Enable NTP Client on a Reference Host in the vSphere Client

When you collect logging information in large environments, you must ensure that log times are coordinated.

You can set up the reference host to use the NTP server in your environment, extract the host profile and create a vSphere Auto Deploy rule to apply it to other hosts.

Procedure

1. Navigate to Home > Hosts and Clusters, and select an ESXi host that you want to use as a reference host.
2. Select the Configure tab.
3. Under System, select Time Configuration and click Edit.
4. Select the Use Network Time Protocol (Enable NTP client) radio button.
   This option synchronizes the time and date of the host with an NTP server. The NTP service on the host periodically takes the time and date from the NTP server.
5. From the NTP Service Startup Policy drop-down menu, select Start and stop with host.
6. In the NTP Servers text box, enter the IP addresses or host names of the NTP servers that you want to use.
7. Click OK.

What to do next

• Extract a host profile from the reference host. See the Host Profiles documentation.
• Create a rule that applies the host profile to all hosts that you want to provision with the settings specified in the reference host. For writing a rule in a PowerCLI session, see Write a Rule and Assign a Host Profile to Hosts.