Runtime > Time Synchronization

Time Synchronization

In order to maintain time synchronization Citect SCADA installs a Windows service called TimeSyncService, which runs under the built-in LocalSystem account. The purpose of this service is to maintain the time on the local computer against one or more time sources. A time source is a computer on which the time service is running.

A time synchronization utility is provided by Citect SCADA to assist you to configure time synchronization, and control the service as part of your administration environment. The dialog stores and reads settings in the TimeSyncConfig.xml file, which is installed in the Citect SCADA Config directory by default (see View a Project's Folders).

You can use the configuration utility to specify an alternative path to the config file, such as a network share. This can be useful where you have multiple computers using the same configuration data as you only need to make changes on one machine.

To display the Time Synchronization dialog, navigate to the Schneider Electric program group in the Windows Start menu and select SCADA Expert Citect SCADA 2016 | Runtime Configuration | Time Synchronization Config.

ClosedTime Synchronization Dialog Box

The fields available on the Time Synchronization dialog are described in the following table.

Field

Description

Current status

Displays the status of the TimeSync Windows service, as displayed in service properties under computer management. You may click the Start Service button if the service is stopped, or Stop Service if it is running. If the service is identified as being disabled, the button is also disabled. To enable the service use the Windows administrative tools as either automatic or manual startup.

Startup type

Identifies if the service is started manually, or automatically. If the service is disabled, use the Windows administrative tools to enable the service as either automatic or manual startup.

TCP/IP Port

The network port the service will use to listen for connections from clients.

Last synchronization

Displays the value of the LastSyncTime registry setting. This is the Local time at which the last successful synchronization occurred.

Current local time

Displays the current time on the local computer, updating every 1 second.

Log information events

Controls whether the service writes events of type 'Information' to the event log. The default is unchecked so that only alerts (called "warnings" in the software) and errors are recorded.

Keep this computer's time synchronized

Select this check box to enable the computer to be a time client. This allows you to enter the poll time and list of time servers against which to synchronize.

Synchronize every

Enter a number in hours and minutes between 000:01 and 168:59 (inclusive) to specify the period between synchronization that needs to occur. The default value is 24:00.

Synchronize Now

Click to synchronize immediately.

Synchronize with first available

Displays a list of computers, and the current time on those computers if available. The display is updated every 1 second.

Add button

Displays a dialog for you to enter the name of a server to add.

Remove

Select a computer from the list above, and click "Remove" to remove it from the list.

Note: When you add a time source to the list, the current time on that machine will be displayed, provided the service is running on that remote machine and listening on the same port number. If "Not available" then the service is not running, or is running and using a different port number, or that port number is being blocked by a firewall. The column in the list box is provided as a diagnostics function to confirm that the machine names entered can be synchronized against. The time displayed in this box is an approximate only.

Published June 2018