The Splunk Processing Language (SPL) requires a specific format for specifying absolute time ranges directly in the search string using modifiers like earliest or latest. The officially documented and valid syntax for an absolute time is MM/DD/YYYY:HH:MM:SS. Option A is the only choice that correctly adheres to this format, using slashes to separate the date components (month, day, year) and a colon to separate the date from the time components (hour, minute, second).

B. earliest=01/01/2019T00:00:00

This format incorrectly mixes the MM/DD/YYYY date structure with the 'T' separator, which is characteristic of the ISO-8601 standard (YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS).

C. earliest=2019-01-01 00:00:00

This syntax is invalid because it uses a space to separate the date and time. The correct, documented separator for this context is a colon.

D. earliest=2019-01-01T00:00:00

While this is the standard ISO-8601 time format, the primary and explicitly documented syntax for the earliest modifier in a search string is MM/DD/YYYY:HH:MM:SS.

1. Splunk Enterprise Documentation

Search Manual

"Specify time ranges in the Search app": In the section "Specify absolute time ranges

" the manual explicitly states

"The absolute time format is MM/DD/YYYY:HH:MM:SS." It provides an example such as earliest="10/5/2021:20:00:00". (Refer to Splunk Enterprise version 9.x documentation).

2. Splunk Enterprise Documentation

Search Reference

"search" command: Under the syntax details for the search command

the description for the earliest argument specifies the valid time format. It states

"For an absolute time

the format is earliest=MM/DD/YYYY:HH:MM:SS." (Refer to Splunk Enterprise version 9.x documentation).