Re: PDT timezone but UTC time

On Sun, Jun 28, 2026 at 07:25:59PM -0700, Mark Millard wrote:
> On 6/28/26 17:08, bob prohaska wrote:
> > On Sun, Jun 28, 2026 at 10:29:11AM -0700, Steve Rikli wrote:
> >> On Sun, Jun 28, 2026 at 08:51:30AM -0700, bob prohaska wrote:
> >>> Lately hosts reporting
> >>> # uname -apKU
> >>> FreeBSD ns2.zefox.net 14.4-RELEASE-p6 FreeBSD 14.4-RELEASE-p6 GENERIC arm64 aarch64 1404000 1404000
> >>>
> >>> have been reporting
> >>> # date
> >>> Sun Jun 28 15:23:29 PDT 2026
> >>>
> >>> where the reported timezone is correct but the reported time looks like UTC
> >>>
> >>> /etc/rc.conf contains
> >>> ntpd_enable="YES"
> >>>
> >>> but it looks like ntpd_flags is empty. Is setting
> >>> ntpd_flags="-g"
> >>> the needed fix?
> >>
> >> I typically set
> >>
> >> $ grep ntpd_ /etc/rc.conf
> >> ntpd_enable="YES"
> >> ntpd_sync_on_start="YES"
> >>
> >> ...which ends up being equivalent to setting "-g" in ntpd_flags.
> >>
> >> $ ps axww | grep ntpd
> >>   846  -  Ss       1:30.31 /usr/sbin/ntpd -p /var/db/ntp/ntpd.pid -c /etc/ntp.conf -f /var/db/ntp/ntpd.drift -g
> >>
> >> I simply figured since someone went to the effort to add an rc variable,
> >> I'd make use of it.  :-)
> >>
> >> Plus this leaves ntpd_flags for other possibly more complex setups,
> >> whereas allowing large adjustments during startup seems like something
> >> more commonly used.
> >>
> >> However, I'm not sure how this is involved with your comments about UTC.
> >> Are you saying the actual system time is off? E.g. it wasn't really
> >> 3:23pm PDT when you typed the 'date' command above?
> >>
> > The numerical value of the time was correct if interpreted as UTC,
> > but fast by seven if interpreted at PDT. 
> > 
> >> Maybe compare 'date' and 'date -u' output.
> >>
> > Running ntpd -g as root seems to have cleared up the problem.
> > Could it simply be a bug in which the "date" command reports
> > the wrong timezone? 
> > 
> > This sort of behavior has been recurrent after system updates,
> > using freebsd-update. It's a binary only installation.
> 
> You have not indicated how you configure things such that you expect PDT
> to be accurately displayed, at least once ntpd based time is in place.
>
 
Until very recently I just ran tzsetup, selecting PDT.


> For example: do you have/use a /etc/wall_cmos_clock ? What does
> /etc/localtime indicate? Do you use tzsetup --and, if yes, how? Are you
> using adjkerntz explicitly under some conditions --and, if yes, how?
> What are the sysctl machdep.adjkerntz values shown under various
> conditions? Are crashes involved that might have prevented adjkerntz
> running at shutdown?
>
 
None of the above. Defaults were sufficient for the system time to
make sense. Reboots were all graceful. 

The first hint of trouble was the system reporting time that
matched UTC but as labeled as PDT. Initially, running tzsetup
seemed to fix it.  

Thanks for writing!

bob prohaska