Re: PDT timezone but UTC time

On 6/29/26 07:24, bob prohaska wrote:
> 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
> 
> 
> 

I suggest that you look at the output of sysctl machdep.adjkerntz :

) when things are normal
) also when you notice the oddity

and report the values publicly in/for each case.

-- 
===
Mark Millard
marklmi at yahoo.com