windows time out by an hour

[dibekem]

Good morning everyone.I recently setup a server with Windows Server 2019 Standard edition (one physical which has 3 virtual servers attached) and having problem with the clock. Basically, it is always showing an hour early.

The time zone is set to (UTC+00:00) Dublin, Edinburgh, Lisbon, London. The automatic time sync is switched on in windows and tried to sync to both address (time.nist.gov, time.windows.com) but no luck. It just says it has been successfully sync but showing the wrong time.

Any advise would be much appreciated.

[ShellfishClive]

Is the correct region set in the Region settings too?

[mavhc]

Is adjust for daylight saving time automatically on?

[dibekem]

Thanks for the replies.

 

Region is set to UK and the daylight saving is switched on too.

[Michael]

You need to run a command such as the below on your Primary Domain Controller and/or your Hyper-V host:

 

@echo off
net stop w32time
w32tm /config /syncfromflags:manual /manualpeerlist:pool.ntp.org
w32tm /config /reliable:yes
net start w32time
w32tm /query /peers

PAUSE

 

On your workstations, configure the GPO - Computer Config > Admin Templates > System > Windows Time Service > Time Providers

 

Configure Windows NTP Client - Enabled - 192.168.1.20,0x9 Type: NT5DS (Replace with your IP)

Enable Windows NTP Client - Enabled

[dibekem]

Thank you Michael!

 

It worked!

 

Do you know what happened?

 

Thanks again!)

[Michael]

I can't explain why it was an hour out, but so long as you have a reliable time server you shouldn't run into any issues.

 

Just keep an eye on your nominated time server internally for the next few days.

 

I'd also suggest configuring the GPO, as you may run into logon issues if your clients are more than 5 mins out. The GPO method is normally pretty quick, but in saying that I tweak it down from the default 90 mins to less than 10 mins in the context of Education.

[dibekem]

Thanks Michael.

 

I used the DC for this. I created a gpo in the OU where the computers are.

Configure Windows NTP Client- I enabled this.

Set the IP to the DC IP.

The rest I left as it was.

 

Enable windows NTP client- I enabled this.

 

I changed the refresh from 90minutes as well under the GPO refresh for computers.

 

Thank you again!

[mavhc]

Problem can be when VM syncing with host and host with BIOS clock get all mixed up, and one expects the bios clock to be on UTC so adds an hour, but the other doesn't and writes the local time to the BIOS clock

[dibekem]

I see.

 

Thanks mavhc!

[jthompson]

If your DC is a Hyper-V VM, you may want to disable the Hyper-V time synchronisation service for it (Hyper-V setting for the VM -> Integration Services -> uncheck "Time synchronization"). Even if the DC is configured to use an NTP time source in the guest OS, Hyper-V will force its clock to sync with the host.

 

Alternatively, set your host to use NTP rather than sync clock with the domain, and leave the Hyper-V time synchronisation service enabled.

 

Basically, if your Hyper-V host has a wonky clock and the Hyper-V time synchronisation is enabled for a VM, then the VM will get wonky time as well, regardless of how its Windows Time service is configured.

[dibekem]

Thanks jthompson. I unchecked the Time synchronization on all the VM's. I already set the time the other way up and its been working ever since so didn't want to changed that now.

 

Thank you again.

[jthompson]

It's helpful to have the Hyper-V time synchronisation on for your member server VMs, since they'll then not lose time if they're left suspended or shut down for any length of time. Provided your host has a reliable hardware clock, of course.

 

Your DC might lose time if it's also down for any length of time, so if you have a power cut or something, making sure that the time is correct on it would be an important task for you, so that the rest of your network (Hyper-V host included) then start syncing from it.

[mavhc]

DC should sync to internet NTP, and everything else should sync to DC.

 

Host should be the only thing writing to the bios clock.