Time and synchronization

Accurate time on a server matters more than it seems. Log entries line up by it, the scheduler runs by it, TLS certificates are checked against it. If the clock drifts, logs from two machines cannot be correlated, and some secure connections simply will not establish.

Check the current state:

$ timedatectl
               Local time: Mon 2026-06-22 14:03:11 UTC
           Universal time: Mon 2026-06-22 14:03:11 UTC
                 Time zone: Etc/UTC (UTC, +0000)
System clock synchronized: yes
              NTP service: active

The line System clock synchronized: yes says the time is pulled in automatically, and NTP service: active says the synchronization service is running.

The time zone

$ timedatectl lis