IBM Support

AIX time zone settings for the Southern Hemisphere

How To


Summary

AIX systems with time zones south of the equator that use daylight saving, with the POSIX format need to adjust the variable to spring forward and fall back at the correct time.

Objective

Ensure AIX time stays in sync and correct with daylight savings changes for systems that use southern hemisphere time zones by using the correct TZ environment variable.
Newly installed AIX systems are likely using the OLSEN time zone format, upgraded systems, or systems built to an older standard might still be using the POSIX format.
There was a performance issue in APAR IV86730 related to the OSLEN format, which is resolved.
The POSIX time zone format is the traditionally used format for AIX systems and provides a slight performance advantage over the Olson time zone format.
If you are still using the POSIX format, the AIX default values:
NZST-12NZDT New Zealand CUT +12
EET-10EETDT Eastern Australia CUT +10

                     
"The default of the start variable is 02:00:00" is not correct for southern hemisphere time zones.
 

Environment

AIX Systems with Southern Hemisphere time zones that use Daylight Saving, Australia, New Zealand, Chile, Paraguay 

Steps

# chtz TimeZoneInfo
Or
# smitty chtz_user
Then
# grep TZ /etc/environment
After a change to the TZ variable, it is best to restart your system.
  • Environment variables are examined when a command starts running.
  • The environment of a process is not changed by altering the /etc/environment file.
  • Any processes that were started prior to the change to the /etc/environment file must be restarted if the change is to take effect for those processes.
  • If the TZ variable is changed, the cron daemon must be restarted, because this variable is used to determine the current local time.

Additional Information

Affected time zones
Southern hemisphere time zones using daylight saving
(With official government URL link where found)
Olsen Format POSIX Format
Chile - Santiago TZ=Chile/Continental
TZ=America/Santiago
TZ=CLT3CLST,M9.2.0/00:00:00,M4.1.0/00:00:00
Paraguay - Asunción TZ=America/Asuncion TZ=PYT3PYST,M10.1.0/00:00:00,M3.5.0/00:00:00
Australia - South Australia - SA - Adelaide
TZ=Australia/South
TZ=Australia/Adelaide
TZ=ACST-09:30ACDT,M10.1.0/02:00:00,M4.1.0/03:00:00
Australia - Victoria - VIC - Melbourne
TZ=Australia/Victoria
TZ=Australia/Melbourne
TZ=AEST-10AEDT,M10.1.0/02:00:00,M4.1.0/03:00:00
Australia - New South Wales - NSW - Sydney
TZ=Australia/NSW
TZ=Australia/Sydney
TZ=AEST-10AEDT,M10.1.0/02:00:00,M4.1.0/03:00:00
New Zealand - Auckland / Wellington / Christchurch
TZ=NZ
TZ=Pacific/Auckland
TZ=NZST-12NZDT,M9.5.0/02:00:00,M4.1.0/03:00:00
* Correct at time of writing in 2022, if you are aware of any changes / corrections or if your system is in another Southern Hemisphere time zone, please let me know by using the feedback link.

Document Location

Worldwide

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Product Synonym

AIX

Document Information

Modified date:
21 October 2024

UID

ibm16833126