Small details that cause real problems.
WHAT MINIMAL IMAGES FREQUENTLY LACK
Time zone data Locale definitions Certificate authority bundles
WHAT THAT CAUSES
Times displayed wrongly Encrypted connections failing to verify Sorting and formatting behaving unexpectedly
WHY THE CERTIFICATE ONE MATTERS MOST
Every outbound encrypted call fails, with a confusing error.
WHAT TO DO
Install the certificate bundle explicitly in minimal images.
WHAT TO SET FOR TIME ZONES
A universal standard inside containers, converting at presentation.
WHY
It removes ambiguity and avoids daylight saving entirely.
WHAT TO DO IF LOCAL TIME IS GENUINELY NEEDED
Install time zone data and set it explicitly.
WHAT TO CHECK
That scheduled work runs at the expected time.
WHY
Job schedules are interpreted in the cluster's zone, which may not be yours.
WHAT TO BE CAREFUL WITH
Logs in one zone and application output in another Reports bucketed by day disagreeing with expectation
WHAT TO ENSURE ABOUT CLOCKS
That hosts are synchronised.
WHY
Signed requests and tokens fail when clocks drift.
WHAT TO TEST
Behaviour across a daylight saving transition, where local time is used.
WHAT TO DOCUMENT
The convention, so everyone follows it.
