Synchronize time with NTP
The internal time of an industrial PC is never completely accurate, so the Network Time Protocol (NTP) provides a way to determine and set the exact time. To get the current time, an NTP client is used to synchronize the local system time with a time server. For this purpose, Beckhoff offers a global NTP server pool which provides the current time:
ntp.beckhoff-cloud.comTwinCAT/BSD is preconfigured to use this NTP server pool to determine the current time. The configuration of the NTP client is performed via the configuration file:
/etc/ntp.confYou will find the entry for the Beckhoff NTP server pool ntp.beckhoff-cloud.com there. If you want to use your own NTP server, replace the entry with the address of your NTP server.
If it is a Windows NTP server, the entry tos maxdist 30 in the configuration file /etc/ntp.conf is also required. The distance at which an NTP server can be located and how long a packet takes to be transmitted is specified in "tos maxdist". The Windows time server only works if the maximum value is specified, in this case this is "30".
These settings are alternatively possible via the web interface of the Beckhoff Device Manager (see: Beckhoff Device Manager: web interface).
Beckhoff NTP server pool
The Beckhoff NTP server pool is a global server pool with several time servers per geographical region. To use only the best available servers for your region, simply use the global address ntp.beckhoff-cloud.com and the right servers for your region will automatically be made available.
This service is only available for Beckhoff Industrial PCs and may only be used elsewhere with the express permission of Beckhoff. Beckhoff does not guarantee the continuous availability of the time servers. Accordingly, Beckhoff assumes no liability for a time server failure.