How does Splunk determine the time zone for this event?

The following Apache access log is being ingested into Splunk via a monitor input:

How does Splunk determine the time zone for this event?
A . The value of the TZ attribute in props. cont for the a :ces3_ccwbined sourcetype.
B . The value of the TZ attribute in props, conf for the my.webserver.example host.
C . The time zone of the Heavy/Intermediate Forwarder with the monitor input.
D . The time zone indicator in the raw event data.

View Answer

Answer: D

Explanation:

In Splunk, when ingesting logs such as an Apache access log, the time zone for each event is typically determined by the time zone indicator present in the raw event data itself. In the log snippet you provided, the time zone is indicated by -0400, which specifies that the event’s timestamp is 4 hours behind UTC (Coordinated Universal Time).

Splunk uses this information directly from the event to properly parse the timestamp and apply the correct time zone. This ensures that the event’s time is accurately reflected regardless of the time zone in which the Splunk instance or forwarder is located.

Splunk Cloud

Reference: For further details, you can review Splunk documentation on timestamp recognition and time zone handling, especially in relation to log files and data ingestion configurations.

Source:

Splunk Docs: How Splunk software handles timestamps

Splunk Docs: Configure event timestamp recognition