time - it's a pain

[terry712]

i have read some of the previous threads - with some good advise coming mainly from "mlichstein"
can you just clarify something

on the pdcemulator of the forest root
i have executed the w32tm /config /manualpeerlist:then 2 ntp servers
this seems ok

on all other servers including child domains what is the preferred config
is it only a w32tm /config /syncfromflags:domhier /update

or should all pdc emulators be setup as same as forest one

thanks
sorry for repitative questions
it seems a very flakey area on 2003
the old timeserv in nt4 seems infinately easier

 

[mlichstein]

Actually time in Active Directory is pretty simple. You just need to configure the PDC emulator in the root domain to sync with an external source. All other domain controllers, member servers and workstations that join any domain will be automatically configured to sync with the AD hierarchy.

So let me answer the questions:

on all other servers including child domains what is the preferred config

As long as you have not changed any time settings, all servers and clients in all domains should already be correctly configured. The w32tm /config /syncfromflags:domhier /update command should not be necessary. If you want, you can check by running w32tm /dumpreg /subkeyarameters. Look for the type value, which should be NT5DS.

or should all pdc emulators be setup as same as forest one

No. All other PDC emulators besides the root PDCe should be set to NT5DS, which as I mentioned, is configured automatically when joining a domain. The command you run on the root PDCe to sync with an external time source sets the Type registry value to NTP. That one server should be the only machine in the entire forest that has that value set to NTP. All others should be NT5DS.

Let me know if you have any other questions.