The one where the time is not right

Hi,


I recently had to configure the PDCe server in a forest to sync with an external time source. The time source was on a Cisco Nexus switch. For some reason the PDC server was not liking the NTP server - it was refusing to sync. PDC running Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1.


I was getting the local CMOS time..


w32tm /query /status
Leap Indicator: 0(no warning)
Stratum: 1 (primary reference - syncd by radio clock)
Precision: -6 (15.625ms per tick)
Root Delay: 0.0000000s
Root Dispersion: 10.0000000s
ReferenceId: 0x4C4F434C (source name:  "LOCL")
Last Successful Sync Time: 11/05/2016 15:07:25
Source: Local CMOS Clock
Poll Interval: 6 (64s)


This drove me CRAZY for two weeks or so. After trying EVERY single possible fix on the forums, I came across this: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/875424

Time synchronization may not succeed when you try to synchronize with a non-Windows NTP server in Windows Server 2003

This problem may occur when your computer sends synchronization requests by using symmetric active mode. By default, Windows Server 2003 domain controllers are configured as time servers and use symmetric active mode to send synchronization requests. Some NTP servers that do not run Windows respond only to requests that use client mode.

As it turns out, that was my issue. I was able to see in wireshark that the server was indeed requesting a symmetric sync.

Applied the fix suggested in the article of appending the 0x8 to the NTP server and it's all ticking along just fine now.

Let's all sync our clocks now!