Configuring Clients
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Apple macOS (OS X)
- Open System Preferences.
- Choose the "Date & Time" panel.
- Click the lock to make changes.
- Enter your password.
- Select "Date & Time".
- In the box next to "Set date and time automatically", enter
time.google.com
.
Cisco IOS and NX-OS
router# config t
Enter configuration commands, one per line. End with CNTL/Z.
router(config)# no ntp server
router(config)# ntp server time1.google.com
router(config)# ntp server time2.google.com
router(config)# ntp server time3.google.com
router(config)# ntp server time4.google.com
router(config)# copy running-config startup-config
Google Compute Engine
Although you can use Google Public NTP from Compute Engine, you will get better
performance from the private cloud servers, which serve the same time using the
same smear. Follow
these instructions.
Juniper Junos
NTP is configured at the [edit system ntp]
hierarchy level:
system {
ntp {
server time1.google.com;
server time2.google.com;
server time3.google.com;
server time4.google.com;
}
}
Linux
ntpd
or chrony
- Edit
/etc/ntp.conf
or /etc/chrony/chrony.conf
(depending on the service
you're using) using your favorite text editor.
- Remove or comment out any lines starting with
server
, to prevent your
machine from trying to mix smeared and non-smeared servers.
Add the lines:
server time1.google.com iburst
server time2.google.com iburst
server time3.google.com iburst
server time4.google.com iburst
Restart the NTP/chrony daemon using sudo service ntp reload
or sudo
service chrony force-reload
.
systemd-timesyncd
- Edit
/etc/systemd/timesyncd.conf
Set the content of the [Time]
block to:
[Time]
NTP=
FallbackNTP=time.google.com
Leaving NTP=
uncommented and assigned to an empty string resets the list
of NTP servers, including any per-interface assignments. This prevents
inadvertently moving between smeared and un-smeared time servers.
Configuring Google Public NTP as the fallback server will cause it to be
selected as the only NTP server.
Restart systemd-timesyncd
using systemctl restart
systemd-timesyncd.service
as a user with appropriate permissions
Verify that your system is using Google Public NTP with timedatectl
show-timesync | grep ServerName
. If successfully configured, the output
will show: ServerName=time.google.com
Microsoft Windows
- Open the Control Panel.
- Click the "Date and Time" icon.
- Choose the "Internet Time" tab. (This will not be available if your PC is
part of a domain. In that case, it will synchronize time with the domain
controller. You can configure the controller to use Google Public NTP.)
- Click the "Change settings..." button.
- Check the box "Synchronize with an Internet time server".
- Next to "Server:", enter
time.google.com
.
Microsoft Windows Server
Follow Microsoft's instructions
to update your registry.
Except as otherwise noted, the content of this page is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License, and code samples are licensed under the Apache 2.0 License. For details, see the Google Developers Site Policies. Java is a registered trademark of Oracle and/or its affiliates.
Last updated 2023-10-23 UTC.
[[["Easy to understand","easyToUnderstand","thumb-up"],["Solved my problem","solvedMyProblem","thumb-up"],["Other","otherUp","thumb-up"]],[["Missing the information I need","missingTheInformationINeed","thumb-down"],["Too complicated / too many steps","tooComplicatedTooManySteps","thumb-down"],["Out of date","outOfDate","thumb-down"],["Samples / code issue","samplesCodeIssue","thumb-down"],["Other","otherDown","thumb-down"]],["Last updated 2023-10-23 UTC."],[[["\u003cp\u003eThis guide provides instructions for configuring various operating systems and network devices to utilize Google Public NTP servers for time synchronization.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eGoogle Public NTP offers improved performance compared to other NTP sources, especially within Google Compute Engine.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe configurations typically involve specifying \u003ccode\u003etime.google.com\u003c/code\u003e or a series of Google NTP server addresses (time1.google.com, time2.google.com, etc.) in your system's time settings or configuration files.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eDepending on your platform, you may need to restart specific services or daemons for the changes to take effect.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eFor domain-joined Windows PCs and Windows Servers, special considerations or registry modifications may be necessary.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],["To configure systems to use Google Public NTP, users must specify `time.google.com` as the NTP server in their system settings. On macOS, this involves adjusting the \"Date & Time\" panel. Cisco devices use commands such as `no ntp server` and `ntp server`. Linux requires editing configuration files like `/etc/ntp.conf` or `/etc/systemd/timesyncd.conf`, followed by service restarts. Windows involves adjusting the \"Internet Time\" settings, while Windows Server requires registry modifications. Juniper devices modify the ntp settings under the system configuration.\n"],null,["# Configuring Clients\n\nApple macOS (OS X)\n------------------\n\n1. Open System Preferences.\n2. Choose the \"Date \\& Time\" panel.\n3. Click the lock to make changes.\n4. Enter your password.\n5. Select \"Date \\& Time\".\n6. In the box next to \"Set date and time automatically\", enter `time.google.com`.\n\nCisco IOS and NX-OS\n-------------------\n\n router# config t\n Enter configuration commands, one per line. End with CNTL/Z.\n router(config)# no ntp server\n router(config)# ntp server time1.google.com\n router(config)# ntp server time2.google.com\n router(config)# ntp server time3.google.com\n router(config)# ntp server time4.google.com\n router(config)# copy running-config startup-config\n\nGoogle Compute Engine\n---------------------\n\nAlthough you can use Google Public NTP from Compute Engine, you will get better\nperformance from the private cloud servers, which serve the same time using the\nsame smear. Follow\n[these instructions](https://cloud.google.com/compute/docs/instances/configure-ntp).\n\nJuniper Junos\n-------------\n\nNTP is configured at the `[edit system ntp]` hierarchy level: \n\n system {\n ntp {\n server time1.google.com;\n server time2.google.com;\n server time3.google.com;\n server time4.google.com;\n }\n }\n\nLinux\n-----\n\n### `ntpd` or `chrony`\n\n1. Edit `/etc/ntp.conf` or `/etc/chrony/chrony.conf` (depending on the service you're using) using your favorite text editor.\n2. Remove or comment out any lines starting with `server`, to prevent your machine from trying to mix smeared and non-smeared servers.\n3. Add the lines:\n\n server time1.google.com iburst\n server time2.google.com iburst\n server time3.google.com iburst\n server time4.google.com iburst\n\n4. Restart the NTP/chrony daemon using `sudo service ntp reload` or `sudo\n service chrony force-reload`.\n\n### `systemd-timesyncd`\n\n1. Edit `/etc/systemd/timesyncd.conf`\n2. Set the content of the `[Time]` block to:\n\n [Time]\n NTP=\n FallbackNTP=time.google.com\n\n Leaving `NTP=` uncommented and assigned to an empty string resets the list\n of NTP servers, including any per-interface assignments. This prevents\n inadvertently moving between smeared and un-smeared time servers.\n Configuring Google Public NTP as the fallback server will cause it to be\n selected as the only NTP server.\n3. Restart `systemd-timesyncd` using `systemctl restart\n systemd-timesyncd.service` as a user with appropriate permissions\n\n4. Verify that your system is using Google Public NTP with `timedatectl\n show-timesync | grep ServerName`. If successfully configured, the output\n will show: `ServerName=time.google.com`\n\nMicrosoft Windows\n-----------------\n\n1. Open the Control Panel.\n2. Click the \"Date and Time\" icon.\n3. Choose the \"Internet Time\" tab. (This will not be available if your PC is part of a domain. In that case, it will synchronize time with the domain controller. You can configure the controller to use Google Public NTP.)\n4. Click the \"Change settings...\" button.\n5. Check the box \"Synchronize with an Internet time server\".\n6. Next to \"Server:\", enter `time.google.com`.\n\nMicrosoft Windows Server\n------------------------\n\nFollow [Microsoft's instructions](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/816042)\nto update your registry."]]