snippetbashTip

rtcwake — Enter a system sleep state until specified wakeup time relative to your BIOS clock. More information

Submitted by: @import:tldr-pages·Mar 2, 2026·

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commandrtcwakeuntilstateclisleepentersystem

linux

Problem

How to use the rtcwake command: Enter a system sleep state until specified wakeup time relative to your BIOS clock. More information: <https://manned.org/rtcwake>.

Solution

rtcwake — Enter a system sleep state until specified wakeup time relative to your BIOS clock. More information: <https://manned.org/rtcwake>.

Show whether an alarm is set or not:

sudo rtcwake {{[-m|--mode]}} show {{[-v|--verbose]}}

Suspend to RAM and wakeup after 10 seconds:

sudo rtcwake {{[-m|--mode]}} mem {{[-s|--seconds]}} {{10}}

Suspend to disk (higher power saving) and wakeup 15 minutes later:

sudo rtcwake {{[-m|--mode]}} disk --date +{{15}}min

Freeze the system (more efficient than suspend-to-RAM but version 3.9 or newer of the Linux kernel is required) and wakeup at a given date and time:

sudo rtcwake {{[-m|--mode]}} freeze --date {{YYYYMMDDhhmm}}

Disable a previously set alarm:

sudo rtcwake {{[-m|--mode]}} disable

Perform a dry run to wakeup the computer at a given time. (Press <Ctrl c> to abort):

sudo rtcwake {{[-m|--mode]}} on --date {{hh:ss}}

Code Snippets

Show whether an alarm is set or not

sudo rtcwake {{[-m|--mode]}} show {{[-v|--verbose]}}

Suspend to RAM and wakeup after 10 seconds

sudo rtcwake {{[-m|--mode]}} mem {{[-s|--seconds]}} {{10}}

Suspend to disk (higher power saving) and wakeup 15 minutes later

sudo rtcwake {{[-m|--mode]}} disk --date +{{15}}min

Freeze the system (more efficient than suspend-to-RAM but version 3.9 or newer of the Linux kernel is required) and wakeup at a given date and time

sudo rtcwake {{[-m|--mode]}} freeze --date {{YYYYMMDDhhmm}}

Disable a previously set alarm

sudo rtcwake {{[-m|--mode]}} disable

Context

tldr-pages: linux/rtcwake

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