Timesync Dilemma

[sinyce]

NetWare 5.1 Server with SP 5.

Server is behind a Firewall which blocks ICMP / IGMP.

Server cannot ping anything external, but UDP port 123 is open.

So is there anyway to configure Timesync to point to an internal NT / W2K Server for its time? Or even an internal Unix server? Reason: I got an Atomic Clock working on a NT Server that works with HTTP on a Proxy.

I've tried setting:
TIMESYNC Configured Sources: ON
TIMESYNC Time Sources: xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx;
OR
TIMESYNC Time Sources: xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx:123;

This gets a 8094 error, which wants the UDP Port 123
this doesnt work either.

Help!!

 

[TheLad]

The TID below details the proper format for TIMESYNC.CFG, you will note the TIME SOURCE section where you put your IP address (eg. TIME SOURCE 192.168.1.1:123)

http://support.novell.com/cgi-bin/search/searchtid.cgi?/10013084.htm

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"It's true, its damn true!"
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[spi200]

Hi

Should not be a problem - Have a read of the TID etc.
You will probably need to set your Novell server to a Single or Reference server depending upon your config and the point to your time source which is set in monitor ie. xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx:123;
May need a reset of the timesync after you make the changes to get it to kick in and other times it can take a minute or two, so be patient.
Once you have the first Novell server set then you can set other novell servers as secondary's and point then to the fisrt Novell server.
We use a box (not sure the name) which users 3 GPS satelites to gain its time, the satelites get their time from an atomic clock. The internet is just not reliable enough (even with redundacy measure) for us to use, but is fine for many businesses.

Regards

David

 

[rosieBsDad]

Novell servers will only get [NTP] time from a proper NTP server, which NT servers aren't.
I use the internet quite happily as a time source for a 70+ site network without any problems at all. The trick is to use a variety of NTP servers, and even if your own internet connection goes, the time will not drift that much.


RosieBsDad

 

[pray11342]

My server is behind a firewall.

read TID#10011518 at support.novell.com (put it in the search box just like this -- TID#10011518)

Complete instructions for setting up your server to use several public time servers.

I use the one for the US Naval observatory for Primary time server, a server at Univerity of Houston for secondary. Been working well for over a year.

Also you can find a complete list of Public Time Servers here - -

http://www.eecis.udel.edu/~mills/ntp/servers.html

Use the list of secondary servers unless you have special needs, read the article. . .

another list is here --

http://www.boulder.nist.gov/timefreq/service/time-servers.html

It works best if you set your server to TYPE=REFERENCE.

Here is the TIMESYNC.CFG for my server. (Located in the SYSTEM directory. . . . )

# TimeSync.Cfg is now updated automatically,
# when changes are made on the System Console

# TIMESYNC Configuration Parameters

Configured Sources = ON
Directory Tree Mode = ON
Hardware Clock = OFF
Polling Count = 3
Polling Interval = 600
Service Advertising = OFF
Synchronization Radius = 2000
Type = REFERENCE

# TIMESYNC Configured time source list

TIME SOURCE = 192.5.41.209:123
TIME SOURCE = 129.7.1.66:123


Good luck!

Paul Ray

Programming Languages -- .BAT Files

Preffered editor -- EDLIN

 

[sinyce]

Pray:

Can you ping either of those IP address from your Novell Server?

This is my problem. Do you have special rules on your firewall allowing the Novell Server to get out? Do you have port 123 UDP opened up?

Trust me I have read ALL of Novell TIDS on this issue and none addresses going thru a firewall which blocks ICMP.

Let me know.

Sinyce

 

[pray11342]

Sincye,

Yes, I can ping from our server. It is also configured as our Groupwise Internet gateway.

It is behind a firewall, a Linux box set up by a Linux guru. There are rules that allow the Novell to access the internet.

Do you have access to the firewall? If it is a hardware firewall, you may be able to get the vendor to help set up rules to pass the time source computers.

Linux can also be set to pass ICMP from just a single source, but I don't know enough to help on that.

If you have access to the firewall, someone on the hardware or Linux forums should be able to help.



Paul Ray

Programming Languages -- .BAT Files

Preffered editor -- EDLIN