Symptoms

Can you synchronize the Service Processor or MMCS clock with an NTP server on Symmetrix DMX-3 or 4, VMAX, VMAX3, VMAX All Flash, or PowerMax? Symmetrix log timestamp does not match real time.Symmetrix Service Processor (SP) or MMCS time in Windows is incorrect. Users can use SYMCLI or Unisphere to view various logs and alerts from Symmetrix, VMAX, VMAX3, VMAX All Flash, or PowerMax. Some users request these should be showing the correct time, and often request it should show in local time.Correct time = The clock shows correct UTC time. For example, it shows 15:21 when it is 15:21 UTC time.Local Time = The clock shows correct UTC time that is converted to local time zone. For Example, a locality might be UTC+1 when it is 15:21 UTC time. It would show as 16:21.There are two main clocks in Symmetrix, the Service Processor or MMCS (Windows) clock, and the Symmetrix Director clock (one on each Director). Each clock is used in Symmetrix scripts, logfiles, and alerts. For example, when running a script the script progress is shown using the SP or MMCS clock. Commands that run on the Director appear in the logs with Director time. Note: The SP or MMCS clock may drift over time. This is due to Windows processes keeping, since the SP/MMCS is very busy running other processes, this is common to all Windows clocks that do not NTP synch.There is limited support for time synchronization on Symmetrix as follows:(a) The Symmetrix director clocks synchronize with each other but are not normally synchronized to correct or local time. There is an ability to synchronize the director clocks to the SP/MMCS clock, this is a manual process and not normally recommended, please contact EMC Support Labs if required.(b) The Service Processor/MMCS clock does not synchronize at all by default, but can be set to NTP synchronize using an external NTP source as explained below. This sets the SP/MMCS clock to the correct time only, not to local time.Arrays (VMAX All Flash and PowerMax) specifically running PowerMaxOS 5978.444.444 cannot adjust their NTP.(c) Some EMC software converts timestamps that are received from Symmetrix automatically from UTC to local time, using the time zone settings on the customer server running that software. This is automatic in the EMC software.All Symmetrix must be set to time zone "UTC" for SSC functionality, otherwise we may lose access to the SP.Examine UTC and compare it to locations see World Clock time.http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/ and look for UTC at the bottom of page to compare it to the location of the Symmetrix.

Cause

NA

Resolution

EMC supports NTP timeserver synchronization for the Symmetrix Service Processor/MMCS clock for DMX-4 models using Enginuity 5773, and all Symmetrix VMAX/VMAX3 models, up to PowerMaxOS 5978.444.444. For PowerMaxOS 5978.444.444 and higher, adjusting the NTP synchronization has been deprecated. Contact your EMC Service Representative for details on enabling this feature and quote this article ID.Refer to 10699 for details of how to convert UTC to local time.This only synchronizes the Service Processor (SP)/MMCS Windows clock time. This is used for many of the log timestamps in Symmetrix. It does not synchronize the Symmetrix director clocks on the director boards, all timestamps will then show correct UTC time and not local time.Note this has nothing to do with ESRS, it simply requires an Ethernet connection from the Symmetrix Service Processor/MMCS to the customer network, and visibility for the SP/MMCS on that network to an NTP source. The NTP source is usually the users own time server or Internet NTP source site.

Support Cases