On Fri, Mar 15, 2013 at 12:24:35PM -0400, James Knott wrote:
Andrey Borzenkov wrote:
No, they also have their own method.
Thank you for letting me know. So my several dozens systems including Linux ones syncing off Windows servers exist just in my imagination:)
If you're using a domain login, then that's how you're getting clock sync. Of course, the domain controller should be using NTP, but if you want accurate time, you may be better of using Linux for the domain controller.
Or you have to use third-party applications. See http://support.microsoft.com/kb/939322/en-us Even if you use Linux or a different server operating system you still need some client software piece for your Microsoft clients in such an environment. In particular if your time needs to be more accurate than 'the range of 1 to 2 seconds'. That's from the knowledge base article quoted above. With a quick search I've not been able to find an Open Source Software which operates as a NTP client. Microsoft made in the Microsoft Windows 2k days only use of sntp. But even by this they had been able to fulfill the the main goal to provide a reliale and precise (enough) time source to operate a Kerberized environment. The short argumentation is: Kerberos, a key component of Microsoft's Active Directory (AD), relies on the correct time. See http://support.microsoft.com/kb/224799/en-us That's an older article and very basic. Nowadays mainly of historical use. http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc773013%28v=ws.10%29.aspx is a bit more detailed and more up to date too. Thanks James to make me drive this little refreshed Microsoft time tour. :) Cheers, Lars -- Lars Müller [ˈlaː(r)z ˈmʏlɐ] Samba Team + SUSE Labs SUSE Linux, Maxfeldstraße 5, 90409 Nürnberg, Germany