01/06/2006
TimeSync 1.2 by Scott Botterud
scott@info-techs.com
- Index:
- I OVERVIEW: What is TimeSync?
- II FILE DESCRIPTIONS: What files are included in the distribution and what each does.
- III INSTALLATION and SETUP: Installation and configuration.
- IV Revision History: What's new.
- V Feedback.
I: OVERVIEW:
TimeSycn is a small freeware command line utility designed to accurately synchronize the time of a Windows Workstation or a Windows Server. TimeSync polls between one and ten Internet Time Servers to very accurately set the Windows clock. Upon completion (or an error condition), TimeSync will send an email to inform someone (an administrator, etc.) of what happened.
TimeSync is designed to work in conjunction with other (freeware) utilities to operate properly. These include:
- WinCRON - A Windows utility to automate the running programs at specific times. WinCRON can be downloaded from
http://www.info-techs.com.download.shtml
http://www.ryerson.ca/~sgray/wincron.htm
TimeSync has been successfully tested with Windows 95, 98, 98SE, ME, NT, 2000, and XP. If you have Netware servers, TimeSync works in concert with NTS (Novell Time Sync) to maintain Novell 3x, 4x, 5x & 6x File Server time.
TimeSync was developed because the time on our Windows Workstations and Windows Server continued to suffer time drift. Our customers suffered similar problems as well. Time drift, that is, a Workstation or a Server loosing or gaining time is pretty much a given with the present state of the art of computer hardware. On Windows 2000 and XP there are built in utilities that help maintain accurate time, but they are difficult to administer and have no reporting capabilities.
TimeSync is a collection of freeware utilities glued together with a batch file, TIMESYNC.BAT. This collection of utilities create a rather elequent solution to setting and maintaining system time. TimeSync can maintain system time even when Daylight Savings Time (DST) changes. TimeSync can easily be automated to run daily (or more frequently if needed).
TimeSync is releases as freeware to the public domain.
II: FILE DESCRIPTIONS:
- BMAIL.EXE - A freeware command line SMTP or ESMTP mailer (http://www.beyondlogic.org/solutions/cmdlinemail/cmdlinemail.htm)
- CMDTIME3.EXE - The program that talks to the Interent Time Server(s) and synchronizes the Windows Workstation or Windows Server time (http://www.softshape.com/download).
- TimeSync.bat - The BATCH file which runs everything.
- TimeSync.html - The file you are reading ;)
- TimeSync.log - This file is created every time TimeSync.BAT is run. TimeSync.LOG reports what TimeSync did (or did not) do. This file is sent to the EMail Recipient at the end of TimeSync.BAT.
- WAIT.EXE - This file is used to pause the exit of TimeSync for a given amount of time is seconds. If TimeSync is run from a scheduler such as WinCRON this will prevent repeated runs of TimeSync.
- RM.EXE - This file is used to delete the log file when a TimeSync error occurs. This program has the advantage of not prompting for confirmation on deletion. It works in all environments from Windows 95 to XP.
III: PROGRAM INSTALLATION and SETUP:
INSTALLATION:
To install TimesSync unzip all the file from the TimeSync_1*.ZIP archive to a directory. Typically this is something like
C:\UTIL\TimeSync
All program execuitables will work properly from the home directory or from anywhere in the PATH.
SETUP:
The setup of TimeSync requires the TimeSync.BAT file be edited for your environment. TimeSync.BAT is heavily commented and should be pretty self explanatory.
RUNNING:
Simply run TimeSync.BAT. TimeSync will attempt to display meaningful messages via the console as to what and how it is doing. It is recommended that once you are satisfied with the operation of TimeSync , the process be automated by the use of WinCRON.
IV: REVISIONS:
Verions 1.2 - 01/06/2006 - The following changes were made:
- Clean up TimeSync.bat to make setup easier.
TimeSync can now be run from any folder and properly call all execuitables from the PATH.
- Removed the multiple time servers to poll. A single time server that is relatively close to you should yield accurate results. If yo wish multiple time servers may be stipulated.
- Added the statement to the beginning of TimeSync.bat to make it change the current directory to the set home directory. This is necessary when running TimeSync from a scheduler such as AT or WinCRON, as the working directory was not the home directory.
Version 1.1 - 02/09/2005
- Implemented BMAIL.EXE instead of POSTIE.EXE as the email program. The current version of POSTIE.EXE has gone shareware, and the version we were using could not talk to ESMTP servers (such as SBC Yahoo uses). BMAIL.EXE is 100% freeware, easyier to use, fast, reliable, has a much smaller memory footprint, and can talk to both SMTP and ESMTP servers.
- Added a wait state at the beginning of TineSync. If TimeSync is run from a scheduler program such as AT or WinCRON, and the system time is adjusted, the scheduler may see the same job time roll around again, causing TimeSync to run twice. By adding the wait state this is prevented. 2 minutes was chosen and an acceptable time to wait. WAIT.EXE uses almost no clock ticks, so this wait state should not negativly affect other system functions.
Version 1.0 - 04/15/2004
- Initial release. TimeSync used to be integrated into the NTS (Novell Time Sync) program. The seperation of NTS and TimeSync resulted from the automation of TimeSync with WinCRON. We found that if a Windows maching running TimeSycn was loosing time, TimeSync would synchronize the clock, and the WinCRON utility would sometimes run the batch file again. This was unneccessary wear and tear. We now set up seperate WinCRON jobs to run TimeSync first, give the machine some time to settle, and then run NTS.
V: FEEDBACK:
Questions? Comments?
scott@info-techs.com