Cisco Catalyst 2960 Network Switch Admin Guide: Time & Date Management, Configuration Examples (EN)

System Clock

Administering the Device Information About Administering the Device, on page 1 How to Administer the Device, on page 9 Configuration Examples for Device Administration, on page 36 Additional References for Device Administration, on page 39 Feature History for Device Administration, on page 39 Information About Administering the Device The following sections provide information about administering the device: System Time and Date Management You can manage the system time and date on your device using automatic configuration methods (RTC and NTP), or manual configuration methods.

For complete syntax and usage information for the commands used in this section, see the Cisco IOS Configuration Fundamentals Command Reference on Cisco.com . Note System Clock The basis of the time service is the system clock. This clock runs from the moment the system starts up and keeps track of the date and time. The system clock can then be set from these sources: • RTC • NTP • Manual configuration The system clock can provide time to these services: • User show commands Administering the Device 1

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Network Time Protocol

• Logging and debugging messages The system clock keeps track of time internally based on Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), also known as Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). You can configure information about the local time zone and summer time (daylight saving time) so that the time appears correctly for the local time zone. The system clock keeps track of whether the time is authoritative or not (that is, whether it has been set by a time source considered to be authoritative). If it is not authoritative, the time is available only for display purposes and is not redistributed. Network Time Protocol The NTP is designed to time-synchronize a network of devices.

NTP runs over User Datagram Protocol (UDP), which runs over IP. NTP is documented in RFC 1305. The current protocol is version 4 (NTPv4), which is a proposed standard as documented in RFC 5905. It is backward compatible with version 3, specified in RFC 1305. An NTP network usually gets its time from an authoritative time source, such as a radio clock or an atomic clock attached to a time server. NTP then distributes this time across the network. NTP is extremely efficient; no more than one packet per minute is necessary to synchronize two devices to within a millisecond of one another.

NTP uses the concept of a stratum to describe how many NTP hops away a device is from an authoritative time source. A stratum 1 time server has a radio or atomic clock directly attached, a stratum 2 time server receives its time through NTP from a stratum 1 time server, and so on. A device running NTP automatically chooses as its time source the device with the lowest stratum number with which it communicates through NTP. This strategy effectively builds a self-organizing tree of NTP speakers. NTP avoids synchronizing to a device whose time might not be accurate by never synchronizing to a device that is not synchronized.

NTP also compares the time reported by several devices and does not synchronize to a device whose time is significantly different than the others, even if its stratum is lower. The communications between devices running NTP (known as associations) are usually statically configured; each device is given the IP address of all devices with which it should form associations. Accurate timekeeping is possible by exchanging NTP messages between each pair of devices with an association. However, in a LAN environment, NTP can be configured to use IP broadcast messages instead.

This alternative reduces configuration complexity because each device can simply be configured to send or receive broadcast messages. However, in that case, information flow is one-way only. The time kept on a device is a critical resource; you should use the security features of NTP to avoid the accidental or malicious setting of an incorrect time. Two mechanisms are available: an access list-based restriction scheme and an encrypted authentication mechanism. Cisco’s implementation of NTP does not support stratum 1 service; it is not possible to connect to a radio or atomic clock.

We recommend that the time service for your network be derived from the public NTP servers available on the IP Internet. The Figure shows a typical network example using NTP. Device A is the primary NTP, with the Device B, C, and D configured in NTP server mode, in server association with Device A. Device E is configured as an NTP peer to the upstream and downstream device, Device B and Device F, respectively. Figure 1: NTP Network Configuration An example of a typical network using NTP Administering the Device Network Time Protocol Administering the Device 2

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NTP Associations

If the network is isolated from the Internet, Cisco’s implementation of NTP allows a device to act as if it is synchronized through NTP, when in fact it has learned the time by using other means. Other devices then synchronize to that device through NTP. When multiple sources of time are available, NTP is always considered to be more authoritative. NTP time overrides the time set by any other method. Several manufacturers include NTP software for their host systems, and a publicly available version for systems running UNIX and its various derivatives is also available. This software allows host systems to be time-synchronized as well.

NTP Stratum NTP uses the concept of a stratum to describe how many NTP hops away a device is from an authoritative time source. A stratum 1 time server has a radio or atomic clock directly attached, a stratum 2 time server receives its time through NTP from a stratum 1 time server, and so on. A device running NTP automatically chooses as its time source the device with the lowest stratum number with which it communicates through NTP. This strategy effectively builds a self-organizing tree of NTP speakers. NTP avoids synchronizing to a device whose time might not be accurate by never synchronizing to a device that is not synchronized.

NTP also compares the time reported by several devices and does not synchronize to a device whose time is significantly different than the others, even if its stratum is lower. NTP Associations The communications between devices running NTP (known as associations ) are usually statically configured; each device is given the IP address of all devices with which it should form associations. Accurate timekeeping is possible by exchanging NTP messages between each pair of devices with an association. However, in a LAN environment, NTP can be configured to use IP broadcast messages instead.

This alternative reduces configuration complexity because each device can simply be configured to send or receive broadcast messages. However, in that case, information flow is one-way only. Administering the Device NTP Stratum Administering the Device 3

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Broadcast-Based NTP Associations

Poll-Based NTP Associations Networking devices running NTP can be configured to operate in variety of association modes when synchronizing time with reference time sources. A networking device can obtain time information on a network in two ways—by polling host servers and by listening to NTP broadcasts. This section focuses on the poll-based association modes. Broadcast-based NTP associations are discussed in the Broadcast-Based NTP Associations section. The following are the two most commonly used poll-based association modes:

• Client mode • Symmetric active mode The client and the symmetric active modes should be used when NTP is required to provide a high level of time accuracy and reliability. When a networking device is operating in the client mode, it polls its assigned time-serving hosts for the current time. The networking device will then pick a host from among all the polled time servers to synchronize with. Because the relationship that is established in this case is a client-host relationship, the host will not capture or use any time information sent by the local client device.

This mode is most suited for file-server and workstation clients that are not required to provide any form of time synchronization to other local clients. Use the ntp server command to individually specify the time server that you want your networking device to consider synchronizing with and to set your networking device to operate in the client mode. When a networking device is operating in the symmetric active mode, it polls its assigned time-serving hosts for the current time and it responds to polls by its hosts. Because this is a peer-to-peer relationship, the host will also retain time-related information of the local networking device that it is communicating with.

This mode should be used when a number of mutually redundant servers are interconnected via diverse network paths. Most stratum 1 and stratum 2 servers on the Internet adopt this form of network setup. Use the ntp peer command to individually specify the time serving hosts that you want your networking device to consider synchronizing with and to set your networking device to operate in the symmetric active mode. The specific mode that you should set for each of your networking devices depends primarily on the role that you want them to assume as a timekeeping device (server or client) and the device’s proximity to a stratum 1 timekeeping server.

A networking device engages in polling when it is operating as a client or a host in the client mode or when it is acting as a peer in the symmetric active mode. Although polling does not usually place a burden on memory and CPU resources such as bandwidth, an exceedingly large number of ongoing and simultaneous polls on a system can seriously impact the performance of a system or slow the performance of a given network. To avoid having an excessive number of ongoing polls on a network, you should limit the number of direct, peer-to-peer or client-to-server associations. Instead, you should consider using NTP broadcasts to propagate time information within a localized network.

Broadcast-Based NTP Associations Broadcast-based NTP associations should be used when time accuracy and reliability requirements are modest and if your network is localized and has more than 20 clients. Broadcast-based NTP associations are also recommended for use on networks that have limited bandwidth, system memory, or CPU resources. A networking device operating in the broadcast client mode does not engage in any polling. Instead, it listens for NTP broadcast packets that are transmitted by broadcast time servers. Consequently, time accuracy can be marginally reduced because time information flows only one way.

Use the ntp broadcast client command to set your networking device to listen for NTP broadcast packets propagated through a network. For broadcast client mode to work, the broadcast server and its clients must Administering the Device Poll-Based NTP Associations Administering the Device 4

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