MDT and time zones
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Almost every post/tutorial on setting default timezone in MDT says to use value from tzutil /g.
In addition to that, MDT documentation on TimeZoneName specifies to use value for Unattend.xml, which references to tzutil yet again. So it should work, right? Right?
After trying it out for myself, I got the “Russian Standard Time”, which didn’t work in MDT and gave me PT instead:
Thinking that I am going insane I checked Microsofts timezone list and it was correct! I decided to try Arab Standard Time which is same TZ as Moscow for laughs……. And it worked, so MDTs TimeZoneName key is not broken:
After 2 hours of pointless Googling, I didn’t find any proper solution for problem. So, I decided to dig into MDT wizard scripts.
# Solution
It turns out MDT uses its own list for timezones, which is as ancient as Windows Vista is!
After trying the “Russia TZ 2 Standard Time” from it, MDT finally shown me the proper timezone:
Here is the proper list of timezones from Scripts\DeployWiz_LanguageUI.xml:
<!--
The following is a static table of Time Zones supported by Windows XP/2003 and Windows Vista
TimeZone Format:
<option value="TimeZoneNumber;TimeZoneName">TimeZoneDescription</option>
Where:
TimeZoneNumber - The Time Zone number used in Windows XP/2003 (Whistler) Unattend.txt files. [GuiUnattended] TimeZone
TimeZoneName - The Time Zone Name used in Windows Vista (Longhorn) unattend.xml files. <TimeZone> entries
TimeZoneDescription - This is the value displayed in the dialog box.
-->
<option value="Morocco Standard Time">(UTC) Casablanca</option>
<option value="Coordinated Universal Time">(UTC) Coordinated Universal Time</option>
<option value="GMT Standard Time">(UTC) Dublin, Edinburgh, Lisbon, London</option>
<option value="Greenwich Standard Time">(UTC) Monrovia, Reykjavik</option>
<option value="W. Europe Standard Time">(UTC+01:00) Amsterdam, Berlin, Bern, Rome, Stockholm, Vienna</option>
<option value="Central Europe Standard Time">(UTC+01:00) Belgrade, Bratislava, Budapest, Ljubljana, Prague</option>
<option value="Romance Standard Time">(UTC+01:00) Brussels, Copenhagen, Madrid, Paris</option>
<option value="Central European Standard Time">(UTC+01:00) Sarajevo, Skopje, Warsaw, Zagreb</option>
<option value="W. Central Africa Standard Time">(UTC+01:00) West Central Africa</option>
<option value="Namibia Standard Time">(UTC+01:00) Windhoek</option>
<option value="Jordan Standard Time">(UTC+02:00) Amman</option>
<option value="GTB Standard Time">(UTC+02:00) Athens, Bucharest</option>
<option value="Middle East Standard Time">(UTC+02:00) Beirut</option>
<option value="Egypt Standard Time">(UTC+02:00) Cairo</option>
<option value="Syria Standard Time">(UTC+02:00) Damascus</option>
<option value="E. Europe Standard Time">(UTC+02:00) E. Europe</option>
<option value="South Africa Standard Time">(UTC+02:00) Harare, Pretoria</option>
<option value="FLE Standard Time">(UTC+02:00) Helsinki, Kyiv, Riga, Sofia, Tallinn, Vilnius</option>
<option value="Turkey Standard Time">(UTC+02:00) Istanbul</option>
<option value="Jerusalem Standard Time">(UTC+02:00) Jerusalem</option>
<option value="Russia TZ 1 Standard Time">(UTC+02:00) Kaliningrad (RTZ 1)</option>
<option value="Libya Standard Time">(UTC+02:00) Tripoli</option>
<option value="Arabic Standard Time">(UTC+03:00) Baghdad</option>
<option value="Arab Standard Time">(UTC+03:00) Kuwait, Riyadh</option>
<option value="Belarus Standard Time">(UTC+03:00) Minsk</option>
<option value="Russia TZ 2 Standard Time">(UTC+03:00) Moscow, St. Petersburg, Volgograd (RTZ 2)</option>
<option value="E. Africa Standard Time">(UTC+03:00) Nairobi</option>
<option value="Iran Standard Time">(UTC+03:30) Tehran</option>
<option value="Arabian Standard Time">(UTC+04:00) Abu Dhabi, Muscat</option>
<option value="Azerbaijan Standard Time">(UTC+04:00) Baku</option>
<option value="Russia TZ 3 Standard Time">(UTC+04:00) Izhevsk, Samara (RTZ 3)</option>
<option value="Mauritius Standard Time">(UTC+04:00) Port Louis</option>
<option value="Georgian Standard Time">(UTC+04:00) Tbilisi</option>
<option value="Caucasus Standard Time">(UTC+04:00) Yerevan</option>
<option value="Afghanistan Standard Time">(UTC+04:30) Kabul</option>
<option value="West Asia Standard Time">(UTC+05:00) Ashgabat, Tashkent</option>
<option value="Russia TZ 4 Standard Time">(UTC+05:00) Ekaterinburg (RTZ 4)</option>
<option value="Pakistan Standard Time">(UTC+05:00) Islamabad, Karachi</option>
<option value="India Standard Time">(UTC+05:30) Chennai, Kolkata, Mumbai, New Delhi</option>
<option value="Sri Lanka Standard Time">(UTC+05:30) Sri Jayawardenepura</option>
<option value="Nepal Standard Time">(UTC+05:45) Kathmandu</option>
<option value="Central Asia Standard Time">(UTC+06:00) Astana</option>
<option value="Bangladesh Standard Time">(UTC+06:00) Dhaka</option>
<option value="Russia TZ 5 Standard Time">(UTC+06:00) Novosibirsk (RTZ 5)</option>
<option value="Myanmar Standard Time">(UTC+06:30) Yangon (Rangoon)</option>
<option value="SE Asia Standard Time">(UTC+07:00) Bangkok, Hanoi, Jakarta</option>
<option value="Russia TZ 6 Standard Time">(UTC+07:00) Krasnoyarsk (RTZ 6)</option>
<option value="China Standard Time">(UTC+08:00) Beijing, Chongqing, Hong Kong, Urumqi</option>
<option value="Russia TZ 7 Standard Time">(UTC+08:00) Irkutsk (RTZ 7)</option>
<option value="Malay Peninsula Standard Time">(UTC+08:00) Kuala Lumpur, Singapore</option>
<option value="W. Australia Standard Time">(UTC+08:00) Perth</option>
<option value="Taipei Standard Time">(UTC+08:00) Taipei</option>
<option value="Ulaanbaatar Standard Time">(UTC+08:00) Ulaanbaatar</option>
<option value="Tokyo Standard Time">(UTC+09:00) Osaka, Sapporo, Tokyo</option>
<option value="Korea Standard Time">(UTC+09:00) Seoul</option>
<option value="Russia TZ 8 Standard Time">(UTC+09:00) Yakutsk (RTZ 8)</option>
<option value="Cen. Australia Standard Time">(UTC+09:30) Adelaide</option>
<option value="AUS Central Standard Time">(UTC+09:30) Darwin</option>
<option value="E. Australia Standard Time">(UTC+10:00) Brisbane</option>
<option value="AUS Eastern Standard Time">(UTC+10:00) Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney</option>
<option value="West Pacific Standard Time">(UTC+10:00) Guam, Port Moresby</option>
<option value="Tasmania Standard Time">(UTC+10:00) Hobart</option>
<option value="Magadan Standard Time">(UTC+10:00) Magadan</option>
<option value="Russia TZ 9 Standard Time">(UTC+10:00) Vladivostok, Magadan (RTZ 9)</option>
<option value="Russia TZ 10 Standard Time">(UTC+11:00) Chokurdakh (RTZ 10)</option>
<option value="Central Pacific Standard Time">(UTC+11:00) Solomon Is., New Caledonia</option>
<option value="Russia TZ 11 Standard Time">(UTC+12:00) Anadyr, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky (RTZ 11)</option>
<option value="New Zealand Standard Time">(UTC+12:00) Auckland, Wellington</option>
<option value="UTC+12">(UTC+12:00) Coordinated Universal Time+12</option>
<option value="Fiji Standard Time">(UTC+12:00) Fiji</option>
<option value="Kamchatka Standard Time">(UTC+12:00) Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky - Old</option>
<option value="Tonga Standard Time">(UTC+13:00) Nuku'alofa</option>
<option value="Samoa Standard Time">(UTC+13:00) Samoa</option>
<option value="Line Islands Standard Time">(UTC+14:00) Kiritimati Island</option>
<option value="Dateline Standard Time">(UTC-12:00) International Date Line West</option>
<option value="UTC-11">(UTC-11:00) Coordinated Universal Time-11</option>
<option value="Hawaiian Standard Time">(UTC-10:00) Hawaii</option>
<option value="Alaskan Standard Time">(UTC-09:00) Alaska</option>
<option value="Pacific Standard Time (Mexico)">(UTC-08:00) Baja California</option>
<option value="Pacific Standard Time">(UTC-08:00) Pacific Time (US & Canada)</option>
<option value="US Mountain Standard Time">(UTC-07:00) Arizona</option>
<option value="Mountain Standard Time (Mexico)">(UTC-07:00) Chihuahua, La Paz, Mazatlan</option>
<option value="Mountain Standard Time">(UTC-07:00) Mountain Time (US & Canada)</option>
<option value="Central America Standard Time">(UTC-06:00) Central America</option>
<option value="Central Standard Time">(UTC-06:00) Central Time (US & Canada)</option>
<option value="Central Standard Time (Mexico)">(UTC-06:00) Guadalajara, Mexico City, Monterrey</option>
<option value="Canada Central Standard Time">(UTC-06:00) Saskatchewan</option>
<option value="SA Pacific Standard Time">(UTC-05:00) Bogota, Lima, Quito, Rio Branco</option>
<option value="Eastern Standard Time (Mexico)">(UTC-05:00) Chetumal</option>
<option value="Eastern Standard Time">(UTC-05:00) Eastern Time (US & Canada)</option>
<option value="US Eastern Standard Time">(UTC-05:00) Indiana (East)</option>
<option value="Venezuela Standard Time">(UTC-04:30) Caracas</option>
<option value="Paraguay Standard Time">(UTC-04:00) Asuncion</option>
<option value="Atlantic Standard Time">(UTC-04:00) Atlantic Time (Canada)</option>
<option value="Central Brazilian Standard Time">(UTC-04:00) Cuiaba</option>
<option value="SA Western Standard Time">(UTC-04:00) Georgetown, La Paz, Manaus, San Juan</option>
<option value="Newfoundland Standard Time">(UTC-03:30) Newfoundland</option>
<option value="E. South America Standard Time">(UTC-03:00) Brasilia</option>
<option value="SA Eastern Standard Time">(UTC-03:00) Cayenne, Fortaleza</option>
<option value="Argentina Standard Time">(UTC-03:00) City of Buenos Aires</option>
<option value="Greenland Standard Time">(UTC-03:00) Greenland</option>
<option value="Montevideo Standard Time">(UTC-03:00) Montevideo</option>
<option value="Bahia Standard Time">(UTC-03:00) Salvador</option>
<option value="Pacific SA Standard Time">(UTC-03:00) Santiago</option>
<option value="UTC-02">(UTC-02:00) Coordinated Universal Time-02</option>
<option value="Mid-Atlantic Standard Time">(UTC-02:00) Mid-Atlantic - Old</option>
<option value="Azores Standard Time">(UTC-01:00) Azores</option>
<option value="Cabo Verde Standard Time">(UTC-01:00) Cabo Verde Is.</option>