Arch Linux

perbh

Member

From: Republic of Texas

Registered: 2005-03-04

Posts: 765

NTP - fyi

ntpdate stopped working after the update to 2.6.30.
reinstalling 'ntp' solved it.

For those that are not allready using ntpdate - there is no better way to keep your computer to the right time:

crontab -e

Then add the following to the end of the file:

09 * * * *  /usr/bin/ntpdate north-america.pool.ntp.org >/dev/null 2>/dev/null

If you don't live in Noth-America, you may use 'south-america', 'europe', 'asia', 'africa' or 'oceania' as prefix.
eg. europe.pool.ntp.org

brebs

Member

Registered: 2007-04-03

Posts: 3,742

Re: NTP - fyi

Wrong - you are checking/setting/resetting the time only once per hour, rather than what the initscript should be doing:

1.  Run ntpdate once and ONLY once - at startup.
2.  Run ntpd as a daemon (the way that ntp is designed to work), so it continually ensures the PC's clock is accurate.

perbh

Member

From: Republic of Texas

Registered: 2005-03-04

Posts: 765

Re: NTP - fyi

I know that - but unless you need split-second accuracy - this is more than sufficient and it saves the ntp-servers.

brebs

Member

Registered: 2007-04-03

Posts: 3,742

Re: NTP - fyi

The common user hasn't a clue whether they'll need once-per-hour or better accuracy. They'll just be confused when the time seems to occasionally go crazy. So stick to the way ntp is designed, rather than this silly shortcut. NTP is designed to be a daemon, NOT run via crontab.

tomk

Forum Fellow

From: Ireland

Registered: 2004-07-21

Posts: 9,839

Re: NTP - fyi

Also relevant: ntpdate will be retired, to be replaced by ntpd's -q option. See the man page for details.

blazercist

Member

Registered: 2009-01-18

Posts: 20

Re: NTP - fyi

OpenNTPD ftw!

theringmaster

Member

From: Air Force

Registered: 2007-07-16

Posts: 581

Website

Re: NTP - fyi

OpenNTPD ftw!

+1

just install and start up the daemon

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fukawi2

Ex-Administratorino

From: .vic.au

Registered: 2007-09-28

Posts: 6,222

Website

Re: NTP - fyi

(Open)NTP should be run as a daemon, not crontabbed.

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Cheifchimp

Member

From: Queensland Australia

Registered: 2009-05-07

Posts: 69

Re: NTP - fyi

This has lost me, my systems run for about 45 days between reboots (limited by the frequency of mains power outages) and over this period one system gains about 25 minutes, the other gains about 15 min.
Currently they re-sync at boot with the default configuration from install, I was looking at re-syncing at 12 or 24 hour intervals, what is the responsible way to achieve this result.

Xyne

Administrator/PM

Registered: 2008-08-03

Posts: 6,963

Website

Re: NTP - fyi

@Cheifchimp
Why don't you use openntpd? It works well and does not require you to open any firewall ports. You can also set one machine to act as an ntp server on your LAN for the others.

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My Arch Linux Stuff • Forum Etiquette • Community Ethos - Arch is not for everyone

fukawi2

Ex-Administratorino

From: .vic.au

Registered: 2007-09-28

Posts: 6,222

Website

Re: NTP - fyi

I was looking at re-syncing at 12 or 24 hour intervals, what is the responsible way to achieve this result.

Install and start OpenNTP which will run as a daemon and monitor your system time, adjusting when necessary.

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Cheifchimp

Member

From: Queensland Australia

Registered: 2009-05-07

Posts: 69

Re: NTP - fyi

ah, hmm, didn't know it existed till I read this thread, I have installed it now and when I started it it pulled the clock back 6 minutes