Last Updated: 12/1/2014
Categories: How to
Purpose
This article provides steps to enable Network Time Protocol (NTP) on an ESX/ESXi host using the vSphere Client.
Note: If the ESX/ESXi host is part of a vSphere Storage Appliance (VSA) cluster, the host must be brought offline before any changes are made. If this is not done the polling packets may fail and cause an outage.
Resolution
To configure NTP on ESX/ESXi 4.1 and ESXi 5.x hosts using the vSphere Client:
- Connect to the ESX/ESXi host using the vSphere Client.
- Select a host in the inventory.
- Click the Configuration tab.
- Click Time Configuration.
- Click Properties.
- Click Options.
- Click NTP Settings.
- Click Add.
- Enter the NTP Server name. For example, pool.ntp.org.
Note: When entering the multiple NTP Server names, use a comma (,) followed by a space ( ) between the entries.
- Click OK.
- Click the General tab.
- Click Start automatically under Startup Policy.
Note: It is recommended to set the time manually prior to starting the service.
- Click Start and click OK.
- Click OK to exit.