# "Incorrect date format" error in Log viewer

**URL:** <https://community.dynatrace.com/t/incorrect-date-format-error-in-log-viewer/20022>\
**Category:** Logs\
**Tags:** log-monitoring-class\
**Created:** [March 18, 2019, 6:20am UTC](https://community.dynatrace.com/t/incorrect-date-format-error-in-log-viewer/20022 "2019-03-18T06:20:16Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![nkobayashi1](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/dynatrace/user_avatar/community.dynatrace.com/nkobayashi1/32/5187_2.png) [@nkobayashi1](https://community.dynatrace.com/u/nkobayashi1)\
**Post date:** [March 18, 2019, 6:20am UTC](https://community.dynatrace.com/t/incorrect-date-format-error-in-log-viewer/20022/1 "2019-03-18T06:20:16Z")

</div>

Hi,

I’m trying  
to display the custom log files of our application.  
And  
I’m facing the “Incorrect date format” error.

I tried  
follows:

1. Set log  
file path in the Process group settings \> Log monitoring

/var/\<application-name\>/\<application-name\>.log  
/var/cron  
(this is for testing)  
/var/\<application-name\>/messages  
(this is copy of /var/log/messages, this is for testing)

2. In the  
log files page, the name of log files are displayed. But the “incorrect  
date format” is shown in the all of the log files I configured.

I also tried to  
copy /var/log/messages and /var/log/cron to our application log directory, then set to the same process group, but  
the same error occurred.

So, I’m confusing why /var/log/messages is displayed correctly in the Log viewer  
and /var/log/\<applicaton-name\>/messages caused “Incorrect date format” error.

I have read  
the document:

> **[Log data formats (Logs Classic)](https://docs.dynatrace.com/docs/analyze-explore-automate/log-monitoring/log-monitoring-configuration/log-data-format-classic)**
>
> This topic lists all the log formats supported by Log Monitoring.

The date  
format of our application log is match to the correct pattern.  
(The date format of our application log is very similar to the /var/log/messages)

How should  
I configure to display the log files?

Thanks,  
Noah  
Kobayashi

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![ChadTurner](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/dynatrace/user_avatar/community.dynatrace.com/chadturner/32/161_2.png) [@ChadTurner](https://community.dynatrace.com/u/ChadTurner)\
**Post date:** [March 12, 2020, 7:24pm UTC](https://community.dynatrace.com/t/incorrect-date-format-error-in-log-viewer/20022/2 "2020-03-12T19:24:01Z")

</div>

We had the same issue, it came down to tinkering with wildcard placeholders for the names of the files to show up correctly. are you still having this issue?

I would also check out this article as it goes over hot to configure the files manually.

[https://www.dynatrace.com/support/help/how-to-use-dynatrace/log-monitoring/configuration/add-log-files-manually/](https://www.dynatrace.com/support/help/how-to-use-dynatrace/log-monitoring/configuration/add-log-files-manually/?_ga=2.141813234.1903008518.1584014693-221736709.1584014693)

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![borgesm](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/dynatrace/user_avatar/community.dynatrace.com/borgesm/32/32366_2.png) [@borgesm](https://community.dynatrace.com/u/borgesm)\
**Post date:** [January 21, 2021, 8:53pm UTC](https://community.dynatrace.com/t/incorrect-date-format-error-in-log-viewer/20022/3 "2021-01-21T20:53:14Z")

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I am facing the same issue on Linux Red Hat 7! Files such as messages , cron , maillog under directory /var/log/\* are have the same date format. Only messages and cron are working.

 ![27939-incorrect-date-format.png](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/dynatrace/original/3X/e/6/e6870256ba0bffbf75e7cf0dc992af3acec3e025.png)