Are you an Ubuntu user looking to change the timezone on your Ubuntu 23.10 system? Whether you’re traveling to a different time zone or simply need to adjust the time settings on your computer, this guide will walk you through the process. By using the timedatectl command, you can easily change the timezone on your Ubuntu 23.10 system. In this article, we will provide you with step-by-step instructions to help you change the timezone effortlessly.

Checking Your Current Timezone

Before we dive into changing the timezone, let’s start by checking your current timezone settings. To do this, we will utilize the timedatectl command. Open the terminal on your Ubuntu 23.10 system and enter the following command:

timedatectl

The output will provide you with detailed information about your system’s date, time, and timezone. You will see something similar to the following:

Local time: Fri 2023-04-14 18:55:03 UTC
Universal time: Fri 2023-04-14 18:55:03 UTC
RTC time: Fri 2023-04-14 18:55:03
Time zone: Etc/UTC (UTC, +0000)
System clock synchronized: yes
NTP service: active
RTC in local TZ: no

The timezone configuration on Ubuntu is stored in the /etc/localtime file, which is a symbolic link to a timezone file under /usr/share/zoneinfo. To get a basic view of the timezone, you can use the ls command on the symbolic link. Enter the following command in your terminal:

ls -l /etc/localtime

The output will display the symbolic link to the timezone file. It should look similar to this:

lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 27 Mar 29 09:19 /etc/localtime -> /usr/share/zoneinfo/Etc/UTC

Additionally, the system’s timezone is also written to the /etc/timezone file. You can view the contents of this file using the cat command. Execute the following command in your terminal:

cat /etc/timezone

The output will display the timezone in use on your Ubuntu system:

Etc/UTC

Listing Available Timezones

Ubuntu provides a wide range of available timezones to choose from. To view the list of available timezones, you can use the timedatectl command with the list-timezones option. Enter the following command in your terminal:

timedatectl list-timezones

This command will output a long list of available timezones. Here is a sample of the timezones you might see:

Africa/Abidjan
Africa/Accra
Africa/Addis_Ababa
Africa/Algiers
Africa/Asmara
Africa/Asmera
Africa/Bamako
Africa/Bangui
Africa/Banjul
Africa/Bissau
Africa/Blantyre
...

Take note of the timezone you prefer from the list. We will use this timezone in the next step to change the timezone on your Ubuntu 23.10 system.

Changing Your Preferred Timezone

Now that you have the list of available timezones, it’s time to set your preferred timezone. To change the timezone, we will use the timedatectl command again. Replace your_time_zone with the timezone you prefer. For example, if you want to change the timezone to “America/New_York,” enter the following command:

timedatectl set-timezone America/New_York

Confirm that your changes were applied successfully by running the timedatectl command once more:

timedatectl

The output should now reflect your updated timezone:

Local time: Mon 2023-10-16 16:53:28 EDT
Universal time: Mon 2023-10-16 20:53:28 UTC
RTC time: Mon 2023-10-16 20:53:28
Time zone: America/New_York (EDT, -0400)
System clock synchronized: yes
NTP service: active
RTC in local TZ: no

Congratulations! You have successfully changed the timezone on your Ubuntu 23.10 system.

Conclusion

Changing the timezone on your Ubuntu 23.10 system is a straightforward process using the timedatectl command. By following the steps outlined in this guide, you can easily adjust the timezone on your Ubuntu system to suit your needs. Remember to double-check the changes by using the timedatectl command to ensure that the new timezone is applied correctly.

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Christian Wells