Using VMware Tools GUI to disable time synchronization with host

[TheVMinator]

What is the quickest way for a Windows Server VM being provisioned with VMware Tools installed, to insure that time synchronization does NOT occur with the host?  These articles discuss using registry entries.  Ideally I'd like a way to do this without registry entries.  For example, Windows Admin gets new VM and needs to check in the guy that time is NOT synching with the host, but with AD.  How can he do this most efficiently, and guarantee that the events referred to in these articles will never cause the tools to sync with the host inadvertently?

http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=1189

http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=1318

Thanks!

[Troy_Clavell]

if you use templates in your enviornment, having the template setup will ensure the VM deployed off these templates are setup properly.  Also, hiding the VMware Tools icon could have deter folks from making changes that they probably shouldn't be making.

[TheVMinator]

Thanks for the information.  We are using templates, but we also have a compliance process requiring time syncrhonzation settings to be manually verified after provisioning.  In that case, what is the fastest way to have a 3rd party qualification person verify that synchronization is with the DC and not the host?  We don't want to have an admin have to open the registry every time, if the VMware tools isn't available in the task bar.

[Troy_Clavell]

you could use a script to check to see if there is compliance.

Part of our daily healthcheck is a line that does just that:

Get-VM | Get-View | ? { $_.Config.Tools.syncTimeWithHost -eq $true } | Select Name | Sort-object Name



The code above will tell you any VM that is set to sync time with it's host.

[TheVMinator]

Great thanks.  Only problem is, our Windows admins don't have powercli permissions and they need to rely on what they can find only inside the guest OS.  If VMware tools are set not to display, is the registry the only place to view that info inside the guest OS?

Thanks