Description

set the NTP server as a domain name rather than an IP address

Symptoms

domain name is valid and NTP server exists On entering the command set' ntp server <domain-name> '  the Netscreen returns with the error message Can't set NTP server <domain-name>

The command get DNS host cache '  will show the ntp server IP address immediately after entering the command.


Solution

One cause of this error is that DNS is not correctly configured on the box. This is required on the NTP server entry

Set the DNS server first. Test by issuing the command:
get' dns name <domain-name> '  [Enter]

Below is the' results received if DNS configuration is not done prior to configuring ntp:

ns25-> get ntp
ntp is enabled
ntp server is 0.0.0.0
ntp request interval is 1 minutes.
ntp time should'  be synced to peer unit

ns25-> get' dns ?
host' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' '  show DNS host info
name' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' '  lookup a domain name
ns25-> get' dns host ?
cache' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' '  show DNS cache table
report' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' '  show DNS lookup table
settings' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' '  show DNS settings
ns25-> get' dns host cache
DNS Server: 0.0.0.0
'  Primary'  : 0.0.0.0
'  Secondary: 0.0.0.0
DNS Cache:

ns25-> set' ntp server canon.inria.fr
Can't set' ntp server canon.inria.fr

Below is the' results received if DNS configuration is' done prior to configuring ntp:

ns25-> set' dns host dns1 194.72.6.57
ns25-> set' ntp server canon.inria.fr ' ' ' 
ns25-> get ntp
ntp is enabled
ntp server name is "canon.inria.fr "
ntp request interval is 1 minutes.
ntp time should'  be synced to peer unit


Former Article Id

nskb5754