Nebula [NTP] - Network Time Protocol

NTP is Network Time Protocol and is used for networking devices to synchronize their date and time to global servers, making sure all devices automatically have the right time set up.
NTP is very important for Nebula devices. If NTP is not correct on the device, issues will be visible in NCC possibly by no data shown, the device being offline, or wrong configuration. 

Setting up general time zone settings in the Nebula Control Center

NTP (UDP/TCP 123) always needs to be allowed from the LAN side to WAN  when you are using Nebula devices. NCC server and your Nebula device by default are using Coordinated Universal Time (zone) (UTC) +00:00. This becomes important when looking at logs since the log entries might be shifted respectively. 

However, you may change the time-zone via

Site-Wide > Configure > Site Settings

When do Nebula devices synchronize their times and dates?

Your devices will synchronize via NTP:

• NAP

  • When the AP boots up and NTP sync successfully

  • Sync again after 6 hours

• NSW & NSG

  • When the NSW & NSG boots up and NTP sync successfully

  • Sync again after 24 hours

If the Nebula devices fail on the NTP-sync, it will be triggered again after 30 seconds in order to hopefully lead to a proper synchronization.

If you want to know more about Nebula and the Ports used to communicate with the device, please check our overview Article: How do Nebula devices communicate with Nebula Control Center? Which Ports are used? (NETCONF Information)