Config\AnnounceFlags Entry

Applies To: Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2003 R2, Windows Server 2003 with SP1, Windows Server 2003 with SP2

HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\W32Time\Config

Data type Range Default value

REG_DWORD

 

10

Description

Specifies whether this computer is a time server or a reliable time server. A computer will not be classified as reliable unless it is also classified as a time server.

This entry is only used by domain controllers that are running the Windows time service. The flag determines how the service is advertised by Netlogon.

Value Meaning

0

Timeserv_Announce_No, Reliable_Timeserv_Announce_No. The domain controller does not advertise time service.

1

Timeserv_Announce_Yes. The domain controller always advertises time service.

2

Timeserv_Announce_Auto. The domain controller automatically determines whether it should advertise time service.

4

Reliable_Timeserv_Announce_Yes. The domain contoller will always advertise reliable time service.

8

Reliable_Timeserv_Announce_Auto. The domain controller automatically determines whether it should advertise reliable time service.

Activation Method

To make changes to this entry effective, at the command line, type:

w32tm /config /update

Note

  • This value combines flags using the bitwise OR operator. For each position in the binary value, if any flag has the value of 1 in the corresponding position, the combined value does as well. For example, the flags 1 and 8, which are 0001 and 1000 in binary, are 1001 when combined with bitwise OR.

Tip

  • W32Time has robust failover mechanisms, and manually configuring additional time services as reliable is generally unnecessary. However, there are two exceptions:

    1. You might want to configure a reliable time service in each site in your enterprise to minimize out-of-site traffic. Each service should be running on a domain controller in the root domain of each site. If the root domain of the site is also the root of the domain hierarchy, then the reliable time services should be configured manually to synchronize from external sources that are known to be highly accurate.

    2. You might want to configure a time service as reliable if it is configured to synchronize with a hardware clock.

    The optimal configuration varies with the enterprise. For more information about configuring time services, see "Windows Time Service Technical Reference" in the Networking Collection of the Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Technical Reference.