How do I get GMT time in Unix?

Question

If my Unix machine is set to IST timezone, how can I get the current GMT time?

use the unix command in a one-liner that sets your timezone only for that command `TZ=gmt date` — WattsInABox, Jun 15 '15 at 14:09

score 81 · Answer 1 · answered Nov 19 '12 at 07:37

81

You can use the -u option of date command:

date -u

-u Display (or set) the date in Greenwich Mean Time (GMT-universal time), bypassing the normal conversion to (or from) local time.

answered Nov 19 '12 at 07:37

codaddict

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Best way to print time in UTC with exporting TZ variable, date -u – minhas23 Sep 14 '16 at 06:00

Gilles Quénot · Answer 2 · 2020-06-18T13:25:35.647

40

Like this with date shell command :

date -u

edited Jun 18 '20 at 13:25

answered Nov 19 '12 at 07:37

Gilles Quénot

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score 6 · Answer 3 · answered Nov 19 '12 at 07:53

6

If you're doing this from a shell script, you can use date -u, which gives you UTC.

From C, you would use time() in conjunction with gmtime() to give yourself a struct tm with the required data (gmtime() gives UTC, unlike localtime()).

answered Nov 19 '12 at 07:53

paxdiablo

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score 6 · Answer 4 · answered Nov 19 '12 at 07:58

In command line, you can set a timezone to the one you would like to see, and check the time with date command, before returning to the original one.

#see current timezone
(date +%Z)

#change to a desired ie. London
export TZ=England/London

#or LA would be
export TZ=America/Los_Angeles

#check the time
date

Also of course, as suggested, to see just universal time, you can use the one suggested before

How do I get GMT time in Unix?

4 Answers4

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