XADM: Cannot Synchronize Clock on Exchange Server When Using Server Monitor

If you attempt to synchronize a Microsoft Exchange Server clock, it may not synchronize with the clocks on other servers. Server monitor reports that the time is out of sync, but does not synchronize the time.

The Exchange Server service account does not have the "Change the system time" User right. This right is not given to the service account during the installation of Exchange Server and must be added manually.

To resolve this problem, give the Exchange Server service account the "Change the system time" User right on the server. To add the permission:

1.	Log on to the server with an account that can fully administer the server.
2.	Open User Manager for Domains.
3.	Click Policies, click User Rights, and then click Change the system time in the drop-down list.
4.	Click Add.
5.	Select the Exchange Server service account from the list, and then click Add.
6.	Click OK to close the Add Users and Groups window.
7.	The Exchange Server service account should now appear in the User Rights Policy window. Click OK.

To synchronize one server's clock with another server's clock, create a server monitor and verify that the Synchronize check box is selected on the Clock tab in the server monitor Properties. To do so:

1.	On the server that you want to use to synchronize the clocks, on the File menu, point to New Other, and then click Server Monitor.
2.	On the General tab, type a name that uniquely identifies the server monitor in the Directory Name box, and then type a display name in the Display Name box.
3.	On the Notification tab, specify how you want to be notified if the clock being synchronized is off by the number of seconds specified on the Clock tab. This causes the monitored server to enter an alert or warning state.
4.	On the Servers tab, click the server whose clock you want to synchronize, and then click Add.
5.	Click the Clock tab, and then verify that both Synchronize check boxes are selected. To modify the amount of time by which the clocks can differ before the monitored server enters an alert or warning state (causing you to be notified as specified on the Notification tab), modify the values in the Warning if off by more than and Alert if off by more than boxes.

NOTE: If you are monitoring services on servers in other time zones, you can specify that the clocks of the monitored servers are synchronized with the monitoring computer's clock. Synchronization uses the time zone information in Windows NT Server so monitors can function correctly with servers in other time zones. Clock synchronization ensures that time-based events such as message tracking and event logs are recorded accurately.