This probably works on most distros’ I would imagine.
$ sudo mv /etc/localtime /etc/localtime.old
$ sudo ln -s /usr/share/zoneinfo/UTC /etc/localtime
This probably works on most distros’ I would imagine.
$ sudo mv /etc/localtime /etc/localtime.old
$ sudo ln -s /usr/share/zoneinfo/UTC /etc/localtime
Be aware that on pre-systemd servers SLES11, Redhat 5/6 etc… you must also update /etc/sysconfig/clock, otherwise the time will randomly revert to whatever is in that file…. when the system is patched (specifically when the tzdata package is updated), the /etc/localtime file is refreshed based on the config file. You can trigger the refresh manually on Redhat by running tzdata-update (not sure about SLES).
On newer SLES12/Redhat 7+ machines (and Ubuntu)… the command (systemd style) is “timedatectl”, which will read the current setting (no parameters) and/or write it, like this:-
#timedatectl set-timezone UTC
Note that timedatectl will pick up information from a symlink in /etc/localtime, but I suggest you run the tool, as I imagine systemd squirrels it away somewhere too.