[ntp:questions] Issues with w32tm on AD network

Andrew Hodgson me3 at privacy.net
Fri Feb 22 18:12:28 UTC 2008


On Fri, 22 Feb 2008 09:31:38 +0100, Martin Burnicki
<martin.burnicki at meinberg.de> wrote:

>Andrew,
>
>Andrew Hodgson wrote:
>> Hi,
>> 
>> I have had issues keeping accurate time on W32tm using an Active
>> Directory based network with just Windows servers.  I have a Linux
>> workstation, and NTP on that workstation keeps loosing the time, and
>> going to Stratum 16.  Similarly, there are Cisco routers on the
>> network, which also do likewise.
>> 
>> I am using the NTP pool, but have done this for years on a Linux
>> system with no problems.
>> 
>> Should I think about switching to NTPD on Windows, and if I do this,
>> will it cause an issue with both this and W32tm running at the same
>> time?
>
>Though it's normally preferable to run ntpd rather than w32time, there is a
>limitation if you run ntpd on a domain controller:
>The domain members (workstations) will stop detecting the domain controller
>automatically as their primary time source, so you'll have to configure the
>domain controller explicitely as times source on every client.

Yes, I have found this in a previous life, plus it caused some other
issues for us as well, which is why I would like to keep W32tm if
possible.
>
>If you also run any Linux or other *ix server then a better approach would
>be to let the *ix machine synchromize to the pool servers, and configure
>the *ix machine as "internet time source" for w32time on the domain
>controller.

Unfortunately the Debian box I have is a laptop that is not on
continuously, so no good.  I do have an ASA firewall and a Cisco
router however, which at present are set to get time from the Windows
box, but I could set one up as an NTP server perhaps?

Thanks.
Andrew.




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