Setting the Correct Date for Your Linux Server

Question: My dedicated server is showing a different timezone than my home computer. How can I set it to be on my timezone.

Answer: Generally speaking it does not matter if your remote server is on a different timezone. It will still function, but when scheduling maintenance, upgrades, and backups, it is crucial to make sure the time you schedule and announce is the actual time of the server. With the Linux “date” command, you can display and set the time of your server.

To display the current day, date, time, timezone, and year, simply type “date” from the command line. To set a new time, type “date -s” or “date –set” followed by the date, time, or both. For example, to set the time to 11:15:00, enter:

date +%T -s "11:15:00"

Changing the actual timezone is a little more involved. Read more about that here. In Redhat Enterprise Linux, Fedora, or CentOS, however, simply type:

redhat-config-date

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The "setup" command in Redhat, Fedora, and CentOS

In Linux, most server configuration files are located in /etc. Most of them are text files, and although it is fairly easy to edit them, Redhat-based distributions have a handy graphical ncurses program that allows the dedicated server system administrator to handle certain tasks.

The program is simply called setup and is available by default in Redhad Enterprise Linux, Fedora, and CentOS. It includes the following options:

Authentication – Password management and configuration
Firewall – Setup iptables and determine which ports to allow through the firewall
Keyboard – This one is not relevant on a remote server
System service – Decide which services are started when the system boots
Timezone – Set the correct timezone for the server (very important for websites with dynamic content)
X configuration – For the graphical X system, not normally relevant on a remote server.