Enable changing of the time zone for non-admin users (but keep date&time locked)

[AndreasRumpl]

Is it possible to enable non-admin users access to "system preferences > date & time > date & time"?

Subpoints of system preferences > date & time are:

-date & time
-time zone
-clock

We want to allow (non-admin) users only to change the "time zone", nothing else.

Is this possible or do we really need to open the complete "date & time" preferences for non-admins?

Thx!

Note: macOS 10.12.x

[mkolb · Accepted solution]

I created a little "quick and dirty" script for this. The script could be part of a self-service policy which can be available offline too. This way the user could change the time zone at any time without being admin. It isn't very pretty, there is definitely room for improvements, but it does the job.

Basically I work with an Apple Script Input interface. If you test the script directly on the client you would have to call it with "sudo" cause it needs admin permissions. If it is launched by the JSS it runs as root anyway.

The script looks like this:

#!/bin/sh


####################################################################################################
# This script gives the user the choice to change the time zone, even if he/she is not local admin.
# Jamf Pro is needed to run this script.
#
# by Marco Kolbas                                       
#                                                                                                           
# Vers. 1.0 // July 2017    
####################################################################################################


#Dialog to chose which time zone should be set
currentuser=`stat -f%Su /dev/console`

read -r -d '' selectzone <<'EOF'


    set ZoneList to {"Africa/Abidjan", "Africa/Accra", "Africa/Addis_Ababa", "Africa/Algiers", "Africa/Asmara", "Africa/Accra", "Africa/Bamako", "Africa/Bangui", "Africa/Banjul", "Africa/Bissau", "Africa/Blantyre", "Africa/Brazzaville", "Africa/Bujumbura", "Africa/Cairo", "Africa/Casablanca", "Africa/Ceuta", "Africa/Conakry", "Africa/Dakar", "Africa/Dar_es_Salaam", "Africa/Djibouti", "Africa/Douala", "Africa/El_Aaiun", "Africa/Freetown", "Africa/Gaborone", "Africa/Harare", "Africa/Johannesburg", "Africa/Juba", "Africa/Kampala", "Africa/Khartoum", "Africa/Kigali", "Africa/Kinshasa", "Africa/Lagos","Africa/Libreville", "Africa/Lome", "Africa/Luanda", "Africa/Lubumbashi", "Africa/Lusaka", "Africa/Malabo", "Africa/Maputo", "Africa/Maseru", "Africa/Mbabane", "Africa/Mogadishu", "Africa/Monrovia", "Africa/Nairobi", "Africa/Ndjamena", "Africa/Niamey", "Africa/Nouakchott", "Africa/Ouagadougou", "Africa/Porto-Novo", "Africa/Sao_Tome", "Africa/Tripoli", "Africa/Tunis", "Africa/Windhoek", "America/Adak", "America/Anchorage", "America/Anguilla", "America/Antigua", "America/Araguaina", "America/Argentina/Buenos_Aires", "America/Argentina/Catamarca", "America/Argentina/Cordoba", "America/Argentina/Jujuy", "America/Argentina/La_Rioja", "America/Argentina/Mendoza", "America/Argentina/Rio_Gallegos", "America/Argentina/Salta", "America/Argentina/San_Juan", "America/Argentina/San_Luis", "America/Argentina/Tucuman", "America/Argentina/Ushuaia", "America/Aruba", "America/Asuncion", "America/Atikokan", "America/Bahia", "America/Bahia_Banderas", "America/Barbados", "America/Belem", "America/Belize", "America/Blanc-Sablon", "America/Boa_Vista", "America/Bogota", "America/Boise", "America/Cambridge_Bay", "America/Campo_Grande", "America/Cancun", "America/Caracas", "America/Cayenne", "America/Cayman", "America/Chicago", "America/Chihuahua", "America/Costa_Rica", "America/Creston", "America/Cuiaba", "America/Curacao", "America/Danmarkshavn", "America/Dawson", "America/Dawson_Creek", "America/Denver", "America/Detroit", "America/Dominica", "America/Edmonton", "America/Eirunepe", "America/El_Salvador", "America/Fort_Nelson", "America/Fortaleza", "America/Glace_Bay", "America/Godthab", "America/Goose_Bay", "America/Grand_Turk", "America/Grenada", "America/Guadeloupe", "America/Guatemala", "America/Guayaquil", "America/Guyana", "America/Halifax", "America/Havana", "America/Hermosillo", "America/Indiana/Indianapolis", "America/Indiana/Knox", "America/Indiana/Marengo", "America/Indiana/Petersburg", "America/Indiana/Tell_City", "America/Indiana/Vevay", "America/Indiana/Vincennes", "America/Indiana/Winamac", "America/Inuvik", "America/Iqaluit", "America/Jamaica", "America/Juneau", "America/Kentucky/Louisville", "America/Kentucky/Monticello", "America/Kralendijk", "America/La_Paz", "America/Lima", "America/Los_Angeles", "America/Lower_Princes", "America/Maceio", "America/Managua", "America/Manaus", "America/Marigot", "America/Martinique", "America/Matamoros", "America/Mazatlan", "America/Menominee", "America/Merida", "America/Metlakatla", "America/Mexico_City", "America/Miquelon", "America/Moncton", "America/Monterrey", "America/Montevideo", "America/Montreal", "America/Montserrat", "America/Nassau", "America/New_York", "America/Nipigon", "America/Nome", "America/Noronha", "America/North_Dakota/Beulah", "America/North_Dakota/Center", "America/North_Dakota/New_Salem", "America/Ojinaga", "America/Panama", "America/Pangnirtung", "America/Paramaribo", "America/Phoenix", "America/Port-au-Prince", "America/Port_of_Spain", "America/Porto_Velho", "America/Puerto_Rico", "America/Punta_Arenas", "America/Rainy_River", "America/Rankin_Inlet", "America/Recife", "America/Regina", "America/Resolute", "America/Rio_Branco", "America/Santa_Isabel", "America/Santarem", "America/Santiago", "America/Santo_Domingo", "America/Sao_Paulo", "America/Scoresbysund", "America/Shiprock", "America/Sitka", "America/St_Barthelemy", "America/St_Johns", "America/St_Kitts", "America/St_Lucia", "America/St_Thomas", "America/St_Vincent", "America/Swift_Current", "America/Tegucigalpa", "America/Thule", "America/Thunder_Bay", "America/Tijuana", "America/Toronto", "America/Tortola", "America/Vancouver", "America/Whitehorse", "America/Winnipeg", "America/Yakutat", "America/Yellowknife", "Antarctica/Casey", "Antarctica/Davis", "Antarctica/DumontDUrville", "Antarctica/Macquarie", "Antarctica/Mawson", "Antarctica/McMurdo", "Antarctica/Palmer", "Antarctica/Rothera", "Antarctica/South_Pole", "Antarctica/Syowa", "Antarctica/Troll", "Antarctica/Vostok", "Arctic/Longyearbyen", "Asia/Aden", "Asia/Almaty", "Asia/Amman", "Asia/Anadyr", "Asia/Aqtau", "Asia/Aqtobe", "Asia/Ashgabat", "Asia/Atyrau", "Asia/Baghdad", "Asia/Bahrain", "Asia/Baku", "Asia/Bangkok", "Asia/Barnaul", "Asia/Beirut", "Asia/Bishkek", "Asia/Brunei", "Asia/Chita", "Asia/Choibalsan", "Asia/Chongqing", "Asia/Colombo", "Asia/Damascus", "Asia/Dhaka", "Asia/Dili", "Asia/Dubai", "Asia/Dushanbe", "Asia/Famagusta", "Asia/Gaza", "Asia/Harbin", "Asia/Hebron", "Asia/Ho_Chi_Minh", "Asia/Hong_Kong", "Asia/Hovd", "Asia/Irkutsk", "Asia/Jakarta", "Asia/Jayapura", "Asia/Jerusalem", "Asia/Kabul", "Asia/Kamchatka", "Asia/Karachi", "Asia/Kashgar", "Asia/Kathmandu", "Asia/Katmandu", "Asia/Khandyga", "Asia/Kolkata", "Asia/Krasnoyarsk", "Asia/Kuala_Lumpur", "Asia/Kuching", "Asia/Kuwait", "Asia/Macau", "Asia/Magadan","Asia/Makassar", "Asia/Manila", "Asia/Muscat", "Asia/Nicosia", "Asia/Novokuznetsk", "Asia/Novosibirsk", "Asia/Omsk", "Asia/Oral", "Asia/Phnom_Penh", "Asia/Pontianak", "Asia/Pyongyang", "Asia/Qatar", "Asia/Qyzylorda", "Asia/Rangoon", "Asia/Riyadh", "Asia/Sakhalin", "Asia/Samarkand", "Asia/Seoul", "Asia/Shanghai", "Asia/Singapore", "Asia/Srednekolymsk", "Asia/Taipei", "Asia/Tashkent", "Asia/Tbilisi", "Asia/Tehran", "Asia/Thimphu", "Asia/Tokyo", "Asia/Tomsk", "Asia/Ulaanbaatar", "Asia/Urumqi", "Asia/Ust-Nera", "Asia/Vientiane", "Asia/Vladivostok", "Asia/Yakutsk", "Asia/Yangon", "Asia/Yekaterinburg", "Asia/Yerevan", "Atlantic/Azores", "Atlantic/Bermuda", "Atlantic/Canary", "Atlantic/Cape_Verde", "Atlantic/Faroe", "Atlantic/Madeira", "Atlantic/Reykjavik", "Atlantic/South_Georgia", "Atlantic/St_Helena", "Atlantic/Stanley", "Australia/Adelaide", "Australia/Brisbane", "Australia/Broken_Hill", "Australia/Currie", "Australia/Darwin", "Australia/Eucla", "Australia/Hobart", "Australia/Lindeman", "Australia/Lord_Howe", "Australia/Melbourne", "Australia/Perth", "Australia/Sydney", "Europe/Amsterdam", "Europe/Andorra", "Europe/Astrakhan", "Europe/Athens", "Europe/Belgrade", "Europe/Berlin", "Europe/Bratislava", "Europe/Brussels", "Europe/Bucharest", "Europe/Budapest", "Europe/Busingen", "Europe/Chisinau", "Europe/Copenhagen", "Europe/Dublin", "Europe/Gibraltar", "Europe/Guernsey", "Europe/Helsinki", "Europe/Isle_of_Man", "Europe/Istanbul", "Europe/Jersey", "Europe/Kaliningrad", "Europe/Kiev", "Europe/Kirov", "Europe/Lisbon", "Europe/Ljubljana", "Europe/London", "Europe/Luxembourg", "Europe/Madrid", "Europe/Malta", "Europe/Mariehamn", "Europe/Minsk", "Europe/Monaco", "Europe/Moscow", "Europe/Oslo", "Europe/Paris", "Europe/Podgorica", "Europe/Prague", "Europe/Riga", "Europe/Rome", "Europe/Samara", "Europe/San_Marino", "Europe/Sarajevo", "Europe/Saratov", "Europe/Simferopol", "Europe/Skopje", "Europe/Sofia", "Europe/Stockholm", "Europe/Tallinn", "Europe/Tirane", "Europe/Ulyanovsk", "Europe/Uzhgorod", "Europe/Vaduz", "Europe/Vatican", "Europe/Vienna", "Europe/Vilnius", "Europe/Volgograd", "Europe/Warsaw", "Europe/Zagreb", "Europe/Zaporozhye", "Europe/Zurich", "GMT", "Indian/Antananarivo", "Indian/Chagos", "Indian/Christmas", "Indian/Cocos", "Indian/Comoro", "Indian/Kerguelen", "Indian/Mahe", "Indian/Maldives", "Indian/Mauritius", "Indian/Mayotte", "Indian/Reunion", "Pacific/Apia", "Pacific/Auckland", "Pacific/Bougainville", "Pacific/Chatham", "Pacific/Chuuk", "Pacific/Easter", "Pacific/Efate", "Pacific/Enderbury", "Pacific/Fakaofo", "Pacific/Fiji", "Pacific/Funafuti", "Pacific/Galapagos", "Pacific/Gambier", "Pacific/Guadalcanal", "Pacific/Guam", "Pacific/Honolulu", "Pacific/Johnston", "Pacific/Kiritimati", "Pacific/Kosrae", "Pacific/Kwajalein", "Pacific/Majuro", "Pacific/Marquesas", "Pacific/Midway", "Pacific/Nauru", "Pacific/Niue", "Pacific/Norfolk", "Pacific/Noumea", "Pacific/Pago_Pago", "Pacific/Palau", "Pacific/Pitcairn", "Pacific/Pohnpei", "Pacific/Ponape", "Pacific/Port_Moresby", "Pacific/Rarotonga", "Pacific/Saipan", "Pacific/Tahiti", "Pacific/Tarawa", "Pacific/Tongatapu", "Pacific/Truk", "Pacific/Wake", "Pacific/Wake"}

    set ZoneListAnswer to choose from list ZoneList with title "Time Zone Editor - Vers. 1.0" with prompt "Which time zone should be set?" default items "Europe/Vienna"


    if ZoneListAnswer is false then
        set ZoneListAnswer to "Cancel"
    else
        set ZoneListAnswer to ZoneListAnswer's item 1 (* extract choice from list *)
    end if

    return ZoneListAnswer

EOF

#Call dialog to ask for time zone, give answer to the "timeZone" variable
timeZone=$(sudo -u $currentuser /usr/bin/osascript -e "$selectzone");


#Check macOS Version
osx=$(/usr/bin/defaults read /System/Library/CoreServices/SystemVersion ProductVersion)
maj=$(/usr/bin/defaults read /System/Library/CoreServices/SystemVersion ProductVersion | awk '{print substr($1,1,2)}')
ref=$(/usr/bin/defaults read /System/Library/CoreServices/SystemVersion ProductVersion | awk '{print substr($1,4,2)}')

if [ $maj -gt 10 ]
then
    echo
    echo "Check OS string format & OS X systemsetup utility for script compatibility with OS X version $osx"
    echo
    exit
fi


#Set the time zone
if [ "$timeZone" != "" ]
then
    if [ $ref -lt 5 ]
    then
        echo
        echo "Setting time zone for OS X $osx..."
        /System/Library/CoreServices/RemoteManagement/ARDAgent.app/Contents/Support/systemsetup -settimezone "$timeZone"
        /usr/bin/killall SystemUIServer
        echo "Refreshing the clock in the Menu Bar..."
        echo
    else
        echo
        echo "Setting time zone for OS X $osx..."
        /usr/sbin/systemsetup -settimezone "$timeZone"
        /usr/bin/killall SystemUIServer
        echo "Refreshing the clock in the Menu Bar..."
        echo
    fi
else
    echo
    echo "Error: The timeZone variable is not populated. Press the return key "
    echo "to generate a list of valid time zones. Select & copy the desired "
    echo "time zone from the list & paste into the script on the line reading "
    echo
    echo " timeZone="" "
    echo
    read -p ""
   /usr/sbin/systemsetup listtimezones
   exit
fi

Hope this helps!

[sbirdsley]

I would suggest setup a policy triggered through Self Service to sync time zones

See this script for idea

Also setup when the policy is ran to use the ntpdate command to leverage a time server on our domain to ensure system time matches domain

[AndreasRumpl]

Ok, i forgot some things to clarify:

The use case is for on-the-go employees that want to manually change the timezone on their Mac.
Per default we lock the date&time settings in system preferences and we also disable the location services (security policies).

There is the possibility to unlock the date & time settings for non-admin users, but then the users would also be able to change the time (which we don't want, as wrong time settings would hinder the communication to our network infrastructure)

So we would really need the ability to only allow the tab "time zone" in the "date&time" settings for non-admin users.

[mkolb · Accepted solution]

I created a little "quick and dirty" script for this. The script could be part of a self-service policy which can be available offline too. This way the user could change the time zone at any time without being admin. It isn't very pretty, there is definitely room for improvements, but it does the job.

Basically I work with an Apple Script Input interface. If you test the script directly on the client you would have to call it with "sudo" cause it needs admin permissions. If it is launched by the JSS it runs as root anyway.

The script looks like this:

#!/bin/sh


####################################################################################################
# This script gives the user the choice to change the time zone, even if he/she is not local admin.
# Jamf Pro is needed to run this script.
#
# by Marco Kolbas                                       
#                                                                                                           
# Vers. 1.0 // July 2017    
####################################################################################################


#Dialog to chose which time zone should be set
currentuser=`stat -f%Su /dev/console`

read -r -d '' selectzone <<'EOF'


    set ZoneList to {"Africa/Abidjan", "Africa/Accra", "Africa/Addis_Ababa", "Africa/Algiers", "Africa/Asmara", "Africa/Accra", "Africa/Bamako", "Africa/Bangui", "Africa/Banjul", "Africa/Bissau", "Africa/Blantyre", "Africa/Brazzaville", "Africa/Bujumbura", "Africa/Cairo", "Africa/Casablanca", "Africa/Ceuta", "Africa/Conakry", "Africa/Dakar", "Africa/Dar_es_Salaam", "Africa/Djibouti", "Africa/Douala", "Africa/El_Aaiun", "Africa/Freetown", "Africa/Gaborone", "Africa/Harare", "Africa/Johannesburg", "Africa/Juba", "Africa/Kampala", "Africa/Khartoum", "Africa/Kigali", "Africa/Kinshasa", "Africa/Lagos","Africa/Libreville", "Africa/Lome", "Africa/Luanda", "Africa/Lubumbashi", "Africa/Lusaka", "Africa/Malabo", "Africa/Maputo", "Africa/Maseru", "Africa/Mbabane", "Africa/Mogadishu", "Africa/Monrovia", "Africa/Nairobi", "Africa/Ndjamena", "Africa/Niamey", "Africa/Nouakchott", "Africa/Ouagadougou", "Africa/Porto-Novo", "Africa/Sao_Tome", "Africa/Tripoli", "Africa/Tunis", "Africa/Windhoek", "America/Adak", "America/Anchorage", "America/Anguilla", "America/Antigua", "America/Araguaina", "America/Argentina/Buenos_Aires", "America/Argentina/Catamarca", "America/Argentina/Cordoba", "America/Argentina/Jujuy", "America/Argentina/La_Rioja", "America/Argentina/Mendoza", "America/Argentina/Rio_Gallegos", "America/Argentina/Salta", "America/Argentina/San_Juan", "America/Argentina/San_Luis", "America/Argentina/Tucuman", "America/Argentina/Ushuaia", "America/Aruba", "America/Asuncion", "America/Atikokan", "America/Bahia", "America/Bahia_Banderas", "America/Barbados", "America/Belem", "America/Belize", "America/Blanc-Sablon", "America/Boa_Vista", "America/Bogota", "America/Boise", "America/Cambridge_Bay", "America/Campo_Grande", "America/Cancun", "America/Caracas", "America/Cayenne", "America/Cayman", "America/Chicago", "America/Chihuahua", "America/Costa_Rica", "America/Creston", "America/Cuiaba", "America/Curacao", "America/Danmarkshavn", "America/Dawson", "America/Dawson_Creek", "America/Denver", "America/Detroit", "America/Dominica", "America/Edmonton", "America/Eirunepe", "America/El_Salvador", "America/Fort_Nelson", "America/Fortaleza", "America/Glace_Bay", "America/Godthab", "America/Goose_Bay", "America/Grand_Turk", "America/Grenada", "America/Guadeloupe", "America/Guatemala", "America/Guayaquil", "America/Guyana", "America/Halifax", "America/Havana", "America/Hermosillo", "America/Indiana/Indianapolis", "America/Indiana/Knox", "America/Indiana/Marengo", "America/Indiana/Petersburg", "America/Indiana/Tell_City", "America/Indiana/Vevay", "America/Indiana/Vincennes", "America/Indiana/Winamac", "America/Inuvik", "America/Iqaluit", "America/Jamaica", "America/Juneau", "America/Kentucky/Louisville", "America/Kentucky/Monticello", "America/Kralendijk", "America/La_Paz", "America/Lima", "America/Los_Angeles", "America/Lower_Princes", "America/Maceio", "America/Managua", "America/Manaus", "America/Marigot", "America/Martinique", "America/Matamoros", "America/Mazatlan", "America/Menominee", "America/Merida", "America/Metlakatla", "America/Mexico_City", "America/Miquelon", "America/Moncton", "America/Monterrey", "America/Montevideo", "America/Montreal", "America/Montserrat", "America/Nassau", "America/New_York", "America/Nipigon", "America/Nome", "America/Noronha", "America/North_Dakota/Beulah", "America/North_Dakota/Center", "America/North_Dakota/New_Salem", "America/Ojinaga", "America/Panama", "America/Pangnirtung", "America/Paramaribo", "America/Phoenix", "America/Port-au-Prince", "America/Port_of_Spain", "America/Porto_Velho", "America/Puerto_Rico", "America/Punta_Arenas", "America/Rainy_River", "America/Rankin_Inlet", "America/Recife", "America/Regina", "America/Resolute", "America/Rio_Branco", "America/Santa_Isabel", "America/Santarem", "America/Santiago", "America/Santo_Domingo", "America/Sao_Paulo", "America/Scoresbysund", "America/Shiprock", "America/Sitka", "America/St_Barthelemy", "America/St_Johns", "America/St_Kitts", "America/St_Lucia", "America/St_Thomas", "America/St_Vincent", "America/Swift_Current", "America/Tegucigalpa", "America/Thule", "America/Thunder_Bay", "America/Tijuana", "America/Toronto", "America/Tortola", "America/Vancouver", "America/Whitehorse", "America/Winnipeg", "America/Yakutat", "America/Yellowknife", "Antarctica/Casey", "Antarctica/Davis", "Antarctica/DumontDUrville", "Antarctica/Macquarie", "Antarctica/Mawson", "Antarctica/McMurdo", "Antarctica/Palmer", "Antarctica/Rothera", "Antarctica/South_Pole", "Antarctica/Syowa", "Antarctica/Troll", "Antarctica/Vostok", "Arctic/Longyearbyen", "Asia/Aden", "Asia/Almaty", "Asia/Amman", "Asia/Anadyr", "Asia/Aqtau", "Asia/Aqtobe", "Asia/Ashgabat", "Asia/Atyrau", "Asia/Baghdad", "Asia/Bahrain", "Asia/Baku", "Asia/Bangkok", "Asia/Barnaul", "Asia/Beirut", "Asia/Bishkek", "Asia/Brunei", "Asia/Chita", "Asia/Choibalsan", "Asia/Chongqing", "Asia/Colombo", "Asia/Damascus", "Asia/Dhaka", "Asia/Dili", "Asia/Dubai", "Asia/Dushanbe", "Asia/Famagusta", "Asia/Gaza", "Asia/Harbin", "Asia/Hebron", "Asia/Ho_Chi_Minh", "Asia/Hong_Kong", "Asia/Hovd", "Asia/Irkutsk", "Asia/Jakarta", "Asia/Jayapura", "Asia/Jerusalem", "Asia/Kabul", "Asia/Kamchatka", "Asia/Karachi", "Asia/Kashgar", "Asia/Kathmandu", "Asia/Katmandu", "Asia/Khandyga", "Asia/Kolkata", "Asia/Krasnoyarsk", "Asia/Kuala_Lumpur", "Asia/Kuching", "Asia/Kuwait", "Asia/Macau", "Asia/Magadan","Asia/Makassar", "Asia/Manila", "Asia/Muscat", "Asia/Nicosia", "Asia/Novokuznetsk", "Asia/Novosibirsk", "Asia/Omsk", "Asia/Oral", "Asia/Phnom_Penh", "Asia/Pontianak", "Asia/Pyongyang", "Asia/Qatar", "Asia/Qyzylorda", "Asia/Rangoon", "Asia/Riyadh", "Asia/Sakhalin", "Asia/Samarkand", "Asia/Seoul", "Asia/Shanghai", "Asia/Singapore", "Asia/Srednekolymsk", "Asia/Taipei", "Asia/Tashkent", "Asia/Tbilisi", "Asia/Tehran", "Asia/Thimphu", "Asia/Tokyo", "Asia/Tomsk", "Asia/Ulaanbaatar", "Asia/Urumqi", "Asia/Ust-Nera", "Asia/Vientiane", "Asia/Vladivostok", "Asia/Yakutsk", "Asia/Yangon", "Asia/Yekaterinburg", "Asia/Yerevan", "Atlantic/Azores", "Atlantic/Bermuda", "Atlantic/Canary", "Atlantic/Cape_Verde", "Atlantic/Faroe", "Atlantic/Madeira", "Atlantic/Reykjavik", "Atlantic/South_Georgia", "Atlantic/St_Helena", "Atlantic/Stanley", "Australia/Adelaide", "Australia/Brisbane", "Australia/Broken_Hill", "Australia/Currie", "Australia/Darwin", "Australia/Eucla", "Australia/Hobart", "Australia/Lindeman", "Australia/Lord_Howe", "Australia/Melbourne", "Australia/Perth", "Australia/Sydney", "Europe/Amsterdam", "Europe/Andorra", "Europe/Astrakhan", "Europe/Athens", "Europe/Belgrade", "Europe/Berlin", "Europe/Bratislava", "Europe/Brussels", "Europe/Bucharest", "Europe/Budapest", "Europe/Busingen", "Europe/Chisinau", "Europe/Copenhagen", "Europe/Dublin", "Europe/Gibraltar", "Europe/Guernsey", "Europe/Helsinki", "Europe/Isle_of_Man", "Europe/Istanbul", "Europe/Jersey", "Europe/Kaliningrad", "Europe/Kiev", "Europe/Kirov", "Europe/Lisbon", "Europe/Ljubljana", "Europe/London", "Europe/Luxembourg", "Europe/Madrid", "Europe/Malta", "Europe/Mariehamn", "Europe/Minsk", "Europe/Monaco", "Europe/Moscow", "Europe/Oslo", "Europe/Paris", "Europe/Podgorica", "Europe/Prague", "Europe/Riga", "Europe/Rome", "Europe/Samara", "Europe/San_Marino", "Europe/Sarajevo", "Europe/Saratov", "Europe/Simferopol", "Europe/Skopje", "Europe/Sofia", "Europe/Stockholm", "Europe/Tallinn", "Europe/Tirane", "Europe/Ulyanovsk", "Europe/Uzhgorod", "Europe/Vaduz", "Europe/Vatican", "Europe/Vienna", "Europe/Vilnius", "Europe/Volgograd", "Europe/Warsaw", "Europe/Zagreb", "Europe/Zaporozhye", "Europe/Zurich", "GMT", "Indian/Antananarivo", "Indian/Chagos", "Indian/Christmas", "Indian/Cocos", "Indian/Comoro", "Indian/Kerguelen", "Indian/Mahe", "Indian/Maldives", "Indian/Mauritius", "Indian/Mayotte", "Indian/Reunion", "Pacific/Apia", "Pacific/Auckland", "Pacific/Bougainville", "Pacific/Chatham", "Pacific/Chuuk", "Pacific/Easter", "Pacific/Efate", "Pacific/Enderbury", "Pacific/Fakaofo", "Pacific/Fiji", "Pacific/Funafuti", "Pacific/Galapagos", "Pacific/Gambier", "Pacific/Guadalcanal", "Pacific/Guam", "Pacific/Honolulu", "Pacific/Johnston", "Pacific/Kiritimati", "Pacific/Kosrae", "Pacific/Kwajalein", "Pacific/Majuro", "Pacific/Marquesas", "Pacific/Midway", "Pacific/Nauru", "Pacific/Niue", "Pacific/Norfolk", "Pacific/Noumea", "Pacific/Pago_Pago", "Pacific/Palau", "Pacific/Pitcairn", "Pacific/Pohnpei", "Pacific/Ponape", "Pacific/Port_Moresby", "Pacific/Rarotonga", "Pacific/Saipan", "Pacific/Tahiti", "Pacific/Tarawa", "Pacific/Tongatapu", "Pacific/Truk", "Pacific/Wake", "Pacific/Wake"}

    set ZoneListAnswer to choose from list ZoneList with title "Time Zone Editor - Vers. 1.0" with prompt "Which time zone should be set?" default items "Europe/Vienna"


    if ZoneListAnswer is false then
        set ZoneListAnswer to "Cancel"
    else
        set ZoneListAnswer to ZoneListAnswer's item 1 (* extract choice from list *)
    end if

    return ZoneListAnswer

EOF

#Call dialog to ask for time zone, give answer to the "timeZone" variable
timeZone=$(sudo -u $currentuser /usr/bin/osascript -e "$selectzone");


#Check macOS Version
osx=$(/usr/bin/defaults read /System/Library/CoreServices/SystemVersion ProductVersion)
maj=$(/usr/bin/defaults read /System/Library/CoreServices/SystemVersion ProductVersion | awk '{print substr($1,1,2)}')
ref=$(/usr/bin/defaults read /System/Library/CoreServices/SystemVersion ProductVersion | awk '{print substr($1,4,2)}')

if [ $maj -gt 10 ]
then
    echo
    echo "Check OS string format & OS X systemsetup utility for script compatibility with OS X version $osx"
    echo
    exit
fi


#Set the time zone
if [ "$timeZone" != "" ]
then
    if [ $ref -lt 5 ]
    then
        echo
        echo "Setting time zone for OS X $osx..."
        /System/Library/CoreServices/RemoteManagement/ARDAgent.app/Contents/Support/systemsetup -settimezone "$timeZone"
        /usr/bin/killall SystemUIServer
        echo "Refreshing the clock in the Menu Bar..."
        echo
    else
        echo
        echo "Setting time zone for OS X $osx..."
        /usr/sbin/systemsetup -settimezone "$timeZone"
        /usr/bin/killall SystemUIServer
        echo "Refreshing the clock in the Menu Bar..."
        echo
    fi
else
    echo
    echo "Error: The timeZone variable is not populated. Press the return key "
    echo "to generate a list of valid time zones. Select & copy the desired "
    echo "time zone from the list & paste into the script on the line reading "
    echo
    echo " timeZone="" "
    echo
    read -p ""
   /usr/sbin/systemsetup listtimezones
   exit
fi

Hope this helps!

[sgiesbrecht]

Took out the OS check and works great (with Big Sur 11.6)

Thx @mkolb 

[AVmcclint · Accepted solution]

@mkolb That's a pretty thorough way of doing it. I did it slightly differently. Our employees only travel to a small number of time zones. I created self service policies for each one and the only content is the "Files and Processes" with Execute Command filled in with the appropriate zone

systemsetup -settimezone America/Chicago

And then a pretty icon for Self Service and a description. Users can change the time zone themselves without being admins if I neglected to enable location services.

[gjpalau]

Sorry to necro this thread, but I wanted to know if there is a way to instead of displaying that list all at once, to have it on a dropdown instead.