Failed to set timezone: Invalid argument – timedatectl in Kali Linux

Context

Kali Linux uses timedatectl to manage system time and time‑zone settings. When a user supplies a non‑existent zone identifier, the command returns the error message Failed to set timezone: Invalid argument and exits with a non‑zero status.

Observed Behavior

In a standard live boot, any successful timezone change (e.g., timedatectl set-timezone America/New_York) is not retained after a reboot because the live overlay treats /etc/localtime as volatile. The error condition for invalid zones is generated by the systemd‑timedated D‑Bus interface before it attempts to update the symlink.

Unresolved Decision

It remains unclear whether Kali should enable a persistent overlay for timezone settings by default in live mode, or leave it to users to manually activate persistence via persistence.conf. This choice impacts how users can reliably set regional time zones for time‑sensitive operations.

Questions

• Why does timedatectl reject non‑existent zone identifiers with the specific error Failed to set timezone: Invalid argument?
• Is there a documented approach to enable persistent timezone changes in Kali live without editing persistence.conf?
• What workflow is recommended for users who need a timezone that survives reboots in a Kali live environment?