OS X Configuration Profiles and NTP Servers

bthomas
New Contributor II

Hello all,

I have a very specific need to set the NTP server on my endpoints using a configuration profile rather than through a policy because I have clients who's time shifted past 5 minutes and thus cannot run policies.

I have tried to research a bit if Configuration Profiles have any ability to adjust the time settings in OS X but have come up with nothing. Does anyone in the community know if it is possible to set the NTP server using Configuration Profiles?

In case anyone is interested, here is a script to set the NTP server for your clients.

 #!/bin/sh

# Set Network Time Server
systemsetup -setnetworktimeserver time.apple.com

exit 0
3 REPLIES 3

Fveja
New Contributor III

Not sure if there is a way to do this by using a Configuration Profile, as that information is stored in /etc/ntp.conf, a text file.

What I would do in this situation is to first change the Maximum Clock Skew of the server to "No Maximum", then use a policy with your script, to fix all the machines. Then if required, for whatever reason, change the Maximum Clock Skew back to what it was.

The Maximum Clock Skew located under Computer Management settings > Security
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bthomas
New Contributor II

@Fveja you are my hero. I just did that and hopefully it will allow all of the workstations that have not been providing inventory reports to update and then run the policy to set their time server.

I will report back with the results.

jamf_tx
New Contributor II
I will report back with the results.

I'm assuming success here?