RPI 0w: automatic timezone syncronization

Question

Is there in Raspberry Pi some setting for automatic timezone synchronization? Maybe some application that can set local timezone on Raspberry Pi?

Let's say, I send device to client, after he switches on my device, I need it will synchronize to local TIMEZONE in automatic way. Is it possible?

MY SOLUTION: https://www.raspberrypi.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=188770

Answer 1

From Terminal call setuo by command: sudo raspi-config

Select Internationalization Option to set Time Zone

Time and date are automatically set from network if you connected to the internet.

If you are not connected to the internet you can set it manually using command: sudo date -s $date

Answer 2

I used solution from here with my small changes:

zone=$(wget -O - -q http://geoip.ubuntu.com/lookup | sed -n -e 's/.*<TimeZone>\(.*\)<\/TimeZone>.*/\1/ p')

if [ "$zone" != "" ]; then
    echo $zone | sudo tee /etc/timezone > /dev/null
    dpkg-reconfigure -f noninteractive tzdata >/dev/null 2>&1
    timedatectl set-timezone $zone
    echo "[INFO] Timezone was set to $zone" >> "$logFile"   
else
    echo "[ERROR] Timezone is empty" >> "$logFile"
fi

You can set this code into script that run on RPI boot through sudo crontab -e:

@reboot sh myscript.sh

Answer 3

The timezone is the area in which the device is located. The problem is that something must know what timezone your client is in. If you don't know it, how should the client know it? It could connect to a server nearby which is in the same timezone that tells it something like: "Hey, I'm in timezone Europe/Berlin. You seem to be in the same timezone."

Do you see the problem? How will the client know that it connects to a server that is in the same timezone? Of course there may be solutions to solve this problem, but it seems not to be an easy task.

• Maybe a service from your internet provider? He knows where you are connected.
• A GPS solution?
• Google also knows where you are located
• IP addresses?

Answer 4

Geolocation by IP address will most likely work - for example. The sleazy technical giants do this routinely, and as someone once said, "Internet privacy is a myth." Part of the reason they know your location with such uncanny accuracy goes back to "Google Maps"... the same people filming your street are also recording all the WiFi data.

One way to get your own location information is to go the the ipinfo.io website. And as you've now noted, it's a simple matter to find a source for this information, use wget or curl to download a URL, parse the output, and then update /etc/timezone and /etc/localtime following the guide you found - or one of many others available online.

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Other geolocation sources:

1. https://www.ipfingerprints.com/geolocation.php

2. https://www.maxmind.com/en/home

3. https://www.ipinfodb.com/api

4. DIY listing of free IP address geolocation services

5. Is geolocation by IP address an invasion of privacy?