System time: Cannot go back (< 3 sec.). Wait 1 second(s)

[former_member197700]

Hi, Ever since upgrading to Enhancement pack 6 which upgrades to Netweaver 7.4 also, we get messages from client 000 in the system log that say:

System time: Cannot go back (< 3 sec.). Wait 1 second(s)

System time: Cannot go back (< 3 sec.). Wait 2 second(s)

We get it on all Ehp6 systems, and some have different domain controllers than others so it is not a problem with one dc.  We have many other SAP systems on the same network, but only ehp6 systems report this issue.  stzac shows same time zone for all clients.  rsdbtime shows in sync, or no more than 1 second off.

Warm Regards, CM

[former_member197700 · Accepted solution]

It is Windows 2008 R2 Enterprise on vmware.  We have a lot of SAP servers on vmware and it is only the EHP6 systems that give these messages.  There is nothing else related in the event viewer except for system time messages.  We still get the messages several times per day per server.

SPO 029 000 SAPSYS A24 System time: Cannot go back (< 3 sec.). Wait 2 second(s)

SPO 029 000 SAPSYS A14 > in program RSPOWP00 , line ???, event ??

DIA 002 000 SAPSYS A24 System time: Cannot go back (< 3 sec.). Wait 2 second(s)

DIA 002 000 SAPSYS A14 > in program SAPMSSY2 , line ???, event ??

DIA 003 000 SAPSYS A24 System time: Cannot go back (< 3 sec.). Wait 2 second(s)

DIA 003 000 SAPSYS A14 > in program RSBTCTRC , line 0128, event GET_CNTL_VALUES

DIA 011 000 SAPSYS A24 System time: Cannot go back (< 3 sec.). Wait 2 second(s)

DIA 011 000 SAPSYS A14 > in program LBTCHF12 ,line 2065, event CHECK_SERVER_GR

DIA 012 000 SAPSYS A24 System time: Cannot go back (< 3 sec.). Wait 2 second(s)

DIA 012 000 SAPSYS A14 > in program SAPMSSY2 , line ???, event ??

The suggestions from 2046718 - Time Synchronization on Windows of setting MaxNegPhaseCorrection = 0 and SpecialPollInterval = 300 did not help.

[former_member229314 · Accepted solution]

Hi Clifton,

you need to work with the VMware and Windows server administrators on this.

It is not an SAP bug or fault, it is only noticed by the SAP system, and reported in the SAP system log.

When you changed the polling interval to 300 seconds, did you start to see more of these entries in SM21?

My suggestion would be to ask a server and/or VMware admin to check the time synchronization settings for the VMware host(s) and the Windows guests, especially where they get their time data from, with the 'w32tm /query /source' command.

Do they use the same time server(s) as the systems that do not have the problem?

Barring any differences that this may bring to light, and as a definite 'shot in the dark': make sure you are running the latest version of your SAP kernel on your EHP6 systems.

If those servers are otherwise built and configured exactly the same as the servers that do not have the problem, then maybe an older kernel is to blame.

Good luck!

Ruben

[former_member197700 · Accepted solution]

Ultimately, we scheduled the time sync job that runs weekly in task manager to run every hour instead.  It helps reduce the noise, but it will never be eliminated using Windows time sync.   The tradeoff is the noise has now moved to eventvwr where we see an informational message each hour when the time syncs.

[former_member229314]

Hi Clifton,

what hardware/OS are you experiencing this with?

Are application server and database running on the same host, or on different hosts?

And which kernel and patch level are you using? I suspect it has something to do with it.

I just found the same error on one of our systems, for the first time.

We're running Windows 2012 R2 on Hyper-V, with separate hosts for DB and APP.

The kernel is 7.42, patch level 110.

In the Windows System Event Log, 18 minutes before the SAP SysLog 'A24' entry, I found an 'informational' event with ID '1' from 'Kernel-General':

  The system time has changed to ‎2015‎-‎04‎-‎14T06:02:48.497000000Z from ‎2015‎-‎04‎-‎14T06:02:48.562081700Z.

  Change Reason: An application or system component changed the time.

Do you find something like that on your server?

Please share!

Thanks,

Ruben

[james_taylor7]

Seems to be related to VMware...  anyone else experiencing this?

[Former Member]

Hi Cliffton,

Could you please share error code or screenshot of sm21 screen?

Best,

Serhat

[james_taylor7]

We have the same problem after an EHP upgrade:

03/19/2015	01:04:01	CCPR2AP4_PRD_00	DIA	001	000	SAPSYS		A24	System time: Cannot go back (< 3 sec.). Wait 2 second(s)
03/19/2015	01:04:01	CCPR2AP4_PRD_00	DIA	001	000	SAPSYS		A14	> in program RSBTCTRC , line 0128, event GET_CNTL_VALUES
03/19/2015	02:29:42	ccpr2ap1_PRD_00	DIA	008	000	SAPSYS		A24	System time: Cannot go back (< 3 sec.). Wait 2 second(s)
03/19/2015	02:29:42	ccpr2ap1_PRD_00	DIA	008	000	SAPSYS		A14	> in program RSBTCTRC , line 0128, event GET_CNTL_VALUES