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 Documentation\Configuration\Tools\Manager\Advanced Settings and Tools
    The Advanced Settings and Tools tab page contains overall settings for the Manager program, as well as additional tools for managing and troubleshooting Domain Time.

    Domain Time II Manager - Advanced Settings and Tools tab
    Domain Time II Manager - Advanced Settings and Tools tab

    System Settings

      Edit INI Defaults
      Manager uses a template file (DOMTIME.INI, found in the Domain Time II program directory) to set the various configuration options for products being remotely installed.

        You can modify the INI file to include specific settings for server and clients (such as time source addresses) during install that you would otherwise have to change manually after the product was installed. The file is heavily commented, with all entries fully described, so it is very easy to understand the settings

        Since this file controls all installations done from Manager, be sure to review this file carefully to be sure it has correct entries before proceeding with your installations or upgrades.

        Note that this file is only read during installation. After installation, Domain Time components use the settings recorded in their machine's registry. See the various Registry Settings pages (Server, Full Client, or Thin Client) for more information.

      Broadcast Addresses
      Maintain the list of broadcast address subnets that Manager uses for scanning remote systems.

        Broadcast Addresses screen
        Adding a broadcast address to Manager's Broadcast Address list

        One of the methods Domain Time II Manager uses to discover remote systems is by UDP broadcasts. By default, it will only send to and receive UDP broadcasts from the local subnet. You can have Manager send broadcasts to other subnets by adding the subnet mask of the remote subnet to this list.

        For example, to have Domain Time II Manager send broadcasts to systems on the 172.16.108.x subnet, you would enter 172.16.108.255 into the Broadcast Addresses list. The list is additive, so you can enter as many subnets as necessary for your network.

        Note: There must always be at least one broadcast address entered in this box for Manager to perform correctly. We recommend that you keep the the default address 255.255.255.255 in the list.

      Include DNS hostname information
      Check this box if you want Manager to do a DNS lookup to find the system name for each IP address it finds in the various scans (Variance Reports, Network Scan, License Scan, etc.).

        DNS lookups can take some time to perform, and on large networks a large number of lookups can slow down the scans dramatically. Uncheck this box if you want Manager to report only the IP address of machines it finds.

      Enable popup help information
      Check this box if you want Manager to popup help messages when you point at various items.

      Show Splash Screen on startup
      Indicates whether you want Manager to display the Domain Time Manager splash screen when starting the program.

      Enable MS Networking Timeouts
      When this box is checked, Manager uses special timeouts for all MS networking operations to reduce the time necessary to display browse lists, perform license and batch operations scans, etc. The length of these timeouts are modified by the Connection Timeout selection below. In some circumstances, this option may cause browse or scans to fail, so turn this option off if you are unable to see remote machines, particularly those over slow links when setting the Connection Timeout to the slowest setting does not resolve the issue.

      Connection Timeout  
      This list allows you to select a timeout setting appropriate for your type of network connection.

      When Manager is scanning the network, it will wait a pre-determined period of time for a machine to respond before deciding that machine is not responding and move on to the next. If you are scanning or connecting to machines across a slow connection, such as over a dial-up modem or a WAN, the additional network delays and latencies can cause Manager to incorrectly conclude that a machine is unavailable.

      You can increase or decrease the timeout period by selecting an appropriate value from the list. They are listed in order of timeout length from the shortest (Fast LAN) to the longest (Satellite Link). You should choose the shortest timeout that works on your network.

      ICMP & UDP Retries  
      Sets the number of times Manager should retry ICMP or UDP requests when no response is received. Additional retries will slow down scans of the network but may allow more reliable connection to machines that don't respond promptly to requests.

      Startup Tab  
      Tells which tab page to display when it starts. Useful if you don't want to wait for the Browse tab scan to complete before doing other Manager tasks.

    Utility Programs

    Click on the button of one of these useful diagnostic and comparison utilities to launch it. These utilities can also be run stand-alone from the Domain Time II Program Files directory (usually C:\Program Files\Domain Time II).

      Server Test Utility (DTTEST.EXE)
      Use this utility to test the clock stability of any time server.

        Server Test Utility
        The DTTest Time Server Test Utility

        To test a time server:

        1. Enter the server name or IP address of the time server you wish to test in the Server field.
        2. Use the Proto drop-down list to select the time protocol to use for the test (this protocol must be running on the server being tested).
        3. Click the Start Button to begin the test.

        You may also wish to adjust how many times and how rapidly to test each server by adjusting the Poll Interval and Number of Tests items. However, the default settings should be sufficient for most situations.

        The test will show a running list of the amount of latency detected in the network connection, and also how large a variance exists between your local system clock and the server being tested. Since both the local machine and the remote system clocks and protocols have some built-in inaccuracies, the values displayed will fluctuate occasionally. However, you should be able to see an overall trend in multiple tests - stable clocks will show a fairly consistent variance, unstable clocks will have constantly varying values.

      LMCheck (LMCHECK.EXE)
      Use LMCheck to obtain a quick variance report and save the results to a file.

        The Domain Time LMCheck test tool allows you to quickly determine the relative accuracy of the Windows clocks on your network. It uses the native LAN Manager NetRemote TOD (Time of Day) function to check the time on all the Windows machines in the browse list.

        Time variances from the machine on which you run LMCheck are calculated and displayed, taking into account any network latencies.

        LMCheck Report Screen
        A fully synchronized network

        The LMCheck tool does not run on WFWG/Win9x/ME.

        Click the Start button to perform the scan. Click the Save Results button to pull the results up in Notepad so that you may save them wherever you wish.

        Note that the variance report generated by LMCheck cannot be as detailed or as accurate as variance reports provided by the Domain Time II Manager, the Monitor Service or the DTCheck utility, each of which use more accurate time protocols and sampling methods to measure the time differentials. Also, LMCheck cannot measure any systems not running Microsoft Networking.

      Diagnostic Probe (DTPROBE.EXE)
      This utility details the server discovery process and shows which time servers a client running automatic settings will find and use.

        DT Probe Utility
        The Diagnostic Probe Utility

        This utility performs the same server discovery process that the Thin and Full Client (Automatic Settings mode) perform when they attempt to discover a time server. This process is detailed and recorded by the utility so that you can see exactly what servers are locatable and available to clients.

        This information is extremely useful for tracking down connection problems for automatic clients. This utility can be run on the client machine as well, so that you can see the network from its perspective. Copy the DTPROBE.EXE program to the client machine and launch it there.

        Use the Broadcast Addresses button to modify the broadcast addresses used by the utility. To be useful, these entries should duplicate the ones that the client uses (usually 255.255.255.255) - see the discussion about setting the client broadcast addresses using Manager via the Options button on the Connection Details screen.

        See also the Working Across Subnets page for more information.

        Click the Start button to perform the scan. Click the Save Results button to pull the results up in Notepad so that you may save them wherever you wish.

    System Services

    This section of Advanced Settings and Tools allows you to install and configure the two main Management Tool system services and Audit Server (if you have purchased it).

      Click the Install button to install the service, Remove to remove it, or the Configure button, which pulls up the service's control panel applet (you can also configure the service by starting the applet from the Windows Control Panel).

      Monitor Service
      This service performs automatic variance reports and monitors the network for systems that are out of sync beyond the limits you specify and generate administrative and email alerts.

      Update Service
      This service watches the network for machines that connect that do not have current versions of Domain Time II components and performs automatic installation or upgrades as necessary.

      Audit Server
      Automatically collects detailed time sync records and logs to create an instant audit trail the entire network's time. Keeps variance reports, graphs, sync logs, drift logs, and generates out-of-sync alarms. (Requires Domain Time II Server be installed as well). Can also be installed on other machines using the Setup program from the distribution files - see the Audit Server installation instructions
      .

     

     

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