systemdtimedated

Systemdtimedated, commonly called systemd-timedated, is a systemd-managed service that provides centralized management of the system clock and time zone settings on Linux systems running systemd. It exposes the Timedate1 D-Bus interface (org.freedesktop.timedate1), allowing other system components and desktop applications to query and adjust time-related information in a consistent way.

Functionality and scope: The service oversees the state of the system clock, the setting of the local time zone, and whether the system should synchronize its clock automatically with network time sources. It coordinates with an active time synchronization service, such as systemd-timesyncd or another NTP client, to keep the clock accurate. Timedated typically handles initial clock configuration at boot, persists user changes, and provides status information that can be retrieved by tools and user interfaces.

Administration and usage: Administrators interact with timedated primarily through the timedatectl command-line tool, which queries and modifies time settings via the Timedate1 interface. Examples include retrieving current status, setting the time, selecting a time zone, or enabling and disabling automatic NTP synchronization. The underlying service is managed with standard systemd commands (for example, systemctl start, stop, enable, or disable systemd-timedated).

Configuration and compatibility: On most systems, systemd-timedated runs as part of the systemd suite and works alongside or atop other time services. If a different time management solution is in use, timedated can be disabled or replaced, though many environments rely on it for a unified, programmatic approach to time and date management.

See also: systemd, systemd-timedated, timedatectl, timesyncd, ntp.