Setting Time on Active Directory

[soia]

I setup active directory on a pure windows 2000 environment. The problem is about 5 machines didn't get correct time synchronization. This is supposed to happen automatically from the Primary Domain Controller. Is there another way to setup time synchronization for Active Directory.

[CXGJarrod]

If you use DHCP in your network you can specify that the Time Server is at a certain IP address and the computers getting IP addresses will look to the computer you specify for time.

[soia]

Alright i placed some time servers on my dhcp options. I used the navy time servers. I tried releasing and renewing ip addresses and also rebooting the machine with the incorrect time. Still didn't catch the time though???? How long would it take for the time to match up.

[CXGJarrod]

Soia: It should be right after reboot. Have you tryed ipconfig /release and ipconfig /renew? I have only used that option to set a time server on the local network.

[Wizeman]

Two things and some links for you. First of all, the Global Catalog server needs an external time server to synchronize with, second of all W32time automatically synchs the time with the Global Catalog server. If you would like a simple way to just keep time within the network the same, then check out the NET TIME command from the CMD prompt. It can be integrated into batch files, or other scripts.

http://search.microsoft.com/default....us/itresources

That is a search of technet on the W32time service, some of the articles might be helpful...in particular, this one:
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/tre...te/wintime.asp

Regards,
Wizeman

[fallenstar]

Are you sure that the Windows Time service is running on these pcs that are having problems? I often see oem installations with that service disabled from the beginning.

[soia]

Well im gonna have to say that im a moron sometimes. The timezones on the other machines were not set so problem solved. Thanx for the help.

[ammo]

Hey, btw, just fyi for those who might not know, time synch is crucial in w2k auth (w2k pro / server using kerberos). If the time isn't synched inside the allowed window (which if I remember right is about 5 minutes), users won't be able to authentify/logon to the network even with the right username/pass. This can be pretty frustrating if you don't know about it!
(I got that when trying to add new computers to the domain... I was sure my ghost image was screwed up or something! Then I remembered about that..

Ammo