DATE(1)                    OpenBSD Reference Manual                    DATE(1)

NAME
     date - display or set date and time



SYNOPSIS
     date [-d dst] [-r seconds] [-t minutes_west] [-nu] [+format]
          [[[[[[cc]yy]mm]dd]HH]MM[.SS]]

DESCRIPTION
     When invoked without arguments, the date utility displays the current
     date and time.  Otherwise, depending on the options specified, date will
     set the date and time or print it in a user-defined way.

     Only the super-user may set the date.

     The options are as follows:

     -d dst  Set the kernel's value for daylight saving time.  If dst is non-
             zero, future calls to gettimeofday(2) will return a non-zero
             `tz_dsttime'.

     -n      The utility timed(8) is used to synchronize the clocks on groups
             of machines.  By default, if timed(8) is running, date will set
             the time on all of the machines in the local group.  The -n op-
             tion stops date from setting the time for other than the current
             machine.

     -r seconds
             Print out (in specified format) the date and time represented by
             seconds from the Epoch.

     -t minutes_west
             Set the kernel's value for minutes west of GMT. minutes_west
             specifies the number of minutes returned in `tz_minuteswest' by
             future calls to gettimeofday(2).

     -u      Display or set the date in UTC (universal) time.

     An operand with a leading plus sign (`+') signals a user-defined format
     string which specifies the format in which to display the date and time.
     The format string may contain any of the conversion specifications de-
     scribed in the strftime(3) manual page, as well as any arbitrary text.  A
     <newline> character is always output after the characters specified by
     the format string.  The format string for the default display is:

           ``%a %b %e %H:%M:%S %Z %Y''

     If an operand does not have a leading plus sign, it is interpreted as a
     value for setting the system's notion of the current date and time.  The
     canonical representation for setting the date and time is:

           yy      Year in abbreviated form (for years falling within
                   1969--2068).  The format ccyymmddHHMM is also permitted,
                   for non-ambiguous years.
           mm      Numeric month, a number from 1 to 12.
           dd      Day, a number from 1 to 31.
           HH      Hour, a number from 0 to 23.
           MM      Minute, a number from 0 to 59.
           .SS     Second, a number from 0 to 61 (59 plus a maximum of two
                   leap seconds).

     Everything but the minute is optional.

     Time changes for daylight saving time, standard time, leap seconds, and
     leap years are handled automatically.

EXAMPLES
     The command:

           date "+DATE: %Y-%m-%d%nTIME: %H:%M:%S"

     will display:

           DATE: 1987-11-21
           TIME: 13:36:16

     The command:

           date 8506131627

     sets the date to ``June 13, 1985, 4:27 PM''.

     The command:

           date 1432

     sets the time to 2:32 PM, without modifying the date.

ENVIRONMENT
     The following environment variables affect the execution of date:

     TZ
       The timezone to use when displaying dates.  See environ(7) for more in-
       formation.

FILES
     /var/log/wtmp      record of date resets and time changes
     /var/log/messages  record of the user setting the time

SEE ALSO
     gettimeofday(2),  strftime(3),  utmp(5),  timed(8)

     R. Gusella, and S. Zatti, TSP: The Time Synchronization Protocol for UNIX
     4.3BSD.

DIAGNOSTICS
     Exit status is 0 on success, 1 if unable to set the date, and 2 if able
     to set the local date, but unable to set it globally.

     Occasionally, when timed(8) synchronizes the time on many hosts, the set-
     ting of a new time value may require more than a few seconds.  On these
     occasions, date prints: ``Network time being set''. The message
     ``Communication error with timed'' occurs when the communication between
     date and timed(8) fails.

STANDARDS
     The date utility is expected to be compatible with IEEE Std1003.2
     (``POSIX.2'').

OpenBSD 2.6                     April 28, 1995                               2