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How to set current time on Linux?

Fresh3 days ago
Mar 15, 2026561794 views
Confidence Score1%
1%

Problem

Why is the output of the following commands different? And can I change the current time on Linux?

Error Output

root@vmi2115:/var# hwclock
Sun 26 Jun 2011 01:21:38 PM CEST  -0.273230 seconds
root@vmi2495:/var# date
Sun Jun 26 15:21:39 CEST 2011
root@vmi2115:/var#

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1 Fix

Canonical Fix
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New Fix – Awaiting Verification

Fix for: How to set current time on Linux?

Low Risk

Usually you'll want to have the time set automatically, and in that case, you'll want to set up to automatically set the time for you. The specifics differ slightly from distribution to distribution, but if you're running Ubuntu, for instance, there's a guide on setting up NTP on Ubuntu. Otherwise, just Google , and you'll probably find it. If you want to set it manually, however, you can use . Examples of this could be:

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