Additional parameters may be needed in the boot loader (grub.conf) configuration file for certain operating system variants after the guest is installed. Specifically, for optimal clock accuracy, Linux guest boot parameters should be specified to ensure that the pit clock source is utilized. Adding clock=pit nohpet nopmtimer for most guests will result in the selection of pit as the clock source for the guest. Published templates for Oracle VM include these additional parameters.

Proper maintenance of virtual time can be tricky. The various parameters provide tuning for virtual time management and supplement, but do not replace, the need for an ntp time service running within guest. Ensure that the ntpd service is running and that the /etc/ntpd.conf configuration file is pointing to valid time servers.