Convert Unix time with PowerShell

Question

I am parsing an SQLite database using the PowerShell SQLite module, and a couple of the return values are created and modified, both of which are in Unix time.

What I would like to do is somehow convert that into "human time". I have removed some of the other SQL queries for ease of reading.

Import-Module SQLite
mount-sqlite -name GoogleDrive -dataSource E:\Programming\new.db
$cloud_entry = Get-ChildItem GoogleDrive:\cloud_entry

foreach ($entry in $cloud_entry)
{
    $entry.created
}

The output looks like a large column of Unix timestamps:

1337329458

Update: I ultimately went with the following:

$ctime = $entry.created
[datetime]$origin = '1970-01-01 00:00:00'
$origin.AddSeconds($ctime)

What you went with is ambiguous, because something like [datetime] '1970-01-01 00:00:00' creates a [datetime] instance whose .Kind property is Unspecified. By contrast, the start of Unix epoch time is unambiguously UTC. — mklement0
– mklement0, Commented Aug 8, 2019 at 23:48
@Thomas [datetime] '1970-01-01Z', which gives you a Local [datetime] instance; if you need a Utc instance, use ([datetime] '1970-01-01Z').ToUniversalTime() — mklement0
– mklement0, Commented May 4, 2020 at 9:10
@mklement0 Using a UTC start time for a value during daylight saving time is giving me a result that is off by an hour (the DST offset). I think using that method is doing the time zone calculation based on the start datetime, instead of the ending datetime. — brianary
– brianary, Commented Aug 26, 2021 at 0:17
@brianary You're correct: the correct solution is to get a Utc [datetime] instance, add the Unix epoch time (in seconds) to it, and then convert to local time: ([datetime] '1970-01-01Z').ToUniversalTime().AddSeconds($ctime).ToLocalTime(). Alternatively, using [datetimeoffset] (which is preferable in general): [datetimeoffset] '1970-01-01Z').AddSeconds($ctime).LocalDateTime — mklement0
– mklement0, Commented Aug 26, 2021 at 1:36
@mklement0 Just to clarify, a UTC DateTime doesn't seem to work without some extra confusing steps, see the further discussion below, stackoverflow.com/a/10781745/54323 — brianary
– brianary, Commented Aug 28, 2021 at 21:02

mklement0 · Accepted Answer · 2024-09-05 20:27:42Z

32

Use:

# Creates a timestamp representation in UTC. Use .LocalDateTime for local time.
(([System.DateTimeOffset]::FromUnixTimeSeconds($unixTime)).DateTime).ToString("s")

FromUnixTimeMilliseconds is also available.

ToString("s"): Sortable: "The pattern reflects a defined standard (ISO 8601)"

Ref.: Standard Date and Time Format Strings, The Sortable ("s") Format Specifier

edited Sep 5, 2024 at 20:27

mklement0

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answered Nov 6, 2018 at 16:26

Fredrick

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6 Comments

bluuf Over a year ago

I feel stupid knowing that for the past years I've used [System.DateTime]::Parse('1-1-1970).AddSeconds($epoch) instead of DateTimeOffset

Fredrick Over a year ago

No worries, it looks like the method is new as of .net 4.6!

brianary Over a year ago

This doesn't seem to work. For a value of 1629937097, I'm getting 2021-08-26T00:18:17 instead of 2021-08-26T17:18:17 (see epochconverter.com or a similar reference converter).

brianary Over a year ago

@Fredrick It looks like I can use (([System.DateTimeOffset]::FromUnixTimeSeconds($unixTime)).DateTime.ToLocalTime()).ToString("s")

mklement0 Over a year ago

@brianary, [System.DateTimeOffset]::FromUnixTimeSeconds($unixTime).LocalDateTime.ToString("s") is simpler to get a representation in local time. Fredrick: the .DateTime property of [datetimeoffset] instances returns an ambiguous [datetime] instance, (its .Kind property value is Unspecified), which in this case happens to create the same string representation as UTC; however, if the intent is to create a UTC representation, it's better to use .UtcDateTime to avoid ambiguity.

|

Peter Mortensen · Accepted Answer · 2019-01-14 06:32:27Z

31

See Convert a Unix timestamp to a .NET DateTime.

You can easily reproduce this in PowerShell.

$origin = New-Object -Type DateTime -ArgumentList 1970, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0
$whatIWant = $origin.AddSeconds($unixTime)

edited Jan 14, 2019 at 6:32

Peter Mortensen

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answered May 28, 2012 at 8:45

JohnB

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11 Comments

Torbjörn Bergstedt Over a year ago

[datetime]$origin = '1970-01-01 00:00:00' works just as well, and is maybe a little easier to understand

mrwh1t3 Over a year ago

I'm getting this error: Any ideas? Cannot convert argument "0", with value: "", for "AddSeconds". Some of the values are "null", in that some of the items in the database are not assiged a created/modified date. I'm assuming this is where that error is coming from.

brianary Over a year ago

The time zone is going to be wrong unless you add .ToLocalTime() to the end of that second line. You can't use [datetime]'1970-01-01Z' because that'll do the time zone offset of the start time, which will be off during daylight savings.

mklement0 Over a year ago

Good point, @brianary: [datetime] '1970-01-01Z' by itself isn't enough, because it returns a Local [datetime] instance, which locks in the DST offset at the start time. Instead, use ([datetime] '1970-01-01Z').ToUniversalTime().AddSeconds($unixTime) to get the time as a UTC time stamp, and ([datetime] '1970-01-01Z').ToUniversalTime().AddSeconds($unixTime).ToLocalTime() to convert to a Local one. Or, using [datetimeoffset], which is preferable in general: ([datetimeoffset] '1970-01-01Z').AddSeconds($unixTime), then access .UtcDateTime or .LocalDateTime, as needed.

brianary Over a year ago

@mklement0 This works fine (Get-Date 1970-01-01).AddSeconds($unixTime).ToLocalTime(), without the confusion of code creating a UTC DateTime and then converting that to UTC again. The DateTimeOffset approach also gave me the wrong answer.

|

JackDMF · Accepted Answer · 2017-07-13 07:44:23Z

19

Function Convert-FromUnixDate ($UnixDate) {
   [timezone]::CurrentTimeZone.ToLocalTime(([datetime]'1/1/1970').AddSeconds($UnixDate))
}

$niceTime = Convert-FromUnixDate $ctime

PS C:\> $niceTime

Friday, 18 May 2012 8:24:18 p.m.

edited Jul 13, 2017 at 7:44

JackDMF

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answered Jan 20, 2014 at 13:00

uknzguy

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Comments

VMwareWolf · Accepted Answer · 2016-03-22 11:39:50Z

8

$date = get-date "1/1/1970"
$date.AddSeconds($unixTime).ToLocalTime()

answered Mar 22, 2016 at 11:39

VMwareWolf

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Comments

Peter Mortensen · Accepted Answer · 2019-01-14 06:22:02Z

4

A simple one-liner:

(Get-Date "1970-01-01 00:00:00.000Z") + ([TimeSpan]::FromSeconds($unixTime))

edited Jan 14, 2019 at 6:22

Peter Mortensen

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answered Jan 15, 2018 at 14:32

miljbee

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Comments

Marius · Accepted Answer · 2021-08-04 06:19:01Z

Not bringing anything new to the table, but a pipable version of Fredrics answer:

function epoch() { 
    Param( 
        [Parameter(ValueFromPipeline)]$epochTime,
        [Switch]$Ms
    ) 
    Process { 
        if ($Ms) {
            [System.DateTimeOffset]::FromUnixTimeMilliseconds($epochTime)
        } else {
            [System.DateTimeOffset]::FromUnixTimeSeconds($epochTime)
        }
    } 
}

"1628043561861" | epoch -Ms

DateTime      : 04.08.2021 02:19:21
UtcDateTime   : 04.08.2021 02:19:21
LocalDateTime : 04.08.2021 04:19:21
Date          : 04.08.2021 00:00:00
Day           : 4
DayOfWeek     : Wednesday
DayOfYear     : 216
Hour          : 2
Millisecond   : 861
Minute        : 19
Month         : 8
Offset        : 00:00:00
Second        : 21
Ticks         : 637636403618610000
UtcTicks      : 637636403618610000
TimeOfDay     : 02:19:21.8610000
Year          : 2021

RedTail · Accepted Answer · 2023-10-25 00:47:58Z

3

I know this is a super old question, but just wanted to share that Powershell 7's Get-Date has native support for converting Unix time now (which I discovered thanks to this question). By default, it will convert it to local time.

PS> Get-Date -UnixTimeSeconds 1338194440

Monday, May 28, 2012 4:40:40 AM

PS> (Get-Date -UnixTimeSeconds 1338194440).Kind

Local

If you want it in UTC, just add -AsUTC to the command.

PS> Get-Date -UnixTimeSeconds 1338194440 -AsUTC

Monday, May 28, 2012 8:40:40 AM

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/module/microsoft.powershell.utility/get-date?view=powershell-7.3#example-9-convert-a-unix-timestamp

answered Oct 25, 2023 at 0:47

RedTail

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Comments

ebpa · Accepted Answer · 2023-05-30 21:07:55Z

2

The DateTime type in PowerShell 7 has a static UnixEpoch value defined, so this can be done even more tersely now:

[DateTime]::UnixEpoch.AddSeconds($unixTime)

Note: This was introduced in .NET Core 2.1, so I believe it is applicable to PowerShell versions since 6.1.

answered May 30, 2023 at 21:07

ebpa

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Comments

mrwh1t3 · Accepted Answer · 2012-05-28 09:02:31Z

1

$ctime = $entry.created
[datetime]$origin = '1970-01-01 00:00:00'
$origin.AddSeconds($ctime)

answered May 28, 2012 at 9:02

mrwh1t3

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Comments

NitrusCS · Accepted Answer · 2020-04-21 11:06:52Z

1

I wanted to be sure that I was calculating from UTC, so I added the SpecifyKind:

$epochStart = New-Object -Type DateTime -ArgumentList 1970, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0
$epochStart = [DateTime]::SpecifyKind($epochStart,[DateTimeKind]::Utc)

$DateTimeUTC = $epochStart.AddSeconds($UnixTimestamp)

answered Apr 21, 2020 at 11:06

NitrusCS

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1 Comment

mklement0 Over a year ago

Good idea to request a UTC time, but you can do that simply by passing another argument to the New-Object call: New-Object -Type DateTime -ArgumentList 1970, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, Utc

Rasmus-E · Accepted Answer · 2021-10-08 13:18:11Z

1

I found that neither of the suggested solutions solved my needs. So I adjusted and propose the following:

function ConvertFrom-UnixTime {
    [CmdletBinding(DefaultParameterSetName = "Seconds")]
    param (
        [Parameter(Position = 0, 
            ValueFromPipeline = $true, 
            Mandatory = $true,
            ParameterSetName = "Seconds")]
        [int]
        $Seconds,

        [Parameter(Position = 0, 
            ValueFromPipeline = $true, 
            Mandatory = $true, ParameterSetName = "Miliseconds")]
        [bigint]
        $Miliseconds
    )
    Begin {
        $date = (Get-Date "1970-01-01 00:00:00.000Z")
    }
    Process {
        switch ($PSCmdlet.ParameterSetName) {
            "Miliseconds" {
                $date = $date.AddMilliseconds($Miliseconds)
            }
            Default {
                $date = $date.AddSeconds($Seconds);
            }
        }
    }
    End {
        $date
    }
}
Set-Alias -Name epoch -Value ConvertFrom-UnixTime

Usage:

1633694244| epoch
1633694244565 | epoch

Both outputs:

8. oktober 2021 12:57:24

answered Oct 8, 2021 at 13:18

Rasmus-E

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1 Comment

Garric Over a year ago

Time zone in function. It's great. The bulky function is easily reduced if desired. Thank you.

Ashley · Accepted Answer · 2024-09-25 20:12:26Z

0

As of PowerShell 7.1, you can use -UnixTimeSeconds follows...

PS> Get-Date -UnixTimeSeconds 0 -AsUTC
Thursday, January 1, 1970 12:00:00 AM

PS> Get-Date -UnixTimeSeconds 1 -AsUTC
Thursday, January 1, 1970 12:00:01 AM

PS> Get-Date -UnixTimeSeconds 2 -AsUTC
Thursday, January 1, 1970 12:00:02 AM

answered Sep 25, 2024 at 20:12

Ashley

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Comments

adamt8 · Accepted Answer · 2024-11-05 12:23:13Z

0

Everything I tried returned an error that the unix date was 'out of range'. Here is what finally worked. After edits. Thanks to Kumpf. :)

PS> get-date ((Get-Date "1970-01-01 00:00:00.000Z") + ([TimeSpan]::FromSeconds($unixTime))) -uformat "%m/%d/%Y %T"

11/05/2024 06:10:56

Borrowed from miljbee and Peter Mo

edited Nov 5, 2024 at 12:23

answered Apr 13, 2023 at 0:08

adamt8

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1 Comment

john v kumpf Over a year ago

Year 0001 might be a little earlier than you wanted.

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