ntp ???

[MikeL_4]

Receiving following error message when starting xntpd to try and sync the time on servers:

# /sbin/init.d/xntpd start
22 Apr 11:47:00 ntpdate[18334]: no server suitable for synchronization found

ntpq command gives me following info:
# ntpq -p d start
remote refid st t when poll reach delay offset disp
==============================================================================
scrouter 0.0.0.0 16 - - 64 0 0.00 0.000 16000.0
#

I was given the default gateway as 159.234.5.254 as a stratum 3 NTP server at out facility, and have the ntp.conf configured with:
broadcastclient yes
broadcast 159.234.5.254 version 3

[Steven E. Protter]

If your internal ntp server is a Microsoft NT 4.0 box, the standard ntp software is not compliant with Unix Standards.

These links contain information on getting a compliant version of ntp serve software installed.
http://www.ntp.org/documentation.html

http://developer.novell.com/research/appnotes/1999/july/03/02.htm

I believe the ntpq -q command will enable you to generate an error messaging proving the problem. Solving it involves administration of the time server.

If port 125 is open on your firewall, you can get time directly from one of the public servers listed in my links above.

SEP

[John Poff]

Hi,

I haven't tried the broadcast part of it before. We just setup our systems as client/server. I'd try using the 'server' keyword instead of 'broadcast':

server 159.234.5.254 version 3

Also, can you ping the 159.234.5.254 box?

JP

[Michael Steele_2]

Your ntp server is down and you'll need another, or, port 123 is being blocked. 'ntpdate' uses tcp 123 while 'xntpd' et al., use udp 123.

telnet server_ip 123 (* for tcp connection *)

lsof -i tcp:123
lsof -i udp:123

Do you need the initial configuration procedure?

[James R. Ferguson]

Hi:

If the time difference between your server and the time-source exceeds 1000 seconds, 'xntpd' will fail to form an association. This prevents "insanity".

If this is the case, reset your server's time and restart 'ntp'. *Note* that if you must do this, either slew the time gracefully with 'date [-a [-]sss [. fff]]' *or* stop all time-sensitive processes (e.g. databases!) and reset your servers's time during a bootup.

Regards!

...JRF...

[MikeL_4]

I can ping this address, and I tried changing the ntp.conf file to have just the server statement and receive the same results.

[John Poff]

Hi,

You mention that the 159.234.5.254 was given to you as a default gateway. Is that the IP address of your NTP server, or is that the gateway that just gets you to it?

Try commenting out the 'broadcast client' line and try it again.

Are there any other systems at your place that are successfully using this NTP server to sync their time?

JP

[Bill Douglass]

Try using ntpdate to query the NTP server:

ntpdate -q

This will attempt to query the server your specified on the command line, and print out stratum, offset and delay statistics.
Other useful ntpdate options include

-d
more verbose debugging output

-o
specify version 1 or 2 (default is 3) for talking with older ntp implementations

ntpdate -q nad ntpdate -d both use unprivileged ports on your host, and communicate via UDP to the ntp server you specify opn the command line.

If this fails, then you either have a firewall issue or your router is not accepting NTP requests.

[Michael Steele_2]

You see the daemon?

daemon 4484 1 0 Feb 18 0:00 xntpd

/sbin/init.d/xntpd stop

/usr/sbin/ntpdate -d 159.234.5.254 (* debug NTP connection *)

Set time on client to within 3 minutes of NTP server, else, no sync will ever occur, then restart.

Takes 5 - 10 minutes to sync up.

Are these servers recently trusted?

Any NTP patches recently installed?

[Donny Jekels · Accepted solution]

setting up ntp on hp ease very easy.

1) you have a /etc/ntp.conf file (right)
and it is configured. at least have one server listed as the time server

2) edit the /etc/rc.config.d/netdaemons file
and make sure it looks like this

export NTPDATE_SERVER="timeserver.internet.net"
export XNTPD=1
export XNTPD_ARGS=" -c /etc/ntp.conf"

3) /sbin/init.d/xntpd start

4) check if its running
ntpq -p

Done
of course you can now add all the other bell ands wistells. such as drift file and stratum and candy maker

peace
Donny

[MikeL_4]

Thanks for all the help, what was causing my problem was I forgot about the netdaemons file. Once I changed it ntp worked perfectly..

[Donny Jekels]

beware - check this out

http://www-1.ibm.com/services/continuity/recover1.nsf/MSS/MSS-OAR-E01-2002.1112.1

and make sure your system has the correct patch level