF
kubectl -n logging apply -f - <<"EOF"
apiVersion: logging.banzaicloud.io/v1beta1
kind: ClusterFlow
metadata:
  name: splunk-flow
  namespace: logging
spec:
  filters:
  - tag_normaliser:
      format: ${namespace_name}/${pod_name}.${container_name}
  globalOutputRefs:
  - splunk-output
  match:
  - select:
      container_names:
      - istio-proxy
      namespaces:
      - istio-system
  - exclude:
      container_names:
      - istio-proxy
      - istio-init
      - aicenter-hit-count-update
      - istio-configure-executor
      - on-prem-tenant-license-update
      - curl
      - recovery
      - aicenter-oob-scheduler
      - cert-trustor
  - exclude:
      namespaces:
      - default
  - exclude:
      labels:
        app: csi-snapshotter
  - exclude:
      labels:
        app: csi-resizer
  - select: {}
EOF

Searching in Splunk

Select Search & Reporting.
Search based on Source, Index, and SourceType.

Troubleshooting

If, for some reason, the application logs are not pushed to Splunk, take the following steps:

Change the Fluentd log level to debug.

Query the Fluentd pod:

kubectl patch logging -n logging  logging-operator-logging  --type=json -p '[{"op":"add","path":"/spec/fluentd/logLevel","value":debug}]'
kubectl -n logging exec -it sts/logging-operator-logging-fluentd cat /fluentd/log/out
kubectl patch logging -n logging  logging-operator-logging  --type=json -p '[{"op":"add","path":"/spec/fluentd/logLevel","value":debug}]'
kubectl -n logging exec -it sts/logging-operator-logging-fluentd cat /fluentd/log/out

Note:

The Fluentd logs should indicate the cause of data not being pushed to Splunk.

After fixing the issue, restore the Fluentd log level:

kubectl patch logging -n logging  logging-operator-logging  --type=json -p '[{"op":"remove","path":"/spec/fluentd/logLevel","value":debug}]'
kubectl patch logging -n logging  logging-operator-logging  --type=json -p '[{"op":"remove","path":"/spec/fluentd/logLevel","value":debug}]'

On this page

Creating a secret with a token
ClusterOutput to Splunk
ClusterFlow in Fluentd
Searching in Splunk
Troubleshooting

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Automation Suite on EKS/AKS installation guide

Creating a secret with a token​

ClusterOutput to Splunk​

ClusterFlow in Fluentd​

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Troubleshooting​

Was this page helpful?

Creating a secret with a token

ClusterOutput to Splunk

ClusterFlow in Fluentd

Searching in Splunk

Troubleshooting