Every now and again, a server may lose its date and time. One pesky server is continuously using the incorrect date and time. If there was only a way to change the system date. There is, and the easiest way to correct this is by using a simple little command called – date.

There are a couple of ways to learn of the functions of the date command.

date --help

man date

To see current date and time.

date

The result will look something like. Thu Apr 5 14:43:49 EDT 2012

To change the date and time to for example April 5 and 1:00 PM.

date 04051300