How to Change Timezone on Ubuntu 22.04 (Step-by-Step)

Change timezone on Ubuntu 22.04 with timedatectl, then verify the local clock, UTC clock, and time synchronization. The change usually takes less than five minutes and does not require a reboot.

Prerequisites

• Ubuntu Server 22.04 LTS (Jammy Jellyfish) on the VPS.
• An SSH connection as root, or a regular user with working sudo privileges.
• The IANA timezone name you want, such as America/New_York, Europe/London, or Asia/Kolkata.
• No special RAM, disk, or domain requirement; a VPSLake Linux VPS gives you the Ubuntu server and root access needed for this change.

Step 1: Check the current timezone

Read the existing clock and synchronization state first so you can compare the result after the change.

timedatectl status
date '+%F %T %Z %z'

Typical output resembles this, although the date and offset will be different on your server:

               Local time: Tue 2026-10-06 18:20:14 UTC
           Universal time: Tue 2026-10-06 18:20:14 UTC
                 Time zone: Etc/UTC (UTC, +0000)
System clock synchronized: yes
              NTP service: active
2026-10-06 18:20:14 UTC +0000

timedatectl reports the timezone used for local display, while date shows the same setting in a compact form. A server can display local time in your chosen zone while still keeping the underlying system clock synchronized with UTC.

Ubuntu’s timedatectl and timesyncd documentation covers the related synchronization service when you need to inspect NTP behavior.

Step 2: Find the exact IANA timezone name

Ubuntu accepts database names, not informal labels such as “Eastern Time” or “India time,” so select an entry from the system’s installed timezone database.

timedatectl list-timezones | less

Use Page Up, Page Down, and q to leave the list. To narrow it to likely choices, search by region or city:

timedatectl list-timezones | grep -E '^(America|Asia|Australia|Europe)/'

The list contains names such as these:

America/Chicago
America/Los_Angeles
America/New_York
Asia/Kolkata
Asia/Singapore
Europe/London

Choose a city-based zone when possible because it includes daylight-saving rules where they apply. Use UTC when every service, log, and scheduled task should use Coordinated Universal Time.

Step 3: Set the timezone

Run timedatectl set-timezone with the exact name from Step 2; systemd updates Ubuntu’s persistent local-time configuration and the running system setting together.

sudo timedatectl set-timezone YOUR_REGION/YOUR_CITY

Replace YOUR_REGION/YOUR_CITY with a real value, for example America/New_York or Asia/Kolkata. The command normally returns no text when it succeeds, so immediately read the setting back:

timedatectl show --property=Timezone --value
date '+%F %T %Z %z'

For an India-based server, successful output could look like this:

Asia/Kolkata
2026-10-07 00:05:14 IST +0530

The displayed hour changes to the selected zone, but this command does not manually set the clock or disable NTP. That separation is important: timezone selection controls presentation, while time synchronization keeps the actual system clock accurate.

Step 4: Check the persistent timezone files

Confirm the saved configuration so the choice will survive a service restart and reboot.

readlink -f /etc/localtime
cat /etc/timezone

Both lines should identify the selected zone:

/usr/share/zoneinfo/Asia/Kolkata
Asia/Kolkata

On Ubuntu, /etc/localtime points to the zoneinfo file used by local-time libraries, and /etc/timezone records the zone name. Do not replace the symlink manually when timedatectl can make the change safely.

Verify the new timezone and NTP state

Run one final check that shows the selected zone, the local offset, and whether network time synchronization remains enabled.

timedatectl status
timedatectl show --property=Timezone --property=NTP --property=NTPSynchronized
date -u '+UTC: %F %T %Z'
date '+Local: %F %T %Z %z'

The important lines should resemble this:

                 Time zone: Asia/Kolkata (IST, +0530)
System clock synchronized: yes
              NTP service: active
Timezone=Asia/Kolkata
NTP=yes
NTPSynchronized=yes
UTC: 2026-10-06 18:35:14 UTC
Local: 2026-10-07 00:05:14 IST +0530

The UTC and local lines represent the same instant with different offsets. If they do, Ubuntu 22.04 is using the new timezone correctly and the clock is still synchronized.

Troubleshooting

Failed to set time zone: Invalid or unknown time zone

The name is not an exact entry in Ubuntu’s timezone database. Run timedatectl list-timezones, copy a complete value such as America/Los_Angeles, and run the set-timezone command again. Do not use spaces, abbreviations, or a Windows timezone label.

Access denied or Authentication is required

Changing the system timezone requires administrator privileges. Prefix the command with sudo, confirm that sudo -v succeeds, or reconnect as root; do not loosen permissions on /etc/localtime.

The timezone changed, but the clock is still wrong

Changing the zone changes the displayed offset; it does not repair a clock that is not synchronized. Inspect the status output and, when NTP service is inactive, ask systemd to enable its configured time-sync service:

sudo timedatectl set-ntp true
timedatectl status

If the VPS uses chrony, check it with systemctl status chrony --no-pager instead of trying to run two time-sync services at once. A short delay before System clock synchronized: yes is normal after networking becomes available.

Cron jobs or logs show UTC after the change

Some applications deliberately log in UTC, and individual services can set their own timezone. Check the application’s configuration and the service’s environment before changing system-wide settings again; use date and timedatectl to prove what Ubuntu itself is using.

Hardening and operational notes

• Keep servers that coordinate across regions on UTC unless you have a clear operational reason to use local time.
• Review cron schedules after changing the zone, especially around daylight-saving transitions; a local-time job can run at a different UTC hour.
• Keep NTP enabled and avoid manually changing the clock with date on a production VPS.
• Record the selected IANA name in deployment documentation so a rebuild uses the same setting.

FAQ

What is the correct timezone for India on Ubuntu 22.04?

Use Asia/Kolkata. It is the current IANA name and uses India Standard Time at a +0530 offset; Asia/Calcutta is an older alias and should not be your example for new configurations.

Does changing the timezone require a reboot?

No. timedatectl set-timezone changes the system setting immediately and updates the persistent configuration. Open a new shell or restart an application only if that application cached the old timezone when it started.

Will changing the server timezone change NTP synchronization?

No. NTP synchronizes the system clock to an accurate time source, while the timezone determines how that instant is displayed. The NTP and NTPSynchronized properties should remain enabled after the change.

Should a web server use UTC or local time?

UTC is usually the least ambiguous choice for distributed applications, logs, and scheduled automation. Use a local zone only when business schedules require it, and make sure the application and its database use the same convention.