Install the universal forwarder on Mac OS X

The universal forwarder is available for Mac OS X as a tar file or a DMG package.

Install the universal forwarder from the Finder

  1. Navigate to the folder or directory where the installer is located.
  2. Double-click the DMG file.
    A Finder window that contains the splunkforwarder.pkg opens.
  3. Double-click the Install Splunk Universal Forwarder icon to start the installer.
  4. The Introduction panel lists version and copyright information. Click Continue.
  5. The License panel lists shows the software license agreement. Click Continue.
  6. You are asked to agree to the terms of the software license agreement. Click Agree.
  7. In the Installation Type panel, click Install. This installs the universal forwarder in the default directory /Applications/SplunkForwarder.
  8. You are prompted to type the password that you use to login to your computer.
  9. When the installation completes, a popup informs you that an initialization must be performed. Click OK.
  10. A terminal window appears and you are prompted to specify a username and password to use with the universal forwarder.

    Note: The password must be at least eight characters in length. The cursor will not advance as you type.
    Make note of your username and password. You will use these credentials to authenticate when using CLI commands on the forwarder.
  11. A popup appears asking what you would like to do. Click Start Splunk.
  12. Close the Install Splunk Forwarder window.

    Note: The installer places a shortcut on the desktop so that you can start or stop the universal forwarder from your desktop at any time.

Once you have installed the forwarder, see Configure the universal forwarder chapter in this manual to configure your forwarder and create credentials.

Install from a tar file

Use the tar command to install the forwarder.

  • To install the forwarder into the folder /Applications/splunkforwarder, run:
CODE 
tar xvzf splunkforwarder.tgz -C /Applications
  • To install the forwarder into the current working directory under the splunkforwarder folder, run:
CODE 
tar xvzf splunkforwarder.tgz

Once you have installed the forwarder, see Configure the universal forwarder chapter in this manual to configure your forwarder and create credentials.