Splunk Search

Timeformat not sorting properly

hartfoml
Motivator

I am using this search:

sourcetype="foo" name="foobar*" | convert timeformat="%m/%d/%Y - %a" ctime(_time) AS Date | convert timeformat="%H:%M:%S.%N" ctime(_time) AS Time | table Time Date host name category | rename host as Server name as Name category as Category | sort - Time

The sort is not working. can anyone suggest what it is I am doing wrong with the sort or timeformat and how to fix it???

Tags (3)
0 Karma
1 Solution

hartfoml
Motivator

I figured it out. Timestamps is just a number before you convert the format so it sorts correctly so you need to sort t=he time before you convert the format like this.

sourcetype="foo" name="foobar*" | sort - _time | convert timeformat="%m/%d/%Y - %a" ctime(_time) AS Date | convert timeformat="%H:%M:%S.%N" ctime(_time) AS Time | table Time Date host name category | rename host as Server name as Name category as Category

View solution in original post

0 Karma

hartfoml
Motivator

I figured it out. Timestamps is just a number before you convert the format so it sorts correctly so you need to sort t=he time before you convert the format like this.

sourcetype="foo" name="foobar*" | sort - _time | convert timeformat="%m/%d/%Y - %a" ctime(_time) AS Date | convert timeformat="%H:%M:%S.%N" ctime(_time) AS Time | table Time Date host name category | rename host as Server name as Name category as Category

0 Karma

hartfoml
Motivator

Nope sorry this does not work in the search. Thanks

0 Karma

hartfoml
Motivator

this works for | sort Time |
it does not work for | sort - Time |

I can use it though. please put it in as an answer so I can give you credit for the answer

0 Karma

quatral
Explorer

Maybe I'm wrong but should it work if :

sourcetype="foo" name="foobar*" | convert timeformat="%m/%d/%Y - %a" ctime(_time) AS Date | convert timeformat="%H:%M:%S.%N" ctime(_time) AS Time | sort - Time | table Time Date host name category | rename host as Server name as Name category as Category

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!

Data Management Digest – August 2026

MichelleCorpora_1-1788182384472.png Welcome to the August 2026 edition of Data Management Digest! August was a ...

Your Feedback. Our Roadmap. Visit the PX Feedback Booth at .conf26

You use Splunk every day, come and help shape what's next.  Save Your Seat: Product-Focused Sessions at ...

Agentic SOC Triage: Investigating Splunk ES Notables with MCP Server and a Local LLM

The Problem: Too Many Alerts, Too Little Context Security operations teams running Splunk Enterprise Security ...