Properly set a Cisco router's clock and time zone
Friday, November 24, 2006 09:52 AM
Last year, I wrote an article about why Cisco devices should use Network Time Protocol (NTP) for their time synchronization needs, in which I explained how to configure NTP on your Cisco devices ("Synchronize a Cisco router's clock with Network Time Protocol (NTP)"). Using NTP is the ideal method for medium to large-scale networks.
However, if you have only a handful of routers, manually setting the clock may be the easiest way to properly configure your devices' times. Let's walk through the process.
If a Cisco router boots up before you've configured a local time or network time source, it will display the date as March 1, 1993. Here's an example:
Router> show clock *00:01:10.415 UTC Mon Mar 1 1993 Router>This date's appearance on log files is a good indication that no one has set the router's time source or local time. This is much more likely than the router's log entries actually dating back to 1993.
Does setting the correct time on a router really matter? While proper time configuration isn't necessary for a router to fully operate, that doesn't mean you shouldn't set the right time. Here are some of the benefits of setting the correct time on a router:
- Log files display the proper time stamp, which can help when troubleshooting a problem.
- The correct time allows you to make connections between two different times.
- You can schedule commands using the router's kron scheduler.
Configure the time zone
When setting a router's (or switch's) correct time, the
first step is configuring the proper time zone. This is the first step for a
reason: If you set the time first and then try to set to the time zone, you'll
have to reset the time again.
The key point to remember is that it's not enough to know that you're in the Eastern or Pacific time zone. You need to know how many hours you are from Greenwich Mean Time (GMT).
For example, if you're in the Eastern Standard Time zone in the United States, you're five hours behind GMT. You would indicate this to the router with -5. If you're unsure how many hours you are from GMT, the U.S. Navy's Web site offers a great resource--the World Time Zone Map.
After you've determined your time zone value, you can set the time zone. For example, I live in the Central Standard Time (CST) zone, so here's how I would configure the router:
Router(config)# clock timezone CST -6
Configure Daylight Saving Time
After setting the appropriate time zone, you need to
configure the router to adjust for Daylight Saving
Time. You can use the summer-time
command to accomplish this. Using our CST zone example, here's how to configure
the router to use Daylight Saving Time:
Router(config)# clock summer-time CDT recurring
The summer-time command tells the router to refer to Daylight Saving Time as Central Daylight Time (CDT), which will automatically occur according to predefined dates and times on the router. (You can use the same command to manually set the date and time for Daylight Saving Time.) The recurring option tells the router to use the accepted U.S. Daylight Saving Time rules for the annual time changes in April and October.
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