Splunk Fundamentals 1 Practice Exam

What clause can be used to avoid overwriting existing fields with your lookup?

1. OUTPUTNEW

2. OUTPUTMOD

3. OVERWRITE

4. ADDNEW

The correct answer is: OUTPUTNEW

The clause that can be used to avoid overwriting existing fields with your lookup is OUTPUTNEW. This option allows you to add new fields derived from the lookup without replacing any existing fields that may share the same names. As a result, when using OUTPUTNEW, any field from the lookup table will only be added to the event if that field does not already exist. This is particularly useful when you want to enrich your data by adding supplementary information without losing any existing values or context from the incoming events. The other choices do not serve this purpose. OUTPUTMOD typically allows for the modification of existing fields, which can lead to overwriting. OVERWRITE suggests a behavior that would replace existing fields with new values, making it unsuitable for preserving existing data. ADDNEW is not a standard syntax in this context and does not exist as a specific clause in Splunk lookups. Therefore, OUTPUTNEW is the appropriate choice for maintaining existing fields while enhancing data with additional information from lookups.