Troubleshoot Time Sync Issues

It is important for smooth communication between servers that the servers be set to sync time with the PDC domain controller and not the ESX host in case of them being virtual.  To verify what where the server is syncing time from follow the steps below:

1.     Login to the server

2.     Click [START] | [RUN]

3.     Type CMD then press [ENTER]

4.     Type NET TIME then press [ENTER]

You should see text with the current time at with the configured time server with the servername as your PDC Emulator
Current time at \\SERVER is 4/11/2012 5:48 PM (example)

If the \\Server isn’t set to a Domain Controller in your environment then you need to follow the steps below:

1.     Login to each server

2.     IF SERVERNAME is Virtual THEN locate [VMWARE TOOLS] from the taskbar and ensure that [Time synchronization between the virtual machine and the ESX server] is NOT CHECKED

1.     Click [START] | [RUN]

2.     Type CMD then press [ENTER]

3.     Type W32TM /CONFIG /SYNCFROMFLAGS:DOMHIER /RELIABLE:NO /UPDATE then press [ENTER]

4.     Type NET STOP W32TIME && NET START W32TIME then press [ENTER]

5.     Type NET TIME then press [ENTER]

You should see text with the current time at with the configured time server with the servername as your PDC Emulator
Current time at \\SERVER is 4/11/2012 5:48 PM (example)

 

If this does not resolve the issue and you are unable to successufully reconfigure the server to speak with the PDC using the above steps follow the following troubleshooting options below

 

1.     Login to the server [as ads\configadm]

2.     Click [START] | [RUN]

3.     Type NET STOP  W32TIME then press [ENTER]

4.     Type W32TM /UNREGISTER then press [ENTER]

5.     Type W32TM /REGISTER then press [ENTER]

6.     Type NET START  W32TIME then press [ENTER]

7.     Type W32TM /CONFIG /SYNCFROMFLAGS:DOMHIER /UPDATE then press [ENTER]

8.     Type NET STOP W32TIME && NET START W32TIME then press [ENTER]

9.     Type NET TIME then press [ENTER]

 

With regards to manually configuring DC in the forest root AD domain with the PDC FSMO role, the following commands can be used. On the DC in the forest root AD domain with the PDC FSMO role execute the following command:

 

W32TM /CONFIG /MANUALPEERLIST:"<NTPSRV1>,<flag> <NTPSRV2>,<flag> <NTPSRVx>,<flag>" /SYNCFROMFLAGS:MANUAL /RELIABLE:YES /UPDATE

 

‘<NTPSRV>’ is the actual NTP Server from which the time should be synchronized and can be noted by FQDN or IP Address.

‘<flag>’ can be any of the following values or combinations of values:

• 0×1 — use special poll interval SpecialInterval
• 0×2 — UseAsFallbackOnly
• 0×4 — send request as SymmatricActive mode (the host configured in "symmatric active mode" uses another NTP hosts to sync time, but also gives those other NTP hotes to sync time with the local host)
• 0×8 — send request as Client mode (the loca host configured in "client mode" uses the other remote NTP host to sync time)

 

 

 

If you need to see what are the current NTP servers, use following

 

W32tm /query /configuration

 

The output looks like following, you can see the NTPServer under [TimeProviders]

 

C:\Users\administrator>w32tm /query /configuration

[Configuration]

 

EventLogFlags: 2 (Local)

AnnounceFlags: 10 (Local)

TimeJumpAuditOffset: 28800 (Local)

MinPollInterval: 10 (Local)

MaxPollInterval: 15 (Local)

MaxNegPhaseCorrection: 4294967295 (Local)

MaxPosPhaseCorrection: 4294967295 (Local)

MaxAllowedPhaseOffset: 300 (Local)

 

FrequencyCorrectRate: 4 (Local)

PollAdjustFactor: 5 (Local)

LargePhaseOffset: 50000000 (Local)

SpikeWatchPeriod: 900 (Local)

LocalClockDispersion: 10 (Local)

HoldPeriod: 5 (Local)

PhaseCorrectRate: 1 (Local)

UpdateInterval: 30000 (Local)

 

 

[TimeProviders]

 

NtpClient (Local)

DllName: C:\Windows\system32\w32time.dll (Local)

Enabled: 1 (Local)

InputProvider: 1 (Local)

AllowNonstandardModeCombinations: 1 (Local)

ResolvePeerBackoffMinutes: 15 (Local)

ResolvePeerBackoffMaxTimes: 7 (Local)

CompatibilityFlags: 2147483648 (Local)

EventLogFlags: 1 (Local)

LargeSampleSkew: 3 (Local)

SpecialPollInterval: 3600 (Local)

Type: NTP (Local)

NtpServer: <PDCName> (Local)

 

NtpServer (Local)

DllName: C:\Windows\system32\w32time.dll (Local)

Enabled: 1 (Local)

InputProvider: 0 (Local)

AllowNonstandardModeCombinations: 1 (Local)

 

 

To Force a Time Sync with the Time Provider, use following

 

W32tm /resync

 

 

Additional Troubleshooting Steps: 

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929276

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/816042

PDC Configuration http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc786897%28v=ws.10%29.aspx

 

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