Configurations in different locations merge behind the scenes into one super configuration. Luckily, the merging happens in a predictable way, is fairly easy to learn, and there is a tool to help us preview this merging.
The merging order is slightly different depending on whether the configuration is being used by the search engine or another part of Splunk. The difference is whether there is an active user and app.
Configurations being used outside of search are merged in a fairly simple order. These configurations include the files to read, the indexed fields to create, the indexes that exist, deployment server and client configurations, and other settings. These configurations merge in this order:
$SPLUNK_HOME/etc/system/default: This directory contains the base configurations that ship with Splunk.Never make changes in
$SPLUNK_HOME/etc/system/defaultas your changes will be lost when you upgrade Splunk...
