How to set NTP server in Fortigate Firewall?

Minsoo Ju

IT Infrastructure Manager

How to set NTP server in Fortigate Firewall?

Jan 17, 2023

Networks

In Fortigate devices, you can configure NTP server address by GUI interface

Fortigate-ntp-1

…..aaand yeah its better to configure your custom NTP server by CLI interface

※ Before you begin this procedure make sure to check if you have permission to enter Fortigate CLI console

You can check NTP server status of your Fortigate system before you begin like this
```
  Fortigate_FW $ show system ntp 
  		config system ntp 
  			set server-mode enable 
  			set interface “fortilink” 
  			end
```
in this case, your Fortigate Firewall’s NTP function has not been enabled. So we need to enable its function first.
Enabling NTP Sync

Fortigate_FW $ config system ntp 
Fortigate_FW (ntp) $ set ntpsync enable
Fortigate_FW (ntp) $ end
Fortigate_FW $ show system ntp 
		config system ntp 
			set ntpsync enable 
			set server-mode enable 
			set interface “fortilink” 
			end

Setting the custom NTP Server IP

Fortigate_FW $ config system ntp
Fortigate_FW (ntp) $ set type custom
Fortigate_FW (ntp) $ set syncinterval 30
Fortigate_FW (ntp) $ config ntpserver 
Fortigate_FW (ntpserver) $ edit 1
new entry '1' added
Fortigate_FW (1) $ set server <YOUR CUSTOM NTP SERVER IP>
Fortigate_FW (1) $ next
Fortigate_FW (ntpserver) $ end
Fortigate_FW (ntp) $ end

And you will get the result like this

Fortigate_FW $ show system ntp
config system ntp
set ntpsync enable
set type custom
set syncinterval 30
config ntpserver
edit 1
set server "<YOUR CUSTOM NTP SERVER IP>"
next
end

this is the meaning of each commands as follows.

config system ntp
set ntpsync enable  *## Enables NTP sync function*
set type custom  *## Enable sync with custom NTP server*
set syncinterval 30 *## Refresh time sync with NTP server for each 30 minutes*
config ntpserver *## Enter the NTP server settings*
edit 1 *## Primary NTP server*
set server <YOUR CUSTOM NTP SERVER IP>
next
end

Then you can see custom NTP server IP has been set on your firewall