How to Configure NTP Server in Windows Server 2016

This article shows how to configure Windows Time Service (NTP) on Windows Server 2016 so that it acts as an NTP server for domain client computers.

Configure Windows Time Service (NTP)

A prerequisite to having the correct time on the Windows clients, we must have a correct time on the Windows 2016 server. So the first step is to sync server time with pool.ntp.org. Type the following commands on PowerShell:

w32tm /config /manualpeerlist:pool.ntp.org /syncfromflags:MANUAL

Then apply the changes, this is done by restarting the time service. First, we stop the service and then we start it again.

Stop-Service w32time
Start-Service w32time

Now the Windows Server 2016 is an NTP client of pool.ntp.org and its time/clock is synced with the NTP pool servers (The server is at the same time the NTP server for other domain client systems).

Optional: Server is in a Hyper-V VM

If your Windows Server 2016 machine is a VM inside Hyper-V, you have to disable time sync. Go to:

M settings-> Management-> Integration Services

and uncheck:

Time Synchronization.

Otherwise, Windows Server 2016 time/clock will be synced with the Host time/clock.

Configure Windows Clients

Then go to the client machines and run the following command on PowerShell to force them to sync their time/clock with the domain controller on the Windows Server 2016.

w32tm /resync

You can check the time synchronization status using the following command.

w32tm /query /status

Check Windows time sync status