Issue

The date and time that are set on a workstation can affect the build process.


If the date and time are not valid then the following symptoms may be displayed:


  • LDAP errors

  • Negative time displayed in setup window and build timer counting down instead of up

  • AD registration issues

  • ZCM registration issues

Requirements

  • Imaging Toolkit

  • ZCM Environment with imaging configured to use Zim

  • SLES/SLED 11/SLES 12 machines (ZCM imaging can use both SLES 11 and SLES 12 kernels, depending on circumstance, so this TID captures both)

  • ntp/sntp time source

Solution

Update the time on the machine prior to Zim loading


This can be done by adding a copy of the sntp utility (http://www.eecis.udel.edu/~mills/ntp/html/sntp.html) from a SLES machine into tftp/zimfiles.


The zimget.s script is then modified to tftp this file down to the imaging environment, set the system time from a configured time source and synchronise the new system time with the hardware clock


Procedure

Done
 Task
 
1.
 Extract sntp utility from SLES/SLED 11
 
2.
 Extract sntp utility from SLES 12
 
3.
 Update zimget.s script file
 
4.
 Test



  1. Extract sntp utility from SLES/SLED 11

    • Login to SLES/SLED 11

    • Copy the file sntp from /usr/sbin/sntp, rename it to sntp-s and copy it to the zimfiles folder
      • Linux:  /srv/tftp/zimfiles
      • Windows:  %ZENWORKS_HOME%\share\tftp\zimfiles

  2. Extract sntp utility from SLES 12

    • Login to SLES 12

    • Copy the file sntp from /usr/sbin, rename it to sntp-4 and copy it to the zimfiles fiolder
      • Linux:  /srv/tftp/zimfiles
      • Windows:  %ZENWORKS_HOME%\share\tftp\zimfiles

  3. Update zimget.s script file

    • Open the zimget.s file with a text editor

    • Update the zimget.s file with the following information:

      Edit zimget.s file to add the changes shown in green

      and configure an appropriate ntp/sntp time source (highlighted in red)

      #!/bin/bash
# Created: September 13, 2017  13:11:25

ZIMDIR=/zimbin
export ZIMDIR

# Determining drive type...

# Identify local fixed disk(Non-USB)
FIXED_DRIVE=""
for _device in /sys/block/{nvme,sd,hd}*/removable; do
   if [ -a $_device ]; then
      if echo $(readlink -f $_device)|egrep -v -q "usb"; then
         _disk=`echo $_device | cut -f4 -d/`

         # First fixed disk to be identified will be used.
         FIXED_DRIVE="$_disk"
         break
      fi
   fi
done
export HDTYPE=$FIXED_DRIVE

echo Downloading ENGL Zim files...
kernel=$(uname -r|cut -c 1)
tftp $PROXYADDR << _END_ > /dev/null
verbose on
bin
get zimfiles/ldapsdk.tar $ZIMDIR/ldapsdk.tar
get zimfiles/zim.tgz /zimbin/zim.tgz
get zimfiles/engl.lic $ZIMDIR/engl.lic
get zimfiles/zim.cfg $ZIMDIR/zim.cfg
get zimfiles/images.ini $ZIMDIR/images.ini
get zimfiles/projects.ini $ZIMDIR/projects.ini
get zimfiles/zimrun.s $ZIMDIR/zimrun.s
get zimfiles/sntp-$kernel $ZIMDIR/sntp
quit
_END_

echo Unpacking Zim libraries...

tar xf $ZIMDIR/ldapsdk.tar -C / > /dev/null
/bin/rm -f $ZIMDIR/ldapsdk.tar

tar zxf $ZIMDIR/zim.tgz -C $ZIMDIR > /dev/null
/bin/rm -f $ZIMDIR/zim.tgz

crlf.s $ZIMDIR/zimrun.s > /dev/null 2>&1
chmod +x $ZIMDIR/zim
chmod +x $ZIMDIR/zimrun.s
chmod +x $ZIMDIR/sntp


echo Checking time configuration...
if [ $kernel = 3 ]; then
   echo setting time using SLES 11 sntp
    /$ZIMDIR/sntp -P no -r  uk.pool.ntp.org
else
   echo setting time using SLES 12 sntp
    /$ZIMDIR/sntp  uk.pool.ntp.org
fi

echo Updating Hardware Clock
hwclock --systohc


quit
_END_

    • Save changes to zimget.s and update file on the server.

  4. Test

    • PXE boot a machine to ZENworks imaging/ZIM environment 
    • Select Maintanence Menu - Exit to Prompt

       At the bash prompt:
      • type hwclock - This will tell you what the Hardware clock is set to. 
      • type date - This will tell you what the System clock is set to.
    • The Hardware clock and the System clock should be in sync with the time source configured in the script