NTP Time Server Setup

This utility will setup a NTP time location for your 2003 server. So I had to setup a bunch of 2003 servers to use an external time source (NTP servers) for a domain a while back and they were dispersed around the world. So I looked up the TechNet article for setting up NTP on a 2003 server and there are many registry settings to set up a 2003 sever to use an external time source for its w32time updates.

So I said "f-this" and wrote this utility to do it now and for the future. It's nice because I put the entire list of NTP server pools from around the world into the drop down list so you don't have to go searching every time. As well you can run this against any remote server you have admin access to with out having to be on it or remote-controlling it. Basically it takes a 20 minute task and makes a 2 minute task.

Instructions__________________________________________________________________________________

 

1. Open the utility.
2. Enter the UNC of the server that you want to set up an external NTP server.

3. Choose time server pool you want to use from the drop-down list
4. Change or leave the default for the 2 time settings. You can read below about the ramifications of changing them.
5. Click set. That's it, you may want to check and make sure the service restarted correctly.

 

Below are descriptions of the registry settings that are changed. The two time settings MaxPosPhaseCorrection, MaxNegPhaseCorrection are set from the time correction entry. The others are either not used or left at the current default. You can always change these later if you need to. But for me they worked fine as is.

Registry Entry MaxPosPhaseCorrection
Path HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\W32Time\Config
Note- This entry specifies the largest positive time correction in seconds that the service makes. If the service determines that a change that is larger than this is required, the service logs an event. (0xFFFFFFFF is a special case that means always make a time correction.) The default value for domain members is 0xFFFFFFFF. The default value for stand-alone clients and servers is 54,000 or 15 hours.

Registry Entry MaxNegPhaseCorrection
Path HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\W32Time\Config
Note- This entry specifies the largest negative time correction in seconds that the service makes. If the service determines that a change that is larger than this is required, the service logs an event instead. (-1 is a special case that means always make a time correction.) The default value for domain members is 0xFFFFFFFF. The default value for stand-alone clients and servers is 54,000 or 15 hours.

Registry Entry MaxPollInterval
Path HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\W32Time\Config
Note- This entry specifies the largest interval, in log seconds, that is allowed for the system polling interval. While a system must poll according to the scheduled interval, a provider can refuse to produce samples when requested. The default value for domain members is 10. The default value for stand-alone clients and servers is 15.

Registry Entry SpecialPollInterval
Path HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\W32Time\TimeProviders\NtpClient
Note- This entry specifies the special poll interval in seconds for manual peers. When the SpecialInterval 0x1 flag is enabled, W32Time uses this poll interval instead of a poll interval that is determined by the operating system. The default value on domain members is 3,600. The default value on stand-alone clients and servers is 604,800.

Registry Entry MaxAllowedPhaseOffset
Path HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\W32Time\Config
Note- This entry specifies the maximum offset, in seconds, for which W32Time tries to adjust the computer clock by using the clock rate. When the offset is greater than this rate, W32Time sets the computer clock directly. The default value for domain members is 300. The default value for stand-alone clients and servers is 1.