Time Synchronisation: Difference between revisions

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= Introduction =
= Introduction =


In an Active Directory, an accurate time synchronisation is absolutely necessary. E. g. Kerberos relies on correct timestamps to prevent replay attacks and AD needs it for resolving replication conflicts. The maximum time tolerance in an Active Directory is 5 minutes per default. If e. g. your domain members (clients, Member Servers, DCs) clock differs more than that to your servers clock, accessing the server is denied. As the default time source in an Active Directory forest, is the Domain Controller with the [[Flexible_Single-Master_Operations_(FSMO)_roles#PDC_Emulator|PDC emulator FSMO role]]. See http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc773013%28v=ws.10%29.aspx#w2k3tr_times_how_izcr for information about time synchronisation in an AD DS hierarchy.
In an Active Directory (AD) you must have an accurate time synchronisation. For example, Kerberos requires correct time stamps to prevent replay attacks and the AD uses the time to resolve replication conflicts. The default maximum allowed time deviation in an AD is 5 minutes. If a domain member or domain controller (DC) has a higher or lower time difference, the access is denied. As a result, a user cannot access shares or query the directory.


Samba supports the <code>ntpd</code> from http://ntp.org and <code>chrony</code> from https://chrony.tuxfamily.org/ . The daemon synchronises the time with external sources and enables clients to retrieve the time from the server running the daemon.
ntpd from http://ntp.org allows allows time synchronisation with external sources and can also be configured to be a time source for others. Please note, that ntpd does not support authenticated time to Windows 2000 clients! This is due to these clients not behaving as the ntpd server expects. As these clients are now very old and unsupported, you may need to find another way to keep these clocks in sync.


'''See the [[Server_information_used_in_documentation|server information used in documentation]] page for used paths, hostnames, etc.'''


'''Recommended best practise'''


internet time server
^
|
|
PDC Emulator DC
^ ^
| |
| |
Other DC <----Workstation


From the above, you can see that only the PDC emulator DC gets its time from external time servers, all other DC's get their time from the PDC emulator, all other workstations get their time from any DC.
There is however a problem with this, Windows clients ultimately get their time from the PDC emulator DC via the DCs and if the PDC emulator DC goes offline, the other DC's will be continue to look for it and time could drift.
As a workaround for this, set the same external time servers on all DC's, then if the PDC emulator goes offline and cannot easily be restarted, transfer or seize the PDC emulator role to another DC.


By default domain joined Windows clients synchronize their clock via NT5DS with AD-DC's.
The NT5DS protocol uses digital signatures. These can be provided by Samba if the time server runs on the same server, and is configured as described on this page (with options mssntp and ntpsigndsocket).
Alternatively you could configure all machines to do standard ntp, but NT5DS is recommended.


= Configuring time synchronisation on a DC =
Note that authenticated time synchronisation with Windows 2000 clients is not supported.

Before deciding which time server software to install, You can see a comparison of ntp and chrony here https://chrony.tuxfamily.org/comparison.html

For example, the NTP modes table. (last date checked 7 June 2018.)

:{| class="wikitable"
!
!chrony
!ntp
!openntpd
|-
|Broadcast server
|Yes
|Yes
|No
|-
|Broadcast client
|No
|Yes
|No
|-
|Multicast server
|No
|Yes
|No
|-
|Multicast client
|No
|Yes
|No
|-
|Manycast server
|No
|Yes
|No
|-
|Manycast client
|No
|Yes
|No
|}


{{Imbox
| type = note
| text = You must set up a time server on all Samba AD DC's
}}


= Configuring Time Synchronisation on a DC =


== Requirements ==
== Requirements ==


* ntpd >= 4.2.6 from [http://www.ntp.org/ ntp.org], with enabled signed ntp support ("--enable-ntp-signd"), installed via package or self compiled
* ntpd >= 4.2.6 from http://www.ntp.org, compiled with enabled signed ntp support (<code>--enable-ntp-signd</code> when building NTP)


Or
* Make sure, that the socket permissions are set correct. It must be readable by the account your ntpd uses and should not be accessible by other

* chrony >= 3.0 from https://chrony.tuxfamily.org, compiled with enabled signed ntp support (<code>--enable-ntp-signd</code> when building chrony)

== With ntpd ==

{{Imbox
| type = note
| text = It has been reported that <code>ntpsec</code> will not work with Samba. There is Debian bug report here: https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=1033088 and the corresponding NTPsec issue here: https://gitlab.com/NTPsec/ntpsec/-/issues/785 . Until this note has been removed, it is recommended that only <code>Chrony</code> is used.
}}

* Verify the socket permissions on your domain controller (DC). The time daemon must have read permissions in the <code>ntp_signed</code> directory. To list the permissions, enter:


# chown root:ntp /usr/local/samba/var/lib/ntp_signd/
# chmod 750 /usr/local/samba/var/lib/ntp_signd/
# ls -ld /usr/local/samba/var/lib/ntp_signd/
# ls -ld /usr/local/samba/var/lib/ntp_signd/
drwxr-x--- 2 root ntp 4096 1. May 09:30 /usr/local/samba/var/lib/ntp_signd/
drwxr-x--- 2 root ntp 4096 1. May 09:30 /usr/local/samba/var/lib/ntp_signd/


: Note: Depending on your linux distribution, the path might be different, e.g <code>/var/lib/samba/ntp_signd/</code>. The path of course then needs to be changed in the <code>chrony.conf</code> below as well.


: To set the permissions, run:
# chown root:ntp /usr/local/samba/var/lib/ntp_signd/
# chmod 750 /usr/local/samba/var/lib/ntp_signd/


Typically, the <code>ntpd</code> daemon read its configuration from the <code>/etc/ntpd.conf</code> file.
== Setup ntpd.conf ==


Typically ntpd's configuration file is /etc/ntpd.conf in most distributions. In the following, you see a working minimum ntpd.conf, that retrieves its time from an external NTP server and provides time via signed NTP for others.
The following is a minimum <code>ntpd.conf</code> file that synchronises the time with three external NTP server and enables clients to query the time using signed NTP requests:


# Local clock (Note: This is not the localhost address!)
# Local clock. Note that is not the "localhost" address!
server 127.127.1.0
server 127.127.1.0
fudge 127.127.1.0 stratum 10
fudge 127.127.1.0 stratum 10
# The source, where we are receiving the time from
# Where to retrieve the time from
server 0.pool.ntp.org iburst prefer
server 0.pool.ntp.org iburst prefer
server 1.pool.ntp.org iburst prefer
server 2.pool.ntp.org iburst prefer
driftfile /var/lib/ntp/ntp.drift
driftfile /var/lib/ntp/ntp.drift
Line 43: Line 122:
# Access control
# Access control
# Default restriction: Only allow querying time (incl. ms-sntp) from this machine
# Default restriction: Allow clients only to query the time
restrict default kod nomodify notrap nopeer mssntp
restrict default kod nomodify notrap nopeer limited mssntp
# Allow everything from localhost
# No restrictions for "localhost"
restrict 127.0.0.1
restrict 127.0.0.1
# Allow that our time source can only provide time and do nothing else
# Enable the time sources to only provide time to this host
restrict 0.pool.ntp.org mask 255.255.255.255 nomodify notrap nopeer noquery
restrict 0.pool.ntp.org mask 255.255.255.255 nomodify notrap nopeer noquery
restrict 1.pool.ntp.org mask 255.255.255.255 nomodify notrap nopeer noquery
restrict 2.pool.ntp.org mask 255.255.255.255 nomodify notrap nopeer noquery


If you are running the DC in a VM, you should consider adding <code>tinker panic 0</code> to the end of the <code>ntp.conf</code>. This tells NTP not to panic and exit, no matter what the time offset is. This is recommended because
For further information about ntpd access control, see http://support.ntp.org/bin/view/Support/AccessRestrictions.
virtual machines have no physical clock and can be paused at anytime and started back up hours later.
Examples about ntpd SELinux labeling and policy you will find [[Time_syncronisation_SELinux_labeling_and_policy|here]].
For further information see: https://www.redhat.com/en/blog/avoiding-clock-drift-vms


For further information about the <code>ntpd</code> access control, see http://support.ntp.org/bin/view/Support/AccessRestrictions.


If you have SELinux enabled on your server, see [[Time_Synchronisation_-_SELinux_Labeling_and_Policy|Time Synchronisation - SELinux Labeling and Policy]].


== With chrony ==


* Verify the socket permissions on your domain controller (DC). The time daemon must have read permissions in the <code>ntp_signed</code> directory. To list the permissions, enter:


# ls -ld /usr/local/samba/var/lib/ntp_signd/
= Configuring time synchronisation on Samba Domain Members =
drwxr-x--- 2 root _chrony 4096 1. May 09:30 /usr/local/samba/var/lib/ntp_signd/

: Note: Depending on your linux distribution, the path might be different, e.g <code>/var/lib/samba/ntp_signd/</code>. The path of course then needs to be changed in the <code>chrony.conf</code> below as well.

: To set the permissions, run:
# chown root:_chrony /usr/local/samba/var/lib/ntp_signd/
# chmod 750 /usr/local/samba/var/lib/ntp_signd/

Typically, the <code>chrony</code> daemon read its configuration from the <code>/etc/chrony/chrony.conf</code> file.

The following is a minimum <code>chrony.conf</code> file that synchronises the time with three external NTP servers and enables clients to query the time using signed NTP requests:

# Welcome to the chrony configuration file. See chrony.conf(5) for more
# information about usuable directives.
# This directive specify the location of the file containing ID/key pairs for
# NTP authentication.
keyfile /etc/chrony/chrony.keys
# This directive specify the file into which chronyd will store the rate
# information.
driftfile /var/lib/chrony/chrony.drift
# Uncomment the following line to turn logging on.
#log tracking measurements statistics
# Log files location.
logdir /var/log/chrony
# Stop bad estimates upsetting machine clock.
maxupdateskew 100.0
# This directive tells 'chronyd' to parse the 'adjtime' file to find out if the
# real-time clock keeps local time or UTC. It overrides the 'rtconutc' directive.
hwclockfile /etc/adjtime
# This directive enables kernel synchronisation (every 11 minutes) of the
# real-time clock. Note that it can’t be used along with the 'rtcfile' directive.
rtcsync
# Step the system clock instead of slewing it if the adjustment is larger than
# one second, but only in the first three clock updates.
makestep 1 3
# ipaddress of this DC
bindcmdaddress 192.168.0.2
# The source, where we are receiving the time from
server 0.pool.ntp.org iburst
server 1.pool.ntp.org iburst
server 2.pool.ntp.org iburst
# dns netmask
allow 192.168.0.0/24
ntpsigndsocket /usr/local/samba/var/lib/ntp_signd

= Configuring Time Synchronisation on a Unix Domain Member =


== Requirements ==
== Requirements ==


* ntpd from [http://www.ntp.org/ ntp.org], installed via package or self compiled
* ntpd from http://www.ntp.org.


Or


* chrony >= 3.0 from https://chrony.tuxfamily.org


Or
== Setup ntpd.conf ==


* systemd-timesyncd >= a recent linux distro that supports and runs with systemd.
Typically ntpd's configuration file is /etc/ntpd.conf in most distributions. In the following, you see a working minimum ntpd.conf, that retrieves its time from an Samba AD Domain Controller and doesn't provide NTP for others.



# Local clock (this is not the localhost address!)



== With ntpd ==


Typically, the <code>ntpd</code> daemon read its configuration from the <code>/etc/ntpd.conf</code> file.

The following is a minimum conf file that synchronises the time with the Samba Active Directory (AD) domain controllers (DC) <code>DC1</code> and <code>DC2</code> and does not provide time services for other hosts.

# Local clock. Note that is not the "localhost" address!
server 127.127.1.0
server 127.127.1.0
fudge 127.127.1.0 stratum 10
fudge 127.127.1.0 stratum 10
# The source, where we are receiving the time from
# Where to retrieve the time from
server DC1.samdom.example.com iburst prefer
server DC1.samdom.example.com iburst prefer
server DC2.samdom.example.com iburst
driftfile /var/lib/ntp/ntp.drift
driftfile /var/lib/ntp/ntp.drift
Line 82: Line 240:
# Access control
# Access control
# Default restriction
# Default restriction: Disallow everything
restrict default ignore
restrict default ignore
# Allow everything from localhost
# No restrictions for "localhost"
restrict 127.0.0.1
restrict 127.0.0.1
# Allow that our time source can only provide time and do nothing else
# Enable the time sources only to only provide time to this host
restrict DC1.samdom.example.com mask 255.255.255.255 nomodify notrap nopeer noquery
restrict DC1.samdom.example.com mask 255.255.255.255 nomodify notrap nopeer noquery
restrict DC2.samdom.example.com mask 255.255.255.255 nomodify notrap nopeer noquery

If you are running the Unix Domain Member in a VM, you should consider adding <code>tinker panic 0</code> to the end of the <code>ntp.conf</code>. This tells NTP not to panic and exit, no matter what the time offset is. This is recommended because virtual machines have no physical clock and can be paused at any time and started back up hours later.
For further information see: https://www.redhat.com/en/blog/avoiding-clock-drift-vms

For further information about the <code>ntpd</code> access control, see http://support.ntp.org/bin/view/Support/AccessRestrictions.





== With chrony ==

Typically, the <code>chrony</code> daemon read its configuration from the <code>/etc/chrony/chrony.conf</code> file.

The following is a minimum conf file that synchronises the time with the Samba Active Directory (AD) domain controllers (DC) <code>DC1</code> and <code>DC2</code> and does not provide time services for other hosts.

# Welcome to the chrony configuration file. See chrony.conf(5) for more
# information about usuable directives.
# This directive specify the location of the file containing ID/key pairs for
# NTP authentication.
keyfile /etc/chrony/chrony.keys
# This directive specify the file into which chronyd will store the rate
# information.
driftfile /var/lib/chrony/chrony.drift
# Uncomment the following line to turn logging on.
#log tracking measurements statistics
# Log files location.
logdir /var/log/chrony
# Stop bad estimates upsetting machine clock.
maxupdateskew 100.0
# This directive tells 'chronyd' to parse the 'adjtime' file to find out if the
# real-time clock keeps local time or UTC. It overrides the 'rtconutc' directive.
hwclockfile /etc/adjtime
# This directive enables kernel synchronisation (every 11 minutes) of the
# real-time clock. Note that it can’t be used along with the 'rtcfile' directive.
rtcsync
# Step the system clock instead of slewing it if the adjustment is larger than
# one second, but only in the first three clock updates.
makestep 1 3
# ipaddress of this Unix domain member
bindcmdaddress 192.168.0.6
# The source, where we are receiving the time from
server DC1.samdom.example.com iburst
server DC2.samdom.example.com iburst





== With systemd-timesyncd ==

There are a few ways to setup systemd-timesyncd.

The <code>systemd-timesynced</code> daemon reads its configuration from the <code>/etc/systemd/timesyncd.conf</code> file,
or from your network configuration defined in systemd's .network file <code>/etc/systemd/network/your.network</code>,
or by dhcp settings.

Option 1: Using the <code>/etc/systemd/timesyncd.conf</code> file.
Enable the following.
[Time]
NTP=DC1.samdom.example.com DC2.samdom.example.com
FallbackNTP=the.same.ntp-server.as.your.dc.points.to one-extra.ntp-server.as.your.dc.points.to

In this example the fallback NTP servers are also used, this is not mandatory.


Option 2: set your time servers in your network configuration (for example: <code>/etc/systemd/network/20-wired-dev1.network</code>).
#/etc/systemd/network/20-wired-dev1.network
[Network]
NTP=dc1.samdom.example.com
NTP=dc2.samdom.example.com
[Address]
Address=192.168.0.200/24
[Route]
Destination=0.0.0.0/0
Gateway=192.168.0.1

After the changes enable and start the time daemon.
systemctl enable systemd-timesyncd
systemctl start systemd-timesyncd

Check the service status with:
systemctl status systemd-timesyncd

Check the journaling logs with:
journalctl -u systemd-timesyncd

Check the time daemon with:
timedatectl status

If required, get the list of timezones:
timedatectl list-timezones
and apply the new time-zone.
timedatectl set-timezones Europe/Amsterdam

Why use the systemd time daemon? It works fine for a member server and doesn't require the installation of any extra software.


{{Imbox
| type = note
| text = You can find the documentation for <code>systemd-timesynced</code> here: https://www.freedesktop.org/software/systemd/man/systemd-timesyncd.service.html
}}





= Configuring Time Synchronisation on a Windows Domain Member =


The following describes the basics of how to configure time synchronisation on a Windows domain member. For further details, see your Microsoft Windows documentation.
For further information about ntpd access control, see http://support.ntp.org/bin/view/Support/AccessRestrictions






== Default Time Source ==


Windows AD domain members will use any DC as their default time source. If you have set up ntp on the DC as described on this page, you usually do not need to reconfigure the clients. Alternative configuration options for the clients are described below.


For more information about the time synchronisation and hierarchy in an AD, see http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc773013%28v=ws.10%29.aspx#w2k3tr_times_how_izcr.
= Configuring time synchronisation on Windows clients =


== Setting User Defined Time Sources and Options ==
Per default, Windows clients in an Active Directory, automatically synchronize their time with the DC, owning the PDC emulator role. If you don't want to use a different source or to configure multiple time server, etc. you don't have to take any action.


To create a group policy object (GPO) to for setting a user defined NTP time source and options:


* Log in to a computer using an account that is allowed you to edit group policies, such as the AD domain <code>Administrator</code> account.


* Open the <code>Group Policy Management Console</code>. If you are not having the Remote Server Administration Tools (RSAT) installed on this computer, see [[Installing RSAT|Installing RSAT]].
== Setting user defined time source(s) and options ==


* Right-click to your AD domain and select <code>Create a GPO in this domain, and Link it here</code>.
If you require your Windows clients to synchronize time with a different server than your DC owning the PDC role, you can configure this via Group Policies. Using the following way, you can define multiple time servers and adjust time synchronisation related options:


* Enter a name for the GPO, such as <code>Time Sources</code>. The new GPO is shown below the domain entry.
* Create a new Group Policy Object in the Group Policy Management Console (part of the [[Installing_RSAT|Remote Server Administration Tools]]) and edit it.


* Right-click to the newly-created GPO and select <code>Edit</code> to open the <code>Group Policy Management Editor</code>.
* In the Group Policy Management Editor, go to "Computer Configuration" / "Administrative Templates" / "System" / "Windows Time Service" / "Time Providers".


* Navigate to the <code>Computer Configuration</code> &rarr; <code>Policies</code> &rarr; <code>Administrative Templates</code> &rarr; <code>System</code> &rarr; <code>Windows Time Service</code> &rarr; <code>Time Providers</code> entry, and double-click <code>Configure Windows NTP Client</code> to configure the policy:
* Edit the "Configure Windows NTP Client" policy:
:* Enable the policy and set the following options:
::* Enter the fully-quallified domain name (FQDN) of the NTP server to the <code>NtpServer</code> field and and append the <code>0x9</code> flag. For example:
:::[[Image:GPO_Windows_NTP_Client_Options.png]]
::: To enter multiple server, separate the individual entries using a space.
::* Keep the <code>NT5DS</code> type setting.
::* Update the additional parameters, if necessary.
:* Click <code>OK</code> to save the settings.


* Navigate to the <code>Computer Configuration</code> &rarr; <code>Policies</code> &rarr; <code>Administrative Templates</code> &rarr; <code>System</code> &rarr; <code>Windows Time Service</code> &rarr; <code>Time Providers</code> entry, and double-click <code>Enable Windows NTP Client</code> to configure the policy:
:[[Image:GPO_Windows_NTP_Client_Options.png]]
:* Enable the policy.
:* Click <code>OK</code> to save the settings.


* Close the <code>Group Policy Management Editor</code>.
:This example changes the NTP server setting to a DC that provides time, but is not owner of the PDC role. For further explanations on the possible options, see the description in the policy and, visit http://technet.microsoft.com/de-de/library/cc779145%28v=ws.10%29.aspx.


* Close the <code>Group Policy Management Console</code>.
* Save the GPO and link it to the desired OU.




Notes:


* The default Type NT5DS ignores the parameter NtpServer, and syncs with the DC.


* If ntpd on your DC is not configured for mssntp with ntpsigndsocket, use Type NTP.


* If a client will not be able to connect to the DC for a long time (for example a laptop), use Type AllSync and set NtpServer to "time.windows.com,0x9". This will cause the client to try both NT5DS to your DC, and NTP to NtpServer.
----
[[Category:Configuration]]
[[Category:Active Directory]]

Latest revision as of 15:58, 27 October 2023

Introduction

In an Active Directory (AD) you must have an accurate time synchronisation. For example, Kerberos requires correct time stamps to prevent replay attacks and the AD uses the time to resolve replication conflicts. The default maximum allowed time deviation in an AD is 5 minutes. If a domain member or domain controller (DC) has a higher or lower time difference, the access is denied. As a result, a user cannot access shares or query the directory.

Samba supports the ntpd from http://ntp.org and chrony from https://chrony.tuxfamily.org/ . The daemon synchronises the time with external sources and enables clients to retrieve the time from the server running the daemon.


Recommended best practise

internet time server
          ^
          |
          |
  PDC Emulator DC
   ^         ^
   |         |
   |         | 
Other DC <----Workstation  

From the above, you can see that only the PDC emulator DC gets its time from external time servers, all other DC's get their time from the PDC emulator, all other workstations get their time from any DC. There is however a problem with this, Windows clients ultimately get their time from the PDC emulator DC via the DCs and if the PDC emulator DC goes offline, the other DC's will be continue to look for it and time could drift. As a workaround for this, set the same external time servers on all DC's, then if the PDC emulator goes offline and cannot easily be restarted, transfer or seize the PDC emulator role to another DC.

By default domain joined Windows clients synchronize their clock via NT5DS with AD-DC's. The NT5DS protocol uses digital signatures. These can be provided by Samba if the time server runs on the same server, and is configured as described on this page (with options mssntp and ntpsigndsocket). Alternatively you could configure all machines to do standard ntp, but NT5DS is recommended.

Note that authenticated time synchronisation with Windows 2000 clients is not supported.

Before deciding which time server software to install, You can see a comparison of ntp and chrony here https://chrony.tuxfamily.org/comparison.html

For example, the NTP modes table. (last date checked 7 June 2018.)

chrony ntp openntpd
Broadcast server Yes Yes No
Broadcast client No Yes No
Multicast server No Yes No
Multicast client No Yes No
Manycast server No Yes No
Manycast client No Yes No



Configuring Time Synchronisation on a DC

Requirements

  • ntpd >= 4.2.6 from http://www.ntp.org, compiled with enabled signed ntp support (--enable-ntp-signd when building NTP)

Or

With ntpd

  • Verify the socket permissions on your domain controller (DC). The time daemon must have read permissions in the ntp_signed directory. To list the permissions, enter:
# ls -ld /usr/local/samba/var/lib/ntp_signd/
drwxr-x--- 2 root ntp 4096  1. May 09:30 /usr/local/samba/var/lib/ntp_signd/
Note: Depending on your linux distribution, the path might be different, e.g /var/lib/samba/ntp_signd/. The path of course then needs to be changed in the chrony.conf below as well.
To set the permissions, run:
# chown root:ntp /usr/local/samba/var/lib/ntp_signd/
# chmod 750 /usr/local/samba/var/lib/ntp_signd/

Typically, the ntpd daemon read its configuration from the /etc/ntpd.conf file.

The following is a minimum ntpd.conf file that synchronises the time with three external NTP server and enables clients to query the time using signed NTP requests:

# Local clock. Note that is not the "localhost" address!
server 127.127.1.0
fudge  127.127.1.0 stratum 10

# Where to retrieve the time from
server 0.pool.ntp.org     iburst prefer
server 1.pool.ntp.org     iburst prefer
server 2.pool.ntp.org     iburst prefer

driftfile       /var/lib/ntp/ntp.drift
logfile         /var/log/ntp
ntpsigndsocket  /usr/local/samba/var/lib/ntp_signd/

# Access control
# Default restriction: Allow clients only to query the time
restrict default kod nomodify notrap nopeer limited mssntp

# No restrictions for "localhost"
restrict 127.0.0.1

# Enable the time sources to only provide time to this host
restrict 0.pool.ntp.org   mask 255.255.255.255    nomodify notrap nopeer noquery
restrict 1.pool.ntp.org   mask 255.255.255.255    nomodify notrap nopeer noquery
restrict 2.pool.ntp.org   mask 255.255.255.255    nomodify notrap nopeer noquery

If you are running the DC in a VM, you should consider adding tinker panic 0 to the end of the ntp.conf. This tells NTP not to panic and exit, no matter what the time offset is. This is recommended because virtual machines have no physical clock and can be paused at anytime and started back up hours later. For further information see: https://www.redhat.com/en/blog/avoiding-clock-drift-vms

For further information about the ntpd access control, see http://support.ntp.org/bin/view/Support/AccessRestrictions.

If you have SELinux enabled on your server, see Time Synchronisation - SELinux Labeling and Policy.

With chrony

  • Verify the socket permissions on your domain controller (DC). The time daemon must have read permissions in the ntp_signed directory. To list the permissions, enter:
# ls -ld /usr/local/samba/var/lib/ntp_signd/
drwxr-x--- 2 root _chrony 4096  1. May 09:30 /usr/local/samba/var/lib/ntp_signd/
Note: Depending on your linux distribution, the path might be different, e.g /var/lib/samba/ntp_signd/. The path of course then needs to be changed in the chrony.conf below as well.
To set the permissions, run:
# chown root:_chrony /usr/local/samba/var/lib/ntp_signd/
# chmod 750 /usr/local/samba/var/lib/ntp_signd/

Typically, the chrony daemon read its configuration from the /etc/chrony/chrony.conf file.

The following is a minimum chrony.conf file that synchronises the time with three external NTP servers and enables clients to query the time using signed NTP requests:

# Welcome to the chrony configuration file. See chrony.conf(5) for more
# information about usuable directives.

# This directive specify the location of the file containing ID/key pairs for
# NTP authentication.
keyfile /etc/chrony/chrony.keys

# This directive specify the file into which chronyd will store the rate
# information.
driftfile /var/lib/chrony/chrony.drift

# Uncomment the following line to turn logging on.
#log tracking measurements statistics

# Log files location.
logdir /var/log/chrony

# Stop bad estimates upsetting machine clock.
maxupdateskew 100.0

# This directive tells 'chronyd' to parse the 'adjtime' file to find out if the
# real-time clock keeps local time or UTC. It overrides the 'rtconutc' directive.
hwclockfile /etc/adjtime

# This directive enables kernel synchronisation (every 11 minutes) of the
# real-time clock. Note that it can’t be used along with the 'rtcfile' directive.
rtcsync

# Step the system clock instead of slewing it if the adjustment is larger than
# one second, but only in the first three clock updates.
makestep 1 3

# ipaddress of this DC
bindcmdaddress 192.168.0.2 

# The source, where we are receiving the time from
server 0.pool.ntp.org     iburst
server 1.pool.ntp.org     iburst
server 2.pool.ntp.org     iburst

# dns netmask
allow 192.168.0.0/24 

ntpsigndsocket  /usr/local/samba/var/lib/ntp_signd

Configuring Time Synchronisation on a Unix Domain Member

Requirements

Or

Or

  • systemd-timesyncd >= a recent linux distro that supports and runs with systemd.



With ntpd

Typically, the ntpd daemon read its configuration from the /etc/ntpd.conf file.

The following is a minimum conf file that synchronises the time with the Samba Active Directory (AD) domain controllers (DC) DC1 and DC2 and does not provide time services for other hosts.

# Local clock. Note that is not the "localhost" address!
server 127.127.1.0
fudge  127.127.1.0 stratum 10
 
# Where to retrieve the time from
server DC1.samdom.example.com     iburst prefer
server DC2.samdom.example.com     iburst

driftfile /var/lib/ntp/ntp.drift
logfile   /var/log/ntp

# Access control
# Default restriction: Disallow everything
restrict default ignore

# No restrictions for "localhost"
restrict 127.0.0.1

# Enable the time sources only to only provide time to this host
restrict DC1.samdom.example.com   mask 255.255.255.255    nomodify notrap nopeer noquery
restrict DC2.samdom.example.com   mask 255.255.255.255    nomodify notrap nopeer noquery

If you are running the Unix Domain Member in a VM, you should consider adding tinker panic 0 to the end of the ntp.conf. This tells NTP not to panic and exit, no matter what the time offset is. This is recommended because virtual machines have no physical clock and can be paused at any time and started back up hours later. For further information see: https://www.redhat.com/en/blog/avoiding-clock-drift-vms

For further information about the ntpd access control, see http://support.ntp.org/bin/view/Support/AccessRestrictions.



With chrony

Typically, the chrony daemon read its configuration from the /etc/chrony/chrony.conf file.

The following is a minimum conf file that synchronises the time with the Samba Active Directory (AD) domain controllers (DC) DC1 and DC2 and does not provide time services for other hosts.

# Welcome to the chrony configuration file. See chrony.conf(5) for more
# information about usuable directives.

# This directive specify the location of the file containing ID/key pairs for
# NTP authentication.
keyfile /etc/chrony/chrony.keys

# This directive specify the file into which chronyd will store the rate
# information.
driftfile /var/lib/chrony/chrony.drift

# Uncomment the following line to turn logging on.
#log tracking measurements statistics

# Log files location.
logdir /var/log/chrony

# Stop bad estimates upsetting machine clock.
maxupdateskew 100.0

# This directive tells 'chronyd' to parse the 'adjtime' file to find out if the
# real-time clock keeps local time or UTC. It overrides the 'rtconutc' directive.
hwclockfile /etc/adjtime

# This directive enables kernel synchronisation (every 11 minutes) of the
# real-time clock. Note that it can’t be used along with the 'rtcfile' directive.
rtcsync

# Step the system clock instead of slewing it if the adjustment is larger than
# one second, but only in the first three clock updates.
makestep 1 3

# ipaddress of this Unix domain member
bindcmdaddress 192.168.0.6 

# The source, where we are receiving the time from
server DC1.samdom.example.com    iburst
server DC2.samdom.example.com    iburst



With systemd-timesyncd

There are a few ways to setup systemd-timesyncd.

The systemd-timesynced daemon reads its configuration from the /etc/systemd/timesyncd.conf file, or from your network configuration defined in systemd's .network file /etc/systemd/network/your.network, or by dhcp settings.

Option 1: Using the /etc/systemd/timesyncd.conf file. Enable the following.

[Time]
NTP=DC1.samdom.example.com DC2.samdom.example.com
FallbackNTP=the.same.ntp-server.as.your.dc.points.to one-extra.ntp-server.as.your.dc.points.to

In this example the fallback NTP servers are also used, this is not mandatory.


Option 2: set your time servers in your network configuration (for example: /etc/systemd/network/20-wired-dev1.network).

#/etc/systemd/network/20-wired-dev1.network
[Network]
NTP=dc1.samdom.example.com
NTP=dc2.samdom.example.com

[Address]
Address=192.168.0.200/24

[Route]
Destination=0.0.0.0/0
Gateway=192.168.0.1

After the changes enable and start the time daemon.

systemctl enable systemd-timesyncd
systemctl start systemd-timesyncd

Check the service status with:

systemctl status systemd-timesyncd

Check the journaling logs with:

journalctl -u systemd-timesyncd

Check the time daemon with:

timedatectl status

If required, get the list of timezones:

timedatectl list-timezones

and apply the new time-zone.

timedatectl set-timezones Europe/Amsterdam

Why use the systemd time daemon? It works fine for a member server and doesn't require the installation of any extra software.




Configuring Time Synchronisation on a Windows Domain Member

The following describes the basics of how to configure time synchronisation on a Windows domain member. For further details, see your Microsoft Windows documentation.


Default Time Source

Windows AD domain members will use any DC as their default time source. If you have set up ntp on the DC as described on this page, you usually do not need to reconfigure the clients. Alternative configuration options for the clients are described below.

For more information about the time synchronisation and hierarchy in an AD, see http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc773013%28v=ws.10%29.aspx#w2k3tr_times_how_izcr.

Setting User Defined Time Sources and Options

To create a group policy object (GPO) to for setting a user defined NTP time source and options:

  • Log in to a computer using an account that is allowed you to edit group policies, such as the AD domain Administrator account.
  • Open the Group Policy Management Console. If you are not having the Remote Server Administration Tools (RSAT) installed on this computer, see Installing RSAT.
  • Right-click to your AD domain and select Create a GPO in this domain, and Link it here.
  • Enter a name for the GPO, such as Time Sources. The new GPO is shown below the domain entry.
  • Right-click to the newly-created GPO and select Edit to open the Group Policy Management Editor.
  • Navigate to the Computer ConfigurationPoliciesAdministrative TemplatesSystemWindows Time ServiceTime Providers entry, and double-click Configure Windows NTP Client to configure the policy:
  • Enable the policy and set the following options:
  • Enter the fully-quallified domain name (FQDN) of the NTP server to the NtpServer field and and append the 0x9 flag. For example:
GPO Windows NTP Client Options.png
To enter multiple server, separate the individual entries using a space.
  • Keep the NT5DS type setting.
  • Update the additional parameters, if necessary.
  • Click OK to save the settings.
  • Navigate to the Computer ConfigurationPoliciesAdministrative TemplatesSystemWindows Time ServiceTime Providers entry, and double-click Enable Windows NTP Client to configure the policy:
  • Enable the policy.
  • Click OK to save the settings.
  • Close the Group Policy Management Editor.
  • Close the Group Policy Management Console.


Notes:

  • The default Type NT5DS ignores the parameter NtpServer, and syncs with the DC.
  • If ntpd on your DC is not configured for mssntp with ntpsigndsocket, use Type NTP.
  • If a client will not be able to connect to the DC for a long time (for example a laptop), use Type AllSync and set NtpServer to "time.windows.com,0x9". This will cause the client to try both NT5DS to your DC, and NTP to NtpServer.