Microsoft-Windows-Time-Service message: The time provider 'vmwTimeProvider' logged the following error: A precision clock device was not found

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

The following error is seen in the Windows Guest OS.

Symptoms:

Windows Guest OS logs the below error in the Event Viewer System Logs.

Microsoft-Windows-Time-Service message: The time provider 'vmwTimeProvider' logged the following error: A precision clock device was not found.

 

Cause

This error is reported when vmwTimeProvider driver is installed during the VMware Tools installation inside the Windows OS, but the Precision Clock Device is not added in the VM configuration.

Resolution

A new time provider plugin vmwTimeProvider is provided for Microsoft Windows native time synchronization service 'W32Time' running inside vSphere VMs. The plugin interacts with a Precision Clock virtual device to provide underlying ESXi host time, as an alternative to NTP and Active Directory based time sources.

 

VMware Time provider is by default deselected while installing VMware Tools in the Guest OS.

 

 

If the vmwTimeProvider driver is installed, the registry entry enabled for vmwTimeProvider in the Guest OS is made at:

 

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\W32Time\TimeProviders\vmwTimeProviders

 

Check status of w32tm and time source configured in the Guest OS using the below command:

 

w32tm /query /status 

 

If you are using NTP and Active Directory based time sources, we can uninstall vmwTimeProvider from vmtools to get rid of the event.

 

Steps to uninstall the VMware Time Provider:

 

a. Disable autorun on the Windows OS

1. Select the Start icon in the lower-left corner, then select the Settings icon in the left pane.
2. Select Devices.
3. Select AutoPlay from the left pane, then select the AutoPlay toggle to turn it Off.

b. Mount the current VMtware Tools image to the virtual CD/DVD drive using the Edit Settings menu in the vSphere Client UI or ESXi Host Client UI.

c. Run installer inside guest OS and choose to modify the VMtware Tools installation.

To launch the wizard manually when autorun is not enabled, click Start > Run and enter D:\setup.exe, where D: is your first virtual CD-ROM drive.

d. Search for VMware Time Provider and select "Entire feature will be unavailable"

e. Click Next and Finish.

NOTE: A reboot of the VM is required for changes to take effect.

 

If you want to use the vmwTimeProvider to sync time with the host, you need to add a precision clock device in the VM configuration.

Follow the document to add a precision clock device:

• The VM Hardware version must be 17 and above to add a precision clock device
• Add a Precision Clock Device to a Virtual Machine

Further, the error messages inside the Guest OS can also be disregarded.  Having VMs with the vmwTimeProvider driver installed but not Precision Clock Device added to the VM will still function properly with their otherwise configured time keeping.

 

Additional Information

Introduction to VMware Tools