Time Zones

By default, SMART folders and jobs run and execute in the time zone where the Control-M/Server is located. You can change the time zone where your SMART folders and jobs run and execute in the scheduling criteria, as described in Scheduling. You can also define Site Standard rules with time zones, as described in Creating a Site Standard Rule.

Jobs that are scheduled to run in a user-defined time zone must be saved at least 48 hours before their intended execution dates. Jobs defined with different time zones must not be combined in the same folder. This ensures that the jobs automatically run via the appropriate New Day procedure or User Daily method. If a newly scheduled job has to run today, you must run it manually. For more information on New Day and User Daily, see New Day Procedure.

Daylight-Savings Time

Daylight-savings time (DST) refers to the spring, summer, and early fall season when clocks are set ahead a half hour, hour, or more to add daylight hours to the beginning of the work day. If automatic time zone management is not configured, you must manually accommodate for DST every year, as described in Defining Daylight-Savings Time.

After you define DST, you must take the following considerations into account:

• Daylight-Savings Time Considerations

• Standard Time Considerations

Time Zone Utilities

In the ctmpsm Monitoring utility, job state (STATE) values are calculated according to the Control-M/Server New Day time.

For more information on job STATE values, see Values in the STATE and STATUS ctmpsm Fields.

To run jobs in a specific time zone on a future date in the CLI, see the -odate and -odate_option parameters in any of the following Monitoring utilities:

• ctmcreate Parameters

• ctmorder Parameters

• ctmudchk Parameters

• ctmudly Parameters

Adding a Time Zone

This procedure describes how to add a new time zone to the TimeZone.dat file, which enables you to define a time zone in the scheduling criteria for a SMART folder, sub-folder, or job.

Begin

1. Navigate to the following directories, and complete steps 2–4 of this procedure for each TimeZone.dat file:

   • UNIX

     • Control-M/EM Server: <Control-M/EM_home>/ctm_em/etc/cli/data

     • Control-M/Server: <Control-M/Server_home>/ctm_server/data

   • Windows

     • Control-M/EM Server: <Control-M/EM_home>\Default\Data

     • Control-M/Server: <Control-M/Server_home>\ctm_server\data

     • Control-M Client: <Control-M_Client_home>\data

2. Open the TimeZone.dat file in a text editor.

   The list of currently defined time zones appears, in the following format:

   <Time_Zone> (GMT±<hh:mm>)

   where the Time_Zone parameter represents the time zone ID.

   The label RIO represents the Rio de Janeiro time zone, and its time zone is defined in the TimeZone.dat file as RIO (GMT-03:00).

3. Add a new time zone to the end of the list in the standard time zone format.

   • PTI (GMT-08:00) for the Pitcairn Islands, British Overseas Territories.

   • DAR (GMT+09:30) for Darwin, Australia.

4. Verify that there is an empty line at the end of the file, and then save and close the file.

5. After you have added the new time zone to each TimeZone.dat file, run the following command on the following components:

   • UNIX

     • Control-M/EM Server: "<EM_Home>/bin/em bmcpython <EM_Home>/etc/cli/data/convert_timezone_dat_to_json.py" "<EM_Home>/etc/cli/data/TimeZone.dat" "<EM_Home>/etc/cli/data/TimeZone.json"

     • Control-M/Server: run_python "<CTM_Server_Home>/ctm_server/scripts/convert_timezone_dat_to_json.py" "<CTM_Server_Home>/data/TimeZone.dat" "<CTM_Server_Home>/data/TimeZone.json"

   • Windows

     • Control-M/EM Server: "<EM_Home>\bin\em bmcpython <EM_Home>\etc\cli\data\convert_timezone_dat_to_json.py" "<EM_Home>\etc\cli\data\TimeZone.dat" "<EM_Home>\etc\cli\data\TimeZone.json"

     • Control-M/Server: run_python "<CTM_Server_Home>\ctm_server\scripts\convert_timezone_dat_to_json.py" "<CTM_Server_Home>\data\TimeZone.dat" "<CTM_Server_Home>\data\TimeZone.json"

6. Do the following:

   1. Refresh the Control-M/EM server.

   2. Refresh the Control-M/Server.

   3. Log out and then log back in to Control-M client.

Defining Daylight-Savings Time

This procedure describes how to define daylight-savings time (DST) for time zones in the TimeZone.dat file. You must perform this procedure only in the following situations:

• The Control-M/Server resides in a location that uses DST.

• The SMART folder, sub-folder, or job scheduling criteria rely on a time zone with a DST that differs from the Control-M/Server time zone.

• You have not configured automatic time zone management, as described in Time Zones.

In any of the above instances, you must change the DST definitions yearly, since the dates when the clocks are changed shift every year.

Begin

1. Navigate to the following directories, open the TimeZone.dat file in a text editor, and complete steps 2–4 of this procedure for each file.

   • UNIX

     • Control-M/EM Server: <EM_Home>/ctm_em/data

     • Control-M/Server: <Control-M/Server_Home>/data

     • Control-M Client: <Control-M_Client_Home>/data

   • Windows

     • Control-M/EM Server: <EM_Home>\ctm_em\data

     • Control-M/Server: <Control-M/Server_Home>\data

     • Control-M Client: <Control-M_Client_Home>\data

   The list of currently defined time zones appears in the following format:

   <Time_Zone> (GMT±<hh:mm>)

   where the Time_Zone parameter represents the time zone label.

   The label EST represents the Eastern Standard Time time zone, which is defined in the TimeZone.dat file as EST (GMT-05:00).

2. Do one of the following, based upon the relevant hemisphere:

   • Northern Hemisphere: Define the relevant time zone definition in the TimeZone.dat file so that it includes DST adjustments, as follows:

     <Time_Zone> (GMT±<hh:mm>) FROM <dd.mm hh:mm> TO <dd.mm hh:mm> (GMT±<hh:mm>)

     For more information, see Northern Hemisphere DST Parameters.

   • Southern Hemisphere: Define the relevant time zone definition in the TimeZone.dat file so that it includes DST adjustments, as follows:

     <Time_Zone> (GMT±<hh:mm>) FROM <dd.mm hh:mm> TO <dd.mm hh:mm> (GMT±<hh:mm>)

     For more information, see Southern Hemisphere DST Parameters.

   • In the Southern Hemisphere, the syntax and type of time frame (standard time instead of DST) is reversed.

   • If a relevant time zone contains several countries, and some observe DST and some do not, or if they change the clock on different days, add additional time zone definitions to cover the variations.

3. Verify that there is an empty line at the end of the file, then save and close the file.

4. After you have added the new time zone to each TimeZone.dat file, run the following command on the following components:

   • UNIX

     • Control-M/EM Server: "<EM_Home>/bin/em bmcpython <EM_Home>/etc/cli/data/convert_timezone_dat_to_json.py" "<EM_Home>/etc/cli/data/TimeZone.dat" "<EM_Home>/etc/cli/data/TimeZone.json"

     • Control-M/Server: run_python "<CTM_Server_Home>/ctm_server/scripts/convert_timezone_dat_to_json.py" "<CTM_Server_Home>/data/TimeZone.dat" "<CTM_Server_Home>/data/TimeZone.json"

   • Windows

     • Control-M/EM Server: "<EM_Home>\bin\em bmcpython <EM_Home>\etc\cli\data\convert_timezone_dat_to_json.py" "<EM_Home>\etc\cli\data\TimeZone.dat" "<EM_Home>\etc\cli\data\TimeZone.json"

     • Control-M/Server: run_python "<CTM_Server_Home>\ctm_server\scripts\convert_timezone_dat_to_json.py" "<CTM_Server_Home>\data\TimeZone.dat" "<CTM_Server_Home>\data\TimeZone.json"

5. Do the following:

   1. Refresh the Control-M/EM server.

   2. Refresh the Control-M/Server.

   3. Log out and then log back in to Control-M client.

6. Update the relevant scheduling criteria in the relevant job definitions and Site Standards with the new time zone definitions.

   If you delete or modify a time zone definition in the TimeZone.dat files, you must change any Site Standards and job definitions that specify the changed time zone. Otherwise, those job definitions are invalid.

Northern Hemisphere DST Parameters

The following table describes the parameters that enable you to add or modify Northern Hemisphere DST definitions in the TimeZone.dat file, as described in Defining Daylight-Savings Time.

Parameter	Description
<Time_Zone>	Defines the standard time zone name. ANC defines the time zone for Anchorage, Alaska, USA.
The First (GMT±<hh:mm>)	Defines the standard time zone in Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) offset format, as follows:  hh: Hours mm: Minutes (GMT-09:00) defines the standard time zone as nine hours west of GMT.
FROM <dd.mm hh:mm>	Defines the day and time that DST begins, in days (dd) of the month (mm) and hours (hh) and minutes (mm) of the day. FROM 12.03 02:00 indicates that DST begins on 12 February at 02:00 am.
TO <dd.mm hh:mm>	Defines the day and time that DST ends, in days (dd) of the month (mm) and hours (hh) and minutes (mm) of the day. TO 05.11 02:00 indicates that DST ends on 5 November at 02:00am.
The Second (GMT±<hh:mm>)	Defines the DST time zone in Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) offset format, as follows:  hh: Hours mm: Minutes (GMT-08:00) defines the DST time zone as eight hours west of GMT.

Southern Hemisphere DST Parameters

The following table describes the parameters that enable you to add or modify Southern Hemisphere DST definitions in the TimeZone.dat file, as described in Defining Daylight-Savings Time.

Parameter	Description
<Time_Zone>	Defines the standard time zone name. SYD defines the time zone for Sydney, Australia.
The First (GMT±<hh:mm>)	Defines the DST time zone in Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) offset format, as follows:  hh: Hours mm: Minutes (GMT+11:00) defines the DST time zone as 11 hours east of GMT.
FROM <dd.mm hh:mm>	Defines the day and time that standard time begins, in days (dd) of the month (mm) and hours (hh) and minutes (mm) of the day. FROM 02.04 03:00 indicates that standard time begins on 2 April at 03:00am.
TO <dd.mm hh:mm>	Defines the day and time that standard time ends, in days (dd) of the month (mm) and hours (hh) and minutes (mm) of the day. TO 01.10 02:00 indicates that standard time ends on 1 October at 02:00am.
The Second (GMT±<hh:mm>)	Defines the standard time zone in Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) offset format, as follows:  hh: Hours mm: Minutes (GMT+10:00) defines the standard time zone as 10 hours east of GMT.

Daylight-Savings Time Considerations

If your data center includes multiple time zones, you might need to adjust the TimeZone.dat files to reflect the different daylight-savings time (DST) offsets in those time zones. This adjustment is especially important because the dates that the clocks are changed in each time zone often differ from each other, in addition to being different from themselves in previous and subsequent years.

The following examples illustrate other important considerations you must take into account when you define DST.

Standard Time Considerations

The following examples illustrate important considerations you must take into account when the clock is moved back (manually or automatically) from DST to standard time.