setting NTP server on Windows machine using PowerShell

Question

We want to use Windows PowerShell to set an particular NTP server on Windows 7 workstations that are not attached to a domain. The goal is to have a number of scripts run to standardize/speed up/simplify the initial setup of non-domain workstations.

We have tried:

Push-Location
Set-Location HKLM:\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\W32Time\Parameters
Set-ItemProperty . NtpServer "ca.pool.ntp.org"
Pop-Location

And this script:

w32tm /config /manualpeerlist:ca.pool.ntp.org /syncfromflags:manual /update
Stop-Service w32time
Start-Service w32time

After running both scripts (with admin priv), we check the Registry and find NtpServer at: HKLM:\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\W32Time\Parameters has been updated to "ca.pool.ntp.org" but looking in Control Panel > Date and Time we find the old NTP server is still listed -- even if the computer is restarted.

this is the code which was developed from Graham Gold's response below and works:

Push-Location
Set-Location HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\DateTime\Servers
Set-ItemProperty . 0 "ca.pool.ntp.org"
Set-ItemProperty . "(Default)" "0"
Set-Location HKLM:\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\W32Time\Parameters
Set-ItemProperty . NtpServer "ca.pool.ntp.org"
Pop-Location
Stop-Service w32time
Start-Service w32time

Note: This script overwrites whatever is currently in the parameter "0". To use properly, you should have your script make your NTP server the next sequential entry.

Answer 1

From a bit of googling about w32tm vs control panel date/time, I found this, which appears to be what you need.

Hope that helps you out :-)