介绍：
本文档解释了如何从linux下设置计算机的时钟，如何设置您的时区和其它与linux如何保存时间相关的材料。
您的计算机有两个时钟，一个是始终运行的、由电池供电的( 硬件的、BIOS或CMOS )时钟，另一个是由运行在您的计算机上的操作系统维护的( 系统 )时钟。硬件时钟通常只在操作系统启动时用来设置系统时钟，然后直到重启或关闭系统，由系统时钟来记录时间。在Linux 系统中，您可以选择用UTC/GMT 时间或本地时间来记录硬件时钟。推荐的选项是用UTC 记录，因为夏令时可以自动记录。使用UTC 记录硬件时钟的唯一不足是，如果您使用双系统，其它操作系统，如DOS 要求硬件时钟用本地时间设置，那么在那个操作系统里时间将是错误的。
设置时区：
Linux 下的时区是通过建立从/etc/localtime[1] 到/usr/share/zoneinfo [2] 目录下与您所在时区相符的文件的符号链结实现的。例如，由于我在南澳大利亚，/etc/localtime就是到/usr/share/zoneinfo/Australia/South的符号链结。要建立这个链结，运行：
ln -sf ../usr/share/zoneinfo/your/zone /etc/localtime
替换your/zone 为形如Australia/NSW或Australia/Perth 的文件。看看/usr/share/zoneinfo目录都有什么时区。
[1] 这里假设/usr/share/zoneinfo 是到/etc/localtime 的链结的前提是Redhat Linux
[2] 在旧版本的系统里，您会发现使用/usr/lib/zoneinfo而不是/usr/share/zoneinfo。参考后面“一些应用程序中时间错误”。
设置UTC 或本地时间：
当Linux 启动时，一个启动脚本运行/sbin/hwclock 程序复制当前硬件时钟时间到系统时钟。hwclock 假定硬件时钟设置为本地时间，除非它使用了--utc 参数。在RedHat Linux下您不是编辑启动脚本，而是编辑/etc/sysconfig/clock 文件，相应的改变UTC 一行为UTC=true或UTC=false。
设置系统时钟：
在Linux 下设置系统时钟使用date命令。例如，设置当前时间和日期为July 31,11：16pm，运行date 07312316 ( 注意这里的时间是24小时制) ；如果您想设置年份为1998,
应该运行date 073123161998 ；要是也想设置秒，运行date 07312316.30或date 073123161998.30。要查看Linux 当前本地时间，使用date，不带参数。
设置硬件时钟：
要设置硬件时钟，我喜欢的方式是首先设置系统时钟，然后设置硬件时钟为当前系统时钟时间，使用命令/sbin/hwclock --systohc (或 /sbin/hwclock --systohc --utc ) ，如果您使用UTC 保存硬件时钟) 。要查看当前硬件时钟的设置，不带参数运行hwclock 。如果硬件时钟是UTC 保存，而您想看相应的本地时间，运行/sbin/hwclock --utc 。
一些应用程序中时间错误：
如果一些应用程序，如date显示了正确的时间，而另一些则错误，而您运行着RedHat Linux 5.0/5.1，您很可能遇到了一个由于将时区信息从/usr/lib/zoneinfo 移动到/usr/share/zoneinfo 引起的bug 。修复的方法是建立一个从/usr/lib/zoneinfo 到/usr/share/zoneinfo 的符号链结：
ln -s ../share/zoneinfo /usr/lib/zoneinfo 。
小结：
*/etc/sysconfig/clock 设置硬件时钟，无论是用UTC 保存还是用本地时间保存
*建立/etc/localtime到/usr/share/zoneinfo/...的符号链结来设置时区
*运行date MMDDhhmm 来设置当前系统日期/ 时间
*运行/sbin/hwclock --systohc [--utc]来设置硬件时钟
其它有趣的注解：
Linux kernel总是按照从UTC 时间1970年1 月1 日午夜开始的秒数来储存和计算时间，无论您的硬件时钟是否用UTC 保存。转换到本地时间的工作是运行时完成的。这样做的一个妙处是，如果某人从不同的时区使用您的计算机，他可以设置时区环境变量，所有的日期和时间可以按他的时区正确显示。
如果自UTC 1972年1 月1 日开始的秒数用保存为带正负号32位整数，如同在您的Linux/Intel 系统上一样，您的时钟将在2038年停止工作。Linux 没有Y2K 问题，但是确实存在2038年的问题。令人期望的是，那时我们都会使用64位系统来运行Linux 了。64位整数将使我们的时钟一直运行到大约2922.71亿年。
其它值得一看的程序：
* rdate ──从远程机器获得当前时间；可以用来设置系统时间
* xntpd ──类似rdata ，但是它是相当精确的，并且您需要有永久的网络连结xntpd 持续地运行，记录网络延时、时钟漂移等事件但是也有一个程序( ntpdate ) 包括在内，像rdate 一样设置当前时间。
相关信息：
* date(1)
* hwclock(8)
* /usr/doc/HOWTO/mini/Clock
英文原文：
http://www.linuxsa.org.au/tips/time.html
引用:
Linux Tips
Linux, Clocks, and Time
Introduction
This document explains how to set your computer's clock from Linux, how to set your timezone, and other stuff related to Linux and how it does its time-keeping.
Your computer has two timepieces; a battery-backed one that is always running (the ``hardware'', ``BIOS'', or ``CMOS'' clock), and another that is maintained by the operating system currently running on your computer (the ``system'' clock). The hardware clock is generally only used to set the system clock when your operating system boots, and then from that point until you reboot or turn off your system, the system clock is the one used to keep track of time.
On Linux systems, you have a choice of keeping the hardware clock in UTC/GMT time or local time. The preferred option is to keep it in UTC because then daylight savings can be automatically accounted for. The only disadvantage with keeping the hardware clock in UTC is that if you dual boot with an operating system (such as DOS) that expects the hardware clock to be set to local time, the time will always be wrong in that operating system.
Setting your timezone
The timezone under Linux is set by a symbolic link from /etc/localtime[1] to a file in the /usr/share/zoneinfo[2] directory that corresponds with what timezone you are in. For example, since I'm in South Australia, /etc/localtime is a symlink to /usr/share/zoneinfo/Australia/South. To set this link, type:
ln -sf ../usr/share/zoneinfo/your/zone /etc/localtime
Replace your/zone with something like Australia/NSW or Australia/Perth. Have a look in the directories under /usr/share/zoneinfo to see what timezones are available.
[1] This assumes that /usr/share/zoneinfo is linked to /etc/localtime as it is under Red Hat Linux.
[2] On older systems, you'll find that /usr/lib/zoneinfo is used instead of /usr/share/zoneinfo. See also the later section ``The time in some applications is wrong''.
Setting UTC or local time
When Linux boots, one of the initialisation scripts will run the /sbin/hwclock program to copy the current hardware clock time to the system clock. hwclock will assume the hardware clock is set to local time unless it is run with the --utc switch. Rather than editing the startup script, under Red Hat Linux you should edit the /etc/sysconfig/clock file and change the ``UTC'' line to either ``UTC=true'' or ``UTC=false'' as appropriate.
Setting the system clock
To set the system clock under Linux, use the date command. As an example, to set the current time and date to July 31, 11:16pm, type ``date 07312316'' (note that the time is given in 24 hour notation). If you wanted to change the year as well, you could type ``date 073123161998''. To set the seconds as well, type ``date 07312316.30'' or ``date 073123161998.30''. To see what Linux thinks the current local time is, run date with no arguments.
Setting the hardware clock
To set the hardware clock, my favourite way is to set the system clock first, and then set the hardware clock to the current system clock by typing ``/sbin/hwclock --systohc'' (or ``/sbin/hwclock --systohc --utc'' if you are keeping the hardware clock in UTC). To see what the hardware clock is currently set to, run hwclock with no arguments. If the hardware clock is in UTC and you want to see the local equivalent, type ``/sbin/hwclock --utc''
The time in some applications is wrong
If some applications (such as date) display the correct time, but others don't, and you are running Red Hat Linux 5.0 or 5.1, you most likely have run into a bug caused by a move of the timezone information from /usr/lib/zoneinfo to /usr/share/zoneinfo. The fix is to create a symbolic link from /usr/lib/zoneinfo to /usr/share/zoneinfo: ``ln -s ../share/zoneinfo /usr/lib/zoneinfo''.
Summary
* /etc/sysconfig/clock sets whether the hardware clock is stored as UTC or local time.
* Symlink /etc/localtime to /usr/share/zoneinfo/... to set your timezone.
* Run ``date MMDDhhmm'' to set the current system date/time.
* Type ``/sbin/hwclock --systohc [--utc]'' to set the hardware clock.
Other interesting notes
The Linux kernel always stores and calculates time as the number of seconds since midnight of the 1st of January 1970 UTC regardless of whether your hardware clock is stored as UTC or not. Conversions to your local time are done at run-time. One neat thing about this is that if someone is using your computer from a different timezone, they can set the TZ environment variable and all dates and times will appear correct for their timezone.
If the number of seconds since the 1st of January 1970 UTC is stored as an signed 32-bit integer (as it is on your Linux/Intel system), your clock will stop working sometime on the year 2038. Linux has no inherent Y2K problem, but it does have a year 2038 problem. Hopefully we'll all be running Linux on 64-bit systems by then. 64-bit integers will keep our clocks running quite well until aproximately the year 292271-million.
Other programs worth looking at
* rdate - get the current time from a remote machine; can be used to set the system time.
* xntpd - like rdate, but it's extremely accurate and you need a permanent 'net connection. xntpd runs continuously and accounts for things like network delay and clock drift, but there's also a program (ntpdate) included that just sets the current time like rdate does.
Further information
* date(1)
* hwclock(8)
* /usr/doc/HOWTO/mini/Clock