Mysql insert random datetime in a given datetime range

Question

With SQL , Can I insert random datetime values in a column giving a range?

For example, given a range of 2010-04-30 14:53:27 to 2012-04-30 14:53:2

Answer 1

Here is an example that should help:

INSERT INTO `sometable` VALUES(
    FROM_UNIXTIME(
        UNIX_TIMESTAMP('2010-04-30 14:53:27') + FLOOR(0 + (RAND() * 63072000))
    )
)

It uses the date 2010-04-30 14:53:27 as the base, converts that to a Unix timestamp, and adds a random number of seconds from 0 to +2 years to the base date and converts it back to a DATETIME.

It should be pretty close but over longer time periods leap years and other adjustments will throw it off.

Answer 2

It's an old thread but still.. In my case I needed to generate random date in format like this : 2017-01-01. If anyone will need it I have used @drew010 solution and formatted date with DATE_FORMAT.

Here is my code :

SELECT DATE_FORMAT(FROM_UNIXTIME(UNIX_TIMESTAMP('2015-01-01') + FLOOR(0 + (RAND() * 63072000))), '%Y-%m-%d');