NTP server/client issue

[Tariq Khan_1]

Hi,
I have set-up RP5470 HP server with HP-UX 11i as a ntp client to a Win 2K ntp server.
On HP client this is what I have:

Contents of /etc/rc.config.d/netdaemons
export NTPDATE_SERVER=ntpserver1
export XNTPD=1
export XNTPD_ARGS="-c /etc/ntp.conf"

Contents of /etc/ntp.conf
server ntpserver1
server ntpserver2
driftfile /etc/ntp.drift

Please note that ntpserver1 & ntpserver2 are Win 2K servers, which I have defined with their IPs in /etc/hosts file

/sbin/init.d/xntpd start
xntpd daemon running

Everything looks fine on HP client except ntpq command
ntpq -p ntpserver1 gives the following message

ntpserver1: timed out, nothing received
***Request timed out

My question is
1- How would I know if I have all correct NTP configuration (server{win 2K} & client{HP})
2- How would I ensure that Win 2K NTP server is responding to the HP NTP client request
3- Is there any command/procedure to check if NTP client, server working correctly
Thanks
TMK

[Robert-Jan Goossens]

Hi,

Could you check in your /etc/services file if ntp/udp port 123 is enabled and commented out ?

Regards,
Robert-Jan

[Tariq Khan_1]

The port 123 in the /etc/services file is open (un-commented)

ntp 123/udp # Network Time Protocol

Thanks
tmk

[Robert-Jan Goossens]

Hi again,

Check Nill Hassel's comments in these FAQ's.

http://www.interex.org/pubcontent/enterprise/may01/13qaux.html

Hope this helps,
Robert-Jan

[Bill Hassell]

ntpq -p will check the local system to check the status of it's NTP servers. ntpq -p ntpserver1 is actually asking the remote server to tell all about it's servers. This is a request that can be blocked in the server. A minor security bug was uncovered a couple of years ago with NTP query protocol which prompted a lof of admins to turn off a couple of the query codes. To see if your local machine is actually synced, look at ntpq -p (reach = 377, poll greater than 128 as a quick health check) and also syslog (grep xntpd /var/adm/syslog/syslog.log).

[Ngoh Chean Siung]

Hi,

What is your setting in w2k server?

I think in w2k server, you should use NTP as well. At present, my HP-UX is NTP server and w2k is NTP client. In w2k site, I am using timeserv. All is working fine.

My W2k setting is as below:
From the Microsoft® Windows NT® Server Resource Kit Supplement 4, we can obtain the necessary files for installing the Time Service that communicates with NTP.

The files that we'll want to copy from the Supplement 4 Resource Kit CD are found in the \i386\compmgmt directory.

Steps
1. Copy the Timeserv.ini file into the WINNT directory and copy the Timeserv.exe and Timeserv.dll files into the \winnt\system32 directory.

2. Make the desired changes to the Timeserv.ini file. To activate the NTP portions of the Timeserv service, we can use either the MS-DOS® edit command or Notepad, open the Timeserv.ini file. Look for the [Timeserv] section of the INI file. Insert a semicolon in front of the Type=NISTACTS statement and remove the semicolon from the Type=NTP statement. It is used to activate the NTP instead of the default type which is NISTACTS.

3. Insert the NTP server IP address (Try to put in your w2k IP address) in the "NTPServer=" line in the Timeserv.ini file. Notes that only one NTP server is allowed, otherwise we will receive an error when starting the time service.

4. Insert a semicolon in front of the line that begins with timesource=no. Rmove the semicolon of the next line which is timesouce=yes.

5. Insert a semicolon in front of the line that begins with Log=no. Rmove the semicolon of the next line which is Log=yes. timesouce=yes.is Log=no. This command allows entries to be made to the application log in Event Viewer.

6. Next, open MS-DOS and change directories to \WINNT\SYSTEM32. Type timeserv â automatic and press [Enter].

7. Double-click Services in the Control Panel and Time Service appears in the list of services. By default, Time Service will automatically start the next time you restart the PC. But, we can start the services immediately without restarting the pc.

8. Give the time service a couple of minutes, then check the application in the event viewer. We should see a message indicating that there was a time variance of more than one-half of a second.

Pls tell me what is the output.

thanks &

[Tariq Khan_1]

Hi Nqoh,
I decided to use HP machine as a NTP server. Your help is appreciated I will try this in future and will let you know. Thanks to all for the help.
TMK