Question

Batch scripting. Sync with NTP server on startup only. Windows 2000.

Asked by: jondanger

Hi Experts,

I need a way of syncing with an NTP server upon Windows startup.

Is there a dos command that will fetch time from an NTP server so i can >> it to 'time' to set time = result.

The pc is not part of a domain
Windows Time syncing cannot run between certain hours. Startup is the most feasible option.

If i've not been clear enough let me know and i'll try and explain further :-)

Thanks for reading
Jon

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Asked On
2008-08-18 at 13:04:42ID23657545
Topics

Windows Batch Scripting

,

MS DOS

Participating Experts
2
Points
500
Comments
7

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Answers

 

by: jondangerPosted on 2008-08-18 at 15:30:59ID: 22255961

going to use this:

NET TIME \\server /SET /YES

would still like to know if there's an answer to the original question though so i don't have to worry about a timeserver being correct

 

by: SysExpertPosted on 2008-08-19 at 12:30:13ID: 22263014

This can be set in GPO for windows 2003 ( maybe win 2k ) AD, so you may want to look there first.

I hope this helps !

 

by: jondangerPosted on 2008-08-19 at 13:10:01ID: 22263405

doesn't help i'm afraid.

i've done some more digging,

http://www.meinberg.de/english/sw/ntp.htm

The compiled windows binaries include a prog called NTPQ.

If i run ntpq -p pool.ntp.org > c:\test.txt

then test.txt contains the output i've put in the code snippet.  Now to figure out what to do with these results...

     remote           refid      st t when poll reach   delay   offset  jitter
==============================================================================
+2001:708:0:10:4 193.166.4.50     2 u  379 1024  377    1.680    0.520   0.484
*2001:708:0:10:3 195.255.132.231  2 u  872 1024  377    1.496    1.447   0.653
                                              
1:
2:
3:
4:

Select allOpen in new window

 

by: SysExpertPosted on 2008-08-22 at 08:47:08ID: 22291214

Well it looks like you have 2 available NTP servers, and the rest of the info istechnical and related to how accurate the source is over your internet connection

I hope this helps !

 

by: jondangerPosted on 2008-08-23 at 03:05:07ID: 22296375

Thanks, i've done some more digging and the output from ntpq does not contain time.

As sysExpert has said, delay, offset and jitter are just server precision.

I don't want to run an NTP server, i just want to query one for the time it is keeping!

 

by: pbarrettePosted on 2008-08-23 at 09:01:44ID: 22297519

Hi JonDanger,

Have a look here:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/216734

You can use the following to register a list of valid NTP servers for the W32Time service:
w32tm /config /update /manualpeerlist:"time.nist.gov pool.ntp.org" /syncfromflags:manual

So long as the service is running, time synchronization will happen automatically. But if you have set the list using the command above, and need to do an immediate sync, the below command can be used:
w32tm /resync

pb

 

by: pbarrettePosted on 2008-08-23 at 09:08:35ID: 22297547

Ah..

You don't want time sync running during the day.. I see now.

You can still use the above, just use a batch file to add the time server each day, then update the time, then blank out the time server:
:: -----TimeSync.bat----
@ECHO OFF
W32tm /config /update /manualpeerlist:"time.nist.gov pool.ntp.org" /syncfromflags:manual
W32tm /resync
PING -n 5 time.nist.gov >NUL
W32tm /config /update /manualpeerlist: /syncfromflags:manual
:: -----TimeSync.bat----

The ping is used as a delay, so we can be sure that the time server is queried and the time udpated before we delete the list of time servers. If you have the Win2K resource kit, you can also use the SLEEP command, but PING should be available on all systems. If 5 ping requests doesn't give enough time, just increase it.

pb

20120131-EE-VQP-002

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