timedatectl

What it does

How to write it

timedatectl [OPTION]... [COMMAND]

Main parts

status

Show the settings (default).

show

Settings as key=value (for scripts).

set-time "YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS"

Set the clock (NTP must be off).

set-timezone ZONE

Set the time zone.

list-timezones

All zone names.

set-local-rtc 0|1

RTC in UTC (0) or local time (1).

set-ntp true|false

Turn NTP sync (chronyd) on or off.

timesync-status, show-timesync, ntp-servers, revert

For systemd-timesyncd (not used by default on RHEL).

Most used

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$ run as a normal user# run as root (or with sudo)

1. 1Show all settings

   $timedatectl
                  Local time: Sun 2026-10-25 11:42:10 +03
              Universal time: Sun 2026-10-25 08:42:10 UTC
                    RTC time: Sun 2026-10-25 08:42:10
                   Time zone: Asia/Riyadh (+03, +0300)
   System clock synchronized: yes
                 NTP service: active
             RTC in local TZ: no

   Everything at once.

2. 2Set the time zone

   #timedatectl set-timezone Asia/Riyadh

   Changes the /etc/localtime link.

3. 3Find a zone name

   $timedatectl list-timezones | grep -i amsterdam
   Europe/Amsterdam

   Exact names are needed.

4. 4Turn NTP on

   #timedatectl set-ntp true

   Starts and enables chronyd.

5. 5Set the time by hand

   #timedatectl set-ntp false
   #timedatectl set-time "2026-10-25 12:00:00"

   Only for labs without a time server.

6. 6RTC in UTC

   #timedatectl set-local-rtc 0

   Recommended for servers.

7. 7Value for a script

   $timedatectl show -p NTPSynchronized --value
   yes

   Monitoring check.

8. 8Check many servers

   $for h in server1 server2; do ssh $h timedatectl show -p Timezone --value; done

   Same zone everywhere?

9. 9Time zone link

   $ls -l /etc/localtime
   lrwxrwxrwx. 1 root root 33 Oct 25 11:40 /etc/localtime -> ../usr/share/zoneinfo/Asia/Riyadh

   What set-timezone changed.

10. 10Unsynced clock alert (security)

    $[ "$(timedatectl show -p NTPSynchronized --value)" = yes ] || echo "clock not synced"

    Wrong time breaks TLS, Kerberos and log analysis.

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Exit codes