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How can I find out the current date and time from a remote machine?

Created May 4, 2012

Tim Rohaly

Some common protocols for doing this are:

  • Daytime (RFC 867)
  • Time (RFC 868)
  • Network Time Protocol (RFC 1305)
  • Simple Network Time Protocol (RFC 2030)
The FAQ at http://www.jguru.com/jguru/faq/view.jsp?EID=10435 tells you where you can find the RFCs.

In all three cases, you will need a server running which provides the date and time for the remote clients. Many OSes have built-in servers which you can run for this purpose.