How to set up NTP on WAVE appliances

Applies to: WAVE

Overview

This article provides instructions for installing and configuring NetTime as an NTP client/server on Windows, including required Windows Firewall rules, and Chrony as the NTP client/server on Ubuntu Linux. 

Network cameras must have their time properly synchronized with their VMS, so their edge analytic events and video align accurately. 

Windows OS

Configuring NTP Time Synchronization Using NetTime 

NetTime is a lightweight, open‑source tool for Windows that synchronizes system time with NTP servers. It is useful in environments where Windows Time Service (w32time) is insufficient or disabled.

To download and install NetTime:

1. Navigate to the official NetTime website: https://www.timesynctool.com/
    
2. Download the latest stable installer (e.g., NetTimeSetup-314.exe).
    
3. Run the installer using administrator privileges.
    

4. Select Install as Service when prompted.
    

   
    

5. Launch NetTime.
    

   

Configuration

To configure NetTime:

1. Open NetTime and select Settings. It can either be located from the system tray, or the app launcher.
    
2. Configure the following:
    
   • ✔️ Automatically synchronize
   • ✔️ Run as a Windows Service
   • Update Interval: It can be as often as in minutes or long as days. Default 12 hours is fine in most cases.
   • NTP Servers: Add at least 3–4 servers or pools for redundancy: 
     • examples
       • time.google.com
       • pool.ntp.org (*.nettime.pool.ntp.org re being used by default)
       • time.windows.com

3. Enable Allow other computers to sync to this computer option so the cameras can sync time with the current server.

   

4. Select Update Now to validate communication.
   
   

Required Firewall Rules

NetTime uses NTP protocol on:

• Protocol: UDP
• Port: 123

Outbound Rule (Required in Restricted Environments)

• Rule Name: NetTime Outbound NTP
• Protocol: UDP
• Remote Port: 123
• Action: Allow

Inbound Rule (Only if Acting as NTP Server)

• Rule Name: NetTime Inbound NTP
• Protocol: UDP
• Local Port: 123
• Action: Allow
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

Verification

To check NetTime status, click Update Now and ensure the status shows:

• "Time Updated"
• "Round Trip Delay" value appears
• No error messages

Ubuntu

Configuring NTP Time Synchronization Using Chrony 

To install Chrony:

1. Open Terminal and enter the following commands.
   
   sudo apt update
   sudo apt install chrony

Configure NTP Servers and Allow NTP Clients

1. Using nano, edit the Chrony configuration file from the Terminal:
   
   sudo nano /etc/chrony/chrony.conf
    
2. Add or edit NTP server entries. Recommended public NTP pools:
   
   server time.google.com iburst
   server pool.ntp.org iburst
   server time.cloudflare.com iburst
    

3. Allow Chrony to respond to time queries by adding allow anywhere in the conf.
    

   
    

4. Save the file and exit.

Restart and Enable Chrony Service

To restart and enable Chrony:

1. After modifying the configuration, restart the service:
   
   sudo systemctl restart chrony
    
2. Ensure it starts automatically at boot:
   
   sudo systemctl enable chrony
    
3. Ensure it has started and running properly
   
   sudo systemctl status chrony
   
   

Required Firewall Rules (If Operating as NTP Server)

Chrony uses standard NTP protocol on:

• Protocol: UDP
• Port: 123

Allow NTP Traffic (ufw)

To allow inbound NTP traffic: 

sudo ufw allow 123/udp
 

Allow NTP Traffic (iptables)

sudo iptables -A INPUT -p udp --dport 123 -j ACCEPT
 

NOTE: In typical client-only environments, no firewall changes are required.

Verification

To check Chrony synchronization status: 

chronyc tracking
 

Expected fields:

• Reference ID
• Stratum
• Last offset

• RMS offset