diff --git a/roles/0-init/tasks/main.yml b/roles/0-init/tasks/main.yml
index 0c9d0b27a..8e548ee05 100644
--- a/roles/0-init/tasks/main.yml
+++ b/roles/0-init/tasks/main.yml
@@ -74,8 +74,7 @@
 
 # Put all computed vars here so derive properly from any prior var file
 - name: If the TZ is not set in env, set it to UTC
-  set_fact: local_tz='UTC'
-  when: local_tz == ""
+  include_tasks: tz.yml
 
 - name: Set port 80 for Admin Console
   set_fact:
diff --git a/roles/0-init/tasks/tz.yml b/roles/0-init/tasks/tz.yml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..d2e0f4991
--- /dev/null
+++ b/roles/0-init/tasks/tz.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+- name: Check if the TZ is not already set via /etc/localtime - Can Fail
+  shell: readlink /etc/localtime | awk -F "zoneinfo/" '{print $2}'
+  register: TZ_set
+  ignore_errors: True
+
+- name: Set local and iiab TZ to UTC if /etc/localtime is not set
+  set_fact:
+      local_tz: 'UTC'
+      iiab_TZ: 'UTC'
+  when: TZ_set.stdout == ""
+
+- name: Override ansible on timezone if TZ set
+  set_fact:
+      local_tz: '{{ TZ_set.stdout }}'
+  when: TZ_set.stdout != ""
+
+- name: Using iiab TZ for local TZ
+  set_fact:
+      local_tz: '{{ iiab_TZ }}'
+  when: iiab_TZ is defined and iiab_TZ != "" and iiab_TZ != "TZ_set.stdout"
+
+- name: Set default Timezone from iiab TZ -  Debian
+  shell: timedatectl set-timezone {{ iiab_TZ }}
+  when: is_debuntu and iiab_TZ is defined and iiab_TZ != "" and iiab_TZ != "TZ_set.stdout"
+
+- name: Set default Timezone from iiab TZ -  Redhat
+  file:
+      path: /etc/localtime
+      src: /usr/share/zoneinfo/{{ iiab_TZ }}
+      force: yes
+      state: link
+  when: is_redhat and iiab_TZ is defined and iiab_TZ != "" and iiab_TZ != "TZ_set.stdout"
diff --git a/roles/2-common/tasks/main.yml b/roles/2-common/tasks/main.yml
index 8b8df2f2e..638457f5f 100644
--- a/roles/2-common/tasks/main.yml
+++ b/roles/2-common/tasks/main.yml
@@ -32,10 +32,6 @@
 - sysctl: name=net.ipv6.conf.default.disable_ipv6 value=1 state=present
 - sysctl: name=net.ipv6.conf.lo.disable_ipv6 value=1 state=present
 
-- name: Set default Time Zone
-  shell: ln -sf /usr/share/zoneinfo/{{ iiab_TZ }} /etc/localtime
-  when: iiab_TZ is defined and iiab_TZ != ""
-
 - name: Install custom profile file
   template: dest=/etc/profile.d/zzz_iiab.sh
             src=zzz_iiab.sh