Configuring NTP for time synchronization on Dell PowerConnect switches is similar to that of Cisco iOS, but with the syntax being a little different.

You need privileged console/SSH/telnet access for this to work.

Configure SNTP

SW#configure
SW(config)#sntp unicast client enable
SW(config)#sntp server ip-address
SW(config)#no sntp authenticate
SW(config)#end

This will set the NTP server's address to whatever you specify (replace ip-address). To verify, you can run these:

show sntp configuration

This will show you the current NTP settings and status:

SW# show sntp configuration

Configure time zone

Time zone configuration was missing for a long time, and was only introduced in more recent firmwares. Check on the Dell website to see whether the firmware version you're running has time zone support.

To configure time zone, and Daylight Saving Time, is fairly straightforward. For time zone configuration, you specify the offset from UTC. E.g. if your time zone is CET, set this to +1. If it's CST, set this to -6. Note that you have to count the offset without DST, as the switch automatically adjusts for DST when correctly configured. See below.

SW#configure
SW(config)#clock timezone +1
SW(config)#end

The example above sets the timezone to CET.

Configure DST is also easy. Depending on your needs, you may want to configure manual DST, or recurring (annual) DST. The latter option is the easiest as it automatically adjusts when DST switches. For recurring DST to work, you can specify which rules to follow: EU, USA or a custom one.

SW#configure
SW(config)#clock summer-time recurring EU
SW(config)#end

The example above configures recurring DST using the European DST rules.

To verify the new clock and time zone settings:

SW#show clock