When I was installing Debian on my Lenovo ThinkPad T440p, I could not find the option to set up the local time, RTC time, and time zone to UTC as the default configuration.
To fix this, I need to run the following commands:
timedatectl
This lists the current configuration:
pionen@lilit:~$ timedatectl
Local time: Thu 2021-07-15 14:45:28 CST
Universal time: Thu 2021-07-15 20:45:28 UTC
RTC time: Thu 2021-07-15 20:44:47
Time zone: America/Managua (CST, -0600)
System clock synchronized: yes
NTP service: active
RTC in local TZ: yes
Warning: The system is configured to read the RTC time in the local time zone.
This mode cannot be fully supported. It will create various problems
with time zone changes and daylight saving time adjustments. The RTC
time is never updated; it relies on external facilities to maintain it.
If at all possible, use RTC in UTC by calling
'timedatectl set-local-rtc 0'.
First, let's update the RTC to use UTC:
timedatectl set-local-rtc 0
Next, let's set the time zone and the local time zone to UTC:
timedatectl set-timezone UTC
Now, our system will be fully synchronized with UTC:
pionen@lilit:~$ timedatectl
Local time: Thu 2021-07-15 21:31:52 UTC
Universal time: Thu 2021-07-15 21:31:52 UTC
RTC time: Thu 2021-07-15 21:31:52
Time zone: UTC (UTC, +0000)
System clock synchronized: yes
NTP service: active
RTC in local TZ: no