Setting the System Date and Time
- 24 Jan 2024
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Setting the System Date and Time
- Updated on 24 Jan 2024
- 5 Minutes to read
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Accurate, precise date and time values are important when managing and troubleshooting a network. These values are used for timestamping alarms and other functions. The system date and time can be set manually, or automatically controlled. For an automatic time setting you may use an NTP server, a PTP server or a GPS. The GPS option will provide the highest accuracy. However, any unit can act as an NTP server if you select the Server enable option in the NTP page.
Note: To avoid conflicts, only one NTP server can be used in a network.
Procedures for setting the date and time manually and automatically are provided below.
Setting Date and Time Manually
To set the date and time manually
Access the page System ▶Configuration ▶Time ▶General.
Specify the current date and time in the provided fields.
Select the *Change to entered date and time if possible when applied box to allow a single manual update to the system date and time.
Note: When you click Apply, this box is reset to the unselected state.Click Apply.
For more information on specific parameters, refer to the table below.
Setting Time Zones and Daylight Saving Time
The unit also provides for time zones and daylight saving time. For a list of time zones and rules for daylight saving time, refer to: http://www.worldtimezone.com/.
To set the time zone and/or the daylight saving function
Access the page System ▶Configuration ▶Time ▶General.
Select Daylight saving time enable.
Complete the required fields, then click Apply.
For more information, refer to the following table.
Date and Time Parameters (System ▶Configuration ▶Time ▶General)
Manual Time Settings
| Parameter | Description |
|---|---|
| TAI Offset | The offset to add to UTC time to convert to Temps Atomique International (TAI)—atomic international time. In early 1972, TAI was exactly 10 seconds ahead of UTC. From 1972 until June 30, 2015, 26 leap seconds were added to the difference. Since the last second was added on December 31, 2016, TAI has been exactly 37 seconds ahead of UTC. It is important that the TAI offset value be consistent throughout your network in order to ensure valid measurements and avoid synchronization issues. This is particularly true if Accedian products are being used with equipment from other vendors that support leap seconds. If there is a TAI mismatch between units, the one-way delay measurements will show an offset of one second. In most cases, it is preferable to allow the unit to update its TAI offset value through a firmware upgrade (during a maintenance window to minimize impact) instead of manually changing the value here. |
| Date and Time | If you are not using NTP, the date and time can be set manually by entering values here. Select the Change to entered date and time if possible when applied box to allow a single manual update to the system date and time. When you click Apply, this box is reset to the unselected state. You can use the following values for the manual date settings:
|
| Change to date and time if possible when applied | Checkbox to enable change to date and time if possible. |
Time Zone Settings
| Parameter | Description |
|---|---|
| UTC offset | The offset from Coordinated Universal Time to apply to the time zone:
|
| Daylight Saving Time Enable | Select to use daylight saving time (DST). Note: Services such as syslog that timestamp events with the current time and date are affected during DST transitions. As such, you may observe 60-minute gaps or duplicate timestamps around the time when the clock was changed. |
Examples of Setting the System Time
Setting the System Time for Montreal, Canada
| Parameter | Value |
|---|---|
| UTC Offset | -5 |
| DST Enable | Check |
| DST Offset | 1 |
| DST Start | Month=March, Week=2, Day=Sunday, Hour=2, Min=0 |
| DST End | Month=November, Week=1, Day=Sunday, Hour=2, Min=0 |
Setting the System Time for Wellington, New Zealand
| Parameter | Value |
|---|---|
| UTC Offset | 12 |
| DST Enable | Check |
| DST Offset | 1 |
| DST Start | Month=September, Week=5, Day=Sunday, Hour=2, Min=0 |
| DST End | Month=April, Week=1, Day=Sunday, Hour=3, Min=0 |
Setting Date and Time Using NTP
The unit stores a list of NTP servers that can be used to set the unit date and time. You can add up to seven servers to the list and enable one or two of them (a primary and a secondary, if the primary is not available).
To set the date and time using NTP
Access the page System ▶Configuration ▶Time ▶NTP.
Select the Client enable option.
Verify that the NTP server you want to use appears in the NTP Server List.
If not in the list, add a new server by specifying its name or IP address in the Hostname/Address box then clicking Add.Select a time server from the list, then click Apply.
To delete an NTP server
Access the page System ▶Configuration ▶Time ▶NTP.
Select the NTP server's entry from the NTP Server List by clicking its check box.
Click Delete.
NTP Settings (System ▶Configuration ▶Time ▶NTP)
NTP Settings
| Parameter | Description |
|---|---|
| Server enable | Starts the NTP server service. The unit becomes an NTP server and can be used by other units as the NTP server. |
| Client enable | Sets the system time automatically by polling an NTP server. Select a server from the list or add your own. |
| Inbound criterion | Allows user to configure the inbound criterion. |
| Synchronization status | The status of the synchronization. |
| Diffserv Code Point (DSCP) | When using NTP, the priority can be set in the Differentiated Services Code Point by making a selection in the drop-down list. |
| Priority Code Point | Acceptable values range from 0 to 7. |
| High-Resolution Sync | Uses high-resolution hardware synchronization. In this mode, the NTP server is queried multiple times and the resulting time is derived from an averaging process based on a hardware clock. If this option is not enabled, the NTP server is queried only every 256 seconds and the system time is set accordingly, without further processing. |
| Time Interval | When using NTP, the interval of time after which the unit synchronizes with the NTP server. Expressed in seconds. |
| Number of Messages | When using NTP, the number of synchronization messages exchanged with the NTP server during each time interval. Acceptable values range from 1 to 6. |
| NTP Server List | One or two NTP servers can be enabled simultaneously. The unit will automatically update its date and time from one of the enabled NTP servers. If the NTP server being used is unreachable, the unit will attempt to contact the other enabled NTP server. |
| NTP Server | When using NTP, the name or the IP address of the NTP server to add |
| Hostname/Address | When using an NTP client instance, the name or the IP address of the NTP server to add. |
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