Apple TV's cannot set network time...

[kennysarmy]

Came across this today:

 

Version update 5.2.1 (6025) seems to have changed the way its searches for time. According to the Apple website’s list of ports used by Apple, the time protocol NTP would normally communicate via TCP or UDP. This was the case in previous versions, but when the update for 5.2.1 was introduced, the Apple TV displayed a “Searching for Time and Date” indicator upon restart. The only remedy was to select “Menu” on the Apple Remote. At that point, the main menu now only displayed “Computers” and “Settings” options. All the icons for other online content options such as YouTube, HuluPlus, Vimeo, etc. were missing.

 

 

After running a packet trace the ports, NTP (123), DNS (53) and ports 49152 – 65535 were used in booting the Apple TV. After some trial and error it appears that the Apple TV is searching for the time via the NTP protocol through UDP. When port 123 was opened in the firewall over TCP/UDP it still did not communicate. The solution was to specifically indicate the NTP protocol over UDP. Keeping the NTP protocol specified via TCP is also recommended.

 

 

The resolution to this problem was to create a service group for Apple including the following services.

 

 

Name

Protocol

Source Ports

Destination Ports

 

NTP

UDP

Default (0-65535)

123

 

http

TCP

49152-65535

80

 

https

TCP

49152-65535

443

 

 

Additionally, it is recommended to include these services in the group to encompass all of the Apple products in your environment.

 

 

Name

Protocol

Source Ports

Destination Ports

 

NTP

TCP

Default (0-65535)

123

 

3689 (iTunes Library)

TCP

Default (0-65535)

3689

 

5353 (Apple TV iTunes)

UDP

Default (0-65535)

5353

 

Domain (DNS)

TCP

Default (0-65535)

53

 

 

 

We are running a smoothwall and are having problems getting our Apple TV's on the firmware listed above to get internet access through it