The logs I'm searching do not contain a key - value format

[src053]

I have log files that do not have a key - value format. The first part of each event is like this:
2013/11/25-17:09:08[32:31.928] however there is nothing in the log file setting this as "time" event.
When I go to import these log files splunk indexes them as the time of the import. Is there something I can do to have splunk tack the first string in the log as the time stamp?

[lukejadamec · Accepted solution]

On the indexer, you should create or add to the splunk\etc\system\local\props.conf configuration file. I recommend something like this:

props.conf

[yoursourcetype]
MAX_TIMESTAMP_LOOKAHEAD = 20
TIME_FORMAT = %Y/%m/%d-%H:%M:%S

This should extract the timestamp from newly indexed logs (will not change what is already indexed). It depends on the timestamp being contained within the first 20 characters of the log event.

[lukejadamec]

When you run a search that pulls the events (without a timestamp) you should see the sourcetype identified at the bottom of each event, and in the list to the left. That is the string you want to use. It will tell Splunk which sourcetype to apply the configuration too.

[src053]

I think the content in the square brackets can be discarded. Is the [yoursourcetype] supposed to be the name of the file?

[lukejadamec]

Yes, Splunk does a smashing job of ingesting timestamps. But, it needs to know what to look for, what do you have in the square brackets?