How to set timezone in linux – Ubuntu Hardy

Now with the proliferation of Cloud computing, we often come across the necessity to configure the linux server to run in a particular timezone other than where it is running.  I had to do this in some of our servers, so I thought, I would share this information with others.

The server’s current timezone is defined by the file /etc/timezone.  The timezone files for other zones are located in the folder /usr/share/zoneinfo.

First save your current timezone file.  Rename this file as a backup.  You can also delete the same.

mv /etc/timezone /etc/timezone.backup

Now lets take a look at the collection of timezone files.

cd /usr/share/zoneinfo

Take a look at the files.  Each file pertains to a particular timezone.  The filename’s are quite explanatory.  For countries with multiple timezone, like US, Canada etc,   you will see a folder named by the country.  Inside this folder you will see these files.  Choose the timezone file you want to use.  For eg.  lets say, I want to set the timezone to US – PST.  The timezone file for this is /usr/share/zoneinfo/US/Pacific

Just run,

cp /usr/share/zoneinfo/US/Pacific /etc/timezone

All set.  Run the date command to see the server’s timezone is now set to PST.

Have fun.