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Date processor

Parses dates from fields, and then uses the date or timestamp as the timestamp for the document. By default, the date processor adds the parsed date as a new field called @timestamp. You can specify a different field by setting the target_field configuration parameter. Multiple date formats are supported as part of the same date processor definition. They will be used sequentially to attempt parsing the date field, in the same order they were defined as part of the processor definition.

Name Required Default Description
field yes - The field to get the date from.
target_field no @timestamp The field that will hold the parsed date.
formats yes - An array of the expected date formats. Can be a java time pattern or one of the following formats: ISO8601, UNIX, UNIX_MS, or TAI64N.
timezone no UTC The timezone to use when parsing the date. Supports template snippets.
locale no ENGLISH The locale to use when parsing the date, relevant when parsing month names or week days. Supports template snippets.
output_format no yyyy-MM-dd'T'HH:mm:ss.SSSXXX The format to use when writing the date to target_field. Must be a valid java time pattern.
description no - Description of the processor. Useful for describing the purpose of the processor or its configuration.
if no - Conditionally execute the processor. See Conditionally run a processor.
ignore_failure no false Ignore failures for the processor. See Handling pipeline failures.
on_failure no - Handle failures for the processor. See Handling pipeline failures.
tag no - Identifier for the processor. Useful for debugging and metrics.

Here is an example that adds the parsed date to the timestamp field based on the initial_date field:

{
  "description" : "...",
  "processors" : [
    {
      "date" : {
        "field" : "initial_date",
        "target_field" : "timestamp",
        "formats" : ["dd/MM/yyyy HH:mm:ss"],
        "timezone" : "Europe/Amsterdam"
      }
    }
  ]
}

The timezone and locale processor parameters are templated. This means that their values can be extracted from fields within documents. The example below shows how to extract the locale/timezone details from existing fields, my_timezone and my_locale, in the ingested document that contain the timezone and locale values.

{
  "description" : "...",
  "processors" : [
    {
      "date" : {
        "field" : "initial_date",
        "target_field" : "timestamp",
        "formats" : ["ISO8601"],
        "timezone" : "{{{my_timezone}}}",
        "locale" : "{{{my_locale}}}"
      }
    }
  ]
}