Targeted app installation on Victoria Experience

Learn how to use targeted app installation on Victoria Experience to manage app deployment on specific search heads, enhancing security and user access control.

In version 10.1.2507, Splunk Cloud Platform on Victoria Experience supports targeted app installation as a private preview. You can use targeted app installation to install Splunk apps on specific search heads or search head clusters.

Previously, when you installed an app on Victoria Experience, the app was installed by default on all search heads across a deployment, and extra configuration was required to manage app security and visibility. With targeted app installation, you can now choose which search heads to install an app on, which makes it easier to isolate apps and control user access.

This enhancement aligns app installation features in Victoria Experience with Splunk Enterprise and Splunk Cloud Platform Classic Experience.

Requirements

To use targeted app installation on Victoria Experience:

  • You must have Splunk Cloud Platform Victoria Experience version 10.1.2507.
  • You must hold the sc_admin role to install apps in Splunk Cloud Platform.
Attention:

Alpha (private preview) features described in this document are provided by Splunk to you "as is" without any warranties, maintenance and support, or service-level commitments. Splunk makes this Alpha feature available at its sole discretion and may discontinue it at any time. These documents are not yet publicly available and we ask that you keep this information confidential.D

How targeted app installation works

Targeted app installation lets you install private apps or Splunkbase apps on standalone search heads, search head clusters, or premium search heads by specifying a target search head (or search head cluster) for the app.

Targeted app installation is enabled by default for all self-service app installation methods in Splunk Cloud Platform Victoria Experience, including Splunk Web, Admin Config Service (ACS) CLI, and ACS API.

Terraform Provider for Splunk Cloud Platform also now supports target app installation functionality.

Use targeted app installation in Splunk Web

When you install apps in Splunk Web, the search head you are logged in to is automatically specified as the target search head, and the app installs there by default.

To install an app using the in-product app browser in the Splunk Web UI, open the Manage Apps page, select an app, and then select Install. The app installs on the search head or search head cluster you are logged in to.

For more information on installing apps in Splunk Web, see Install apps on your Splunk Cloud Platform deployment.

Use targeted app installation with the ACS API

To install an app using targeted app installation with the ACS API, you must add the prefix of the target search head (or search head cluster) to the stack URL when sending an API endpoint request to install the app. You must also add the scope=local query parameter in the request URL.

For example, to install a private app on a search head cluster with search head prefix “shc1” and stack URL "csms-2io6tw-47150”, send an HTTP POST request to the apps/victoria endpoint:


curl - X POST 'https://admin.splunk.com/shc1.csms-2io6tw-47150/adminconfig/v2/apps/victoria?scope=local'
--header 'X-Splunk-Authorization: eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9…' \
--header 'Authorization: Bearer eyJraWQiOiJzcGx1bmsuc2VjcmV0IiwiYWxnI…' \
--header 'ACS-Legal-Ack: Y' \
--data-binary '@/Users/cjones/Downloads/testapp.tar.gz'

For more information on using targeted app installation with the ACS API, see Target a specific search head for ACS operations.

For more information on using the ACS API to install private apps on Victoria Experience, see Manage apps in Splunk Cloud Platform.

Use targeted app installation with the ACS CLI

ACS CLI version 2.20 and higher supports targeted app installation.

To install an app using targeted app installation with the ACS CLI, you must set the target search head for the current stack. This ensures that subsequent ACS CLI operations target that specific search head. You must also specify the --scope parameter as “local”.

For example, to install a Splunkbase app on "shc1":

  1. Set the target search head to "shc1": 
    
acs config use-stack stack_name --target-sh shc1
  2. Install the app using the acs apps install splunkbase command, specifying the Splunkbase app ID and the --scope value as "local":
    
acs apps install splunkbase --splunkbase-id 5667 --scope local
    Note: If you do not include the --scope local parameter with the installation command, the app installs on all search heads. This behavior preserves the backward compatibility with Victoria Experience deployments prior to version 10.1.2507

For more information on installing apps with the ACS CLI, see Administer Splunk Cloud Platform using the ACS CLI.