RFE: journalctl -o short-rfc3339 / -o short-rfc3339-precise

[tompar28]

Component

journalctl

Is your feature request related to a problem? Please describe

Recent versions of rsyslog (as used in Debian unstable) are now using by default timestamps based on RFC 3339 (Date and Time on the Internet: Timestamps).

The -o short-iso / -o short-iso-precise journalctl options use an ISO 8601 profile that is not compatible with RFC 3339 (it misses a ':' between the hours and minutes in the timezone offset).

This makes things more difficult for people comparing journalctl output with rsyslog output, for instance those like me using the 'logcheck' package (which, in Debian unstable, recently started checking by default the systemd journal too).

Describe the solution you'd like

Adding -o short-rfc3339 / -o short-rfc3339-precise options to journalctl could be a useful addition.

Describe alternatives you've considered

I initially thought that changing the output of -o short-iso / -o short-iso-precise to add the missing ':' was an easier solution, but that might break existings things for people. Also I read issue #14515 "Change systemd.time format to comply with RFC 3339" but that's a whole other business. My proposition is only to be able to have journalctl output timestamps identical to rsyslog's RFC3339 timestamps, not to change all timestamps in all of systemd.

The systemd version you checked that didn't have the feature you are asking for

252

[tompar28]

The output format of -o short-iso / -o short-iso-precise contains the missing ':' since v255rc2 (#29134). Closing.