Microsoft KB Archive/888746

= You may experience time-related issues with programs that run in a virtual machine in Virtual Server 2005 =

Article ID: 888746

Article Last Modified on 11/2/2007

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APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Virtual Server 2005 Standard Edition

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SYMPTOMS
In Microsoft Virtual Server 2005, you may experience time synchronization issues with programs that run in a virtual machine. In this scenario, you may experience one or more of the following symptoms:
 * The program reports an issue with the virtual machine's local time.
 * The program reports an issue with the local time of a connected network resource, of a data source, or of another program.
 * External programs report an issue with the time when they access a program or data that is hosted on a virtual machine.

You experience these symptoms even if the virtual machine has Virtual Machine Additions installed.



CAUSE
This issue may occur if one or more of the following conditions are true:
 * The version of Virtual Machine Additions that is installed on the virtual machine differs from the version in Virtual Server 2005.
 * The virtual machine is configured as a domain controller, but the Virtual Server 2005 host computer is not configured as a domain controller.
 * The virtual machine guest operating system is not configured with the same time zone as the Virtual Server 2005 host computer.



RESOLUTION
To resolve this issue, use one or more of the following methods, depending on your situation.

Method 1: Reinstall Virtual Machine Additions
If the virtual machine has a different version of Virtual Machine Additions installed than the Virtual Server 2005 Virtual Machine Additions, reinstall Virtual Machine Additions in the guest operating system of the virtual machine. To do this, follow these steps:
 * 1) Start the Virtual Server Administration Website program. To do this, click Start, point to All Programs, point to Microsoft Virtual Server, and then click Virtual Server Administration Website.
 * 2) Start the virtual machine if it is not already running, and then log on to the guest operating system.
 * 3) On the Virtual Server Administration Website Web page, point to Configure under Virtual Machines, and then click the virtual machine where you want to reinstall Virtual Machine Additions.
 * 4) Click Virtual Machine Additions, click to select the Install Virtual Machine Additions check box, and then click OK.
 * 5) On the virtual machine, follow the instructions in the Virtual Machine Additions InstallShield Wizard to upgrade Virtual Machine Additions in the guest operating system.
 * 6) When you are prompted, restart the virtual machine.

Method 2: Synchronize the host computer and the guest operating to the same time source
If the guest operating system is a domain controller, but the Virtual Server 2005 computer is not a domain controller, synchronize both the guest operating system and the host computer to the same time source. Generally, the operating system that does not have the role of domain controller must synchronize with an external computer that has the role of domain controller or with the reference time server for the particular domain.

In this scenario, turn off the virtual machine's synchronization with the Virtual Server 2005 host computer. To do this, follow these steps:
 * 1) Start the Virtual Server Administration Website program. To do this, click Start, point to All Programs, point to Microsoft Virtual Server, and then click Virtual Server Administration Website.
 * 2) Stop the virtual machine, if it is running. To do this, log on to the virtual machine's guest operating system, and then shut down the guest operating system.
 * 3) On the Virtual Server Administration Website Web page, point to Configure under Virtual Machines, and then click the virtual machine that you want to disable time synchronization for.
 * 4) Click Virtual Machine Additions, click to clear the Host time synchronization check box, and then click OK.

Method 3: Verify the time zone on the host computer and in the guest operating system
The probable cause of the behavior that is described in this article is that the guest operating system and the Virtual Server 2005 host computer do not have the same time zone configured. Virtual Machine Additions time synchronization does not consider the time zone setting of the host operating system or of the virtual machine's guest operating system. The time that is set on the virtual machine is based on the host computer's time. However, if the guest operating system and the host computer use different time zones, the synchronized time may be incorrect by the amount that the time zones differ.

To view the time zone settings in Windows, follow these steps:
 * 1) In the notification area at the far right of the taskbar, double-click the time.
 * 2) Click the Time Zone tab.

Note Make sure that both the guest operating system and the host computer's operating system have the same setting for the Automatically adjust clock for daylight saving changes check box.



MORE INFORMATION
By default, a virtual machine synchronizes its clock to the host computer's clock every 15 seconds. You can modify this behavior by changing the virtual machine's integration setting. To change this setting, modify the virtual machine configuration file (.vmc) for the particular virtual machine. To determine the location of the virtual machine configuration file for a virtual machine, follow these steps:
 * 1) Start the Virtual Server Administration Website program. To do this, click Start, point to All Programs, point to Microsoft Virtual Server, and then click Virtual Server Administration Website.
 * 2) On the Virtual Server Administration Website Web page, point to Configure under Virtual Machines, and then click the virtual machine that you want to view the configuration of.
 * 3) Click General properties, and then note the path that appears next to Configuration file.

To change the time setting for a virtual machine, modify the entries that appear between the tags in the .vmc file. This information appears similar to the following.  false false  12 10 10 60 <host_time_sync> <enabled type=&quot;boolean&quot;>true <frequency type=&quot;integer&quot;>15 <threshold type=&quot;integer&quot;>10 </host_time_sync> <allow type=&quot;boolean&quot;>true <guest_os> <build_number type=&quot;string&quot;>5.02.3790</build_number> <long_name type=&quot;string&quot;>Windows Server 2003</long_name> <short_name type=&quot;string&quot;>Windows Server 2003</short_name> </guest_os> <additions_number type=&quot;string&quot;>013206</additions_number> Note You cannot modify the items between the  tags.

Important If you modify this file, use lowercase alphanumeric characters to enter the values. If you use uppercase characters to enter values, or if you enter a numeric value in an incorrect location, that value does not take effect. Consider the following examples.

Correct example <host_time_sync>

<enabled type=&quot;boolean&quot;>true

<frequency type=&quot;integer&quot;>15 In this example, the word &quot;true&quot; is entered in lowercase letters, and the number 15 is entered in an &quot;integer&quot; type tag.

Incorrect example 1 <host_time_sync>

<enabled type=&quot;string&quot;>False

<frequency type=&quot;integer&quot;>15 In this example, the word &quot;False&quot; was entered in the tag. However, because an uppercase character was incorrectly used in this tag, the tag is automatically converted to the type &quot;string.&quot; Therefore, this entry does not take effect.

Incorrect example 2 <host_time_sync>

<enabled type=&quot;integer&quot;>1

<frequency type=&quot;integer&quot;>15 In this example, the number &quot;1&quot; was entered in the tag. However, because an integer was incorrectly used in this particular tag, the tag is automatically converted to the type &quot;integer.&quot; Therefore, this entry does not take effect.

Additional query words: VS 2005, VM, sync,

Keywords: kbtshoot kbenv kbprb KB888746

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