NAME
reglookup-timeline - Windows NT+ registry MTIME timeline generator
SYNOPSIS
reglookup-timeline [-H] registry-file [registry-file ...]
DESCRIPTION
This script is a wrapper for reglookup(1), and reads one or more
registry files to produce an MTIME-sorted output. This is helpful when
building timelines for forensic investigations.
PARAMETERS
reglookup-timeline accepts one or more registry file names. All of the
provided registries will be parsed using reglookup(1). The -H option
may be used to omit the header line.
OUTPUT
reglookup-timeline generates a comma-separated values (CSV) compatible
format to stdout. While the output of reglookup-timeline and
reglookup(1) differ in the columns returned, the base format is the
same.
Currently, reglookup-timeline returns three columns: MTIME, FILE, and
PATH. Only rows representing registry keys are returned, since MTIMEs
are not stored for values. The FILE column indicates which registry
file (provided as an argument) the key came from. Finally, the PATH
field contains the full registry path to the key. Records are returned
sorted in ascending order based on the MTIME column.
BUGS
This script is new, and as such it’s interface may change significantly
over the next few revisions. In particular, additional command line
options will likely be added, and the output of the script may be
altered in minor ways.
It is very difficult to find documentation on what precise operations
cause the MTIMEs to be updated. Basic experimentation indicates that a
key’s stamp is updated anytime an immediate sub-value or sub-key is
created, renamed, deleted, or it’s value is modified. If this MTIME
data is critical to an investigation, any conclusions should be
validated through experimentation in a controlled lab environment.
This software should be considered unstable at this time.
CREDITS
This script was written by Timothy D. Morgan based on suggestions from
Uwe Danz.
Please see source code for a full list of copyrights.
LICENSE
Please see the file "LICENSE" included with this software distribution.
This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but
WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU
General Public License version 3 for more details.
SEE ALSO
reglookup(1) reglookup-recover(1)