ntpd - Network Time Protocol (NTP) daemon


Synopsis

ntpd [ -aAbdm ] [ -c conffile ] [ -f driftfile ] [ -k keyfile ] [ -l logfile ] [ -p pidfile ] [ -r broadcastdelay ] [ -s statsdir ] [ -t key ] [ -v variable ] [ -V variable ]

Description

ntpd is an operating system daemon which sets and maintains the system time-of-day in synchronism with Internet standard time servers. ntpd is a complete implementation of the Network Time Protocol (NTP) version 4, but also retains compatibility with version 3, as defined by RFC-1305, and version 1 and 2, as defined by RFC-1059 and RFC-1119, respectively. ntpd does most computations in 64-bit floating point arithmetic and does relatively clumsy 64-bit fixed point operations only when necessary to preserve the unltimate precision, about 232 picoseconds. While the ultimate precision, is not achievable with ordinary workstations and networks of today, it may be required with future nanosecond CPU clocks and gigabit LANs.

The daemon can operate in any of several modes, including symmetric active/passive, client/server broadcast/multicast and manycast. A broadcast/multicast or manycast client can discover remote servers, compute server-client propagation delay correction factors and configure itself automatically. This makes it possible to deploy a fleet of workstations without specifying configuration details specific to the local environment.

Ordinarily, ntpd reads the ntp.conf configuration file at startup time in order to determine the synchronization sources and operating modes. It is also possible to specify a working, although limited, configuration entirely on the command line, obviating the need for a configuration file. This may be particularly appropriate when the local host is to be configured as a broadcast/multicast client or manycast client, with all peers being determined by listening to broadcasts at run time.

Various internal ntpd variables can be displayed and configuration options altered while the daemon is running using the ntpq and ntpdc utility programs.

When ntpd starts it looks at the value of umask, and if it's zero ntpd will set the umask to 022.

Command Line Options

-a
Enable authentication mode (default).
-A
Disable authentication mode.
-b
Synchronize using NTP broadcast messages.
-c conffile
Specify the name and path of the configuration file.
-d
Specify debugging mode. This flag may occur multiple times, with each occurrence indicating greater detail of display.
-f driftfile
Specify the name and path of the drift file.
-k keyfile
Specify the name and path of the file containing the NTP authentication keys.
-l logfile
Specify the name and path of the log file. The default is the system log facility.
-m
Synchronize using NTP multicast messages on the IP multicast group address 224.0.1.1 (requires multicast kernel).
-p pidfile
Specify the name and path to record the daemon's process ID.
-r broadcastdelay
Specify the default propagation delay from the broadcast/multicast server and this computer. This is necessary only if the delay cannot be computed automatically by the protocol.
-s statsdir
Specify the directory path for files created by the statistics facility.
-t key
Add a key number to the trusted key list.
-v variable
Add a system variable.
-V variable
Add a system variable listed by default.

The Configuration File

The ntpd configuration file is read at initial startup in order to specify the synchronization sources, modes and other related information. Usually, it is installed in the /etc directory, but could be installed elsewhere (see the -c conffile command line option). The file format is similar to other Unix configuration files - comments begin with a # character and extend to the end of the line; blank lines are ignored. Configuration commands consist of an initial keyword followed by a list of arguments, some of which may be optional, separated by whitespace. Commands may not be continued over multiple lines. Arguments may be host names, host addresses written in numeric, dotted-quad form, integers, floating point numbers (when specifying times in seconds) and text strings. Optional arguments are delimited by [ ] in the following descriptions, while alternatives are separated by |. The notation [ ... ] means an optional, indefinite repetition of the last item before the [ ... ].

See the following pages for configuration and control options. While there is a rich set of options available, the only required option is one or more server, peer, broadcast or manycastclient commands described in the Configuration Options page. The Notes on Configuring NTP and Setting up a NTP Subnet page contains an extended discussion of these options.

Configuration Options
Authentication Options
Monitoring Options
Access Control Options
Reference Clock Options
Miscellaneous Options

Files

/etc/ntp.conf - the default name of the configuration file
/etc/ntp.drift - the default name of the drift file
/etc/ntp.keys - the default name of the key file

Bugs

ntpd has gotten rather fat. While not huge, it has gotten larger than might be desireable for an elevated-priority daemon running on a workstation, particularly since many of the fancy features which consume the space were designed more with a busy primary server, rather than a high stratum workstation, in mind. 
David L. Mills (mills@udel.edu)