Fixing Warning: date() [function.date] in PHP 5.3 [solved]

If you recently upgraded to a newer version of PHP, like PHP 5.3, you may be getting some errors similar to this in your PHP scripts:

Warning: date() [function.date]: It is not safe to rely on the system’s timezone settings. You are *required* to use the date.timezone setting or the date_default_timezone_set() function. In case you used any of those methods and you are still getting this warning, you most likely misspelled the timezone identifier. We selected ‘America/Chicago’ for […]  instead in /var/www/999999.php on line 99

You can fix this on a per-script basis by adding:

date_default_timezone_set(‘America/Chicago’);

to the script in question (or to a PHP include that is loaded earlier in the script) and this should fix the error for that particular script.

However, a more thorough solution is to define the timezone in your php.ini file. For example, on Gentoo your php.ini file may be located here:

/etc/php/apache2-php5.3/php.ini

and look for the section similar to:

; Defines the default timezone used by the date functions
; http://php.net/date.timezone
date.timezone = ‘America/Chicago’

the “date.timezone” may be commented out with a “;” but you can simply remove the semicolon and then add the correct timezone. An Apache reboot may or may not be required after this point.

This should resolve your issue for ALL php scripts that you may run on that server.

More discussion on the topic:

Gentoo Forums :: View topic - apache / php error

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WordPress › Support » Php 5.3.0 & WP 2.8 (It is not safe to rely on the system’s timezone)http://wordpress.org/support/topic/php-530-amp-wp-28-it-is-not-safe-to-rely-on-the-systems-timezone*** Warning: strtotime() [function.strtotime]: It is not safe to rely on the system’s timezone settings. You are *required* to use the date.timezone setting or the…

PS and here is a list of all the PHP American timezone cities 🙂

America/AdakAmerica/AnchorageAmerica/AnguillaAmerica/AntiguaAmerica/Araguaina
America/Argentina/Buenos_AiresAmerica/Argentina/CatamarcaAmerica/Argentina/ComodRivadaviaAmerica/Argentina/CordobaAmerica/Argentina/Jujuy
America/Argentina/La_RiojaAmerica/Argentina/MendozaAmerica/Argentina/Rio_GallegosAmerica/Argentina/SaltaAmerica/Argentina/San_Juan
America/Argentina/San_LuisAmerica/Argentina/TucumanAmerica/Argentina/UshuaiaAmerica/ArubaAmerica/Asuncion
America/AtikokanAmerica/AtkaAmerica/BahiaAmerica/Bahia_BanderasAmerica/Barbados
America/BelemAmerica/BelizeAmerica/Blanc-SablonAmerica/Boa_VistaAmerica/Bogota
America/BoiseAmerica/Buenos_AiresAmerica/Cambridge_BayAmerica/Campo_GrandeAmerica/Cancun
America/CaracasAmerica/CatamarcaAmerica/CayenneAmerica/CaymanAmerica/Chicago
America/ChihuahuaAmerica/Coral_HarbourAmerica/CordobaAmerica/Costa_RicaAmerica/Cuiaba
America/CuracaoAmerica/DanmarkshavnAmerica/DawsonAmerica/Dawson_CreekAmerica/Denver
America/DetroitAmerica/DominicaAmerica/EdmontonAmerica/EirunepeAmerica/El_Salvador
America/EnsenadaAmerica/Fort_WayneAmerica/FortalezaAmerica/Glace_BayAmerica/Godthab
America/Goose_BayAmerica/Grand_TurkAmerica/GrenadaAmerica/GuadeloupeAmerica/Guatemala
America/GuayaquilAmerica/GuyanaAmerica/HalifaxAmerica/HavanaAmerica/Hermosillo
America/Indiana/IndianapolisAmerica/Indiana/KnoxAmerica/Indiana/MarengoAmerica/Indiana/PetersburgAmerica/Indiana/Tell_City
America/Indiana/VevayAmerica/Indiana/VincennesAmerica/Indiana/WinamacAmerica/IndianapolisAmerica/Inuvik
America/IqaluitAmerica/JamaicaAmerica/JujuyAmerica/JuneauAmerica/Kentucky/Louisville
America/Kentucky/MonticelloAmerica/Knox_INAmerica/KralendijkAmerica/La_PazAmerica/Lima
America/Los_AngelesAmerica/LouisvilleAmerica/Lower_PrincesAmerica/MaceioAmerica/Managua
America/ManausAmerica/MarigotAmerica/MartiniqueAmerica/MatamorosAmerica/Mazatlan
America/MendozaAmerica/MenomineeAmerica/MeridaAmerica/MetlakatlaAmerica/Mexico_City
America/MiquelonAmerica/MonctonAmerica/MonterreyAmerica/MontevideoAmerica/Montreal
America/MontserratAmerica/NassauAmerica/New_YorkAmerica/NipigonAmerica/Nome
America/NoronhaAmerica/North_Dakota/BeulahAmerica/North_Dakota/CenterAmerica/North_Dakota/New_SalemAmerica/Ojinaga
America/PanamaAmerica/PangnirtungAmerica/ParamariboAmerica/PhoenixAmerica/Port-au-Prince
America/Port_of_SpainAmerica/Porto_AcreAmerica/Porto_VelhoAmerica/Puerto_RicoAmerica/Rainy_River
America/Rankin_InletAmerica/RecifeAmerica/ReginaAmerica/ResoluteAmerica/Rio_Branco
America/RosarioAmerica/Santa_IsabelAmerica/SantaremAmerica/SantiagoAmerica/Santo_Domingo
America/Sao_PauloAmerica/ScoresbysundAmerica/ShiprockAmerica/SitkaAmerica/St_Barthelemy
America/St_JohnsAmerica/St_KittsAmerica/St_LuciaAmerica/St_ThomasAmerica/St_Vincent
America/Swift_CurrentAmerica/TegucigalpaAmerica/ThuleAmerica/Thunder_BayAmerica/Tijuana
America/TorontoAmerica/TortolaAmerica/VancouverAmerica/VirginAmerica/Whitehorse
America/WinnipegAmerica/YakutatAmerica/Yellowknife

 

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