EXPLORATION OF “DATE COMMAND”

date command in linux will display date and time configured in your linux operating system. We can also set the date and time of the system.

date command syntax -

$ date [OPTION]... [+FORMAT] 

To display the current system time and date using the default formatting, invoke the command without any options and arguments -

$ date

The output includes the day of the week, month, date of the month, time, time-zone, and year -

Output:
Sat Sep 24 13:55:53 EDT 2021

Date String -

1. Display FUTURE Dates -

Using -d/- -date Options of date commands

$ date -d/--date="string"

Using -d Option -

Using --date Option -

2. Display PAST Dates -

Date File -

This is used to display the date string present at each line of file in the date and time format.

Syntax -

$ date --file=DATEFILE

Display Last Modified Date -

This is used to display the last modified timestamp of a datefile.

Syntax -

$ date -r DATEFILE

SET Date -

To set the system date and time -s or –set option is used.

Syntax -

$ date --set="Wed Oct 11 15:23:26 PDT 2020"

Date Version Option-

Output version information and exit.

Syntax -

$ date --version

Date HELP Option -

Display the manual of date command.

Syntax -

$ date --help

Date Universal -

Display the Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). Using -u/- -universal Options.

Syntax -

$ date --universal

List of Format specifiers used with date Command:-

• %a - Locale’s abbreviated short weekday name (e.g., Mon)
• %A - Locale’s abbreviated full weekday name (e.g., Monday)
• %b - Locale’s abbreviated short month name (e.g., Jan)
• %B - Locale’s abbreviated long month name (e.g., January)
• %d - Day of month (e.g., 01)
• %H - Hour (00..23)
• %I - Hour (01..12)
• %j - Day of year (001..366)
• %m - Month (01..12)
• %M - Minute (00..59)
• %S - Second (00..60)
• %u - Day of week (1..7)
• %Y - Full year (e.g., 2019)

The output of the date command can be formatted with a sequence of format control characters preceded by a + sign. The format controls start with the % symbol and are substituted by their values.

General Syntax -

$date +%[format-option]

Using formatting characters together -

I have made a small efforts to bring some interesting facts, I hope that you have enjoyed the article and learned a new concept today :D.

Thank you for reading my Blog !!.

Atharva Jagtap - MLOPS Summer Intern at LinuxWorld Informatics Pvt Ltd - LinuxWorld Informatics Pvt…