Getting Data In

how do I skip the timezone inside the timestamps

cyue_splunk
Splunk Employee
Splunk Employee

I got a sample log with timestamp format like this:

Thu Dec 20 20:45:24 CST 2012

The CST here means China Standard Time (+8). But Splunk recognize this time zone as US Central Time(-6), so the event timestamp I got is Dec 21 10:45:24 am (with my local system also in +8 timezone). No matter how I set the Timeformat in props.conf to skip the CST timezone, the timestamp won't change. Any idea how I can fix this timezone issue?

Tags (3)
0 Karma
1 Solution

Damien_Dallimor
Ultra Champion

In props.conf you can specify the time format that you want applied to your event timestamps.

http://docs.splunk.com/Documentation/Splunk/latest/Data/Configuretimestamprecognition#Edit_timestamp...

Can you post the strptime pattern you are specifying..maybe it has an error ?

View solution in original post

cyue_splunk
Splunk Employee
Splunk Employee

I actually also tried to resort the "timezone" with the "year" as described here, but the result won't change.
http://docs.splunk.com/Documentation/Splunk/latest/Data/Configuretimestamprecognition#Reconfigure_ho...

My current workaround is to modify the datetime.xml to remove the CST from the zone list.

0 Karma

Damien_Dallimor
Ultra Champion

In props.conf you can specify the time format that you want applied to your event timestamps.

http://docs.splunk.com/Documentation/Splunk/latest/Data/Configuretimestamprecognition#Edit_timestamp...

Can you post the strptime pattern you are specifying..maybe it has an error ?

cyue_splunk
Splunk Employee
Splunk Employee

This is the correct one. Thanks, Damien!

TIME_FORMAT = %b %d %H:%M:%S CST %Y

0 Karma

cyue_splunk
Splunk Employee
Splunk Employee

I used this:
TIME_FORMAT = %b %d %H:%M:%S \w+ %Y

0 Karma
Got questions? Get answers!

Join the Splunk Community Slack to learn, troubleshoot, and make connections with fellow Splunk practitioners in real time!

Meet up IRL or virtually!

Join Splunk User Groups to connect and learn in-person by region or remotely by topic or industry.

Get Updates on the Splunk Community!

[Puzzles] Solve, Learn, Repeat: Matching cron expressions

This puzzle (first published here) is based on matching timestamps to cron expressions.All the timestamps ...

Design, Compete, Win: Submit Your Best Splunk Dashboards for a .conf26 Pass

Hello Splunkers,  We’re excited to kick off a Splunk Dashboard contest! We know that dashboards are a primary ...

May 2026 Splunk Expert Sessions: Security & Observability

Level Up Your Operations: May 2026 Splunk Expert Sessions Whether you are refining your security posture or ...