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Arch Linux Time Synchronization

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Mattscreative edited this page Dec 5, 2025 · 2 revisions

⏰ Arch Linux Time Synchronization Guide

Complete beginner-friendly guide to time synchronization on Arch Linux, including NTP, systemd-timesyncd, and timezone configuration.

Table of Contents

  1. systemd-timesyncd
  2. NTP Configuration
  3. Time Zone
  4. Hardware Clock
  5. Troubleshooting

⏱ systemd-timesyncd

Enable timesyncd

Enable service:

# Enable timesyncd
sudo systemctl enable systemd-timesyncd
sudo systemctl start systemd-timesyncd

# Check status
timedatectl status

Configure timesyncd

Edit config:

# Edit config
sudo vim /etc/systemd/timesyncd.conf

Example:

[Time]
NTP=0.arch.pool.ntp.org 1.arch.pool.ntp.org
FallbackNTP=0.pool.ntp.org 1.pool.ntp.org

NTP Configuration

Install NTP

Install NTP:

# Install NTP
sudo pacman -S ntp

# Enable service
sudo systemctl enable ntpd
sudo systemctl start ntpd

Configure NTP

Edit config:

# Edit config
sudo vim /etc/ntp.conf

Add servers:

server 0.arch.pool.ntp.org
server 1.arch.pool.ntp.org
server 2.arch.pool.ntp.org

Time Zone

Set Time Zone

Configure timezone:

# List timezones
timedatectl list-timezones

# Set timezone
sudo timedatectl set-timezone America/New_York

# Check
timedatectl

Hardware Clock

Configure RTC

Set hardware clock:

# Set to UTC
sudo timedatectl set-local-rtc 0

# Set to local time
sudo timedatectl set-local-rtc 1

# Sync
sudo hwclock --systohc

Troubleshooting

Time Not Syncing

Check service:

# Check timesyncd
systemctl status systemd-timesyncd

# Check NTP
systemctl status ntpd

# Restart
sudo systemctl restart systemd-timesyncd

Wrong Time

Sync time:

# Force sync
sudo timedatectl set-ntp true

# Or
sudo ntpdate -s time.nist.gov

Summary

This guide covered time synchronization, NTP, timezone, and hardware clock configuration.

Next Steps

This guide is based on the ArchWiki. For the most up-to-date information, always refer to the official ArchWiki.

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