6.0.1

Table Of Contents
If the clock on the guest operating system falls behind the clock on the host, VMware Tools moves the clock
on the guest forward to match the clock on the host. If the clock on the guest operating system is ahead of
the clock on the host, VMware Tools causes the clock on the guest to run more slowly until the clocks are
synchronized.
Native time synchronization software, such as Network Time Protocol (NTP) for Linux and the Mac OS X,
or Microsoft Windows Time Service (Win32Time) for Windows, is typically more accurate than VMware
Tools periodic time synchronization and is therefore preferred.
IMPORTANT Use only one form of periodic time synchronization in your guests. If you are using native time
synchronization software, turn off VMware Tools periodic time synchronization.
Regardless of whether you turn on VMware Tools periodic time synchronization, time synchronization
occurs after certain operations:
n
When the VMware Tools daemon is started, such as during a reboot or power on operation
n
When resuming a virtual machine from a suspend operation
n
After reverting to a snapshot
n
After shrinking a disk
When the operating system starts or reboots, and when you first turn on periodic time synchronization,
synchronization can be either forward or backward in time. For other events, synchronization is forward in
time.
To disable time synchronization completely, you must edit the configuration file (.vmx file) of the virtual
machine and set several synchronization properties to FALSE.
Prerequisites
n
Disable other periodic time synchronization mechanisms. For example, some guests might have NTP or
Win32Time clock synchronization turned on by default.
n
If you plan to script the commands used in this procedure and need to know what the exit codes are,
see “Exit Codes for the VMware Tools Configuration Utility,” on page 223.
NOTE Mac OS X guests use NTP and do not become out of sync with the host. For Mac OS X guests, you do
not need to turn on VMware Tools time synchronization.
Procedure
1 Open a command prompt or terminal in the guest operating system.
2 Change to the VMware Tools installation directory.
Operating System Default Path
Windows
C:\Program Files\VMware\VMware Tools
Linux and Solaris
/usr/sbin
FreeBSD
/usr/local/sbin
Mac OS X
/Library/Application Support/VMware Tools
vSphere Virtual Machine Administration
214 VMware, Inc.