Synchronize ESXi Clocks with a Network Time Server

Before you install vCenter Server or deploy the vCenter Server Appliance, make sure all machines on your vSphere network have their clocks synchronized.

This task explains how to set up NTP from the VMware Host Client. You can instead use the vicfg-ntp vCLI command. See the vSphere Command-Line Interface Reference.

Procedure

1. Start the VMware Host Client, and connect to the ESXi host.
2. Click Configure.
3. Under System, click Time Configuration, and click Edit.
4. Select Use Network Time Protocol (Enable NTP client).
5. In the Add NTP Server text box, enter the IP address or fully qualified domain name of one or more NTP servers to synchronize with.
6. (Optional) Set the startup policy and service status.
7. Click OK.
   The host synchronizes with the NTP server.