Configuring Ntp Authentication; Configuration Prerequisites; Configuration Procedure - H3C S5820X Series Configuration Manual

The access-control right mechanism provides only a minimum degree of security protection for
the system running NTP. A more secure method is NTP authentication.

Configuring NTP Authentication

The NTP authentication feature should be enabled for a system running NTP in a network
where there is a high security demand. This feature enhances the network security by means of
client-server key authentication, which prohibits a client from synchronizing with a device that
has failed authentication.

Configuration Prerequisites

The configuration of NTP authentication involves configuration tasks to be implemented on the
client and on the server.
When configuring NTP authentication, note the following:
For all synchronization modes, when you enable the NTP authentication feature, configure
an authentication key and specify it as a trusted key. In other words, the ntp-service
authentication
authentication-keyid command and the ntp-service reliable authentication-keyid
command. Otherwise, the NTP authentication function cannot be normally enabled.
For the client/server mode or symmetric mode, associate the specified authentication key
on the client (symmetric-active peer if in the symmetric peer mode) with the corresponding
NTP server (symmetric-passive peer if in the symmetric peer mode). Otherwise, the NTP
authentication feature cannot be normally enabled.
For the broadcast server mode or multicast server mode, associate the specified
authentication key on the broadcast server or multicast server with the corresponding NTP
server. Otherwise, the NTP authentication feature cannot be normally enabled.
For the client/server mode, if the NTP authentication feature has not been enabled for the
client, the client can synchronize with the server regardless of whether the NTP
authentication feature has been enabled for the server or not. If the NTP authentication is
enabled on a client, the client can be synchronized only to a server that can provide a
trusted authentication key.
For all synchronization modes, the configurations on the server and client side must be the
same.

Configuration Procedure

Configuring NTP authentication for a client
Follow these steps to configure NTP authentication for a client:
enable command
3-15
must work together with the ntp-service