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To set the time zone on Ubuntu, run sudo timedatectl set-timezone Europe/London (find the exact name with timedatectl list-timezones). The change applies straight away, without a reboot. Run timedatectl to check: it shows the new Time zone and System clock synchronized: yes when NTP time sync works. The same commands work on Debian, AlmaLinux and Rocky Linux.

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Before you start

  • Connect with SSH as a sudo user. Root can leave out sudo.
  • Many servers run in UTC on purpose: logs from different servers line up and there are no daylight-saving jumps. Change the zone if your cron jobs, apps or logs should follow local time.

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How to check the current time zone

Example output:

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How to set the time zone

1

Find your time zone name

Names use the Region/City format.
2

Set it

3

Check it

To go back to UTC: sudo timedatectl set-timezone UTC.
Programs that are already running may keep the old zone until they restart, for example cron, PHP-FPM, MySQL/MariaDB and Java apps. Restart them with sudo systemctl restart <service> or reboot in a quiet period. PHP and MySQL also have their own time zone settings (date.timezone in php.ini, default-time-zone in MySQL).

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How to turn on automatic time sync (NTP)

NTP (Network Time Protocol) keeps the clock correct by comparing it with time servers on the internet. A wrong clock breaks SSL certificates, two-factor codes and log timelines.
Ubuntu 24.04 and earlier use systemd-timesyncd by default. (Ubuntu 25.10 and later use chrony.)
If NTP service shows n/a, no time sync service is installed. Install one:
To use other time servers, create /etc/systemd/timesyncd.conf.d/ntp.conf:
Then restart it: sudo systemctl restart systemd-timesyncd.
Run only one time sync service. If you install chrony on Ubuntu or Debian, it replaces systemd-timesyncd.

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How to check it worked

You should see your chosen Time zone, System clock synchronized: yes and NTP service: active. On AlmaLinux/Rocky, chronyc tracking shows Leap status : Normal and a small System time offset (for example a few microseconds). Right after you enable NTP, synchronized can show no for a minute while the first time servers answer.

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Frequently asked questions

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How do I change the time zone without timedatectl?

Point /etc/localtime at the zone file: sudo ln -sf /usr/share/zoneinfo/Europe/London /etc/localtime. On Ubuntu and Debian you can also run sudo dpkg-reconfigure tzdata and pick from a menu.

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Why is my server clock wrong after a reboot?

NTP is off or blocked. Check timedatectl, enable NTP as above, and make sure outgoing UDP port 123 isn’t blocked by your own firewall.

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Can I set the time by hand?

Only with NTP off: sudo timedatectl set-ntp false then sudo timedatectl set-time "2026-11-04 10:45:00". Turn NTP back on afterwards; a manual clock drifts.

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Does the time zone affect cron jobs?

Yes. cron runs jobs in the server’s local time. See schedule tasks with cron.

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Checked against the official Ubuntu Server documentation on timedatectl and timesyncd, the timedatectl manual and the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 time synchronization guide on 4 November 2026. Our test container doesn’t run systemd, so these commands were not run there. Commands can differ on other distributions or releases.

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Last Updated: November 2026