
Setting the timezone on Ubuntu 22.04 ensures accurate system time for tasks like log management, CronJobs, and application scheduling. The correct timezone is essential for time-sensitive operations.
This article explains how to set the timezone using the timedatectl
utility to match your region or application needs.
Prerequisites
Before you begin, you need to:
- Have access to an Ubuntu 22.04 instance.
Check the Active Timezone
Before changing the timezone on Ubuntu 22.04, verify the current active timezone to revert to the initial configuration if needed. Use the timedatectl
utility to view and manage timezones. Follow the steps below to check the active timezone.
Check the active timezone and time synchronization status.
console$ timedatectl
Output:
Local time: Thu 2025-01-08 14:35:22 UTC Universal time: Thu 2025-01-08 14:35:22 UTC RTC time: Thu 2025-01-08 14:35:22 Time zone: Etc/UTC (UTC, +0000) System clock synchronized: yes NTP service: active RTC in local TZ: no
Based on the above output,
Etc/UTC
UTC (Coordinated Universal Time) is the active timezone and the primary time standard on Ubuntu. If the active timezone does not match your needs, follow the sections below to find all available time zones and change the timezone.
List Timezones on Ubuntu 22.04
Follow the steps below to list all available timezones on Ubuntu 22.04.
Use the following command to display all available timezones:
console$ timedatectl list-timezones
Press Space to browse the list of available timezones in your output similar to the one below.
Africa/Abidjan Africa/Accra ................................... America/Adak America/Anchorage ......................... Antarctica/Troll Antarctica/Vostok Arctic/Longyearbyen ......................... Asia/Ashgabat Asia/Atyrau Asia/Baghdad ..................
Run the following command to filter the output using the
grep
command to search for a specific timezone or location. For example,Bogota
.console$ timedatectl list-timezones | grep -i "Bogota"
Output:
America/Bogota
Set the Timezone on Ubuntu 22.04
Follow these steps to set the timezone on your Ubuntu 22.04 workstation:
Use the
set-timezone
option to specify and change the desired timezone on your system.console$ sudo timedatectl set-timezone YOUR_TIMEZONE
For example, run the following command to set the timezone to
America/Bogota
.console$ sudo timedatectl set-timezone America/Bogota
View the active timezone information and verify that the new change is applied.
console$ timedatectl
Output:
Local time: Sun 2025-01-12 22:19:15 -05 Universal time: Mon 2025-01-13 03:19:15 UTC RTC time: Mon 2025-01-13 03:19:15 Time zone: America/Bogota (-05, -0500) System clock synchronized: yes NTP service: active RTC in local TZ: no
Based on the above output, the active timezone is
America/Bogota
.
Conclusion
In this article, you have set the timezone on Ubuntu 22.04 using the timedatectl
utility. Accurate timezone information ensures that your system applications and utilities use accurate time to perform specific tasks. You can synchronize your system clock with an NTP (Network Time Protocol) server to update the time depending on your needs. For more configuration options, run the man timedatectl
command to view the timedatectl
manual page.
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