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I have multiple W2k8 R2 servers and one of them uses an outside source to constantly sync time. I'd like to sync all my other servers to that server. This is a simple workgroup and no domain controller is present.

Anyone knows how to achieve this?

Thanks,

Tom

4 Answers 4

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I just found an article that describes how to do this.
You can enable Windows to serve as an NTP server as outlined here: http://www.windowsitpro.com/article/time-synchronization/how-can-i-enable-a-network-time-protocol-ntp-server-.aspx

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From Microsoft:

The solution to keeping all workstations' time synchronized with a particular server can be solved by either running a logon script for each workstation or by having each workstation run a batch file on their own after logging on to the network. For example, assume you have a server named TIMESRV that has a reliable system clock. An example batch file that would run either from the workstation, or get called from or be part of a logon script, would look like this: NET TIME \TIMESRV /SET /YES

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  • This doesn't really look like a proper solution to me. These are servers, so they might not have any network logons for months. Also, I need highly accurate time within millisecond drifts, so I'd not a solution that syncs every couple minutes
    – TJF
    Oct 28, 2010 at 17:28
  • It's a proper solution if you implement it properly. Create a batch file with the command, copy the batch file to each server that needs to sync, schedule the batch file to run at the interval that suits your needs. Done.
    – joeqwerty
    Oct 28, 2010 at 17:34
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All of this that you guys wrote won't work on the Windows 7 / Windows 2008 Platform.

I have many Windows XP machines, and I time sync them using a GPS receiver. The machines get connected to that receiver using SymmTime, that's a software that won't work on Windows 7 / Windows 2008.

So what I did for the Windows 7 machine was just update it using time.microsoft.com (or another NTP server, it won't matter) but increasing the frequency of the update from once a week (Windows default) to once a day. I can visually notice that the Windows 7 machine has the same times as the other Windows XP machines that are time-synced using the GPS receiver.

Follow this guide to do the once-a-day time syncing with an NTP server on Windows 7. http://www.pretentiousname.com/timesync/index.html

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  • Net Time certainly does work on vista, 7, and W2K8.
    – joeqwerty
    Oct 28, 2010 at 18:16
  • Yes, true, but you need to make some modifications on the user permissions on the machine you're trying to connect to, which is definitely a pain, since this only occurs from Windows 7 / 2008. Btw, your solution works no prob on Windows XP. I even use the same command on a Windows XP machine using a bat script executed periodically using Task Scheduler.
    – jpincheira
    Oct 28, 2010 at 18:18
  • Not true in a workgroup. This method is specifically intended for use in workgroup environments. No permissions are required between the two machines. All that is required is that the user under whose context the batch file is running has the user right to change the system time on the system where the batch file is running.
    – joeqwerty
    Oct 28, 2010 at 18:45
  • Again, it depends on what machine you're connecting to.
    – jpincheira
    Oct 29, 2010 at 16:30
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Configure one server to be an NTP server (it will need to be a client of >=2 NTP sources), and configure the other to be a client of the first. TechNet details the registry values.

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