ESX NTP settings

[pkharte]

Hi. Running a single ESX 3.5 server. I am getting "time skewed" errors in Windows XP virtual machines. I have not configured NTP settings for the ESX host, and I suspect this might have something to do with these errors. My NTP server is a physical Windows 2003 primary domain controller. Can I just set this machine's IP address as the NTP server in ESX? Will that work? Right now it's not configured at allm abd when the WinXP virtual machines first start, their clocks are about 15 minutes off.

THanks

PK

[weinstein5 · Accepted solution]

You should be able to do that - also one other option is point the your ESX at the NTP source your domain controller gets its time from - also do not forget to set the the time sychronization setting in VMware so that the VM synchronizes with the service console -

[bcypert]

To set the time sync between the esx and a vm, just select that option in VMware Tools ...

[pkharte]

thanks guys. I configured the NTP settings, then sync in VMtools, and now I am no longer getting GPO or time skew errors with my XP VM's. Thanks again!

PK

[jhanekom]

Just to clarify, you should use either the Windows Time service or VMTools to synchronise, but not both.

For a lot more information on time keeping and time synchronisation in a VMware environment, refer to the following whitepaper: http://www.vmware.com/pdf/vmware_timekeeping.pdf