Frequently Asked Questions

Here are some common asked question

• SNTPCLNT.TIL not found or open error

  SNTPCLN4 and SNTPCLN5 have a built in system to calculate the current drift of the server clock(s). Based on those drift-values a new ticklength is calculated and stored to the file SYS:ETC/SNTPCLNT.TIL When doing a fresh installation, this file does not exist and under this condition warning message is displayed. The sntpclnt.til file will be created as soon as a new ticklength is calculated. This requires 5-8 small timecorrections in sequence. In addition, all those timecorrections MUST have the same sign (either positive or negative) otherwise it's just to unsure to calculate a new ticklength. In this case the system just waits until the conditions mentioned above are meet.
  

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• Problems with activationkeys

  Sometimes applying a key to sntpclnt.cfg and/or the NLM file still gives bad or expired activationkey. Here the correct way to install a license: SNTPCLN3.NLM : Use regkey.exe to write the license in the NLM file direcly. Puting the license in the CFG may/may not work depending on the actuall key issued to you. SNTPCLN4/5.NLM : Always put the license key in the SNTPCLNT.CFG file. (This file should be located in the SYS:ETC directory, unless you specify something else on the commandline. Using the REGKEY.EXE utility is depreciated on the SNTPCLN4/5 NLM's
  

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• Servers getting the time from a server who has SNTPCLNx.NLM loaded are always getting in/out of sync

  When the "slave" servers are always getting in/out of timesync, then most probably your server has got a less accurate ticklength.
  By default after 8 time corrections (and at least 0.5sec of corrected time) a new ticklength is calculated.
  If you have set the resync intervall to 24hours, it will take AT LEAST 8 days, before a new ticklength is calculated and your network becomes stabler again.
  For this reason it is recomended to NOT set the resync intervall to more than 1-2 hours.
  In a future release we will implement a algorithm who determines the resync intervall based on the current time differences with the time servers. So when everything is running smooth the resync intervalls will grow, and when the time differences are getting larger it will poll more often. (Such a algorithm is implemented in the NTP servers)

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• Year 2000

  Sntpclnt3.nlm, sntpcln4.nlm in the versions 1.1, 1.1b and 1.5 are fully year 2000 compliant. But please note that V1.1 is no longer supported.
  

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• Running SNTPCLNT behind a firewall

  When you have a firewall, you must enable traffic on port 123/UDP for incomming/outgoing traffic. (The datagramsize is 48Bytes)
  

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• Running SNTPCLNT with Multiprotocol Router or private networks

  When using the new TCP/IP stack (V4.x) together with NCS/MPR and service pack 3/4 can couse SNTPCLN4 to no longer finding the time servers.

  This is due to an inconsistent behaviour of the TCPIP stack. We have created a new SNTPCLN4.NLM who works with all versions of the TCP/IP stack. In addition to this fix, it will then be possible to specify the source IP address to use, when you have multiple IP addresses assigned to your server.

  The released versions 1.1b and 1.5 solves this problem.

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• When I try to load the SNTPCLN4.NLM I get an error about some undefined symbols.

  Load the current patches for the CLIB, they are named LIBUPx. Only this new CLIB has support for dynamical changes of the timezone definitions.

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• Why is a 3.x and a 4.x NLM available ?

  Netware 3.x has a time API who has a resolution of only one second. The time API of Netware 4.x on the other hand has an almost infinite resolution. For proper operation of the NDS it is very important to use this new API.

• We are located in europe and here we have a timezone of UTC+1. But in the statistic screen of sntpclnt there is an offset of -3600 seconds ?

  Timezones on netware servers are expressed as the offset from local time to UTC. This means that the TZ setting must contain the negative value (or positive for UTC-xx settings) of the usualy used offsets. Please note the following about timezones:

  Time zone string indicating the abbreviated name of the time zone, the offset from Universal Time Coordinated (UTC), and the alternate abbreviated time zone name to be used when daylight savings time is in effect. The default is "<<NO TIME ZONE>>". Issuing this command causes UTC time to be recalculated from local time. (also settable in STARTUP.NCF) Setting: MET-1MEST Maximum length: 80

• What functions will be implemented in the future ?

  Calculate the drift of the local clock, and correct the tick-length, so that the local clock should run without corrections for a long time period. Only for 4.x servers

  Allow to specify a list of NTP servers, but contact one after the other, until one gives a responce, and then no longer continue to contact the remaing hosts (No average time is calculated)

  Perhaps have the possibility to do a ping, before trying to contact the NTP host. So a dial-out router can connect you to the internet.