# time collector

The time collector exposes the Windows Time Service metrics. Note that the Windows Time Service must be running, else metric collection will fail.
If the Windows Time Service is stopped after collection has started, collector metric values will reset to 0.

Please note the Time Service perflib counters are only available on [Windows Server 2016 or newer](https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/networking/windows-time-service/windows-server-2016-improvements).

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Metric name prefix  | `time`
Data source         | Perflib
Enabled by default? | No

## Flags

None

## Metrics

Name | Description | Type | Labels
-----|-------------|------|-------
`windows_time_clock_frequency_Adjustment_ppb_total` | Total adjustment made to the local system clock frequency by W32Time in parts per billion (PPB) units. 1 PPB adjustment implies the system clock was adjusted at a rate of 1 nanosecond per second (1 ns/s). The smallest possible adjustment can vary and is expected to be in the order of 100's of PPB. | counter | None
`windows_time_computed_time_offset_seconds` | Absolute time offset between the system clock and the chosen time source, in seconds. | counter | None
`windows_time_ntp_client_time_sources` | Active number of NTP Time sources being used by the client. This is a count of active, distinct IP addresses of time servers that are responding to this client's requests. | gauge | None
`windows_time_ntp_round_trip_delay_seconds` | Total roundtrip delay experienced by the NTP client in receiving a response from the server for the most recent request, in seconds. This is the time elapsed on the NTP client between transmitting a request to the NTP server and receiving a valid response from the server. | gauge | None
`windows_time_ntp_server_outgoing_responses_total` | Total number of requests responded to by the NTP server. | counter | None
`windows_time_ntp_server_incoming_requests_total` | Total number of requests received by the NTP server. | counter | None

### Example metric
_This collector does not yet have explained examples, we would appreciate your help adding them!_

## Useful queries
_This collector does not yet have any useful queries added, we would appreciate your help adding them!_

## Alerting examples
**prometheus.rules**
```yaml
# Alert on hosts with an NTP client delay of more than 1 second, for a 5 minute period or longer.
- alert: NTPClientDelay
  expr: windows_time_ntp_round_trip_delay_seconds > 1
  for: 5m
  labels:
    severity: warning
  annotations:
    summary: "NTP client delay: (instance {{ $labels.instance }})"
    description: "RTT for NTP client is greater than 1 second!\nVALUE = {{ $value }}sec\n  LABELS: {{ $labels }}"
```