oracle-xe:21-slim-faststart - can I set timezone?

[hungalabunga]

Hello,
how can I set db timezone? I'm using oracle-xe:21-slim-faststart

Is it always UTC or it takes TZone from docker/serwer?

thanks!
Greg

[gvenzl]

Hey Greg,

Docker containers always run in UTC but you can set it simply by passing on the TZ environment variable, for example:

podman run --name test -p 1521:1521 -e TZ="Europe/Vienna" -e ORACLE_RANDOM_PASSWORD=y gvenzl/oracle-xe:21-slim-faststart

This will make the container run in the Central European Time Zone:

[gvenzl@localhost ~]$ podman exec -ti test bash
bash-4.4$ echo $TZ
Europe/Vienna
bash-4.4$ date
Sat Jun 10 21:31:37 CEST 2023

Note the CEST timezone above.

bash-4.4$ sqlplus / as sysdba

SQL*Plus: Release 21.0.0.0.0 - Production on Sat Jun 10 21:31:51 2023
Version 21.3.0.0.0

Copyright (c) 1982, 2021, Oracle.  All rights reserved.


Connected to:
Oracle Database 21c Express Edition Release 21.0.0.0.0 - Production
Version 21.3.0.0.0

SQL> alter session set nls_date_format='YYYY-MM-DD HH24:MI:SS';

Session altered.

SQL> select sysdate from dual;

SYSDATE
-------------------
2023-06-10 21:32:18

Here is another example with Tokyo time:

podman run --name test -p 1521:1521 -e TZ="Asia/Tokyo" -e ORACLE_RANDOM_PASSWORD=y gvenzl/oracle-xe:21-slim-faststart

bash-4.4$ [gvenzl@localhost ~]$ podman exec -ti test bash
bash-4.4$ echo $TZ
Asia/Tokyo
bash-4.4$ date
Sun Jun 11 04:35:00 JST 2023
bash-4.4$ sqlplus / as sysdba

SQL*Plus: Release 21.0.0.0.0 - Production on Sun Jun 11 04:35:08 2023
Version 21.3.0.0.0

Copyright (c) 1982, 2021, Oracle.  All rights reserved.


Connected to:
Oracle Database 21c Express Edition Release 21.0.0.0.0 - Production
Version 21.3.0.0.0

SQL> alter session set nls_date_format='YYYY-MM-DD HH24:MI:SS';

Session altered.

SQL> select sysdate from dual;

SYSDATE
-------------------
2023-06-11 04:35:26

Hope this helps!