[ntp:questions] Re: windows 2000 ntp client

m.marien mmATRiverCityCanadaDOTcom
Tue Oct 26 00:21:58 UTC 2004


"dave" <dmehler26 at woh.rr.com> wrote in message 
news:lD9fd.39597$5v2.8028 at fe2.columbus.rr.com...
> Hello,
>    I've got a unix ntp server on my network. It is working fine for local 
> unix clients, i've now added some win2k and winxp boxes that i'd like to 
> use that server for time as well. I've found the win time service, but no 
> docs on it. Does anyone have a howto on this?
> Thanks.
> Dave.
>
>

Despite the snickers about Windows, the time service works reasonably well 
and is simple to setup. If you just want to synchronize your systems for 
email or file sharing it works fine. Without modifications, the Win2000 time 
service looks up the Active Directory (AD) directory tree for time. Without 
a membership to AD they just keep their own time.

C:\Win2000>net time
Could not locate a time-server.
More help is available by typing NET HELPMSG 3912.

WinXP systems do the same if they are members of AD otherwise they look to 
microsoft.

C:\WinXP>net time /querysntp
The current SNTP value is: time.windows.com,0x1

The Kerkeros logon requires accurate time between server and client to work, 
that is why the clients look up the AD tree for time. They all synchronize 
to one source, correct time or not.

C:\WinXP>net time
Current time at \\DARKSTAR is 10/25/2004 5:28 PM

Darkstar is a Domain Controller (DC) in my AD.

The "net time" command manages the time service. If you have a NTP system, 
use the net time command in the windows computer to point it to your NTP 
server.

net time /setsntp:ntpsource.domain.com

They will now query ntpsource.domain.com for the time. They only pole every 
few hours so the time is not that disciplined, but accurate enough for a lot 
of cases.

On your Windows XP systems, search for "net time" in the Help and Support 
Centre for more information.






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