How to set the time?

[jhu]

I'm having issues setting the correct time on Debian 5.0. I have the hardware clock set to local time, but Debian likes to add several hours to it. How do I set Debian to use the hardware time and the OS time? It's really pissing me off...

 

[Colt45]

/etc/timezone is probably wrong (should be like.. America/NewYork or so)

"date" sets the clock

hwclock sets the hw clock, you can sync hard to soft, and vice versa

just install ntp and have it sync with ntp servers, though...

 

[pcgeek11]

" just install ntp and have it sync with ntp servers, though... "

This is the best solution. The date command sets the date and the time.

On a terminal type " date --help " it will tell you how to format your command for what you want.

pcgeek11

 

[skyking]

I always set the hardware clock to UTC, and let the OS take care of your time zone, daylight savings time etc.
That is probably what you have going on, the OS is set to a time zone and is adjusting to local time.

 

[jhu]

I always set the hardware clock to UTC, and let the OS take care of your time zone, daylight savings time etc.
That is probably what you have going on, the OS is set to a time zone and is adjusting to local time.

How do I go about doing that? I've now set the hardware clock to UTC, but setting the time in the OS using 'date' doesn't last upon reboot. How do I make the time stick? I set the timezone in /etc/timezone and that does absolutely nothing.

 

[jhu]

okay, got it working. Setting time shouldn't be this complicated...

 

[skyking]

okay, got it working. Setting time shouldn't be this complicated...

Linux still needs to keep it's PITA mysteriousness about it, and the "point and laugh" part too.
<Noob sets his BIOS to local, hilarity ensues!>