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I have an AD domain (2 dcs single domain) and a number of member servers. I need to configure time synchronisation so that everything is in sync.

There is a lot of fluff on this topic. Does anyone have a simple list of commands to run? And I've googled this but so many people are at odds about the best way to go on doing this.

My servers are all VMWare VMs (and I am aware of the debate about whether DCs should be virtual or physical....).

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You don't have to do anything manually, all domain members will sync their time with the authenticating DC, which will in turn sync with the DC that holds the PDC emulator role. You can sync the PDC emulator to an external time source if you like, but it's not a requirement. If you'd like yo do that you can follow this article:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/816042

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  • You should definetely sync the PDCe with an external source, especially if it's on something like a VM which is likely to drift. Aug 7, 2011 at 16:32
  • This certainly isn't true for me. See my as yet unresolved problem: serverfault.com/questions/224152/…
    – Rich
    Feb 22, 2012 at 16:00
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+1 for joeqwerty. Just to add to his answer here is the link for VMWare specific guidance. It recommends useful patches and some other details. http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1318

If the DCs and domain members have been built with the defaults in place and have not had the settings changed through group policies or other means (e.g. editing registry direct), then they will use domain hierarchy to sync time. http://blogs.msdn.com/b/w32time/archive/2007/09/04/keeping-the-domain-on-time.aspx explains how this works and the article is from a one time developer of w32time.

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