Configure time servers

Screens use NTP to keep their clocks accurate. Allow ntp.ubuntu.com, or point players at a time server on your own network.

A player keeps its clock through Network Time Protocol, and an accurate clock is a requirement rather than a nicety. Security depends on it, and so does playback: a screen with the wrong time runs your schedule at the wrong time.

By default players use ntp.ubuntu.com.

On a corporate network

Either allow ntp.ubuntu.com through the firewall on port 123, or point players at a time server you already run.

Adding your own servers

Time servers are set through the Network Config Generator, the same tool used for Wi-Fi and static addressing.

1. Open the Network Config Generator.
2. Turn on Configure NTP settings.
3. Enter your time server, and use the add button to list more than one.
4. Generate the file and apply the network.yaml from a USB drive, as in Connect to Wi-Fi.

ntppool.org is a source of public servers if you do not run your own.

Listing more than one is worth doing wherever the primary server is not guaranteed. A player that cannot set its clock reports an error rather than quietly carrying on, so a single unreachable server takes the screen out of service.

If you see a time server error

The check tests the server the player is set to use, so an error points at your server when you have configured one. See Diagnostic errors for what to check.