How can I change the time zone in my lab template?

Modified on Wed, 31 Jan at 2:30 PM

All OrasiLabs base images default to the UTC (Coordinated Universal Time) time zone setting. Lab templates then inherit their time zone setting from the base image used to create them. However, it is often desirable to change the time zone to a setting consistent with the instructor or student location. You may also need to change the time zone if the applications being used rely on time-based calculations.

For Windows-based machines, however, you can't use the Windows Settings app or the Windows Control Panel to make this change. Time zone changes attempted in the Settings app will be ignored and the Control Panel will not allow time zone changes to be made at all.

Instead, you must run a Windows Command Line with Administrator privileges and issue the appropriate command line option to modify the time zone. The process is fairly simple and described below. Once changed in a template, the time zone setting will be saved and inherited by all subsequent class labs.

To change the time zone in an OrasiLabs lab template:

Start the lab template and wait until the state is "Running".
Expand the lab resource window.
Open the Command Prompt utility in the Windows System folder with the "Run As Administrator" option.
From the command prompt, issue the following command (where the time zone name is replaced with the appropriate time zone name):

tzutil /s "Eastern Standard Time"
Stop the lab template and save changes.

NOTE: To list all of the valid time zone names, first issue the command:

tzutil /l

NOTE: For a complete description of the tzutil command, please see the Windows Server Administration Guide.