timedatectl

Overview

timedatectl views and sets system time, timezone, and NTP synchronization via systemd.

Syntax

timedatectl [options] [command]

Common Commands

Command	Description
status	Show clock/NTP state (default)
list-timezones	Available zones
set-timezone Zone	Set zone
set-time 'YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS'	Manual time
set-ntp true\|false	Enable systemd-timesyncd/NTP

Examples with Explanations

timedatectl
timedatectl status
timedatectl list-timezones | grep -i america
sudo timedatectl set-timezone America/New_York
sudo timedatectl set-ntp true
timedatectl show

Check sync

timedatectl | grep -i ntp
# or
systemctl status systemd-timesyncd
# chrony users: chronyc tracking

Notes

• Prefer NTP over manual set-time on networked hosts.
  
• RTC vs UTC: timedatectl set-local-rtc 0 recommended for Linux.
  
• Containers may inherit host time and restrict changes.

Related Commands

• date — print/format time
  
• hwclock — hardware clock
  
• chronyc / ntpstat — other NTP stacks