Time zones and users moving from country to country

Ding.Chavez · 6th July 2012, 8:22 AM

So we are expanding into S.E.A and currently have a HQ in Sydney where all our infrastructure resides, we have a few back-to-back vpn connections to some remote offices in S.E.A. already.

So if we have a local DC here and a GPO to push NTP settings out, how can I make our laptop fleet "location aware" so the will change their time to the local country making meeting requests and the like easier?

I just googled the usual local software installs we can do, and I had a thought of making their local router give them their NTP, but does not help if they travel to locations in s.e.a out of our control (3g etc) ... has anyone got any experiences with this?

s4mmy · 6th July 2012, 8:47 AM

Same NTP server, create a script to change the time zones based on subnet or however you wanna do it and run it at logon or as a gpo.

http://www.mydigitallife.info/use-tz...-in-windows-7/

evilasdeath · 6th July 2012, 9:56 AM

Not something that is that easy, since your laptops don't have anything that is location aware.

Picking a different NTP server doesn't help at all since all NTP servers provide UTC its up to the local client to adjust the local clock accordingly.

How often are these guys moving? Might be simpler just to create a simple script or something that comes up with a login and asks where are you? And they select accordingly in places where you have offices you do an IP check to see if its on your local LAN and auto set it. Advantage of that is people can have the timezone change without having to connect to the network if they do stand alone work.

Ding.Chavez · 6th July 2012, 11:06 AM

yeah we did think of that one but the subnets will be ok when they're in the office there, but they move around very very often (dont know how they do it) ....its all out c-level guys that are there so its important we get it right.

bsbozzy · 6th July 2012, 11:49 AM

You shouldn't need to change any NTP settings in the GPO unless your specifying a different NTP server other than your domain controllers. Member computers will automatically go to a DC for NTP.

Depending on your AD site setup, you could create a site policy that sets the timezone via script on startup/shutdown/login.

azkay · 16th July 2012, 12:52 AM

Two desktop widgets, SEA time and Sydney time?

Iceman · 16th July 2012, 11:12 AM

This is tricky. The goal is to make windows change the timezone that it's in (note, not ntp servers, or the clock, just the timezone).

However a laptop powered on in guam doesn't know that even though 36 hours have passed, it's no longer in sydney.

There is an API built into windows 7 designed to handle this. However it doesn't really have anything to feed it info. And really, what information did you expect it to pick up? Geo location based on ip address? What if it's on an office lan or offline in a hotel?

Really the only thing I found (in 5 mins on google) that interacts with this API is this program: http://www.geosenseforwindows.com/ - still looks like it needs to go online however.

So either use that to 'automatically' change the zone when they come online.

Or provide them a nice point and click thing that simplifies the timezone picker down to a list of likely destinations perhaps?

6th July 2012, 8:22 AM	#1
Ding.Chavez Member Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Wahroonga Posts: 350	Time zones and users moving from country to country So we are expanding into S.E.A and currently have a HQ in Sydney where all our infrastructure resides, we have a few back-to-back vpn connections to some remote offices in S.E.A. already. So if we have a local DC here and a GPO to push NTP settings out, how can I make our laptop fleet "location aware" so the will change their time to the local country making meeting requests and the like easier? I just googled the usual local software installs we can do, and I had a thought of making their local router give them their NTP, but does not help if they travel to locations in s.e.a out of our control (3g etc) ... has anyone got any experiences with this? __________________ dotc

6th July 2012, 8:47 AM	#2
s4mmy Member Join Date: May 2004 Location: Melbourne Posts: 1,724	Same NTP server, create a script to change the time zones based on subnet or however you wanna do it and run it at logon or as a gpo. http://www.mydigitallife.info/use-tz...-in-windows-7/ __________________ “I choose a lazy person to do a hard job. Because a lazy person will find an easy way to do it.” ― Bill Gates “Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one.” ― Bill Gates

6th July 2012, 11:06 AM	#4
Ding.Chavez Member Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Wahroonga Posts: 350	yeah we did think of that one but the subnets will be ok when they're in the office there, but they move around very very often (dont know how they do it) ....its all out c-level guys that are there so its important we get it right. __________________ dotc

6th July 2012, 11:49 AM	#5
bsbozzy Member Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Sydney Posts: 3,541	You shouldn't need to change any NTP settings in the GPO unless your specifying a different NTP server other than your domain controllers. Member computers will automatically go to a DC for NTP. Depending on your AD site setup, you could create a site policy that sets the timezone via script on startup/shutdown/login. __________________ WTB: Any one have a VT SS Commodore die cast model in heron white? Please PM Me.

16th July 2012, 12:52 AM	#6
azkay Member Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Brisbane Posts: 155	Two desktop widgets, SEA time and Sydney time? __________________ Desktop ~Main - AMD FX-8120 @X8 4ghz - GA-990FXA-UD3 - 4x2gb 1333mhz GSkill - 2x GTX260 Gigabyte Desktop ~Project - Turion64 MT-30 @2.4ghz - K8N4-E Asus - 1x512mb 400mhz Corsair - ~~X300 SE Sapphire~~

6th July 2012, 9:56 AM	#3
evilasdeath Member Join Date: Jul 2004 Posts: 2,839	Not something that is that easy, since your laptops don't have anything that is location aware. Picking a different NTP server doesn't help at all since all NTP servers provide UTC its up to the local client to adjust the local clock accordingly. How often are these guys moving? Might be simpler just to create a simple script or something that comes up with a login and asks where are you? And they select accordingly in places where you have offices you do an IP check to see if its on your local LAN and auto set it. Advantage of that is people can have the timezone change without having to connect to the network if they do stand alone work.

16th July 2012, 11:12 AM	#7
Iceman Member Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: Brisbane (nth), Australia Posts: 6,304	This is tricky. The goal is to make windows change the timezone that it's in (note, not ntp servers, or the clock, just the timezone). However a laptop powered on in guam doesn't know that even though 36 hours have passed, it's no longer in sydney. There is an API built into windows 7 designed to handle this. However it doesn't really have anything to feed it info. And really, what information did you expect it to pick up? Geo location based on ip address? What if it's on an office lan or offline in a hotel? Really the only thing I found (in 5 mins on google) that interacts with this API is this program: http://www.geosenseforwindows.com/ - still looks like it needs to go online however. So either use that to 'automatically' change the zone when they come online. Or provide them a nice point and click thing that simplifies the timezone picker down to a list of likely destinations perhaps? __________________ _,ø¤°`°¤ø,¸_¸,ø¤°`°¤ø,¸_¸,ø¤°`°¤ø,¸_ WTB: Cisco 1801-M PM me Please rehash my posts and pass them off as your own ideas! Triple points for doing it in the same page of the thread. Plagiarism is the sincerest form of copyright infringement.