What configuration file on a forwarder collects local logs and system information?

The configuration file that is responsible for collecting local logs and system information on a forwarder is inputs.conf. This file specifies the data inputs that the forwarder should monitor, which can include local files, directories, network ports, and other sources of data. In the context of Splunk, inputs.conf defines how the data is read and indexed, including parameters such as file paths, data formats, and read methods.

For example, if you want to collect logs from a specific directory on the forwarder, you would configure an input in inputs.conf to point to that directory and set appropriate parameters for indexing. This functionality makes inputs.conf crucial for establishing what data is collected from the local system and sent to the Splunk indexer.

The other files serve different purposes: outputs.conf is used to define where to send the collected data, props.conf governs the data parsing and indexing properties, and limits.conf is used to set limitations on indexing behavior (like maximum file sizes). These distinctions highlight the specific role that inputs.conf plays in data collection on the forwarder.