It is a very simple process, however it does take a bit of patience. The NTP standard is quite complex and large, so I know I only scratched the surface.
If you’re going to be syncing more than a handful of machines with a time server, it is recommended to setup your own time server to act as a relay. You really want this be a minimum of a “stratum 2″ server. The stratum number corresponds to how authoritative the server is. Stratum 0 is an actual time keeping device (IE: Cesium clock). More here: Clock Strata
Now, to selecting a stratum 1 server for your time server to sync from. Try to choose at least 4 servers that are geographically near you (at least in the same timezone).
List 1: NIST Servers
List 2: USNO Servers
/etc/ntp.conf
server nist1-la.ustiming.org prefer iburst server tick.ucla.edu iburst server nist1-sj.ustiming.org iburst server time.nist.gov iburst # Default restrict EVERYONE restrict default kod nomodify notrap nopeer noquery restrict -6 default kod nomodify notrap nopeer noquery # Allow localhost to do anything restrict 127.0.0.1 restrict -6 ::1 # Allow my authorized networks restrict 10.0.0.0 mask 255.0.0.0 nomodify notrap nopeer
Your primary server you delineate with a “prefer”. The “iburst” means, to send 8 packets in burst in order to get a response ASAP.
Unless you plan on running a public stratum 2 server, default restrict the server and add rules for access. We definitely want to at least allow localhost full access and my authorized network query access.
Next up is enabling the service by adding these lines to /etc/rc.conf
ntpd_enable="YES" ntpd_sync_on_start="YES" ntpd_config="/etc/ntp.conf"
Finally, start the service:
/etc/rc.d/ntpd start
Now, is when patience comes in to play. NTP is a very cautious standard. It will report its stratum to 16 (the worst possible) until it’s sure that its in sync. This can take a few minutes to few hours.
To check on the status of your server:
ntpq -pn localhost
You’re waiting for “st” to drop to 1 (since those should be stratum 1 servers)
To test from a client machine use
ntpdate -qd 10.0.0.1
This will spit out a bunch of debug statements; you’re interested in the stated stratum which will be 2 when your ntpd is sure of itself.
Pingback: Tweets that mention Setting up a FreeBSD time server « Dctr Watson -- Topsy.com()
Pingback: watch movies online for free()
Pingback: Dctrwatson()