ZIA Virtual Services Edges are extremely sensitive to the VM and cloud times being in sync. By default, the VM synchronizes the time with public NTP servers (e.g. pool.ntp.org). However, if you have a local NTP server, you can configure the Virtual Service Edge to synchronize time with it.

Custom Configuration of NTP Servers Using CLI

To custom configure NTP servers using CLI:

1. Use SSH to connect to the management IP address.
2. Run the following command:

sudo vzen enable-ntpd

This command prompts you to enter the custom NTP servers. After adding the NTP servers, you are prompted to start NTPD immediately.

Sample output of this command.

You can remove the configured NTP servers using the vzen disable-ntpd command.

Synchronizing Times

You can synchronize times using one of the following methods:

• Create a Cron Job

  To create a cron job to synchronize the time from the configured local NTP servers:

  1. Run the following as root: crontab -e
  2. Add the following line: */10 * * * * ntpdate <ntp-server-name>

  Replace <ntp-server-name> with your local NTP server's FQDN or IP address.

  3. Save and exit.

  This time synchronization command will run every 10 minutes.

  Close
• Edit the /etc/hosts File

  To make pool.ntp.org hostnames resolve to your local NTP server IP address by manipulating the /etc/hosts file:

  1. Open the /etc/hosts file.
  2. Add up to 4 NTP servers by adding the following lines:

  • <ntp-server-IP-address1> 0.pool.ntp.org
  • <ntp-server-IP-address2> 1.pool.ntp.org
  • <ntp-server-IP-address3> 2.pool.ntp.org
  • <ntp-server-IP-address4> 3.pool.ntp.org

  3. Save your changes.

  Close

Adding alternate NTP servers to the /etc/ntp.conf file is not supported. However, you can modify the /etc/hosts file as described in the Edit the /etc/hosts File section.