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NTP Server Setup

So some time back I was asked to set up an NTP (Network Time Protocol) server for a client. The particular environment only has a few servers that can access the internet, which were used primarily for WSUS, and the rest of the environment has internet access blocked. So, in this process I'll walk you through installing Meinberg NTP Software (check them out here) and then configuring the PDC's (Primary Domain Controller) registry to obtain time from the newly installed service. I know, I could just set a GPO to order all of the servers in the network to get time from the NTP server, but my goal in this was to limit traffic to the internet connected servers. What I found out is that by default all Windows systems get their time from the PDC by default and update at the time of login. By changing the PDC's registry this default configuration stays in place, and I don't have to wait for the GPO to update throughout the network...

Setup and Instillation

  • Create NTP service account in AD and take note of userID and password
  • On the chosen NTP server create a folder on the C:\ drive named "NTP Files" <this will be our instillation path
  • Download two files from http://www.minbergglobal.com/english/sw/ntp.htm
    • ntp-4.2.6@london-o-lpv-232-setup.exe
    • ntp-time-server-monitor-1.04.exe
  • Instill both files on the chosen NTP server but make sure to direct the instillation path to place the files in the "C:\NTP Files" folder
  • Specify NPT service account
  • Specify NTP Servers as follows:
    • server 0.us.pool.ntp.org
    • server 1.us.pool.ntp.org
    • server 2.us.pool.ntp.org
    • server 3.us.pool.ntp.org
Configuring the PDC

The first think you'll need to do is verify which server is the PDC. This is done by opening a command prompt on one of the DCs and issuing:
  • netdom /query fismo
Once you have verified the PDC, open an Administrative command prompt and issue the following commands:
  • net stop w32time
  • w32tm /config /syncfromflags:manual /manualpeerlist:<hostnameOfServer>
  • w32tm /config /reliable:yes
  • net start w32time
To check the NTP configuration issue command:
  • w32tm /query /configuration
To force the PDC to sync with the time server issue command:
  • w32tm /resync
Check the Event Viewer for any errors, and if this didn't work than you may need to manually edit the registry to point the PDC to the time server. Here's how to do that:
  1. Click Start, click Run, type regedit, then click OK
  2. Locate and select the following registry entry: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\W32Time\Parameters
  3. Select the NtpServer  key and in the Value data section add the host name of the server followed by 0x1
    1. EX: server.domain.local,0x1
  4. Open an Administrative command prompt and issue
    1. net stop w32time && net start w32time
Repeat these steps to configure the backup DC to obtain it's time manually from the PDC or the Time Server.

Be sure to get your Googleing experience on if you run into any issues. There is a lot of documentation out there for setting up time servers in Windows. This is just a quick and dirty compressed guide of what worked for me.
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