Use PowerShell to set External NTP Server on Domain Controllers

Recently, PEI had a client that was having constant issue with time synchronization within their domain. All of their systems were consistently 2-5 minutes behind. As Windows administrators know, this can cause many different issues within your organization, ranging from login failures to services unable to start.

By default, all client systems and non-domain controllers point to the domain controllers to receive NTP updates. This works well, but only if your DC is gathering its time from a reliable source. In order to ensure that your domain controllers are receiving their time from a reliable NTP server, you can complete the following commands using PowerShell.

To accomplish this task, Run PowerShell as an administrator. Then, complete the following:

Once this is completed, you can rest assured that your Domain Controllers will be updating its time using a reliable NTP server. In this case, we used pool.ntp.org. Over the course of several hours your domain joined workstations and servers will also receive updated time from your domain controllers.

Andy Shaffer, PEI