Clock Sync

[winstontj]

I'm not sure if this is a VMware issue or a BSD issue but upon install and initial reboot it seems that the BIOS time changes - and then there is no way for me to sync it back to Eastern Standard Time.

I'd like to force the BIOS of the VM to sync with the Host's time but it seems that FreeNAS is overriding those selections and setting it's own time. It's strange, other BSD operating systems don't do this - only FreeNAS.

I'm using the same NTP servers for FreeNAS as well as my ESXi host so that leaves me with two choices. How can I:

Either force the VMware ESXi host's time on the FreeNAS OS and BIOS

OR

Force the time zone settings and NTP server times that I use in FreeNAS back onto the BIOS?

I'm just trying to hook into Active Directory but the BIOS being off by 4 hours ins't letting me.

Thx.

 

[winstontj]

no one?? :(

I'm lost here... Could really use some help. The last three times I've setup FreeNAS boxes this hasn't been an issue - and they were all VMs as well.

 

[cyberjock]

I had multiple bizaare issues when running 8.2-RELEASE on VMWare Workstation 8.0. You could try Virtualbox. It's free. Other than that, you're kind of on your own. There's no easy way to diagnose issues between a host and guest just using a Forum.

 

[winstontj]

I'm trying to run 8.2 RELEASE as well but not on VMware workstation or Virtualbox - this is ESXi 5.0 Enterprise Plus.

The issue isn't the hypervisor the issue is the OS (FreeNAS) forcing UTP time zone onto the BIOS.

How do I stop FreeNAS from forcing UTP time zone onto the CMOS/BIOS settings?

I had multiple bizaare issues when running 8.2-RELEASE on VMWare Workstation 8.0. You could try Virtualbox. It's free. Other than that, you're kind of on your own. There's no easy way to diagnose issues between a host and guest just using a Forum.

 

[cyberjock]

So you are SURE that ESXi isn't passing the wrong time zone to FreeNAS and FreeNAS is trying to correct it? That's the problem with virtual machines. They're alot more complex and alot harder to troubleshoot definitively.

 

[winstontj]

well it's happening on all of my BSD based applications so I suppose it's a BSD problem not a FreeNAS problem.

ESXi is sync'd over to the same exact NTP servers that all of my BSD OS'es are so it's either a VMware issue or a BSD issue.

Any more ideas??

 

[cyberjock]

Yeah, I got nothing. Since it affects all of your BSD based applications I'd say it's either a BSD-wide or ESXi-wide issue. I'd try googling and see if you can figure out the exact issue. If for no other reason than your own sanity ;)

 

[survive]

Hi winstontj,

Try this:

Make sure your time zone is correct in the Freenas GUI then:

1) shutdown the ntpd service with "service ntpd stop" the
2) run "ntpdate <DC IP>" to force the clock to sync up
3) then restart ntpd with "service ntpd start"

My guess is that the clock is to far off for ntpd to sync it up immediately, so it's trying to slowly skew the time toward correctness. Ntpdate will force it to sync.

You can use "ntpq" then "peers" to show close how the system clock is to your time server.

-Will

 

[winstontj]

Hi winstontj,

Try this:

Make sure your time zone is correct in the Freenas GUI then:

1) shutdown the ntpd service with "service ntpd stop" the
2) run "ntpdate <DC IP>" to force the clock to sync up
3) then restart ntpd with "service ntpd start"

My guess is that the clock is to far off for ntpd to sync it up immediately, so it's trying to slowly skew the time toward correctness. Ntpdate will force it to sync.

You can use "ntpq" then "peers" to show close how the system clock is to your time server.

-Will

Thanks, I have tried this. The BSD (FreeNAS) operating system is syncing fine with the time servers the issue is the BIOS is (also syncing and staying in time) the BIOS is forced to UTC time zone not Eastern Standard Time.

 

[cyberjock]

Have you checked out http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=1436

I've never used ESXi personally and I get the impression you've done lots of searches already so you may have already seen the link above. Just trying to help...

 

[winstontj]

I appreciate it. Actually I had not come across that link but it specifically says:

ESXi hosts

ESXi uses UTC time and does not support changing time zones.

In ESXi 3.5, you see the message:
Note: The date and time of the host have been translated to the local time of this VI Client.

In ESXi 4.x and ESXi 5.0, you see the message:
Note: The date and time of the host have been translated to the local time of this vSphere Client.

So is anyone running their FreeNAS machines on ESXi 5.0 and has anyone run into this time issue?

 

[andyl]

Thanks, I have tried this. The BSD (FreeNAS) operating system is syncing fine with the time servers the issue is the BIOS is (also syncing and staying in time) the BIOS is forced to UTC time zone not Eastern Standard Time.

I know that Ubuntu converts the system time to UTC before writing back to the hardware clock on shutdown. Then on startup it reads the hardware clock and assumes it's in UTC and applies the timezone delta. It does this since there's no way of recording the timezone in the hardware clock, so it's assumed to be more accurate to keep it in UTC all the time. Would BSD be doing the same thing?

 

[survive]

Hi winstontj,

Take a look at this KB article. It's mostly about Linux, but it gets a bit more Unix-in-general in the bottom third of the post

http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/mi...nguage=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=1006427

Read this:

http://www.vmware.com/files/pdf/Timekeeping-In-VirtualMachines.pdf

if you really want to know all about why time in a VM environment is such a pain.

-Will