Setting Linux Timezone from the Shell

Assuming you've got NTP, etc set up, your issue shouldn't be any more complicated than

1. Setting it properly in /etc/localtime:

cp /etc/localtime /etc/localtime.ORIG; 

cat /usr/share/zoneinfo/America/New_York > /etc/localtime 

2. Change /etc/sysconfig/clock to

ZONE="America/New_York" 

UTC=true 

ARC=false 

No OS restart is required, but it's probably a good idea. Any process with a JVM almost certainly needs one, though.

Note that the original localtime file is backed up in the line above, in case you need it.