Setting the Timezone for PHP in the php.ini file

Question

I'm trying to change the default PHP timezone to Asia/Calcutta by accessing the /etc/php5/cli/php.ini file and changing

[Date]
; Defines the default timezone used by the date functions
; http://php.net/date.timezone
;date.timezone =

to

[Date]
; Defines the default timezone used by the date functions
; http://php.net/date.timezone
date.timezone = "Asia/Calcutta"

However, when I try to view current timezone under phpinfo(), the timezone follows the Europe/Berlin timezone.

I have tried stopping and restarting the Apache server, but that didn't seem to have changed the settings.

Is there something I'm missing in the process?

PS: I'm using PHP 5.6.8 currently under XAMPP.

Have you tried it without the quote marks? `date.timezone = Asia/Calcutta` ... and make sure it's not overridden anywhere . — CD001, Aug 26 '15 at 10:52
@CD001 Yes, I have tried without the quote marks as well. That didn't work either. — Manas Chaturvedi, Aug 26 '15 at 10:55
You are trying to change the timezone for your web server processes, but you are editing the CLI php.ini file (`/etc/php5/cli/php.ini`) which will change it only when running PHP from the terminal. — Etienne, Apr 05 '19 at 12:19
It's recommended to restart your web server to reload PHP.ini settings. — Izzy Helianthus, Nov 08 '19 at 02:45

score 52 · Accepted Answer · answered Aug 26 '15 at 12:43

52

I tried all the other possible solutions posted, but none of them helped. This is what helped me save my timezone settings:

1) Go to your phpinfo() page and search for Loaded Configuration File and open the php.ini file mentioned under that section.

2) Change the default timezone settings by adding your new timezone by modifying this line: date.timezone=Asia/Kolkata.

3) Save the php.ini file and stop the Apache server.

4) Restart the Apache server. The timezone settings should now be modified.

answered Aug 26 '15 at 12:43

Manas Chaturvedi

5,210
18
52
104

2

Some examples show the value in quotes like "Asia/Kolkata" and others do not like the above. Are both acceptable? – Anthony Petrillo Sep 25 '20 at 15:35
like what @AnthonyPetrillo asked, are both acceptable ? I can't get mine to work – Shaho Oct 22 '21 at 18:24
Like @namal has answered above, you need to set the strings as defined in [timezones list](https://www.php.net/manual/en/timezones.php), then see the results reflected by`php -r 'phpinfo();'` – vishwarajanand Jan 31 '22 at 09:59

score 15 · Answer 2 · answered Aug 26 '15 at 10:51

15

You can change it in the code without touching the ini file, at the beginning of your code add:

date_default_timezone_set('Asia/Calcutta')

answered Aug 26 '15 at 10:51

Daniel Krom

9,751
3
43
44

Would that change the global time settings for my PHP installation? – Manas Chaturvedi Aug 26 '15 at 10:54
it'll change this for the global current run, if you add this line and then do `new DateTime('now')` at any place of your code, it will generate it with the timezone you set in the `date_default_timezone_set` @ManasChaturvedi – Daniel Krom Aug 26 '15 at 11:01
1

ive tried so many diff ways and this is the only way thats worked – oldboy Oct 02 '18 at 05:11
I tried many different ways as well on XAMPP for windows to no avail. This was the only way that worked for me. – Alex Lowe Dec 15 '20 at 07:46
Auto-prepend a script with date_default_timezone_set to make it global. – KHAYRI R.R. WOULFE Oct 18 '22 at 04:12

score 10 · Answer 3 · edited Jul 09 '23 at 15:17

10

You are changing the wrong file. The file /etc/php5/cli/php.ini is used by cli - command line interface. Don't forget to restart your web-server after you update the right one: sudo service apache2 restart or sudo service php5-fpm restart

File locations for different OS:

OS                               ->  Location

windows(With Xampp Installation) -> /xampp/php/php.in 

Mac OSX                          -> /private/etc/php.ini

Linux                            -> /etc/php.ini

                                 -> /usr/bin/php5/bin/php.ini

                                 -> /etc/php/php.ini

                                 -> /etc/php5/apache2/php.ini

edited Jul 09 '23 at 15:17

Benjamin Loison

3,782
4
16
33

answered Aug 26 '15 at 10:53

miller

904
8
16

3

*The file /etc/php5/cli/php.ini is used by cli* ... well spotted :) – CD001 Aug 26 '15 at 10:59
I have Ubuntu installed, and I don't seem to have the following files: `/etc/php.ini` and `/etc/php5/apache2/php.ini`. Infact, I don't seem to have a `apache2` folder inside the `php5` folder at all. I do have a `cgi` folder though, and can access the `/etc/php5/cgi/php.ini`. – Manas Chaturvedi Aug 26 '15 at 11:09
you can view used php.ini files by running scipt with `phpinfo();` function from your browser. – miller Aug 26 '15 at 12:44
any luck with setting timezone? – miller Aug 26 '15 at 21:18

score 2 · Answer 4 · answered Feb 05 '19 at 00:17

I had the same problem and discovered that there are two date.timezone statements in php.ini in my version of XAMPP out of the box. The first statement one is commented out, but the second one is set to Europe/Berlin. So you if you edit your php.ini and search for timezone and logically uncomment the first statement with your time zone, the second statement overrides that back to Europe/Berlin.

score 2 · Answer 5 · answered Aug 24 '21 at 19:35

phpinfo() was returning Loaded Configuration File => /etc/php/5.6/cli/php.ini.
My date.timezone changes were not taking effect after updating the above and restarting php-fpm (sudo systemctl reload php5.6-fpm.service).
phpinfo() also has an Additional .ini files parsed section, which contained /etc/php/5.6/cli/conf.d/timezone.ini.
After updating the timezone.ini file (date.timezone = "America/New_York") and restarting php-fpm (as above), phpinfo() correctly returned date.timezone => America/New_York => America/New_York.

score 1 · Answer 6 · answered Feb 21 '21 at 15:33

If you are using Laravel, you should change the Laravel timezone configuration.

My case Laravel 6. Edit /config/app.php file and change this line

'timezone' => 'UTC',

to

'timezone' => env('APP_TIMEZONE', 'UTC'),

then edit .env file. add your timezone (timezone list)

APP_TIMEZONE='America/New_York'

clear configurations

php artisan config:clear

score 1 · Answer 7 · edited Dec 30 '22 at 09:09

1

For me, running systemctl restart php-fpm after editing the /etc/php-ini file solved the problem.

edited Dec 30 '22 at 09:09

apaderno

28,547
16
75
90

answered Dec 29 '22 at 13:49

Lions

11
1

score 0 · Answer 8 · answered Aug 26 '15 at 10:53

If you 're serious about web developping get a VM going(Virtual Box + Vagrant).
With XAMPP be careful. Sometimes there's more than 1 php.ini file and you might be editing the wrong one. To edit the real one, access it from the XAMPP control panel.
You can use the a function in your code: date_default_timezone_set();

score 0 · Answer 9 · edited Sep 23 '19 at 13:15

0

Check configuration in your system.

In my case, it was "Ubuntu"

sudo cat /etc/timezone Asia/Kolkata

edited Sep 23 '19 at 13:15

sandip

533
9
29

answered Aug 18 '18 at 07:40

Ganesh Patel

67
1
4

score 0 · Answer 10 · answered Apr 21 '23 at 04:40

in my case, Centos 8, DirectAdmin, Openlitespeed, php 7 (lsphp server must run with Openlitespeed)

Go to DirectAdmin (with admin/root password) -> CustomBuild - > SETTINGS - > Options -> PHP Settings -> php_timezone -> input your time zone and save Time zoze is list here: https://www.php.net/manual/en/timezones.php
return CustomBuild -Build -> select PHP, and click build!
Waite 10 minute for amazing...

score 0 · Answer 11 · answered May 22 '23 at 08:35

Nothing had worked for me, I'm using FPM.

Found a file called www.conf inside /etc/php/8.2/fpm/pool.d , edited php_admin_value[date.timezone] value, restarted FPM with sudo service php8.2-fpm and it worked.

I'm using Vultr, hope this answer will help someone in the future.

Setting the Timezone for PHP in the php.ini file

11 Answers11

Linked

Related