Documentation:
3.3.4
This page last updated: 11/10/08 03:11pm
Run Splunk as non-root user
Splunk can run as any user on the local system. If you run Splunk as a non-root user, make sure Splunk has the appropriate permissions to:
- Read the files and directories it is configured to watch. Some log files and directories may require root or superuser access to be indexed.
- Write to Splunk's directory and execute any scripts configured to work with your alerts or scripted input.
- Bind to the network ports it is listening on (ports below 1024 are reserved ports that only root can bind to).
Note: Splunk will not accept syslog data over port 514 (the default listening port for UDP). This does not mean that Splunk cannot listen on UDP 514; you can add UDP 514 as a data input.
InstructionsTo run Splunk as a non-root user, you need to first install Splunk as root. Then, before you start Splunk for the first time, change the ownership of the splunk directory to the desired user. The following are instructions to install Splunk and run it as a non-root user, splunk.
1. Create the user and group, splunk.
For Linux, Solaris, and FreeBSD:
useradd splunk groupadd splunk
For Mac OS:
You can use the System Preferences > Accounts panel to add users and groups.
2. As root and using one of the packages (not a tarball), run the installation.
Important: Do not start Splunk yet.
3. Use the chown command to change the ownership of the splunk directory and everything under it to the desired user.
chown -R splunk $SPLUNK_HOME/
Note: $SPLUNK_HOME refers to installation directory of Splunk.
4. Start Splunk.
$SPLUNK_HOME/bin/splunk start
Also, if you want to start Splunk as the splunk user while you are logged in as a different user, you can use the sudo command:
sudo -H -u splunk $SPLUNK_HOME/bin/splunk start
This example command assumes:
- If Splunk is installed in an alternate location, update the path in the command accordingly.
- Your system may not have sudo installed. If this is the case, you can use su.
- If you are installing using a tarball and want Splunk to run as a particular user (such as splunk), you must create that user manually.
- The splunk user will need access tp /dev/urandom to generate the certs for the product.
When installing on Solaris 10 as the splunk user, you must set additional privileges to start splunkd and bind to reserved ports.
To start splunkd as the splunk user on Solaris 10, run:
# usermod -K defaultpriv=basic,net_privaddr,proc_exec,proc_fork splunk
To allow the splunk user to bind to reserved ports on Solaris 10, run (as root):
# usermod -K defaultpriv=basic,net_privaddr splunk
Comments
gpallirk: this sounds like a question better suited for support@splunk.com. if you haven't already, send them and email and they will work with you to answer your questions. thank you.
Posted by sophy on Sep 12 2008, 4:09pm
gumshoes: has someone helped you with your question? if not, i recommend you send an email to support@splunk.com. thank you.
Posted by sophy on Sep 12 2008, 4:06pm
Hi
We would like to install with a Non-Root and ID. Is there any way to do that with out using SUDO or SU to start the process?
Ramki
Posted by gpallirk on Jun 26 2008, 10:08am
Tried running as splunk on RHEL 5 and appears that some of the directory permissions are incorrect.
[splunk@quatt ~]$ splunk start
Checking prerequisites...
Checking http port [8000]: open
Checking mgmt port [8089]: open
Verifying configuration. This may take a while...
Finished verifying configuration.
Checking index directory...
Verifying databases...
Verified databases: _audit, _blocksignature, _internal, _thefishbucket, history, main, metaevents, sampledata, splunklogger
Checking for SELinux.
Checking index files
All index checks passed.
All preliminary checks passed.
Starting splunkd... [ OK ]
Starting splunkweb.../opt/splunk/share/splunk/certs does not exist. Will create
Couldn't create directory "/opt/splunk/share/splunk/certs": Permission denied
[splunk@quatt ~]$ cd /opt/splunk/share/splunk/
The permissions:
[splunk@quatt share]$ ll /opt/splunk/share/
total 4
dr-xr-xr-x 6 splunk splunk 4096 Jun 10 09:04 splunk
Posted by gumshoes on Jun 10 2008, 8:39am