Manage NTP Servers Settings

It is important that the Director and Actors maintain the same time. If using external NTP sources, add at least three servers. You may also use an NTP server within your network environment, depending on your security policy. NTP use is highly recommended to avoid potential issues with event correlation.

If you installed your Director or Actors using installable software, you cannot use this feature. Instead, set your time service in your operating system. Then, for the Director, update the Network Settings to Use System Time and verify the Actors are also configured to Use System Time by editing the Actors.

NTP servers are configured per organization. Therefore, if you have multiple organizations, you must set up an NTP server profile that can be selected for use by the Actors deployed for each organization.

NTP Server Settings page

Use the following procedure to add your NTP servers.

Add an NTP Server

1. Go to Settings > Director Settings. The Systems Settings page opens.
2. Select NTP Servers.
3. Click Add NTP Server.
4. Enter a Hostname or IP address in the Host field.
5. Select Hostname or IP to indicate which type of entry is in the Host field.
6. Enter a Description.
7. Click Create NTP Server.
8. Verify the NTP server was added by viewing the Settings > NTP Servers table.

Edit an NTP Server

1. Go to Settings > Director Settings. The Systems Settings page opens.
2. Select NTP Servers.
3. Select the edit icon next to the NTP server you want to modify.
4. Make changes, as necessary, in the form.
5. Click Update NTP server.

Delete an NTP Server

1. Go to Settings > Director Settings. The Systems Settings page opens.
2. Select NTP Servers.
3. Select the delete icon () next to the NTP server you want to delete.
4. Confirm that you want to delete the NTP server.

Force Time Synchronization

As a best practice, you should start the Director time service after installation or after an update.

Start the Director Time Service

1. Log in to Director as an administrator.
2. Go to Settings > Director Settings. The Systems Settings page opens.
3. Under Time Service, view the Status message. If the chronyd daemon is not running, click Start Time Service.

Force Time Synchronization on the Actors

1. Log in to Director as an administrator.
2. Go to Settings > Director Settings. The Systems Settings page opens.
3. In the Actor Versions table, click Force Time Sync for a given Actor. Alternatively, you can force time synchronization for all Actors at once by clicking Force Time Syncs above the Actor Versions table.

Security Technology Time Synchronization

It is important that your Security Technologies also have system time synchronized to UTC. Refer to your Security Technology provider’s documentation for more information.