Some protocols, such as Kerberos, must have accurate information about the current time. In those cases, you can add an NTP (Network Time Protocol) server to your ESXi host.

Important: No ESXCLI command exists for adding and starting an NTP server.

The following example illustrates setting up an NTP server. Specify one of the options listed in Connection Options for vCLI Host Management Commands in place of <conn_options>.

Procedure

  1. Run vicfg-ntp --add to add an NTP server to the host specified in <conn_options> and use a host name or IP address to specify an already running NTP server. 
    vicfg-ntp <conn_options> -a 192.XXX.XXX.XX
  2. Run vicfg-ntp --start to start the service. 
    vicfg-ntp <conn_options> --start
  3. Run vicfg-ntp --list to list the service. 
    vicfg-ntp <conn_options> --list
  4. Run vicfg-ntp --stop to stop the service. 
    vicfg-ntp <conn_options> --stop
  5. Run vicfg-ntp --delete to remove the specified NTP server from the host specified in <conn_options>. 
    vicfg-ntp <conn_options> --delete 192.XXX.XXX.XX