Verified SPLK-2003 &As – Provide SPLK-2003 with Correct Answers [Q44-Q62]

In Splunk SOAR, playbooks can execute actions either synchronously (waiting for one action to complete before starting the next) or asynchronously (allowing actions to run concurrently). If a playbook starts executing before the previous one has completed, it indicates that synchronous execution has not been properly configured between these playbooks. This is crucial when the output of one playbook is a dependency for the subsequent playbook. Options B, C, and D do not directly address the observed behavior of concurrent playbook execution, making option A the most accurate explanation for why the second playbook starts before the completion of the first.
synchronous execution is a feature of the SOAR automation engine that allows you to control the order of execution of playbook blocks. Synchronous execution ensures that a playbook block waits for the completion of the previous block before starting its execution. Synchronous execution can be enabled or disabled for each playbook block in the playbook editor, by toggling the Synchronous Execution switch in the block settings. Therefore, option A is the correct answer, as it states the cause of the behavior where the second playbook starts executing before the first one completes. Option B is incorrect, because the first playbook performing poorly is not the cause of the behavior, but rather a possible consequence of the behavior. Option C is incorrect, because the sleep option for the second playbook is not the cause of the behavior, but rather a workaround that can be used to delay the execution of the second playbook. Option D is incorrect, because the join configuration on the second playbook is not the cause of the behavior, but rather a way of merging multiple paths of execution into one.

Explanation
The correct answer is D because the Splunk SOAR product supports two types of backups: full and delta. A full backup is a complete backup of the entire Splunk SOAR system, including the configuration, data, and files. A delta backup is a partial backup of the Splunk SOAR system, which only includes the changes that have occurred since the last full backup. The answer A is incorrect because the Splunk SOAR product supports more than one type of backup. The answer B is incorrect because the Splunk SOAR product does not support incremental backups, which are backups of the changes that have occurred since the last backup of any type. The answer C is incorrect because the Splunk SOAR product does not support incremental backups, which are backups of the changes that have occurred since the last backup of any type. Reference: Splunk SOAR Admin Guide, page 67.

Debug logs are essential for troubleshooting and understanding the execution flow of a playbook in Splunk Phantom. The debug log for a playbook execution can be viewed by navigating to the Investigation page of a specific event or container. Within the Recent Activity panel, there is an action menu associated with each playbook run. Selecting “Debug Log” from this menu will display the detailed execution log, showing each action taken, the results of those actions, and any errors or messages generated during the playbook run.

The correct answer is C because the default tenant’s ID is 1. The tenant ID is a unique identifier for each tenant on a multi-tenant Phantom server. The default tenant is the tenant that is created when Phantom is installed and contains all the existing data and assets. The default tenant’s ID is always 1 and cannot be changed. Other tenants have IDs that are assigned sequentially starting from 2. See Splunk SOAR Documentation for more details. In a multi-tenant Splunk SOAR environment, the default tenant is typically assigned an ID of 1. This ID is system-generated and is used to uniquely identify the default tenant within the SOAR database and system configurations. The default tenant serves as the primary operational environment before any additional tenants are configured, and its ID is crucial for database operations, API calls, and internal reference within the SOAR platform. Understanding and correctly using tenant IDs is essential for managing resources, permissions, and data access in a multi-tenant SOAR setup.

Explanation
The correct answer is C because after a playbook has run, the results are stored in the container that triggered the playbook. The container is a data object that represents an event or a case in Phantom. The container contains information such as the name, the description, the severity, the status, the owner, and the labels of the event or case. The container also contains the artifacts, the action results, the comments, the notes, and the phases and tasks associated with the event or case. The answer A is incorrect because after a playbook has run, the results are not stored in a Splunk index, which is a data structure that stores events from various data sources in Splunk. The Splunk index is not directly accessible by Phantom, but can be queried by Phantom using the Splunk app. The answer B is incorrect because after a playbook has run, the results are not stored in a case, which is a type of container that represents a security incident in Phantom. The case is a subset of the container, and not all containers are cases. The answer D is incorrect because after a playbook has run, the results are not stored in a log file, which is a file that records the activities or events that occur in a system or a process. The log file is not a data object in Phantom, but can be a data source for Phantom. Reference: Splunk SOAR User Guide, page 19.

System Health Display is a dashboard that shows the status and performance of the SOAR processes and components, such as the automation service, the playbook daemon, the DECIDED process, and the REST API. Some of the metrics that can be seen from the System Health Display are:
*Memory Usage: The percentage of memory used by the system and the processes.
*Disk Usage: The percentage of disk space used by the system and the processes.
*Load Average: The average number of processes in the run queue or waiting for disk I/O over a period of time.
Therefore, options B, C, and D are the correct answers, as they are the metrics that can be seen from the System Health Display. Option A is incorrect, because Playbook Usage is not a metric that can be seen from the System Health Display, but rather a metric that can be seen from the Playbook Usage dashboard, which shows the number of playbooks and actions run over a period of time.
1: Web search results from search_web(query=”Splunk SOAR Automation Developer System Health Display”) The System Health Display in Splunk SOAR provides several metrics to help monitor and manage the health of the system. These typically include:
*B: Memory Usage – This metric shows the amount of memory being used by the SOAR platform, which is important for ensuring that the system does not exceed available resources.
*C: Disk Usage – This metric indicates the amount of storage space being utilized, which is crucial for maintaining adequate storage resources and for planning capacity.
*D: Load Average – This metric provides an indication of the overall load on the system over a period of time, which helps in understanding the system’s performance and in identifying potential bottlenecks or issues.
Playbook Usage is generally not a metric displayed on the System Health page; instead, it’s more related to the usage analytics of playbooks rather than system health metrics.

Explanation
The Phantom API command to create a custom list is phantom.create_list(). This command takes a list name and an optional description as parameters and returns a list ID if successful. The other commands are not valid Phantom API commands. phantom.add_list() is a Python function that can be used in custom code blocks to add data to an existing list. Reference, page 5.

The admin and automation users are included by default. Comprehensive Explanation and References of answer: According to the Splunk SOAR (On-premises) default credentials, script options, and sample
configuration files documentation1, the default credentials on a new installation of Splunk SOAR (On-premises) are:
Web Interface Username: soar_local_admin password: password
On Splunk SOAR (On-premises) deployments which have been upgraded from earlier releases the user account admin becomes a normal user account with the Administrator role.
The automation user is a special user account that is used by Splunk SOAR (On-premises) to run actions and playbooks. It has the Automation role, which grants it full access to all objects and data in Splunk SOAR (On-premises).
The other options are incorrect because they either omit the automation user or include users that are not created by default. For example, option B includes the power and user users, which are not part of the default installation. Option C only includes the admin user, which ignores the automation user. Option D claims that no users are included by default, which is false.
In a new installation of Splunk SOAR, two default user accounts are typically created: admin and automation.
The admin account is intended for system administration tasks, providing full access to all features and settings within the SOAR platform. The automation user is a special account used for automated processes and scripts that interact with the SOAR platform, often without requiring direct human intervention. This user has specific permissions that can be tailored for automated tasks. Options B, C, and D do not accurately represent the default user accounts included in a new SOAR installation, making option A the correct answer.

Explanation
Playbooks can change the severity of a container by using the set severity action block. This block allows the user to specify a new severity level for the container or use a variable from a previous action result. Notes and actions do not affect the severity of a container, and SLA expiration only affects the status of the container, not the severity. Reference, page 10.

https://docs.splunk.com/Documentation/SOAR/current/Playbook/DecisionBlock In Splunk SOAR playbooks, the blocks that can discern which path to take next are the prompt and decision blocks. The prompt block allows the playbook to pause and wait for user input, which can then determine the subsequent path of execution based on the response provided. The decision block evaluates conditions based on data within the playbook and directs the flow to different paths accordingly11.
The decision block is used to change the flow of artifacts by performing IF, ELSE IF, or ELSE functions.
When an artifact meets a True condition, it is passed downstream to the corresponding block in the playbook flow11. The prompt block, on the other hand, interacts with users to make decisions during playbook execution, which can also influence the direction of the playbook’s flow.
References:
Splunk SOAR documentation on using decisions to send artifacts to a specific downstream action in your playbook

The admin and automation users are included by default. Comprehensive Explanation and References of answer According to the Splunk SOAR (On-premises) default credentials, script options, and sample configuration files documentation1, the default credentials on a new installation of Splunk SOAR (On-premises) are:
Web Interface Username: soar_local_admin password: password
On Splunk SOAR (On-premises) deployments which have been upgraded from earlier releases the user account admin becomes a normal user account with the Administrator role.
The automation user is a special user account that is used by Splunk SOAR (On-premises) to run actions and playbooks. It has the Automation role, which grants it full access to all objects and data in Splunk SOAR (On-premises).
The other options are incorrect because they either omit the automation user or include users that are not created by default. For example, option B includes the power and user users, which are not part of the default installation. Option C only includes the admin user, which ignores the automation user. Option D claims that no users are included by default, which is false.
In a new installation of Splunk SOAR, two default user accounts are typically created: admin and automation. The admin account is intended for system administration tasks, providing full access to all features and settings within the SOAR platform. The automation user is a special account used for automated processes and scripts that interact with the SOAR platform, often without requiring direct human intervention. This user has specific permissions that can be tailored for automated tasks. Options B, C, and D do not accurately represent the default user accounts included in a new SOAR installation, making option A the correct answer.

The Phantom App for Splunk allows a user to run Splunk queries from within Phantom. This app provides actions such as run query, ingest events, and save search, which enable the user to interact with Splunk from Phantom playbooks or the Phantom UI. The other apps are not relevant for this use case. The Splunk App for Phantom is used to send data from Splunk to Phantom. The Integrated Splunk/Phantom app is a deprecated app that was replaced by the Splunk App for Phantom. The Splunk App for Phantom Reporting is used to generate reports on Phantom activity from Splunk. The Phantom App for Splunk is the application that enables Splunk users to run Splunk queries from within the Splunk Phantom platform. This app integrates Splunk’s data and search capabilities into Phantom’s security automation and orchestration framework, allowing users to perform actions such as running searches, creating events, and updating records in Splunk directly from Phantom.

The correct answer is C because after a playbook has run, the results are stored in the container that triggered the playbook. The container is a data object that represents an event or a case in Phantom. The container contains information such as the name, the description, the severity, the status, the owner, and the labels of the event or case. The container also contains the artifacts, the action results, the comments, the notes, and the phases and tasks associated with the event or case. The answer A is incorrect because after a playbook has run, the results are not stored in a Splunk index, which is a data structure that stores events from various data sources in Splunk. The Splunk index is not directly accessible by Phantom, but can be queried by Phantom using the Splunk app. The answer B is incorrect because after a playbook has run, the results are not stored in a case, which is a type of container that represents a security incident in Phantom. The case is a subset of the container, and not all containers are cases. The answer D is incorrect because after a playbook has run, the results are not stored in a log file, which is a file that records the activities or events that occur in a system or a process. The log file is not a data object in Phantom, but can be a data source for Phantom. Reference: Splunk SOAR User Guide, page 19. In Splunk Phantom, after a playbook has been executed, the results of the actions within that playbook are stored in the container associated with the event. A container is a data structure that encapsulates all relevant information and data for an incident or event within Phantom, including action results, artifacts, notes, and more. The container allows users to see a consolidated view of all the data and activity related to a particular event. These results are not stored in the Splunk Index, a separate case, or a log file as their primary storage but may be sent to a Splunk index for further analysis.

To integrate Splunk Phantom with a Splunk Cloud instance, network communication over certain ports is necessary. The default ports for web traffic are TCP 80 for HTTP and TCP 443 for HTTPS. Since Splunk Cloud instances are accessed over the internet, ensuring that these ports are open is essential for Phantom to communicate with Splunk Cloud for various operations, such as running searches, sending data, and receiving results. It is important to note that TCP 8088 is typically used by Splunk’s HTTP Event Collector (HEC), which may also be relevant depending on the integration specifics.