How to convert the time zone in MySQL

This article describes how to convert the time zone in MySQL by using the CONVERT_TZ function.

Using the CONVERT_TZ function

By default, A2 Hosting's servers use one of the following time zones:

• US-based (Michigan) servers: US Eastern Time zone.
• Europe-based (Amsterdam) servers: Central European Time zone.
• Asia-based (Singapore) servers: Singapore Standard Time zone.

On shared servers, you cannot change the default MySQL time zone, because this would affect other accounts on the server. However, you can convert the time zone used in DATE, TIME, and DATETIME fields by calling the CONVERT_TZ function as needed.

For example, the following sample query shows how to convert the current date and time in the US Eastern time zone to the time zone for Paris, France:

SELECT CONVERT_TZ( NOW(),'US/Eastern','Europe/Paris' );

More Information

• For more information about time zone support in MySQL, please visit http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.0/en/time-zone-support.html.
• For more information about the CONVERT_TZ function, please visit http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.0/en/date-and-time-functions.html#function_convert-tz.