'timedatectl status' warning - RTC time cannot be fully supported

Environment

• Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8

Issue

• When running the following command timedatectl status, receiving the following error message:

  Warning: The system is configured to read the RTC time in the local time zone.
         This mode can not 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'.
  

Resolution

• Run the following command to resolve this warning message:

~]# timedatectl set-local-rtc 0

• If ntpd/chronyd is running, reboot the system before next 11 min "tick" that adjusts RTC to local time again (This content is not included.Bugzilla #1558876):

~]# reboot

Root Cause

This warning message informs the user that the system is configured with RTC in LOCALTIME. This configuration can be an issue as the system and user will likely miss DST time changes, due to the nature of LOCALTIME. For additional information see:

• 16.5. UTC, Timezones, and DST

Diagnostic Steps

Known issue

• Please refer to this kcs about that RTC may get set from UTC to local time every 11 minutes after configured set-local-rtc 1.

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