How to enable and configure NTP?

11/25/2021 81 People found this article helpful 211,068 Views

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Description

This article describes how to allow the firewall to synchronize time with an NTP server.

Resolution

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Resolution for SonicOS 7.X

This release includes significant user interface changes and many new features that are different from the SonicOS 6.5 and earlier firmware. The below resolution is for customers using SonicOS 7.X firmware.

NTP(Network Time Protocol) is a protocol used to synchronize computer clock times within a network of computers. NTP uses Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) to synchronize computer clock times to a millisecond, and sometimes, to a fraction of a millisecond.

NTP is configured on the DEVICE | Settings | Time and is enabled by default. However, NTP is recommended and is used on most network equipment, Windows servers and domains, Linux and MacOS X computers

You can see below in the screenshot the checkbox "Set time automatically using NTP", the firewall automatically uses the time zone settings to choose the appropriate servers from an internal list of NTP servers. The names of the servers are not visible in the web management GUI. The firewall needs to be able to send traffic to the internet for DNS resolution of the NTP server host-names and of course for the NTP protocol itself (UDP port 123)

If custom servers are desired, simply specify the host-names (FQDNs) or IP addresses of your NTP servers below. A special setting prevents the use of any of the built-in NTP servers in the firmware: Enable the “Only use custom NTP servers” option for this functionality.

Time settings for the Logs can also be changed here.

Resolution for SonicOS 6.5

This release includes significant user interface changes and many new features that are different from the SonicOS 6.2 and earlier firmware. The below resolution is for customers using SonicOS 6.5 firmware.

NTP(Network Time Protocol) is a protocol used to synchronize computer clock times within a network of computers. NTP uses Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) to synchronize computer clock times to a millisecond, and sometimes, to a fraction of a millisecond.

NTP is configured on the Manage | System Setup | Appliance | System Time  However, NTP is recommended and is used on most network equipment, Windows servers and domains, Linux and MacOS X computers

You can see below in the screenshot the checkbox "Set time automatically using NTP", the firewall automatically uses the time zone settings to choose the appropriate servers from an internal list of NTP servers. The names of the servers are not visible in the web management GUI. The firewall needs to be able to send traffic to the internet for DNS resolution of the NTP server host-names and of course for the NTP protocol itself (UDP port 123)

If custom servers are desired, simply specify the host-names (FQDNs) or IP addresses of your NTP servers below. A special setting prevents the use of any of the built-in NTP servers in the firmware: Enable the “Only use custom NTP servers” option for this functionality.

Time settings for the Logs can also be changed here.

Resolution for SonicOS 6.2 and Below

The below resolution is for customers using SonicOS 6.2 and earlier firmware. For firewalls that are generation 6 and newer we suggest to upgrade to the latest general release of SonicOS 6.5 firmware.

NTP(Network Time Protocol) is a protocol used to synchronize computer clock times within a network of computers. NTP uses Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) to synchronize computer clock times to a millisecond, and sometimes, to a fraction of a millisecond.

NTP is configured on the System | Appliance | System Time. However, NTP is recommended and is used on most network equipment, Windows servers and domains, Linux and MacOS X computers

You can see below in the screenshot the checkbox "Set time automatically using NTP", the firewall automatically uses the time zone settings to choose the appropriate servers from an internal list of NTP servers. The names of the servers are not visible in the web management GUI. The firewall needs to be able to send traffic to the internet for DNS resolution of the NTP server host-names and of course for the NTP protocol itself (UDP port 123)

If custom servers are desired, simply specify the host-names (FQDNs) or IP addresses of your NTP servers below. A special setting prevents the use of any of the built-in NTP servers in the firmware: Enable the “Only use custom NTP servers” option for this functionality.

Time settings for the Logs can also be changed here.

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Categories

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