[There's a reason that Yoda is the unofficial mascot of SBS. Size indeed matters not.] Migration Step Thirty-three: Setting a time sync - THE OFFICIAL BLOG OF THE SBS "DIVA"
Fri, Nov 20 2009 0:06 bradley

Migration Step Thirty-three: Setting a time sync

 

 

 

I did this already for the HyperV parent and I guess I forgot to do this on the child SBS 2008.  When I demoted the SBS 2003 out, the SBS 2008 now needs this command.

Event

The time service detected a time difference of greater than 5000 milliseconds for 900 seconds. The time difference might be caused by synchronization with low-accuracy time sources or by suboptimal network conditions. The time service is no longer synchronized and cannot provide the time to other clients or update the system clock. When a valid time stamp is received from a time service provider, the time service will correct itself.

It's very easy and we've blogged about this before -- http://msmvps.com/blogs/bradley/archive/2007/01/03/need-to-set-up-the-sbs-box-as-an-authoritative-time-server.aspx

The hardest part is remembering what nist time peer I've used in the past.

1. Click Start, click Run, type cmd , and then press ENTER.  

2. At the command prompt, type the following commands in the order that
they are given. After you type each command, press ENTER.

w32tm /config /manualpeerlist: NTP_server_IP_Address ,0x8/syncfromflags:MANUAL  
net stop w32time  
net start w32time  
w32tm /resync  

http://www.pool.ntp.org/en/use.html

w32tm /config /manualpeerlist: pool.ntp.org,Ox8/syncfromflags:MANUAL

net stop w32time

net start w32time

w32tm /resync

I had to do that last command twice.

 

 

And then we're good to go.

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# re: Migration Step Thirty-three: Setting a time sync

Friday, November 20, 2009 6:18 PM by Steve W.

Looks like in your configuration you entered, "pool.ntp.org,Ox8" (letter O instead of number 0).

# re: Migration Step Thirty-three: Setting a time sync

Saturday, November 21, 2009 3:04 PM by Paul C

Some info I've found suggests it should be 0x1 instead of 0x8?  Any guidance on what is the difference?

# re: Migration Step Thirty-three: Setting a time sync

Monday, November 23, 2009 3:20 PM by James Feldman

Hi Susan,

I did this recently on my SBS2008 virtual machine, and it wouldn't keep sync with the internet time servers.

I discovered that all my Hyper-V guest servers kept defaulting back to sync with the host (which I had forgotten to sync with a good time source).  I was tearing my hair out watching the clocks slip back 5 mins every time!  Running the w32tm diagnostics showed they were still syncing with the virtual host, even after setting them to sync to the internet ntp pool.

Once I synced the Hyper-V host with a reliable internet time source, all the guest machines fell into line.  

# re: Migration Step Thirty-three: Setting a time sync

Monday, November 23, 2009 3:26 PM by bradley

Untick the box to sync between the parent and the guests then the guests can sync.  Your best bet is to ensure the time sync isn't there in the first place between the parent and the child/guest.

# re: Migration Step Thirty-three: Setting a time sync

Wednesday, December 02, 2009 8:34 PM by Michael S.

Thanks for the tip!

# re: Migration Step Thirty-three: Setting a time sync

Sunday, December 13, 2009 1:46 AM by Dean

They say that:

As pool.ntp.org will assign you timeservers from all over the world, time quality will not be ideal. You get a bit better result if you use the continental zones (For example europe, north-america, oceania or asia.pool.ntp.org), and even better time if you use the country zone (like ch.pool.ntp.org in Switzerland) - for all these zones, you can again use the 0, 1 or 2 prefixes, like 0.ch.pool.ntp.org. Note, however, that the country zone might not exist for your country, or might contain only one or two timeservers. If you know timeservers that are really close to you (measured by network distance, with traceroute or ping), time probably will be even better.

So you should be using:

us.pool.ntp.org

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