<para>When parsing, systemd will also accept relative
time specifications. A time span (see above) that is
prefixed with <literal>+</literal> is evaluated to the
- current time plus the specified
- time span. Correspondingly, a time span that is prefixed
+ current time plus the specified time
+ span. Correspondingly, a time span that is prefixed
with <literal>-</literal> is evaluated to the current
time minus the specified time span. Instead of
- prefixing the time span with <literal>-</literal>, it
- may also be suffixed with a space and the word
+ prefixing the time span with <literal>+</literal> or
+ <literal>-</literal>, it may also be suffixed with a
+ space and the word <literal>left</literal> or
<literal>ago</literal>.</para>
+ <para>Finally, a timespan prefixed with
+ <literal>@</literal> is evaluated relative to the UNIX
+ time epoch 1st Jan, 1970, 00:00.</para>
+
<para>Examples for valid timestamps and their
normalized form (assuming the current time was
2012-11-23 18:15:22):</para>
tomorrow → Fri 2012-11-24 00:00:00
+3h30min → Fri 2012-11-23 21:45:22
-5s → Fri 2012-11-23 18:15:17
- 11min ago → Fri 2012-11-23 18:04:22</programlisting>
+ 11min ago → Fri 2012-11-23 18:04:22
+ @1395716396 → Tue 2014-03-25 03:59:56</programlisting>
<para>Note that timestamps printed by systemd will not
be parsed correctly by systemd, as the timezone
<para>In the date and time specifications, any
component may be specified as <literal>*</literal> in
which case any value will match. Alternatively, each
- component can be specified as list of values separated
+ component can be specified as a list of values separated
by commas. Values may also be suffixed with
<literal>/</literal> and a repetition value, which
indicates that the value and all values plus multiples
<para>Timezone names may not be specified.</para>
<para>The special expressions
+ <literal>minutely</literal>,
<literal>hourly</literal>, <literal>daily</literal>,
- <literal>monthly</literal> and <literal>weekly</literal>
- may be used as calendar events which refer to
- <literal>*-*-* *:00:00</literal>, <literal>*-*-*
- 00:00:00</literal>, <literal>*-*-01 00:00:00</literal> and
- <literal>Mon *-*-* 00:00:00</literal>,
- respectively.</para>
+ <literal>monthly</literal>, <literal>weekly</literal>,
+ and <literal>yearly</literal> or
+ <literal>annually</literal> may be used as calendar
+ events which refer to
+ <literal>*-*-* *:*:00</literal>,
+ <literal>*-*-* *:00:00</literal>,
+ <literal>*-*-* 00:00:00</literal>,
+ <literal>*-*-01 00:00:00</literal>,
+ <literal>Mon *-*-* 00:00:00</literal>, and
+ <literal>*-01-01 00:00:00</literal> respectively.
+ </para>
<para>Examples for valid timestamps and their
normalized form:</para>
daily → *-*-* 00:00:00
monthly → *-*-01 00:00:00
weekly → Mon *-*-* 00:00:00
+ yearly → *-01-01 00:00:00
+ annually → *-01-01 00:00:00
*:2/3 → *-*-* *:02/3:00</programlisting>
<para>Calendar events are used by timer units, see