---
title: Setting the Server Time
layout: article
category: install
---

Accurate time keeping on your server is vital for LibreTime performance. You can confirm that the date and time of your server are set correctly with the `date` command.
The server should respond with the date, time, time zone and year in a format similar to the following example:

    Tue Jul  2 15:08:57 BST 2013

If the time on your server is wrong, it is strongly recommended that you take LibreTime off-air until the problem is fixed.

### Configuring NTP

Although it is possible to set the date and time of the server manually, this is not recommended because the server clock can drift over time, compromising the accuracy of your broadcast schedule. If your LibreTime server is permanently connected to the Internet, you can synchronize your server to a time server with the **ntp** program. If **ntp** is not yet installed, you can enter the following command on Debian or Ubuntu:

    sudo apt-get install ntp

Optionally, open the **ntp** configuration file in the **nano** editor to add further time server names:

    sudo nano /etc/ntp.conf

On Ubuntu GNU/Linux, the default time server is _ntp.ubuntu.com_, but there are many other time servers available on the public Internet, including the group of servers listed at <http://www.pool.ntp.org/> for each country. Using a variety of NTP servers located closely to your LibreTime server should produce the most accurate results. For example, for a server in the United Kingdom you could use the following list:

    # You do need to talk to an NTP server or two (or three).
    server ntp.ubuntu.com
    server 0.uk.pool.ntp.org
    server 1.uk.pool.ntp.org
    server 2.uk.pool.ntp.org
    server 3.uk.pool.ntp.org

Enter the server names you require, press **Ctrl+O** to write out the _/etc/ntp.conf_ file, then **Ctrl+X** to exit **nano**. Restart the **ntp** service with:

    sudo invoke-rc.d ntp restart

The server should respond:

    * Stopping NTP server ntpd                                 [ OK ]
    * Starting NTP server ntpd                                 [ OK ]

Then use the **ntpq -p** command to confirm that **ntp** is working. This command should produce output similar to the following:

    ntpq -p
      remote      refid     st t  when poll reach  delay offset jitter
    ==================================================================
    europium. 193.79.237.14  2 u   28   64    3  39.571  12.600  3.590
    norb.v4.c 46.227.200.72  3 u   28   64    3  47.856  -6.908 10.028
    82.113.15 193.62.22.82   2 u   29   64    3  11.458  -0.513  2.629
    ntppub.le 158.43.192.66  2 u   91   64    2 122.781  44.864  0.001
    dns0.rmpl 195.66.241.3   2 u   27   64    3  22.171   1.464  4.242

### Adjusting the server time zone

The data centre which hosts your LibreTime server could be located anywhere in the world. Some servers are set to _Coordinated Universal Time_ or UTC (similar to _Greenwich Mean Time_ or GMT), regardless of their location. LibreTime uses UTC time in its database for scheduling purposes, independent of the server time zone.

If the server time zone is not appropriate for integration with your station's other systems, on a Debian or Ubuntu server you can reconfigure the **tzdata** (time zone data) package with the command:

    sudo dpkg-reconfigure tzdata

This command opens a menu in which you can select the continent that you require, by pressing the Enter key.

![](/img/Screenshot15-Configuring_tzdata.png)

The next step is to select your nearest city, again by pressing the Enter key. The appropriate time zone is selected according to the information that you have entered.

![](/img/Screenshot16-Configure_city.png)

The console output from the **dpkg-reconfigure tzdata** command will confirm the new setting:

    Current default time zone: 'Europe/London'
    Local time is now:      Tue Jul  2 15:18:01 BST 2013.
    Universal Time is now:  Tue Jul  2 14:18:01 UTC 2013.
