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Duration string format

OpenBao uses a unique duration string format as part of its configuration and APIs. This format is used throughout OpenBao wherever durations are provided. For example, telemetry configuration contains various options using this format, such as usage_gauge_period, which is the interval of collection for high-cardinality usage data.

How it works​

A duration string is a possibly signed sequence of decimal numbers, each with an optional fraction and an optional unit suffix. If no unit is given, we interpret the numbers as seconds.

Valid time units are:

  • ns Nanoseconds
  • us (or µs): Microseconds
  • ms: Milliseconds
  • s: Seconds
  • m: Minutes
  • h: Hours
  • d: Days

Examples​

Example values could be:

  • 100 (One hundred seconds, equivalent to 100s)
  • 60h (Sixty hours)
  • 1.5h (One and a half hours)
  • 50d (Fifty days)
  • 100ms (One hundred milliseconds)
  • 50ns (Fifty nanoseconds)