Skip to main content

os: time sync information

UPDATE: added some information regarding syncing to non-windows time sources.

i hate dealing with time synchronization. the tools for windows are so hokey. you know, little nuances like deprecating net time in favor of w32tm just doesn't get enough press. oh well. recently, i had to look through this stuff again. i decided i'd write up a little blog note as a reminder for myself the next time i have to look at this stuff. to start off with, very useful links.

how to turn on debug logging in the windows time service
how to configure an authoritative time server in windows server 2003
windows time server and internet communication
time synchronization may not succeed when you try to synchronize with a non-windows ntp server in windows server 2003

... and now, some very useful commands:

setting a time sync source:

w32tm /config /update /manualpeerlist:time.nist.gov time.windows.com /syncfromflags:MANUAL

verifying the settings:

w32tm /dumpreg /subkey:parameters
... following the commands above, if you're syncing time successfully, and you've turned on time sync debug logging as specified in the first link above, a successful entry in the log will look like the entry snippet below...
148232 19:09:40.0266456s - /-- NTP Packet: 
148232 19:09:40.0266456s - | LeapIndicator: 0 - no warning; VersionNumber: 3; Mode: 4 - Server; LiVnMode: 0x1C 
148232 19:09:40.0266456s - | Stratum: 2 - secondary reference (syncd by (S)NTP) 
148232 19:09:40.0266456s - | Poll Interval: 7 - 128s; Precision: -6 - 15.625ms per tick 
148232 19:09:40.0266456s - | RootDelay: 0x0000.1BFEs - 0.109344s; RootDispersion: 0x0000.CC68s - 0.798462s 
148232 19:09:40.0266456s - | ReferenceClockIdentifier: 0xC02BF412 - source IP: 192.168.1.1 
148232 19:09:40.0266456s - | ReferenceTimestamp: 0xC8FA05E75E673B78
148232 19:09:40.0266456s - - 12807313511368762700ns - 
148232 19:05:11.3687627s 
148232 19:09:40.0266456s - | OriginateTimestamp: 0xC8FA06F406D23EFC
148232 19:09:40.0266456s - - 12807313780026645600ns - 
148232 19:09:40.0266456s 
148232 19:09:40.0266456s - | ReceiveTimestamp: 0xC8FA06F406986261
148232 19:09:40.0266456s - - 12807313780025762700ns - 
148232 19:09:40.0257627s 
148232 19:09:40.0266456s - | TransmitTimestamp: 0xC8FA06F406986261
148232 19:09:40.0266456s - - 12807313780025762700ns - 
148232 19:09:40.0257627s 
148232 19:09:40.0266456s - >-- Non-packet info: 
148232 19:09:40.0266456s - | DestinationTimestamp: 
148232 19:09:40.0266456s - 0xC8FA06F406D23EFC
148232 19:09:40.0266456s - - 12807313780026645600ns
148232 19:09:40.0266456s - - 
148232 19:09:40.0266456s 
148232 19:09:40.0266456s - | RoundtripDelay: 000ns (0s) 
148232 19:09:40.0266456s - | LocalClockOffset: -882900ns - 0:00.000882900s 
148232 19:09:40.0266456s - \--
w32tm /config /update /manualpeerlist:mynonwindowstimesource.com,0x8 /syncfromflags:MANUAL

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

using preloadpkgonsite.exe to stage compressed copies to child site distribution points

UPDATE: john marcum sent me a kind email to let me know about a problem he ran into with preloadpkgonsite.exe in the new SCCM Toolkit V2 where under certain conditions, packages will not uncompress.  if you are using the v2 toolkit, PLEASE read this blog post before proceeding.   here’s a scenario that came up on the mssms@lists.myitforum.com mailing list. when confronted with a situation of large packages and wan links, it’s generally best to get the data to the other location without going over the wire. in this case, 75gb. :/ the “how” you get the files there is really not the most important thing to worry about. once they’re there and moved to the appropriate location, preloadpkgonsite.exe is required to install the compressed source files. once done, a status message goes back to the parent server which should stop the upstream server from copying the package source files over the wan to the child site. anyway, if it’s a relatively small amount of packages, you can

How to Identify Applications Using Your Domain Controller

Problem Everyone has been through it. We've all had to retire or replace a domain controller at some point in our checkered collective experiences. While AD provides very intelligent high availability, some applications are just plain dumb. They do not observe site awareness or participate in locating a domain controller. All they want is the name or IP of one domain controller which gets hardcoded in a configuration file somewhere, deeply embedded in some file folder or setting that you are never going to find. How do you look at a DC and decide which applications might be doing it? Packet trace? Logs? Shut it down and wait for screaming? It seems very tedious and nearly impossible. Potential Solution Obviously I wouldn't even bother posting this if I hadn't run across something interesting. :) I ran across something in draftcalled Domain Controller Isolation. Since it's in draft, I don't know that it's published yet. HOWEVER, the concept is based off

sccm: content hash fails to match

back in 2008, I wrote up a little thing about how distribution manager fails to send a package to a distribution point . even though a lot of what I wrote that for was the failure of packages to get delivered to child sites, the result was pretty much the same. when the client tries to run the advertisement with an old package, the result was a failure because of content mismatch. I went through an ordeal recently capturing these exact kinds of failures and corrected quite a number of problems with these packages. the resulting blog post is my effort to capture how these problems were resolved. if nothing else, it's a basic checklist of things you can use.   DETECTION status messages take a look at your status messages. this has to be the easiest way to determine where these problems exist. unfortunately, it requires that a client is already experiencing problems. there are client logs you can examine as well such as cas, but I wasn't even sure I was going to have enough m