{"id":1503,"date":"2016-05-01T22:00:00","date_gmt":"2016-05-01T22:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/neu.koetzingit.de\/die-wichtigkeit-der-zeit-bei-einem-netscaler-ha-setup\/"},"modified":"2026-06-02T13:33:17","modified_gmt":"2026-06-02T13:33:17","slug":"die-wichtigkeit-der-zeit-bei-einem-netscaler-ha-setup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.koetzingit.de\/en\/die-wichtigkeit-der-zeit-bei-einem-netscaler-ha-setup\/","title":{"rendered":"The Importance of Time in a Netscaler HA Setup"},"content":{"rendered":"

Z<\/span>Time is a critical factor for authentication and other processes, which is why you need to ensure from the start that it is working properly in your setup. Deploying Citrix NetScaler in a High Availability (HA) pair is very common, especially when it comes to the VPX editions. The first thing you should ensure is that the time between both NetScalers is synchronized.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Here are some examples of what happens if the time is not synchronized either within the HA cluster or between clients and systems.<\/p>\n

Citrix ShareFile<\/strong>
ShareFile with SAML single sign-on (SSON) relies heavily on the SAML token and a 180-second lifetime. SSON will fail, and you won\u2019t receive a very helpful error message. You actually have to decode the SAML request.<\/p>\n

Citrix Director<\/strong>
Director uses a .NET token for the user session. If you use a NetScaler for load balancing on Director instances that are out of sync, you will encounter a login error. Checking the event log will reveal some indications that the token is invalid. Citrix<\/p>\n

StoreFront<\/strong>
Another scenario where you get the infamous \u201eCannot complete your request\u201c error message. Again, this can happen if StoreFront is load-balanced and the Netscalers in the high-availability cluster are out of sync.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

You should set the time immediately after the basic setup, and perhaps Citrix should include that in the setup configuration.<\/p>\n

Here's a quick walkthrough:<\/span><\/h3>\n
    \n
  1. Set Time Zone<\/li>\n
  2. Set NTP server<\/li>\n
  3. Set NTP server to active<\/li>\n
  4. Check the time on the Netscaler CLI<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    \u00a0<\/p>\n

    In detail:<\/span>\u00a0<\/h3>\n

    1. Go to System | Settings | Change Time Zone<\/p>\n

    \"Ns\u00a0<\/p>\n

    2. Go to System | NTP Server | Add Server<\/p>\n

    \"Ns\u00a0<\/p>\n

    3. Go to System | NTP Server | Select Server | Action | NTP Synchronization<\/p>\n

    \"Ns\u00a0<\/p>\n

    4. Connect to Netscaler CL via SSH (PuTTY) | Go to the shell | Enter the \u201edate\u201c command<\/p>\n

    \"Ns\u00a0<\/p>\n

    Be sure to check the \u201eDate\u201c on both Netcaler<\/strong>. This is an important point!<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Zeit ist an important value for authentification and other things and the reason to ensure from the beining it’s working 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