Knowledge Base

Incorrect time breaks TLS, logs, package repositories, authentication, and scheduled work. Inspect the clock and synchronisation state:

timedatectl
chronyc tracking
chronyc sources -v

Set the display timezone without changing the underlying UTC clock:

timedatectl list-timezones
timedatectl set-timezone Europe/London

Ensure either Chrony or the distribution’s chosen time service is enabled, not several competing daemons. Verify outbound DNS and UDP port 123 if no sources are reachable. Large clock corrections can affect databases and clustered applications, so stop sensitive workloads before stepping time when their documentation requires it.