How to Set a Custom Time Zone on a VPS | Hostvento Knowledge Base

This guide needs root access. Root is the main admin login of your VPS.

What is a time zone?

The world is split into time zones. Each place has its own clock time. A VPS, or virtual private server, is your own slice of a bigger machine. It has its own clock setting. If the time zone is wrong, logs, emails and scheduled tasks show the wrong hour.

Check the current setting

Log in to your VPS by SSH as root. SSH is a way to type commands on a server from your computer.
Run this command.
```
timedatectl
```
It shows the date, time and time zone.

If this command is not found on an older system, use date instead.

Set a new time zone

List zones that you can choose.
```
timedatectl list-timezones
```
This prints all names, like Asia/Kolkata or America/New_York. Press q to leave the list.
Set your zone.
```
timedatectl set-timezone Asia/Kolkata
```
This changes the time zone. Replace the name with yours.
Check again.
```
date
```
This should show the new time.

Older systems without timedatectl

Link the zone file.
```
ln -sf /usr/share/zoneinfo/Asia/Kolkata /etc/localtime
```
This points the system clock to your zone.
Run date to check.

If it says permission denied or does nothing

Some VPS types are containers. A container shares its core with others, so the host machine may block changes to the clock. The host admin has to allow it. On OpenVZ, for example, the host needs the sys_time capability turned on for your container. If you cannot change the zone, open a ticket at https://secure.hostvento.com/submitticket.php and ask Hostvento support.

Tip: Changing the time zone does not change the real moment in time. Only how it is shown changes. If the clock itself is wrong, ask support about time syncing.

After the change

Restart services that print times, such as web server and database.
Check scheduled tasks.

Quick recap

Check the time zone with timedatectl.
Change it with timedatectl set-timezone Zone/City.
Container VPS may need the host to allow it.
Restart services and check scheduled tasks.