The ‘timedatectl‘ command represents a modern utility designed for both RHEL-based and Debian-based distributions. It is an integral part of the ‘systemd‘ system and service manager, effectively replacing the older traditional date command used in ‘sysvinit‘ daemon-based Linux distributions.

With the timedatectl command, users can query and adjust the configuration of the system clock and its settings. This includes setting or altering the current date, time, and timezone, as well as enabling automatic synchronization of the system clock with a remote NTP server.

In this guide, we’ll walk you through several methods to manage time on your Linux system using the timedatectl command, including setting the date, time, timezone, and synchronizing the time with an NTP server directly from the terminal.

Maintaining the correct time on your Linux server or system offers numerous benefits, such as ensuring timely execution of system tasks, accurate logging of events, and more.

How to Find and Set Local Timezone in Linux

1. To check the current time and date on your system, simply execute the following command from the command line:

<code># timedatectl status</code>

As seen above, the RTC time refers to the hardware clock time.

2. Your Linux system's time management depends entirely on the set timezone. To view your current timezone, run either of these commands:

<code># timedatectl 
OR
# timedatectl | grep Time</code>

3. To list all available timezones, use the following command:

<code># timedatectl list-timezones</code>

4. To find the local timezone corresponding to your location, try running one of these commands:

<code># timedatectl list-timezones |  egrep  -o "Asia/B.*"
# timedatectl list-timezones |  egrep  -o "Europe/L.*"
# timedatectl list-timezones |  egrep  -o "America/N.*"</code>

5. To set your local timezone in Linux, utilize the set-timezone option like so:

<code># timedatectl set-timezone "Asia/Kolkata"</code>

It’s highly recommended to use and set the coordinated universal time (UTC) instead:

<code># timedatectl set-timezone UTC</code>

Ensure you input the correct timezone name; otherwise, errors may occur while attempting to change it. For instance, entering an incorrect timezone like “Asia/Kolkata” will result in an error.

How to Set Time and Date in Linux

6. You can set the date and time on your system using the timedatectl command as demonstrated below:

Set Time in Linux

To set the time alone, use the set-time switch followed by the time in HH:MM:SS format (Hour, Minute, Second).

<code># timedatectl set-time 15:58:30</code>

You might encounter an error similar to the one below when trying to set the date:

<code>Failed to set time: NTP unit is active</code>

7. This indicates that the NTP service is active. Disable it using the following command:

<code># systemctl disable --now chronyd</code>

Set Date and Time in Linux

8. To set both the date and time, employ the set-time switch alongside the date in YY:MM:DD format (Year, Month, Day) and the time in HH:MM:SS format (Hour, Minute, Second).

<code># timedatectl set-time '2015-11-20 16:14:50'</code>

How to Find and Set Hardware Clock in Linux

9. To configure your hardware clock to coordinated universal time (UTC), use the set-local-rtc boolean-value option as shown:

First, determine whether your hardware clock is set to the local timezone:

<code># timedatectl | grep local</code>

Set your hardware clock to the local timezone:

<code># timedatectl set-local-rtc 1</code>

Set your hardware clock to coordinated universal time (UTC):

<code># timedatectl set-local-rtc 0</code>

Synchronizing Linux System Clock with a Remote NTP Server

NTP, short for Network Time Protocol, is an internet protocol used to synchronize the system clock across computers. The timedatectl utility facilitates automatic synchronization of your Linux system clock with a remote group of servers via NTP.

Please note that NTP must be installed on your system to enable automatic time synchronization with NTP servers.

To initiate automatic time synchronization with a remote NTP server, enter the following command at the terminal:

<code># timedatectl set-ntp true</code>

To disable NTP time synchronization, enter the following command at the terminal:

<code># timedatectl set-ntp false</code>

Summary

These examples provide a straightforward way to manage various aspects of your Linux system's clock and timezone using the timedatectl command. For further details, refer to the timedatectl man page.

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