Syncing Active Directory Time with NTP Server

Posted on by Jordansphere

Problem

The Domain Controllers (Windows 2016) were around ~20 seconds out of sync.  I wanted to sync it with uk.pool.ntp.org

 

Solution

1) Find the PDC

On a host on the domain run the following command: 

NETDOM QUERY FSMO

 

2) Log into the PDC server (normally primary DC)

On a command line with elevated permissions: 

w32tm /config /manualpeerlist:uk.pool.ntp.org /syncfromflags:manual /reliable:yes /update

 

3) Check the w32tm status for confirmation 

w32tm /query /status

Result:

C:\Windows\system32>w32tm /query /status
Leap Indicator: 0(no warning)
Stratum: 3 (secondary reference – syncd by (S)NTP)
Precision: -6 (15.625ms per tick)
Root Delay: 0.0095832s
Root Dispersion: 1.3063500s
ReferenceId: 0x4E81A33F (source IP:  78.129.163.63)
Last Successful Sync Time: 20/08/2018 10:08:43
Source: uk.pool.ntp.org
Poll Interval: 7 (128s)

 

4) To update the other DCs on the network (which are not the PDC) 

w32tm /config /syncfromflags:domhier /update