further renamed ngx.utc_now to ngx.utc_time, and ngx.now to ngx.strnow per Piotr's suggestion.

README.markdown

@@ -510,13 +510,13 @@ Returns today's date (in the format `yyyy-mm-dd`) from nginx cached time (no sys
 
 This is the local time.
 
-ngx.now()
+ngx.strtime()
 -------------
 Returns the current timestamp (in the format `yyyy-mm-dd hh:mm:ss`) of the nginx cached time (no syscall involved unlike Lua's date library).
 
 This is the local time.
 
-ngx.utc_now()
+ngx.utc_time()
 ----------------
 
 Returns the current timestamp (in seconds) of the nginx cached time (no syscall involved unlike Lua's date library).
@@ -525,7 +525,7 @@ This is the UTC time.
 
 ngx.cookie_time(sec)
 --------------------
-Returns a formated string can be used as the cookie expiration time. The parameter `sec` is the timestamp in seconds (like those returned from `ngx.time`).
+Returns a formated string can be used as the cookie expiration time. The parameter `sec` is the timestamp in seconds (like those returned from `ngx.utc_time`).
 
     ngx.say(ngx.cookie_time(1290079655))
         # yields "Thu, 18-Nov-10 11:27:35 GMT"

src/ngx_http_lua_setby.c

@@ -110,13 +110,13 @@ ngx_http_lua_set_by_lua_env(lua_State *L, ngx_http_request_t *r, size_t nargs,
     lua_setfield(L, -2, "get_now_ts"); /* deprecated */
 
     lua_pushcfunction(L, ngx_http_lua_ngx_get_now_ts);
-    lua_setfield(L, -2, "utc_now");
+    lua_setfield(L, -2, "utc_time");
 
     lua_pushcfunction(L, ngx_http_lua_ngx_get_now);
     lua_setfield(L, -2, "get_now"); /* deprecated */
 
     lua_pushcfunction(L, ngx_http_lua_ngx_get_now);
-    lua_setfield(L, -2, "now");
+    lua_setfield(L, -2, "strtime");
 
     lua_pushcfunction(L, ngx_http_lua_ngx_get_today);
     lua_setfield(L, -2, "get_today"); /* deprecated */

src/ngx_http_lua_util.c

@@ -507,13 +507,13 @@ init_ngx_lua_globals(lua_State *L)
     lua_setfield(L, -2, "get_now_ts"); /* deprecated */
 
     lua_pushcfunction(L, ngx_http_lua_ngx_get_now_ts);
-    lua_setfield(L, -2, "utc_now");
+    lua_setfield(L, -2, "utc_time");
 
     lua_pushcfunction(L, ngx_http_lua_ngx_get_now);
     lua_setfield(L, -2, "get_now"); /* deprecated */
 
     lua_pushcfunction(L, ngx_http_lua_ngx_get_now);
-    lua_setfield(L, -2, "now");
+    lua_setfield(L, -2, "strtime");
 
     lua_pushcfunction(L, ngx_http_lua_ngx_get_today);
     lua_setfield(L, -2, "get_today"); /* deprecated */

t/012-now.t

@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ __DATA__
 === TEST 1: use ngx.now in content_by_lua
 --- config
     location = /now {
-        content_by_lua 'ngx.say(ngx.now())';
+        content_by_lua 'ngx.say(ngx.strtime())';
     }
 --- request
 GET /now
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ GET /now
 === TEST 2: use ngx.now in set_by_lua
 --- config
     location = /now {
-        set_by_lua $a 'return ngx.now()';
+        set_by_lua $a 'return ngx.strtime()';
         echo $a;
     }
 --- request
@@ -39,24 +39,24 @@ GET /now
 
 
 
-=== TEST 3: use ngx.utc_now in content_by_lua
+=== TEST 3: use ngx.utc_time in content_by_lua
 --- config
-    location = /utc_now {
-        content_by_lua 'ngx.say(ngx.utc_now())';
+    location = /utc_time {
+        content_by_lua 'ngx.say(ngx.utc_time())';
     }
 --- request
-GET /utc_now
+GET /utc_time
 --- response_body_like: ^\d{10}$
 
 
 
-=== TEST 4: use ngx.utc_now in set_by_lua
+=== TEST 4: use ngx.utc_time in set_by_lua
 --- config
-    location = /utc_now {
-        set_by_lua $a 'return ngx.utc_now()';
+    location = /utc_time {
+        set_by_lua $a 'return ngx.utc_time()';
         echo $a;
     }
 --- request
-GET /utc_now
+GET /utc_time
 --- response_body_like: ^\d{10}$