Splunk Search

First instance of timestamp

mirsmehdi
New Member

Trying to get the first occurrence of the timestamp to be used for _time

LogFile:
2016/05/27 06:30; 2016/05/27 06:29:18 Test1 :Service1
2016/05/27 05:30; 2016/05/27 05:24:16 Test2 :Service2

Have used props.conf to use MAX_TIMESTAMP_LOOKAHEAD=15, and also TIME_PREFIX = ^; still looks at the second timestamp

inputs.conf:

[monitor:LogFile]
index = test_index
sourcetype = sourcetype_new
source = host1

props.conf

[sourcetype_new]
TIME_PREFIX = ^
MAX_TIMESTAMP_LOOKAHEAD = 15

search:

source=host1 sourcetype=sourcetype_new *

Output:

Time                                -  Event
2016/05/27 06:29:18       - 2016/05/27 06:30; 2016/05/27 06:29:18 Test1 :Service1
2016/05/27 05:24:16       - 2016/05/27 05:30; 2016/05/27 05:24:16 Test2 :Service2
Tags (1)
0 Karma

ryanoconnor
Builder

Also keep in mind 2016/05/27 06:30 is 16 characters, so you might want to change your max_timestamp_lookahead to 16.

0 Karma

richgalloway
SplunkTrust
SplunkTrust

Try adding TIME_FORMAT = %Y/%m/%d %H:%M to your sourcetype_new stanza.

---
If this reply helps you, Karma would be appreciated.
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!

Monitoring AI Agents with Splunk Observability Cloud

Let’s say I’m running a travel planning AI app in production. A user asks for three concise hotel options in ...

[Puzzles] Solve, Learn, Repeat: Tiling

This puzzle (first published here) is based on finding groups of tessellated tiles (inspired by floor tiles I ...

SOK it to Me: Top 3 Benefits of Using Splunk Operator on Kubernetes that’ll Make ...

    Thursday, July 9, 2026  |  11:00AM–12:00PM PDT Duration: 1 hour (includes Q&A) Managing can feel like a ...