5.2.b.20250630 (30 Jun 2025) Current Version - Optional Upgrade
Several minor visual improvements in GUI components; several minor
log clarifications or additions. Revised security routines to prohibit
SSL3; security for outgoing SMTP allows TLS 1.1 for backward compatibility;
otherwise only TLS 1.2 and TLS 1.3 are supported.
Microchip-branded versions of all components, including DTLinux: Changed
dtdocs.ntp-systems.com
documentation and download site to support SSL/TLS (https). Standard http
access is retained for backward compatibility.
DTServer / DTClient
Changed binary .dt drift file trim to
keep 3/4ths of old data instead of 1/2. This extends the
lifetime of old data points so the period covered is
longer.
DTTray
If the system tray icon has "Animate
clock during timeset" checked, but DTServer or DTClient
is currently a PTP slave, the clock animation is now
skipped. Animations are useful when using other time
protocols, but under PTP only shows an extremely brief
flash while corrections that have already completed are
summarized for the logs.
Manager
Change status line on Domains and Workgroups list
and Domain Time Nodes list to reflect the count of servers and clients.
The prior behavior put Indp. Servers in with the count of clients.
Audit Server
Added info-level message to the text log if emails would have been sent if
enabled. The former behavior was to silently skip disabled emails, which confused some
customers who thought they had set up SMTP for alerting and summaries, but had failed
to tick the checkboxes controlling each kind of email. (There are three: Audit Summaries,
Audit Alerts, and Real-Time alerts.)
Changed threading model for handling Real-Time Alerts from unknown machines
when Audit List management option is set to auto-add unknown machines by performing a
reverse lookup.
Changed interpretation of Audit Server's
Real-Time Alert email subject line (found at HKLM\SOFTWARE\Greyware\Domain Time II Audit Server\Logs and Alerts\SMTP)
to allow substitution variable %group% for the Audit Group name. This change pertains only to the Email Subject Real-Time Alert
subject line, and only to additional recipient specified on the Audit Group configuration page for each Audit Group. If present, this substitution
variable will be stripped from generic TO/CC/BCC recipients. This new variable is in addition to
the %date% and %machinename% variables introduced in version 5.2.b.20240101.
Example: If Group 1 is named Production, and you change the registry entry to
%group% - Domain Time II Real-Time Alert, then emails sent to the additional recipient will have
the subject line "Production - Domain Time II Real-Time Alert".
Control Panel Applet
Removed Disable Agent and Windows Time CPL launch button
from the Advanced page. These functions pertain to the Windows Time Agent
(w32tmdt.cpl), which has been deprecated since version 5.1 of Domain Time
in 2009.
Changed graphical PTP Stats display to limit dropped delay
responses to 4095 so the value will fit in the field. Any number over a few
dozen/day represents a problem with delay request/response transactions,
so there's no sense in letting the displayed value climb forever.
Disabled checkbox for "Enable Trend Filter" on the PTP Options
page for VM guests that are using the precise system time adjustment method. On
these machines, trend filtering is automatic. For all other machines, we highly
recommend leaving the Trend Filter enabled (the default setting) unless the machine
is highly erratic as a PTP slave.
Removed "Smoothing Enabled" line from all graphical
PTP Stats displays. The ability to change smoothing types or disable
statistical analysis was removed in 2020, so this line always said "Yes"
and provided no information.
Changed screen rendering of the Control Panel applet
while the applet is being dragged to accommodate differences between Windows 10
and Windows 11. Windows 11 does not support all the graphical features of Windows 10
if you have customized the visual effects settings.
Drift Graphs
Moved "Data precision" line up from the Report
Data Period section to the Report Time and Data Source section (when
producing the textual conversion of a binary drift file).
5.2.b.20250331 (31 Mar 2025) - Optional Upgrade
This version introduces several small enhancements to various components,
and also provides significant improvements to PTP steering on older operating
systems (pre Server 2019 or pre Windows 11).
Changed the way components that launch Notepad
for displaying temporary files auto-close Notepad when the component
exits. This change accommodates Windows 11's new "Notepad App"
behavior without affecting the classic notepad.exe behavior.
Fix for UI metrics on Win11 giving the wrong value
for the padded border of a dialog box. Win11 does not report the
correct size of certain screen elements when they are modified by
visual themes.
Removed grant of SeCreateTokenPrivilege and
SeSyncAgentPrivilege requests. These system privileges are not needed
by any component. Best practices require not requesting grant of OS
privs that are not essential.
DTServer / DTClient
Removed registry entries and event associated with PTP offset
changes. These values were deprecated in 2019, but retained in
code for backward compatibility. See SDK.doc for more information.
Changed main drift graph phase column to show average phase from
active PTP steering. Former behavior was to show overall phase
as if PTP were not enabled.
Adjusted standard PTP steering trend filter algorithm to be more
responsive. This is especially helpful on older operating
systems (Server 2012r2 and Server 2016, for example) that
don't support precise steering. The overall improvement is significant.
Also improved precise trend filter algorithm
for virtual machines using modern operating systems. In particular,
the trend filter is automatically skipped or adjusted dynamically
on heavily loaded VMs.
DTServer only: Changed startup message
"Server will NOT provide time to clients until its own clock has been set"
from warning level to status (info) level.
Manager
Changed right-click Synchronize function
to use standard name lookups, including Manager's Name Resolution
settings. The prior behavior was to use the common name (bald NetBIOS
name) or the IP address (only if the "Favor IP" toggle was set).
Fixed report type when viewing a remote DTLinux node's
PTP drift graph text output. Prior versions of Manager could mistakenly
interpret the data as Time Check samples instead of PTP data points. This
was a race condition that depended on how long you looked at the graphical
view before clicking the Raw Data button to produce the text report.
Audit Server
Fixed text log to allow trace-level Real-Time alerts to show
up when the text log level is set to trace. An incorrect log
filter setting was allowing these trace-level events to show only
if the log level was set to debug.
Setup
Removed redundant system inspection
after each action. This speeds up the setup process.
Changed setup log file format to make
it more readable.
Eliminated "pop-under" effect when running
Setup on Win11. After clicking Agree to the license terms, by
default Win11 moves the setup program to the taskbar and blinks
it, forcing an extra click to continue with setup. This change
lets Setup stay on top, where one expects it to be. This change
is more than cosmetic, since an admin can configure the taskbar
to hide running programs, not blink for attention, etc.
Drift Graphs
Added summary of precise vs standard
phase rates, including number of records and average
phase adjustment for each type of steering. Note: If all
phase rates are standard, or all are precise, only the
type used will be shown.
5.2.b.20250101 (01 Jan 2025) - Recommended Upgrade
One major improvement and several minor enhancements. Added
support for precise version of setting the system time
adjustment. See DTServer / DTClient below for more information.
Improved hypervisor detection for machines running on Amazon's
EC2 platform (both Intel and AMD). Removed obsolete information
from the readme.txt files included with all distributions.
Added support for Microsoft's SetSystemTimeAdjustmentPrecise()
on operating systems that support it (Win11 or later, Win2019 or later, and up-to-date versions
of Win10). This functionalty can significantly improve accuracy and precision.
Removed obsolete/unused registry entries from Parameters and
PTPv2 subkeys.
Improved advanced training calculations to reduce the time
required to determine the optimum value, and also to account for very small
adjustments allowed by SetSystemTimeAdjustmentPrecise().
Eliminated full reset of filters when changing from one PTP
master to another. This provides a smoother transition event.
Eliminated error message in log at first timecheck
event if PTP has acquired a master but has not yet recorded any time
samples.
Changed to allow advanced clock training if the
machine has PTP enabled but is not a slave. Formerly, advanced clock
training was disallowed if PTP was enabled at all.
All Windows Components
Changed the parent window used when displaying
data using Microsoft's notepad.exe. This prevents Windows 11 or
later from treating Notepad as a modal app (which forces you to
close Notepad before continuing with any Domain Time application).
Included code for auto-closing Notepad on Win11 or later when
Notepad is set to use tabs instead of a new window.
Audit Server
Added a function to clean up stale Real-Time Alerts.
This feature is disabled by default; you may configure it from Manager's
Real-Time Alerts Configuration/Advanced page. "Stale" refers to a node that
is no longer sending Real-Time Alerts, either because the node has been
decommissioned or it has been configured to stop sending Real-Time Alerts.
This function is essentially the same as selecting a node from Manager's
Real-Time Alert page and deleting it. If a deleted node begins sending
Real-Time Alerts again, it will automatically be added back to the list.
The default period of time that must pass before a node is considered stale
is 60 days. The allowed range is 1-365 days. Auto-cleanup activity shows in
Audit Server's log at the Trace level. If enabled, cleanup runs at service
startup and periodically thereafter.
Manager
Improved window position saving/restoring, including
cascading when Manager opens multiple instances of the same program (DTDrift,
DTReader). Also allowed Manager to open graphs and reports above Manager in the
window Z-order and to remain on top. You may enable this new behavior
in Manager's Interface Options dialog.
Changed several "Do not show again this session" popup
messages into "Do not show again" (your choice is saved in the registry).
All of these confirmation messages pertain to the DTLinux Control Panel
applet built into Manager. Important confirmation messages remain session-based.
Drift Graphs
On raw data textual conversions, removed leading
+ or − on medians and averages where the value is zero.
For graphs containing phase information, added a "p"
to the phase number if it refers to precise system time adjustment values.
Precise time adjustments use much larger numbers and vary much more than
ordinary time adjustments. The trailing p lets you know why the
phase numbers are outside the normal range.
Added optional -utc switch to load a graphical drift using
UTC instead of local time. Example: dtdrift -utc c:\windows\system32\drift.dt
Without the -utc parameter, the graph displays points (and raw data) use the
machine's current local time zone.
Raw data textual conversions now contain the source's
version number in the header (where available and meaningful, i.e., DTLinux,
DTClient, or DTServer). Also added the node type (NTP, PTP, or Drift) and
operating system information (where available).
Added Center Window on Screen to the system menu
(upper-left corner). When clicked, this will move the graph to the center
of the monitor on which it's currently displayed. Shortcut: Alt-Space-W.
Added Always on Top checkbox to the system menu (upper-left
corner) so you can toggle any individual graph from topmost to non-topmost
regardless of how the program was launched. This item only affects the
current window. Shortcut: Alt-Space-A.
Added Local timezone checkbox to the system menu (upper-left
corner) so you can toggle any individual graph back and forth from local time to UTC,
regardless of how the program was launched. This item only affects the
current window. Shortcut: Alt-Space-L.
Fixed bug in textual conversion of DTAudit-generated
NTP drift graphs that prevented the text from showing the NTP node's source
stratum and leap indicator.
Enhanced textual conversion of drift data to make the
Time Source field dynamically sized (so any mixture of IPv4 and IPv6 sources
will fit correctly).
Enhanced textual conversion of PTP drift files to show
the effective NTP stratum of the source. PTP uses stepsRemoved, where zero means
the same as NTP stratum 1 (primary), and so forth.
DTReader (Audit Report viewer)
Added Center Window on Screen to the system menu
(upper-left corner). When clicked, this will move the Audit Report to the center
of the monitor on which it's currently displayed. Shortcut: Alt-Space-W.
Added Always on Top checkbox to the system menu (upper-left
corner) so you can toggle any individual Audit Report from topmost to non-topmost
regardless of how the program was launched. This item only affects the
current window. Shortcut: Alt-Space-A.
Control Panel Applet
Added radio buttons Min, Max, and Normal to the dialog
for creating/editing symmetric keys. This controls the length of randomly
generated keys. The default is Normal, which generates a key of a length
accepted by most appliances and other servers. Prior versions always
generated the maximum allowed length, meaning you had to manually edit
the result if you wanted a shorter key.
DTCheck
Enhanced -monitorSTA to show both SystemTimeAdjustment
and SystemTimeAdjustmentPrecise (when supported by the operating system).
Added parameter to -swTimestamps:enable and -swTimestamps:disable
to allow you to specify one (or more) specific adapters. The default operation
is to enable or disable all eligible adapters. To limit the changes, specify
-name=adapter[,adapter...] using the "friendly" adapter name (the one shown when
looking at the list of NICs). For example, to enable NDIS timestamps on the
adapter called Ethernet, use -swtimestamps:en -name:Ethernet. If the
friendly name contains spaces, you must enclose the name in double quotation
marks. For exampe, to disable timestamping on Ethernet 1 and Ethernet 2,
use -swtimestamps:disable -name:"Ethernet 1","Ethernet 2" and so forth.
Added -swts as a shorter synonym for the -swtimestamps switch.
Fixed bug with -ptpMasters -noExpired (the -noExpired
option was being ignored when the expiry reason was missed announces).
5.2.b.20240922 (22 Sep 2024) - Optional Upgrade
Support for Windows Server 2025.
Symmetric key support for SHA256 and SHA512 for DT2 and NTP
protocols. NOTE: Only MD5 and SHA1 are universally supported
by NTP appliances. Your NTP time source may or may not support
SHA256 or SHA512 hash types.
Added symmetric key type name (MD5, SHA1, etc) to all dropdown
lists of key numbers. This is a cosmetic change to help identify
the type of key being chosen.
Fix for PTP master announce stepsRemoved field
when the registry NTP Server Stratum value is non-zero.
Audit Server
Changed display in audit reports from using
scientific notation to decimal representation (only affects very
small values; for example using 0.000050 instead of 5e-5).
Changed mechanism for obtaining reference time
when using "Use this machine's list of time sources" and the
audit machine is a PTP slave, to use the current PTP master's IP,
offset, and stratum instead of querying the list of NTP or DT2
sources. If the audit machine doesn't happen to be a PTP slave, then
the normal use of listed sources operates as before. This change
affects the Audit Server's log file as well as Audit Result reports.
Manager and Monitor
Same change as detailed above for Audit Server in regards to reporting
the source of the reference time.
Control Panel Applet
On the Obtain the Time/Correction Limits page, the Reset to Defaults button
was not resetting the excess latency checkbox or associate value.
Fixed production of zero-length ptpMasters.txt when the CPL's focus is
set to a remote machine. This only affects generation of file(s) for
inclusion in sending a Problem Report from the Support page.
All Products
Microsemi-branded versions of all products, including DTLinux: Changed to
remove Microsemi logo and replace Microsemi name and contact information
to Microchip (Microsemi's parent company).
5.2.b.20240101 (01 Jan 2024) - Optional Upgrade
Two minor fixes in DTCheck; one enhancement to Audit Server.
Changed interpretation of Audit Server's
email subject lines (found at HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Greyware\Domain Time II Audit Server\Logs and Alerts\SMTP)
to allow substitution variables %date% and
%machinename% to be replaced by the current date
and reporting machine (respectively).
DTCheck
Fixed invalid character in the -variance
report output display.
Changed default Internet leap-seconds.list
source from IETF to IANA (IETF no longer supports the leap
seconds list).
Fix for Audit Server's Daily Drift CSV report mistakenly
interpreting DTLinux drift records as milliseconds instead of
nanoseconds.
Domain Time Server
Changed default for new installations of DTServer in slave mode (domain hierarchy) to
not use Windows RID-based authentication.
Drift Graphs
Changed text on drift graph display to say "N/A" instead of "unknown" when the
phase adjustment is either inapplicable to the type of graph, or the value is
zero.
5.2.b.20220714 (14 Jul 2022) - Optional Upgrade
Fixed a problem with formatting multiple recipients when sending email to GMail (Google
changed its header parsing rules). Enabled support for software RX timestamps on Win11
and Win2022 (Win10 and Win2019 already have support in place). Added Remote Scan feature
to DTServer, which can be used by Manager and Audit Server on large segregated networks.
Other minor enhancements.
Added section to the Network Discovery dialog allowing you to
specify Remote Scan options. Remote Scan works by contacting Domain Time Servers
on other networks and having them perform a broadcast/multicast scan on Manager's
behalf. The remote Domain Time Server(s) must be running version 5.2.b.20220414 or
later, and must have Remote Scan enabled. Useful in complex networks where broadcast
and multicast queries cannot reach remote subnets. A Domain Time Server positioned
on the remote subnet can return a list of nodes visible to it.
Audit Server
Audit Server inherits Manager's Remote Scan settings described above.
DTServer/DTClient
Increased number of retries obtaining domain/forest information
to account for lazy network startup in Win10/Win2019 and above.
Added Remote Scan (DTServer only) functionality. This allows
Manager and Audit Server to gather network information visible to the remote
DTServer. Functionality is disabled by default. To enable, use the Control Panel
applet's Security tab. Click the Commands... button and tick
the box for Remote Scan. This box will only appear on versions
of Domain Time Server 5.2.b.20220414 or later.
DTCheck
Changed -resetserial and -reload
to allow operation via authenticated UDP transaction on Windows machines (instead of stopping and
restarting the service). This capability is already built into DTLinux and DTClient/DTServer,
but dtcheck only used it on Linux nodes.
Added -remoteScan function (see Manager and DTServer above). This
function lets you test a remote Domain Time Server for compatibility, and shows the
information it would return if used by Manager/Audit Server.
Enhanced -interfaces command to display the NIC
internal clock frequency (when available).
Enhanced -stats2 command to display the type of
timestamping supported.
5.2.b.20220322 (22 Mar 2022) - Optional Upgrade
Minor fixes and enhancements.
Miscellaneous
Added Windows display version (the same as winver.exe shows)
to logs and startup banners, e.g., Windows 10 21H1 (display version)
instead of Windows 10 2009 (actual version number).
Fixed problem with dialog box upper-left small icon "sticking"
to most recently used icon.
Added update of license files when upgrading a DTLinux client via
"push" update from Manager.
DTServer/DTClient Control Panel Applet
Added support for specifying syslog port number to override the default target port
514/udp. You may add :n, where n is the desired port number. For example: 10.1.1.1:777 (IPv4 literal),
[2600:1f18::1]:777 (IPv6 literal -- brackets are required), or mysyslogger.my.org:777 (DNS name). In all of
these examples, syslog output will be sent to port 777.
Added support for "Do not change audit group"
to the dropdown beside the "Always audit this machine" checkbox. Requires Audit Server 5.2.b.20220111
or later to work properly.
NTPCheck
Added -rtt switch to show originate and terminate timestamps,
and display total round-trip time. Ignored if -raw is not also specified. Ignored
if output is either -json or -csv.
DTCheck
Fixed typo in -help text.
Eliminated requirement for Remote Registry service for certain
operations targetting the local machine (specified by providing no target,
using the machine's NetBIOS name, using the IP 127.0.0.1, or the IP ::1).
Removed test routines for obsolete bc635/637 PCI clock cards.
SDK
Added atomic copy to GetPTPStats() to prevent rare
race condition.
Updated comments inside APITest.cpp to demonstrate how to get
the full path/filename of the loaded DLL, and how to convert hectonanoseconds to
either microseconds or milliseconds.
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