How to Set the Timezone on Ubuntu 24.04

Setting the timezone on Ubuntu 24.04 allows you to ensure the correct system time for time-sensitive tasks such as log management, creating CronJobs, running applications, and user-specific tasks. A timezone determines the system's clock settings necessary to perform tasks at correct intervals.

This article explains how to set the timezone on Ubuntu 24.04. You will use the timedatectl utility to check and set the timezone to align with your region or application-specific needs.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, you need to:

• Have access to an Ubuntu 24.04 instance.

Check the Active Timezone

Check and verify the active timezone before changing the timezone on Ubuntu 24.04 to recover the initial configuration in case of any errors. timedatectl is a built-in utility that lets you view and manage timezones on Ubuntu. Follow the steps below to check the active timezone on your Ubuntu 24.04 workstation.

1. Check the active timezone and time synchronization status.

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   $ timedatectl

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   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 24.04

Follow the steps below to list all available timezones on Ubuntu 24.04.

1. Use the following command to display all available timezones:

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   $ timedatectl list-timezones

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   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
   ..................

2. Run the following command to filter the output using the grep command to search for a specific timezone or location. For example, Bogota.

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   $ timedatectl list-timezones | grep "Bogota"

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   Output:

   America/Bogota

Set the Timezone on Ubuntu 24.04

Follow the steps below to set the timezone on your Ubuntu 24.04 workstation.

1. Use the set-timezone option to specify a timezone to change on your system.

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   $ sudo timedatectl set-timezone YOUR_TIMEZONE

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   For example, run the following command to set the timezone to America/Bogota.

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   $ sudo timedatectl set-timezone America/Bogota

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2. View the active timezone information and verify that the new change is applied.

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   $ timedatectl

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   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

You have set the timezone on Ubuntu 24.04 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.