Setting up the Gateway appliance to use the Network Time Protocol

Products

• STARTER PACK-7
• CA Rapid App Security
• CA API Gateway

Issue/Introduction

Solution

The Layer 7 Gateway is configured to synchronize its system time with the hypervisor platform via VMware tools. However, VMware advocates that using the Network Time Protocol (NTP) is more universally acceptable as well as more preferable from a performance standpoint. Please see the following VMware knowledge base article for more information on their ruling: http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=1006427

Additionally, using consistent NTP servers across one or many hosts which may or may not be located within the same hypervisor platform allows complete uniformity of system time. ?In order to disable the VMware hypervisor platform time synchronization and utilize NTP alone, perform the following procedure:

1. Log into the Layer 7 Gateway as the ssgconfig user.
2. Select?Option #3: Use a privileged shell (root)
3. Disable VMware tools time synchronization:

vmware-toolbox-cmd timesync disable

4. Return to the Gateway configuration menu.
5. Select?Option #1: Configure system settings.
6. Select?Option #1: Configure network and system time settings.
7. Configure the network adapter(s).
8. Configure the name server(s).
9. Configure the time zone.
10. Select the correct geographical region.
11. Select the nearest city.
12. Opt to configure time synchronization.
13. Provide a comma-delimited list of NTP server IP addresses or host names.
14. Confirm the settings provided and press <Enter> to continue.
15. Restart the Gateway appliance.

Once restarted--and assuming the NTP server can be reached--the system time will be synchronized with the system time of an authorized NTP pool time. You can validate this configuration by running the `date` command from the privileged shell of the Gateway and comparing it to an expected output.

Environment

Release:
Component: APIGTW