Configure Network Time Protocol (NTP) on the ESXi

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

Synchronize the ESXi host system time to an NTP server

Environment

VMware vSphere ESXi 7
VMware vSphere ESXi 8
VMware ESX 9

Resolution

Configure ESXi host using vSphere client

1. Log in to the vCenter Server using the vSphere  Client (H5 Client).
2. Select Hosts and Clusters.
3. Select an ESXi host.
4. Navigate to the Configure tab.
5. Under System, select Time Configuration.
6. Click Edit.
7. Select Use Network Time Protocol (Enable NTP client).
8. Click Start NTP service
9. For the NTP Service Startup Policy, select Start and stop with host.
10. On NTP Servers, insert the NTP server(s).
11. Click OK.
12. Navigate to services and start the service 'ntpd'.

Configure ESXi host using the ESXi / VMware host client:

1. Go to https://<esxi_IP> and log in with the root credentials.
2. In the upper left, click Manage.
3. On the System tab, click Time & Date.
4. Click Edit Settings.
5. Click Use Network Time Protocol.
6. Change the service startup policy to Start and Stop with Host.
7. On NTP Servers, insert the NTP server(s).
8. Click Save to commit the changes.
9. Navigate to services and start the service 'ntpd'.

For vSphere 7 see Synchronizing Clocks on the vSphere Network
For vSphere 8 see Synchronizing Clocks on the vSphere Network

Additional Information

Configuring vCenter Server to use a Network Time Protocol (NTP) server