Help needed to configure NTP client mode in ICX7150-C12

[ph07]

Dear Ruckus Support team,

My Ruckus Unleashed system with one ICX7150 switch and five APs works well. I can configure and monitor all devices in the Unleashed web console or mobile app. I had some issues before but resolved them by reading the forum and Ruckus documentation. Thank you very much for patiently answering the questions in this forum.

I need help with the NTP configuration for the ICX7150 switch. I easily configured APs to sync their time using NTP via the web interface. However, this does not apply to the Ethernet switch, which relies on manual clock configuration. I noticed the switch's clock needs manual adjustments after several weeks when it runs standalone and/or every time there is a power failure, which happens every several months in North California.

 
I configured NTP for APs this way and it seems to work correctly.

For the switch, I used 'ntp' commands in global configure mode to enable NTP, disable the server, leaving only the client mode and added several remote time servers.  This is the current state - I see NTP client mode is enabled, but the switch is not able to connect to any of time services. 

I use AT&T internet service, and I believe my router does not block NTP port 123. I am able to sync my Windows laptop with MS time service (time.windows.com) without any problems. 

Can you please advise how to finish NTP configuration on the switch?

[Imran_ruckus]

Hello @ph07 

I hope this message finds you well.

Thank you for providing the detailed information. I apologize for the delay in my response.

Could you please confirm whether you have configured a DNS server to resolve the domains to their respective IP addresses? Additionally, did you perform a reboot of the switch after applying the configuration using the commands 'write memory' and 'reload'?

If you have not yet done so, please proceed with these steps.

Additionally, sharing the detailed steps below:

Configuring NTP (Network Time Protocol) on a RUCKUS ICX 7150 switch involves a few steps to ensure that the switch synchronizes its time with an NTP server. Here's a step-by-step guide:

1. Access the Switch

First, access the switch via console, SSH, or Telnet.

 

2. Enter Global Configuration Mode

To configure the NTP settings, you need to be in global configuration mode. Enter the following commands:

enable

configure terminal

3. Configure the NTP Server

Use the ntp server command to specify the NTP server(s) you want the switch to synchronize with. You can enter multiple NTP servers if needed.

ntp server <ip-address>

For example, if you want to configure an NTP server with the IP address 192.168.1.1, you would use:

ntp server 192.168.1.1

You can add additional NTP servers by repeating the command with different IP addresses.

4. Verify NTP Configuration

After configuring the NTP server, you can verify the settings with the following command:

show ntp status

This command will display the current NTP status, including the synchronization state and the list of NTP servers.

5. Save the Configuration

To ensure that your configuration is retained after a reboot, save the configuration:

write memory

or

copy running-config startup-config

Additional Tips

• Network Connectivity: Ensure that the switch can reach the NTP server over the network. You might need to verify firewall rules or routing if synchronization does not work.
• Time Zone Configuration: While not strictly necessary for NTP, you might want to configure the time zone on the switch to align logs and other time-based functions with your local time. This can be done with the clock timezone command.

Example Configuration

Here’s an example of a basic NTP configuration for a RUCKUS ICX 7150 switch:

enable

configure terminal

ntp server 192.168.1.1

ntp server 192.168.1.2

write memory

This setup configures the switch to use two NTP servers and saves the configuration.

Please check and let me know if it helps you.

Thank you again for your patience and understanding.

Best regards,

Imran Sanadi

RUCKUS Lennar Home Community.

[Imran_ruckus]

Hi @ph07 

Please check the details shared in my previous post and let me know.

Thank you again for your patience and understanding.

Best regards,

Imran Sanadi

RUCKUS Lennar Home Community.

[ph07 · Accepted solution]

Hi Imran,

Thanks for your advice - I figured out what the problem was when you mentioned DNS configuration. I did have the DNS servers configured, but I forgot to configure the default gateway after I set the switch to the static IP address. Once I had the default gateway set to my AT&T router, I saw that the time servers' names were resolved to their IPs and started communicating. I set the switch's clock back to the correct time zone, and several minutes later, I got the NTP synced up. 

Configuration

ip dns server-address 192.168.1.254 8.8.8.8 8.8.4.4
!
clock timezone us Pacific
!
ntp
disable serve
server time.windows.com
server time.google.com
server time.cloudflare.com
server ntp.ruckuswireless.com 

Status

SSH@ICX7150-C12 Switch# show ip dns-server
DNS Server information
DNS Domain-list
No DNS Domain-list is configured
IPV4 DNS server address:
1. 192.168.1.254
2. 8.8.8.8
3. 8.8.4.4


SSH@ICX7150-C12 Switch# show ntp status
Clock is synchronized, stratum 2, reference clock is 216.239.35.0
precision is 2**-16
reference time is 3934467019.1528947706 (11:30:19.1528947706 Pacific Wed Sep 04 2024)
clock offset is 1.9969 msec, root delay is 21.2262 msec
root dispersion is 5.8837 msec, peer dispersion is 0.0061 msec
system poll interval is 64, last clock update was 76 sec ago
NTP server mode is disabled, NTP client mode is enabled
NTP master mode is disabled, NTP master stratum is 8
NTP is not in panic mode

SSH@ICX7150-C12 Switch# show ntp associations
address Domain name Reference Clock st when poll Reach delay offset disp
+~ 40.119.6.228 time.windows.com 25.66.230.5 3 17 64 377 55.225 7.0086 1.664
*~ 216.239.35.12 time.google.com GOOG 1 63 64 377 20.666 3.2243 1.117
+~ 162.159.200.123 time.cloudflare.com 10.209.8.8 3 7 64 377 9.002 2.8891 4.994
+~ 216.239.35.4 ntp.ruckuswireless.com GOOG 1 26 64 177 20.226 3.3339 64.117
* synced, # selected, + candidate, - outlayer, x falseticker, ~ configured, **More characters in domain name


SSH@ICX7150-C12 Switch# show clock
12:33:36.046 Pacific Wed Sep 04 2024

Hope it will help other users and thanks again for your help with this and many other issues raised by the customers. 

[Imran_ruckus]

Hi @ph07 

Thank you for your response.

I'm pleased to hear that the issue has been resolved. 

Indeed, configuring the DNS server and default gateway correctly is crucial for domain resolution.

We appreciate your time and patience in this matter. Should you have any further questions or need assistance in the future, please don't hesitate to reach out to us.

Have a great day!

Best regards,

Imran Sanadi
RUCKUS Lennar Home Community