Date linux format date command is used to display the system date and time. Learn how to format, set, and convert dates and time efficiently on Linux systems. $(date -Is) I for ISO format, s for datetime. I am doing this: This comprehensive blog post from LinuxBash. " Linux date 命令 Linux 命令大全 Linux date 命令可以用来显示或设定系统的日期与时间。 语法 date [OPTION] [+FORMAT] date [-u] [-d datestr Mar 17, 2017 · I'm trying to execute a command and would like to put the date and time in the output file name. Oct 2, 2006 · Linux set date and time - explains how to set date and time from a shell prompt under any Linux distribution using date & timedatectl command Nov 14, 2025 · The date command is one of the most commonly used commands for time formatting in Linux. The -u option shows it in UTC, and the @ symbol tells date to interpret the number as a timestamp Apr 7, 2022 · alter session set nls_date_format = 'YYYY-MM-DD'; This will only work for dates. For example, we can use “yesterday” or “now” to get a different result. I'm looking for a format that can easily be embedded to a URL without the need for escaping with a Feb 20, 2025 · Many programming languages and operating systems, including Linux, offer built-in tools to convert Unix timestamps into human-readable formats or manipulate them as needed. To have the output date-time in a custom format we can use date +FORMAT, for example, like this: date "+ Apr 12, 2016 · I would like for all my ls commands that display a date, such as ls -l, to print the date column in a format of my choosing. There are other settings for timestamps (NLS_TIMESTAMP_FORMAT) and timestamps with timezones (NLS_TIMESTAMP_TZ_FORMAT). Date command print or set system date and time. How to See the Date and Time and Time in the Linux Terminal Run the date command to see this information. This tutorial explains how to get date and time from Unix timestamp on Linux. Learn to create user-friendly scripts, generate timestamps for files, and customize time zones effectively. Learn how to use the date command in Linux with practical examples. LoadingLoading Click to continue Oct 17, 2024 · On Linux, the “date” command has an option to specify the date to display in a human format. Oct 5, 2016 · 9 What you are looking is to format date into ISO 8601 format. Whether you're a system administrator automating tasks, a developer working on a time-sensitive application, or just someone who wants to keep track of time accurately Oct 22, 2023 · Learn the process of formatting and displaying dates using bash scripts in Linux. But you can convert it into a normal date. Unix time[a] is a date and time representation widely used in computing. Format dates, set system time, and explore useful options to manage date settings. echo "date +%s -s @$(date +%s)" This will generate something like date +%s -s @1541377821 that you can copy and paste to the other computer. There’s actually an easy shortcut that isn’t always mentioned. It features the latest news, guides & tutorials and new open source projects. AUTHOR top Written by David MacKenzie. Dec 22, 2023 · 背景 Bash,ShellScript,ansible-playbookで日時をこねくり回したい時に、色々な方法があると思います。今回、dateコマンドのオプションで事足りることが多かったので、用途ごとにここに記しておきます。 利用したVersion $ date -- Oct 26, 2010 · I have a CGI script that will convert a given string to a date/time using the unix date command. The documentation was removed in 2005 without much explanation in the commit. Whether you are setting a custom date format, working in UTC, or calculating future dates, the date command provides flexibility and efficiency May 16, 2024 · Linux date command displays and sets the system date and time. A date string may contain items indicating calendar date, time of day, time zone, day of week, relative time, relative date, and numbers. It provides flexible options for formatting date strings, making it perfect for parsing integer timestamp values. This format is often used in Bash scripts to parse dates and times, or to format dates and times for Learn how to use a standard date and time format string to define the text representation of a date and time value in . Apr 17, 2013 · Learn to use the 'date' command in Linux to display or set system time and date, with options for format customization. Explore the Linux date command and learn how to display, format, and manipulate date and time information on your system. Aug 30, 2021 · Explore Linux date command usage with examples. When I use the date command it showd Wed Ma Mar 23, 2016 · I used the date command and time format listed below to successfully set the date from the terminal shell command performed on Android Things which uses the Linux Kernal. I need it to be displayed in %d format. The basic syntax for converting a timestamp with date is: date -d @timestamp For example, to convert the timestamp 1674154367 from our log example above Unix time passed 1 000 000 000 seconds on 2001-09-09T01:46:40Z. The date command in Linux is used to display or set system date and time. Nov 30, 2023 · The date command in Linux is a versatile utility used to display, set, or manipulate the system’s date and time information from the command line. date command in Linux is a very useful Linux operating system. sh explores how to handle and manipulate dates and times in Bash scripting, crucial for task automation, scheduling, and event logging. This tutorial shows you how to master date on the command line and how you can use it in shell scripts to do more than simply print the time. It consists of the year, month, day, hour, minute, and second, in that order. To do this I use the UNIX date command as follows: date -ud @1175811711 Thu 05 Apr 2007 10:21:51 PM UTC This command converts a Unix timestamp (number of seconds since the Unix epoch) into a readable date. It is a powerful tool for managing time-related tasks, such as scheduling, logging, and formatting timestamps. sss Asked 3 years, 10 months ago Modified 9 months ago Viewed 17k times Sep 10, 2018 · Learn how to format date and time to use in shell script or as a variable along with different format example. Is there an Feb 7, 2025 · H ow do I view and set date under UNIX operating systems? How do I see the current time/date on Unix based server? The date command under UNIX displays date and time. Oct 2, 2023 · Using date Command Use the date command to format the date to yyyymmdd in Bash. Oct 10, 2019 · what's the best way in shell to create custom date format and adding any space between the format? For example the below command for print yesterday date by the format Oct 9 custom_format="$(d Feb 2, 2024 · A brief guide on how to obtain the date of the previous day in a Linux system. But it can do a lot more than that. May 25, 2012 · I am writing a bash shell script in Linux, this program will accept a date (mm-dd-yyyy) as a parameter. Apr 26, 2025 · As a scripting language, Bash is widely used for system administration tasks and automation. NET. It useful for getting a formatted date. I've used RedHat servers before and now I've just installed Ubuntu Server. How to format the date and time to your needs. Further, you will learn how to store the current date/time in shell variable Dec 23, 2023 · At first glance, Linux's date format of yyyymmdd (four digit year, two digit month, two digit day) seems needlessly complex. In this guide, we’ll explore: - Basic commands to get the current date and time. Check out these practical examples. Aug 23, 2010 · This tutorial will teach you how to generate and manipulate dates using the Linux date command including examples and help with formatting. 8). Apr 26, 2025 · In this article, we’ll learn how to get yesterday’s date in Bash. May 27, 2025 · The date command on Linux can do more than display the current date and time. The guide provides installation instructions across different Linux distributions and May 11, 2020 · I've installed Ubuntu server 20. Its ability to output dates in various formats and perform date arithmetic makes it a valuable resource in scripting and scheduling tasks. Sep 3, 2020 · In Unix and Linux, dates are represented internally as the number of seconds since January 1, 1970 at 00:00 GMT. In 2011, the help for --iso-8601 was reintroduced with the following explanation: We deprecated and undocumented the --iso-8601 (-I) option mostly because date could not parse that particular format. 2. . Jan 1, 2018 · I want to use Linux date command as I can do something like date -d '1 day ago' %F to get the output of a day before today. Jul 28, 2025 · The date command in Linux allows the user to display the current date and time in a variety of formats and set the system date and time. Mar 23, 2016 · I used the date command and time format listed below to successfully set the date from the terminal shell command performed on Android Things which uses the Linux Kernal. %D – Display date in the format mm/dd/yy (e. This article shows you some of the format controls to manipulate the date command's output. Dec 27, 2023 · As a Linux system administrator, working with dates and times is a daily task. Aug 20, 2012 · I need to display date and time in desired format in Unix/ Linux. Let’s start with a simple example of how to use the date command to display the current date: Given a date and time in a format that is not recognized by date, how can I get date to recognize the date and time? For example: $ date -d "09SEP2012:23:58:46" date: invalid date `09SEP2012:23:5 I need to do date arithmetic in Unix shell scripts that I use to control the execution of third party programs. [+format] To see all Oct 23, 2023 · Here learn date command in Linux with usage examples. For example, at The date command in Linux is used to display or set the system date and time. I noticed that the date format in Ubuntu logs is different from in RedHat. This blog post will provide a comprehensive guide to Linux date format examples, covering fundamental concepts, usage methods, common practices Jun 1, 2019 · The date command displays or sets the system date. : 10/28/21) Apr 26, 2025 · By leveraging the Linux date command, you can format date and time in various ways to suit your specific needs. Jan 18, 2024 · This article provides you with an extensive list of all the available formatting options while using the date command. Being a part of the core utilities in Linux and Unix-like operating systems, it makes it an essential command for system configuration and scripting. In this tutorial, we’ll take a closer look at the date utility and learn its common usage. Aug 10, 2018 · How do I change the format of date command by modifying LC_TIME in locale? Currently the day of month uses %e format. Date Command Syntax: date [option]…[+format] man … Is there a way to force the *nix command "date" to output in a specific format independent of the local? For example, if I call "date -u" today, on a US machine I get: Oct 17, 2024 · On Linux, the “date” command has an option to specify the date to display in a human format. Jun 1, 2025 · Linux date command help and information with date examples, syntax, related commands, and how to use the date command from the command line. You can also set these variables as environment variables, and sqlplus should pick them up. Oct 10, 2019 · what's the best way in shell to create custom date format and adding any space between the format? For example the below command for print yesterday date by the format Oct 9 custom_format="$(d Explore the fundamentals of date and time management in Linux, including the Unix epoch, time zones, and locale settings. Mar 11, 2025 · This comprehensive tutorial on how to format date and time in Bash covers various methods using the date command. Formatting output The output of date can be formatted with a format string that is preceded by a + sign (see also strftime): DATE(1P) POSIX Programmer's Manual DATE(1P) PROLOG top This manual page is part of the POSIX Programmer's Manual. Mar 22, 2012 · 28 man date will give you the details of how to use the date command. It’s an essential part of any developer’s toolkit, particularly when dealing with scripts that require date or time operations. I am doing this: Dec 27, 2023 · Converting Timestamps to Readable Dates with date The date utility is included by default in all Linux distributions and macOS. Nov 8, 2023 · The date command is found in the Bash shell, which is the default shell in most Linux distributions and even macOS. Dec 27, 2023 · What is DATE_FORMAT () and Why is it Useful? The DATE_FORMAT () function in MySQL allows you to format a date value however you want by specifying a custom output format. Help me to achieve this. $ date --set='+2 minutes' Print the date as an ISO 8601 compliant date/time string: $ date -I To convert a date string to the number of seconds since the epoch 1970-01-01 00:00:00 GMT (Unix time), use the '--date' option with the '%s' format. Feb 26, 2014 · For older versions of BSD date (on old versions of macOS for example) which don't provide a -v option, you can get yesterdays date by subtracting 86400 seconds (seconds in a day) from the current epoch. log The date t. May 13, 2018 · I’ve written several things about the Linux cron command and crontab file format before, and as a quick note, here’s some information on the format of the crontab date and time fields. It prints the current date and Jun 27, 2011 · I have a date in this format: "27 JUN 2011" and I want to convert it to 20110627 Is it possible to do in bash? Convert Unix Timestamps (and many other date formats) to regular dates. It can display the current time in various formats or convert a Unix timestamp to a human - readable format. Prerequitites A system running Linux A user account with root privileges Access to a terminal window/command line Linux date Command Syntax The syntax for the date command is: date [option]. The `date` command returns the current date and time in a specific format, but you can also use a custom format string to get the date and time in any format In this article, we will explore how to get the current date and time in a A date string may contain items indicating calendar date, time of day, time zone, day of week, relative time, relative date, and numbers. The date Command Before we get yesterday’s date, we need to understand the date command in Bash. In the Linux operating system, the `date` command is an essential tool for working with dates and times. This Linux tutorial explains how to use the Linux date command with syntax and arguments. It's also capable of giving you practical information about past or future dates. For example, the date and time “2023-03-08 10:00:00” would be represented in the yyyymmddhhmmss format as “20230308100000”. Below is the Current Format: #date T Dec 2, 2023 · The bash date command is for displaying and setting the date and time in Linux. It covers the usage of the `date` command for formatting and calculations, and introduces `dateutils` for advanced manipulations. It allows users to display the current date and time, as well as format and manipulate dates according to their needs. The date command shows the date and time read from the kernel clock. Apr 5, 2024 · Explains how to display date and time using command line and GUI tools under any Linux distribution with date and timedatectl. Thankfully, Linux provides the flexible date command for easily displaying, formatting, and converting dates and times right from terminal. You can use this on a computer with a known correct time to generate a bash command that sets the correct time using UTC timestamp. date command is date - print or set the system date and time Jan 6, 2022 · How to format date in bash to YYYY-DD-MMTHH:MM:SS. Discover the DATE STRING The --date=STRING is a mostly free format human readable date string such as "Sun, 29 Feb 2004 16:21:42 -0800" or "2004-02-29 16:21:42" or even "next Thursday". The option was introduced in the coreutils date (which is probably what you have) in 1999 (Apr. Setting up cron jobs, reviewing logs, analyzing usage patterns – all of these critical activities require precision when dealing with when events occur. Date command in Unix & Linux is used to format Nov 20, 2018 · I am using the date command in bash: date +%T* 01:49:14 But how to display it without the colons? Unix time passed 1 000 000 000 seconds on 2001-09-09T01:46:40Z. It provides a wide range of functionalities, from displaying the current date and time to setting system date/time and formatting output in various ways. Understanding different date formats is crucial for various tasks, such as logging, scheduling, and data processing. Jul 14, 2023 · Date command is an external bash program that allows to set or display system date and time. Currently, I manually set this every time with --time-style. Sep 1, 2018 · The date command in Linux is a versatile utility used to display or set the system date and time. However, it has several useful options that enhance it. Mar 18, 2024 · Learn how to convert between various date formats via the Linux command line. Mar 11, 2025 · Learn how to get, parse, and convert dates and times on Linux with this comprehensive guide. This comprehensive tutorial will guide you through the fundamentals of date command usage, help you troubleshoot common formatting issues, and explore advanced techniques for precise date manipulation in 15 hours ago · Linux offers built-in utilities to fetch date/time information, and with a few tweaks, you can even create custom commands to display time in your preferred format. [1] It was celebrated in Copenhagen, Denmark, at a party held by the Danish UNIX User Group at 03:46:40 local time. Feb 27, 2007 · Formatting date in linux for in custom format: Explains how to use and format the date command on Linux or Unix shell scripts to display custom date/time. But there's some sound logic be Sep 10, 2025 · Explains how to append the current date or time to a filename from a shell variable under macOS, Linux, *BSD, and Unix bash shell scripting. The date string format is more complex than is easily documented here but is fully described in the info documentation. Nov 14, 2025 · In the Linux environment, the ability to handle and format dates is crucial for a wide range of tasks, from system administration to data processing. 04, and I can't find a way to display the time format to 24 hours when I use the command 'date' in the shell. Conclusion The date command is a versatile tool for displaying, formatting, and modifying system dates in Linux. My desired format is: dd/mm/yyyy hh:mm:ss:ms in Unix or Linux. g. Aug 25, 2025 · Master the Linux date command with this comprehensive guide. An empty string indicates the Jun 7, 2021 · The date command is a command-line utility for displaying or setting date and time in the Linux system. Along with the list, I will show you a few examples to demonstrate how to use a date format in to achieve the desired result. Overview When we work in the Linux command-line or write shell scripts, we often need to handle date and time values, such as outputting a date in our required formats, getting a relative date-time, or changing the system date and time. That can be useful in sorting and/or graphing /or comparing data by date. When invoked without arguments, it prints the current date and time in a default format. Nov 28, 2023 · Understanding the Basics of Bash Date Formatting The date command in Bash is a powerful tool for manipulating and displaying dates. See Section 13. The `date` command in Linux is a powerful tool that allows users to display and set the system date and time, and most importantly, format the output according to their specific needs. The date command comes with many formatting options that allow you to customize the date output according to the requirement. Jan 14, 2021 · The date command is simple. This article will explore how to effectively use date and time-based naming in your bash scripts, providing practical examples to guide you through the process. Dec 30, 2015 · I write a weekly-ish newsletter on Linux, open source & webdevelopment called cron. I got close using the following date: invalid date '2015_06_15 12:00 +1 day' Is it possible to use such a date format? And if so how could I do this. It is most commonly used to print the date and time in different formats and calculate future and past dates. We’ll start with basic Bash commands, learn about the date command, and finally, get yesterday’s date using Bash scripting. Here is a sample command I'd like to run. Now that it can Sep 22, 2021 · Introduction Linux date command displays and sets the system date and time. You can use the same command set date and time. Mar 7, 2023 · Date Command in Linux is very extensive and dynamic, provides very rich date formatting and is greatly customizable for working with scripts which depend on time based invocations. Mar 13, 2024 · Congratulations, you've successfully customized the date format on your Linux system to match your personal style! Format codes cheat sheet Here's a quick-reference cheat sheet for the strftime format codes, suitable for keeping handy when working with date and time formatting in Linux: % a: Abbreviated day of the week according to the current May 10, 2020 · This guide covers how to format date and time in Linux, Mac, and the Bash shell. 2, “Date and Time Data Types”, for a description of the range of values each date and time type has and the valid formats in which values may be specified. Enhance your skills in handling date and time data, making your workflows more efficient. You're looking for ISO 8601 standard date format, so if you have GNU date (or any date command more modern than 1988) just do: $(date -I) Apr 26, 2025 · In the world of Linux, the date command is an essential tool for managing and manipulating system dates and times. It measures time by the number of non- leap seconds that have elapsed since 00:00:00 UTC on 1 January 1970, the Unix epoch. 0 Reference Manual, DATE_FORMAT () "formats the date value according to the format string. Learn to display, format, and set system dates with practical examples and formatting options. I am wondering if there is a simply way to check if the date is valid? is there an operator a May 27, 2025 · The date command on Linux can do more than display the current date and time. NAME top date — write the date and time SYNOPSIS top date [-u] [+ format] date [-u] mmddhhmm[[cc]yy Oct 8, 2013 · How can I show date in YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS+ZZZZ format in LINUX? I need to write the creation date of a file say file1 in another file say file2 in given format. I check the locale information with an Ubuntu server 18 Jan 1, 2001 · Convert Unix Timestamps (and many other date formats) to regular dates. Date Command in Linux In this article we will explore date command and it’s various options. Dec 12, 2022 · In this tutorial, I go through the basics of using the date command on a Linux-based distribution. You must be the super-user (root) to change the date and time on Unix like operating systems. It uses the system default time zone to display the time. You can find a detailed documentation here… And you don't care about sub-seconds accuracy. The Linux implementation of this interface may differ (consult the corresponding Linux manual page for details of Linux behavior), or the interface may not be implemented on Linux. - Advanced formatting options to customize output. To convert long date in standard format into Unix epoc time (%s): date -d '2012-03-22 22:00:05 EDT' +%s Sep 25, 2021 · What does date command in Linux? On Linux operating system and other UNIX-like operating systems. It also provides several formatting options. Perfect for beginners and advanced users alike, this guide enhances your Bash scripting skills by providing practical examples and clear explanations. The date command shows or sets the system date Explore the fundamentals of date and time management in Linux, including the Unix epoch, time zones, and locale settings. weekly. I'm using a function to increment a day and another to decrement: IncrementaDia() Dec 27, 2023 · Converting Timestamps to Readable Dates with date The date utility is included by default in all Linux distributions and macOS. The basic syntax for converting a timestamp with date is: date -d @timestamp For example, to convert the timestamp 1674154367 from our log example above Learn about Linux and Unix date & time formating with the help of simple explanation and added example. An empty string indicates the beginning of the day. At the end of the article, I offer some practical suggestions about how you can use this command in conjunction with common tasks. This command also allows users to print the time in different formats and calculate future and past dates. Jul 24, 2020 · I typically have a UNIX timestamp that is an integer and I want to display it as a date. This section describes the functions that can be used to manipulate temporal values. Dec 2, 2019 · The date command gives you the current date and time of you Linux system. Learn how to use Linux commands to display, set, and manipulate date and time information for your system and applications. md5sum /etc/mtab > 2016_4_25_10_30_AM. Nov 14, 2025 · In the Linux operating system, the `date` command is a powerful tool that allows users to display and set the system's date and time. Basic Jul 25, 2024 · 1. With Linux continuing May 12, 2017 · How would you parse a date in bash, with separate fields (years, months, days, hours, minutes, seconds) into different variables? The date format is: YYYY-MM-DD hh:mm:ss Introduction In the world of Linux system administration, understanding and resolving date command format errors is crucial for accurate system logging, scripting, and time-related operations. Feb 7, 2025 · Explains how to print current date and time in Unix/Linux. May 27, 2017 · I want to set the variable date-today to the current date, and date_dir to yesterday's date, both in the format yyyy-mm-dd. This blog post will delve into the fundamental concepts date: invalid date '2015_06_15 12:00 +1 day' Is it possible to use such a date format? And if so how could I do this. How can I use the date command to convert the value to yyyy-MM-dd'T'HH:mm:ss'Z' format to get something like 2018-01-01T00:00:00-07:00? If the value is not in this particular format, then Smartsheet API complains: The yyyymmddhhmmss format is a common way to represent a date and time in Bash. Mar 18, 2024 · By passing the result to the –date option, we effectively convert the start of the current day to the %s seconds since the UNIX epoch format. Oct 20, 2019 · Learn how to change, set and display the date and time on the Linux command line. According to the MySQL 8. Apr 12, 2013 · The date command outputs the current date and time like this: Fri Apr 12 15:04:03 UTC 2013. For example, it can provide dates in the past and future and adjust the date output to suit your need for details. After that, we can just add time as necessary or store the number for future offsetting. In this tutorial we learn how to use date commmand in Linux. The --date=STRING is a mostly free format human readable date string such as "Sun, 29 Feb 2004 16:21:42 -0800" or "2004-02-29 16:21:42" or even "next Thursday". Nov 5, 2022 · There are many code snippets online about how to ISO-format a date using the date command in a Linux (or similar) terminal, but some of them are verbose. Oct 9, 2023 · The GNU date command on Linux makes it easy to generate the current timestamp in the ISO 8601 format, suitable for plugging into, say, HTML metadata, or an Eleventy template. Understand the use of UNIX/Linux commands and Git functionalities to manage timestamps effectively. Includes how to do date shell operations like adding days or comparing dates. One common task in Bash scripting is to get the current date and time.