Splunk Pubnub Modular Input v1.3

Overview

This is a Splunk modular input add-on for subscribing to Pubnub channels

Dependencies

• Splunk 6.3+
• Supported on Windows, Linux, MacOS, Solaris, FreeBSD, HP-UX, AIX
• Pycrypto

Setup

• Untar the release to your $SPLUNK_HOME/etc/apps directory
• Restart Splunk
• If you are using a Splunk UI Browse to Settings -> Data Inputs -> Pubnub to add a new Input stanza via the UI
• If you are not using a Splunk UI (ie: you are running on a Universal Forwarder) , you need to add a stanza to inputs.conf directly as per the specification in README/inputs.conf.spec. The inputs.conf file should be placed in a local directory under an App or User context.

Activation Key

You require an activation key to use this App. Visit http://www.baboonbones.com/#activation to obtain a non-expiring key

Pycrypto Module

You have to obtain, build and add the pycrypto package yourself :

https://pypi.python.org/pypi/pycrypto

The simplest way is to build pycrypto and drop the "Crypto" directory in $SPLUNKHOME/etc/apps/pubnubta/bin. I don't recommend installing the pycrypto package to the Splunk Python runtime's site-packages, this could have unforeseen side effects.

Building and installing PyCrypto

I do not bundle the pycrypto module with the core release , because :

• you need to build it for each separate platform
• US export controls for encrypted software

So , here are a few instructions for building and installing pycrypto yourself :

• Download the pycrypto package from https://pypi.python.org/pypi/pycrypto

• Then run these 3 commands (note : you will need to use a System python 2.7 runtime , not the Splunk python runtime)

  python setup.py build
  python setup.py install
  python setup.py test
  

• browse to where the Crypto module was installed to ie: /usr/local/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/Crypto

• Copy the "Crypto" directory to $SPLUNKHOME/etc/apps/pubnubta/bin

Configuration

You will need a Pubnub account to use this Modular Alert.

You can sign up at pubnub.com

Once your account is setup you will then be able to obtain your Subscribe Key from your profile.

Custom Response Handlers

You can provide your own custom Response Handler. This is a Python class that you should add to the rest_ta/bin/responsehandlers.py module.

You can then declare this class name and any parameters in the REST Input setup page.

Logging

Any log entries/errors will get written to $SPLUNK_HOME/var/log/splunk/splunkd.log

These are also searchable in Splunk : index=_internal error pubnub.py

Troubleshooting

• You are using Splunk 5+
• Look for any errors in $SPLUNK_HOME/var/log/splunk/splunkd.log
• Is you channel name correct ?
• Is your subscription key correct ?

Support

BaboonBones.com offer commercial support for implementing and any questions pertaining to this App.