SETUP-TIMEZONE(8)

📦 version 3.22.0, in alpine 3.24

💅 SETUP-TIMEZONE 💅

okay so bestie, welcome to setup-timezone(8) — section 8 of the System Manager's Manual, aka the girlies who run your box. this little icon is literally gonna tell your whole system what time it is. let's get into it ✨

🌸 NAME 🌸

setup-timezone — set the system timezone. that's it, that's the tweet 🎀

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

setup-timezone [-h] [-k | -i] [TIMEZONE]

look at her. so clean. so simple. -k and -i are giving "pick me, choose me" energy because you literally cannot run both at once 😭

🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

setup-timezone configures the system timezone, no cap. it installs tzdata, copies or symlinks the selected zoneinfo file, and creates the /etc/localtime symlink. the whole glow-up in one command 💅

so here's the tea. run it with no options and tzdata gets installed as a temporary package and the zoneinfo gets copied into /etc/zoneinfo/. temp queen. here for a good time not a long time 🫶

but with -i? tzdata stays installed permanently and /etc/localtime gets symlinked to /usr/share/zoneinfo instead of copied. commitment!! we love a long-term relationship 💖

TIMEZONE is a path relative to /usr/share/zoneinfo, like America/New_York or UTC. if you hand it over on the command line, it gets validated and configured — iconic, decisive, we stan. if you don't pass one... the script just exits without changes. no notes, no drama, no timezone set 🙈

and if you omit TIMEZONE entirely, plot twist: the script interactively lists timezone areas and prompts you to navigate the timezone tree 🌳 like a lil choose-your-own-adventure but make it chronometric.

🔥 OPTIONS 🔥

  • -h — display usage information and exit. the "wait what does this do again" button 🧚
  • -i — install the tzdata package permanently and symlink /etc/localtime to /usr/share/zoneinfo/TIMEZONE instead of copying. full send, permanent residency ✨
  • -k — keep existing zoneinfo files in /etc/zoneinfo/ when copying. without this option, /etc/zoneinfo/ is removed before the new file is copied. so like... -k is the "don't clear my cache" flag 😭 use it or lose it bestie
ngl, remember: -k and -i are mutually exclusive — the synopsis literally shows [-k | -i] with the pipe. it's one or the other, pick your fighter 💀

🧚 INTERACTIVE MODE 🧚

no TIMEZONE argument? okay diva, let's go on a journey 🌈 the script lists available top-level timezone areas (e.g. America, Europe) and prompts:

Which timezone are you in? (or '?' or 'none')

you can type in an area name to drill down into its sub-timezones, hit ? to redisplay the list, or none / abort to exit. respect the escape hatch 🫶

and when you select a directory, it shows its sub-timezones with the prompt:

What sub-timezone of 'AREA' are you in? (or '?')

this continues until a timezone file is selected. drill down, drill down, drill down — it's giving lore deep-dive and honestly? obsessed 💜

🎀 FILES 🎀

  • /usr/share/zoneinfo/ — IANA timezone database directory. the mothership 👑
  • /etc/localtime — symlink to the configured timezone. the main character 🌟
  • /etc/zoneinfo/ — local copy of the zoneinfo file when tzdata is not permanently installed. the backup bestie 💖

💀 EXIT STATUS 💀

  • 0 — success. we ate and left no crumbs 🍓
  • non-zero — an error occurred (invalid timezone, install failure). it's giving flop, but like, informative flop 😭

🌟 SEE ALSO 🌟

tzdata(8), setup-alpine(8) — go read your other faves, they're literally right there 💅

👑 AUTHORS 👑

Natanael Copa <ncopa@alpinelinux.org> and others. thank you for your service, king 🫡✨

and that's the whole page bestie!! 💖✨🎀🦋🌸

this iconic lil number comes to you from Alpine Linux, dated 2026-06-09 — go set your timezone, mwah 💋

📦 where this page comes from