# StartDate

The start time of the time period that you want to retrieve data for. Specify either:

- A date in the format `YYYY-MM-DD HH:NN`, and in the UTC time zone.

- A time duration, to make the start time relative to the time when the synchronize task starts.

  To specify a time duration

  The value of this parameter is a time duration. Specify a value using one or more of the following units:

           years      y
           months     m
           weeks      w
           days       d
           hours      h
           minutes    n
           seconds    s

  Note that months abbreviates to m, minutes to n. If you want to specify the value in seconds, units are not required.

  For example, all of the following are equivalent:

           1minute 3seconds
           1n 3s
           63s
           63

TIP: If you run a synchronize task and the connector has already retrieved data from part of the time period, it automatically adjusts the start date so that it does not retrieve data it has already retrieved.

TIP: On subsequent synchronize cycles, the connector does not send ingest-remove commands for entries that fall outside the time period. This means that data older than a relative start time is not removed from your IDOL Server index. If you want to remove older data from IDOL, Micro Focus recommends that you configure IDOL Server to expire documents.

Alternate Name: | `RelativeStartDate`
Type: | String or Time Duration
Default: |
Required: | Yes, required for historical mode
Allowed Range: | The value of this parameter must specify a time before EndDate. Relative values must be negative.
Configuration Section: | TaskName or FetchTasks or Default
Example: | The following example configures the connector with a fixed start date: `StartDate=2015-10-30 23:05` The following example configures the connector to retrieve data related to a time period that started 10 days before the start of the synchronize task: `StartDate=-10 days`
See Also: | EndDate

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