---
name: "exim_msgdate"
section: "8"
platform: "linux"
package: "exim4-base"
version: "4.98.2-1+deb13u4"
release: "Debian 13 (Trixie)"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/exim_msgdate"
---

# exim\_msgdate(8)

## NAME

```
  exim_msgdate -  Utility to convert an exim message-id to a human readable date+time
```

## SYNOPSIS

**exim\_msgdate** \[ -u\|--unix \| --GMT \| --z\|-Zulu \| --UTC \| -l\|--local \]\
       \[ --base 36 \| --base 62 \| --base36 \| --base62 \| --b36 \| --b62 \]\
       \[ --pid \] \[ --debug \] \[ --localhost\_number \]\
       \[ -c c\<full path to exim cnfig file\> \]\
       exim-message-id \[ \| exim-message-id ...\]

**exim\_msgdate** --help\|--man

## DESCRIPTION

**exim\_msgdate** is a tool which converts an exim message-id to a human readable form, usuall just the date+time, but with the *--pid* option the process id as well.

## Message IDs:

Three exim message ID formats are recognized. In each case the 'X's are taken from the base (see below) which depends upon the platform.

- XXXXXX-XXXXXX-XX

  found in the exim logfile,

- EXXXXXX-XXXXXX-XX

  found in the Message-Id header,

- XXXXXX

  just the first six characters of the message id.

## OPTIONS

### Time Zones and Unix Time

- **-u \| --unix**

  Display time as seconds since 1 Jan 1970, the Unix Epoch.

- **--GMT** **-u\|--UTC** **-z\|--zulu**

  Display time in GMT/UTC - we assume these are the same. Zulu time is another name for GMT.

- **-l \| --local**

  Display time in the local time-zone.

  Do not confuse this with the --localhost\_number option.

The default is the local timezone.

### User Assistance Options

- **--help**

  A brief list of the options

- **--man**

  A more detailed manual for **exim\_msgdate**

- **--debug**

  Information about what went wrong, mostly for developers.

### Specialized Options

- **--base** n \| **--base36** \| **--base62**

  The message-id is usually encoded in base-62 (0-9A-Za-z), but on systems with case-insensitive file systems, such as MacOS and Cygwin, base-36 (0-9A-Z) is used instead. The installation script should have set the default appropriately, but these options allow the default base to be overridden.

  The default matches `"exim"`; in this installation it is base-62.

- **--pid**

  Report the process id as well as the date and time in the message-id.

- **--localhost\_number** n

  If the Exim configuration option **localhost\_number** has been set, the third and final section of the message-id will include this and the timer resolution will change (see the Exim Spec. for details). `"Exim_msgdate"` reads the Exim config file (see --C) to find this value, but it can be overridden with this option.

  The value is an integer between 0 and 16, or the value "none" which means there is no localhost\_number.

  Do not confuse this with the --local option, which displays times in the local timezone.

- **--C** **full path to exim configuration file**

  This overrides the usual exim search path. We set `"localhost_number"` from the exim configfile.

- **-dexim\_path**

  The test harness passes the full path of the `"exim"` binary, or here the `"exim_msgdate"` being tested. Not currently used.

## SEE ALSO:

[**exim**(8)](/exim/8.md)

Exim spec.txt chapter 4 \<https://exim.org/exim-html-current/doc/html/spec\_html/ch-how\_exim\_receives\_and\_delivers\_mail.html#SECTmessiden\>