Provided by: ntpsec_1.2.3+dfsg1-8ubuntu1_amd64 
NAME
ntpd - Network Time Protocol service daemon
SYNOPSIS
ntpd
[-46agGhLmnNqx] [assert] [-c conffile] [-f driftfile]
[-i jaildir] [-k keyfile] [-l logfile] [-p pidfile]
[-P priority] [-s statsdir] [-t key]
[-u user[:'group']] [-U interface_update_interval]
[-v variable] [-V variable] [server...]
DESCRIPTION
The ntpd utility is an operating system daemon which sets and maintains the system time of day in
synchronism with Internet standard time servers. It is a complete implementation of the Network Time
Protocol (NTP) version 4, as defined by RFC 5905, but also retains compatibility with version 3, as
defined by RFC 1305, and versions 1 and 2, as defined by RFC 1059 and RFC 1119, respectively.
The ntpd utility can synchronize time to a theoretical precision of about 232 picoseconds. In practice,
this limit is unattainable due to quantum limits on the clock speed of ballistic-electron logic.
Ordinarily, ntpd reads the ntp.conf(5) 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.
The ntpd program normally operates continuously while adjusting the system time and frequency, but in
some cases this might not be practical. With the -q option ntpd operates as in continuous mode, but exits
just after setting the clock for the first time. Most applications will probably want to specify the
iburst option with the server command. With this option, a volley of messages is exchanged to groom the
data and set the clock in about ten seconds. With -q, if nothing is heard after a few minutes, the daemon
times out and exits without setting the clock.
Various internal ntpd variables can be displayed and configuration options altered while the ntpd is
running using the ntpq(1) utility program. The state of ntpd can be continuously monitored using
ntpmon(1).
When ntpd starts it looks at the value of umask(2), and if zero ntpd will set the umask(2) to 022.
OPTIONS
-4, --ipv4
Force IPv4 DNS name resolution. This option must not appear in combination with any of the following
options: ipv6.
Force DNS resolution of following host names on the command line to the IPv4 namespace.
-6, --ipv6
Force IPv6 DNS name resolution. This option must not appear in combination with any of the following
options: ipv4.
Force DNS resolution of following host names on the command line to the IPv6 namespace.
-a, --assert
REQUIRE(false) to test assert handler.
-c string, --configfile=string
configuration file name.
The name and path of the configuration file, /etc/ntp.conf by default.
-d, --debug-level
Increase debug verbosity level. This option may appear an unlimited number of times.
-D number, --set-debug-level=number
Set the debug verbosity level. This option may appear an unlimited number of times. This option takes
an integer number as its argument.
-f string, --driftfile=string
frequency drift file name.
The name and path of the frequency file, e.g. /var/lib/ntpsec/ntp.drift. This is the same operation
as the driftfile configuration specification in the /etc/ntp.conf file.
-g, --panicgate
Allow the first adjustment to be big. This option may appear an unlimited number of times.
Normally, ntpd exits with a message to the system log if the offset exceeds the panic threshold,
which is 1000 s by default. This option allows the time to be set to any value without restriction;
however, this can happen only once. If the threshold is exceeded after that, ntpd will exit with a
message to the system log. This option can be used with the -q and -x options. See the tinker
configuration file directive for other options.
-G
Step any initial offset correction.
Normally, ntpd steps the time if the time offset exceeds the step threshold, which is 128 ms by
default, and otherwise slews the time. This option forces the initial offset correction to be
stepped, so the highest time accuracy can be achieved quickly. However, this may also cause the time
to be stepped back so this option must not be used if applications requiring monotonic time are
running. See the tinker configuration file directive for other options.
-h, --help
Print a usage message summarizing options and exit.
-i string, --jaildir=string
Jail directory.
Chroot the server to the directory jaildir This option also implies that the server attempts to drop
root privileges at startup. You may need to also specify a -u option. This option is only available
if the OS supports adjusting the clock without full root privileges. This option is supported under
Linux, NetBSD, and Solaris.
-I iface, --interface=iface
Listen on an interface name or address. This option may appear an unlimited number of times.
Open the network address given, or all the addresses associated with the given interface name. This
option may appear multiple times. This option also implies not opening other addresses, except
wildcard and localhost. This option is deprecated. Please consider using the configuration file
interface command, which is more versatile.
-k string, --keyfile=string
the path to symmetric keys.
Specify the name and path of the symmetric key file. /etc/ntpsec/ntp.keys is the default location.
This is the same operation as the keys configuration file directive.
-l string, --logfile=string
the path to the log file.
Specify the name and path of the log file. The default is the system log file. This is the same
operation as the logfile configuration file directive. See ntp.conf(5) for more info.
-L, --novirtualips
Do not listen to virtual interfaces.
Do not listen to virtual interfaces, defined as those with names containing a colon. This option is
deprecated. Please consider using the configuration file interface command, which is more versatile.
-m, --mdns
Register with mDNS as an NTP server.
Registers as an NTP server with the local mDNS server which allows the server to be discovered via
mDNS client lookup.
-n, --nofork
Do not fork. This option must not appear in combination with any of the following options: wait-sync.
-N, --nice
Run at high priority.
To the extent permitted by the operating system, run ntpd at the highest priority.
-p string, --pidfile=string
the path to the PID file.
Specify the name and path of the file used to record ntpd's process ID. This is the same operation as
the pidfile configuration file directive.
-P number, --priority=number
Process priority. This option takes an integer number as its argument.
To the extent permitted by the operating system, run ntpd at the specified
pthread_setschedparam(SCHED_FIFO) priority.
-q, --quit
Set the time and quit. This option must not appear in combination with wait-sync.
ntpd will not daemonize and will exit after the clock is first synchronized. This behavior mimics
that of the old ntpdate program, which has been replaced with a shell script. The -g and -x options
can be used with this option. Note: The kernel time discipline is disabled with this option.
-s string, --statsdir=string
Statistics file location.
Specify the directory path for files created by the statistics facility. This is the same operation
as the statsdir configuration file directive.
-t tkey, --trustedkey=tkey
Trusted key number. This option may appear an unlimited number of times.
Add the specified key number to the trusted key list.
-u string, --user=string
Run as userid (or userid:groupid).
Specify a user, and optionally a group, to switch to. The user and group may be specified by name or
numeric id. If no group is specified, then the default group for userid is used. This option is only
available if the OS supports adjusting the clock without full root privileges. This option is
supported under Linux, NetBSD, Solaris and other OS.
-U number, --updateinterval=number
interval in seconds between scans for new or dropped interfaces. This option takes an integer number
as its argument.
Give the time in seconds between two scans for new or dropped interfaces. For systems with routing
socket support, the scans will be performed shortly after the interface change has been detected by
the system. Use 0 to disable scanning. 60 seconds is the minimum time between scans.
-w number, --wait-sync=number
Seconds to wait for first clock sync. This option must not appear in combination with any of the
following options: nofork, quit. This option takes an integer number as its argument.
If greater than zero alters ntpd's behavior when forking to daemonize. Instead of exiting with status
0 immediately after the fork, the parent waits up to the specified number of seconds for the child to
first synchronize the clock. The exit status is zero (success) if the clock was synchronized;
otherwise, it is ETIMEDOUT. This provides the option for a script starting ntpd to easily wait for
the first set of the clock before proceeding.
-x, --slew
Slew up to 600 seconds.
Normally, the time is slewed if the offset is less than the step threshold, which is 128 ms by
default, and stepped if above the threshold. This option sets the threshold to 600 s, which is well
within the accuracy window to set the clock manually. Note: Since the slew rate of typical Unix
kernels is limited to 0.5 ms/s, each second of adjustment requires an amortization interval of 2000
s. Thus, an adjustment as much as 600 s will take almost 14 days to complete. This option can be used
with the -g and -q options. See the tinker configuration file directive for other options. Note: The
kernel time discipline is disabled with this option.
-z nvar, --var=nvar
make ARG an ntp variable (RW). This option may appear an unlimited number of times.
-Z nvar, --dvar=ndvar
make ARG an ntp variable (RW|DEF). This option may appear an unlimited number of times.
-V, --version
Output version of program and exit.
Any arguments given after options are interpreted as server addresses or hostnames, with the iburst
option implied. Associations with these are formed before any associations implied by the configuration
file.
USAGE
How NTP Operates
The ntpd utility operates by exchanging messages with one or more configured servers over a range of
designated poll intervals. When started, whether for the first or subsequent times, the program requires
several exchanges from the majority of these servers so the signal processing and mitigation algorithms
can accumulate and groom the data and set the clock. In order to protect the network from bursts, the
initial poll interval for each server is delayed an interval randomized over a few seconds. At the
default initial poll interval of 64s, several minutes can elapse before the clock is set. This initial
delay to set the clock can be safely and dramatically reduced using the iburst keyword with the server
configuration command, as described in ntp.conf(5).
Most operating systems and hardware of today incorporate a time-of-year (TOY) chip to maintain the time
during periods when the power is off. When the machine is booted, the chip is used to initialize the
operating system time. After the machine has synchronized to an NTP server, the operating system corrects
the chip from time to time. In the default case, if ntpd detects that the time on the host is more than
1000s from the server time, ntpd assumes something must be terribly wrong, and the only reliable action
is for the operator to intervene and set the clock by hand. (Reasons for this include there is no TOY
chip, or its battery is dead, or that the TOY chip is just of poor quality.) This causes ntpd to exit
with a panic message to the system log. The -g option overrides this check, and the clock will be set to
the server time regardless of the chip time (up to 68 years in the past or future — this is a limitation
of the NTPv4 protocol). However, and to protect against broken hardware, such as when the CMOS battery
fails or the clock counter becomes defective, once the clock has been set an error greater than 1000s
will cause ntpd to exit anyway.
Under ordinary conditions, ntpd adjusts the clock in small steps so that the timescale is effectively
continuous and without discontinuities. Under conditions of extreme network congestion, the roundtrip
delay jitter can exceed three seconds and the synchronization distance, which is equal to one-half the
roundtrip delay plus error budget terms, can become very large. The ntpd algorithms discard sample
offsets exceeding 128 ms, unless the interval during which no sample offset is less than 128 ms exceeds
900s. The first sample after that, no matter what the offset, steps the clock to the indicated time. In
practice, this reduces the false alarm rate where the clock is stepped in error to a vanishingly low
incidence.
As the result of this behavior, once the clock has been set it very rarely strays more than 128 ms even
under extreme cases of network path congestion and jitter. Sometimes, in particular, when ntpd is first
started without a valid drift file on a system with a large intrinsic drift the error might grow to
exceed 128 ms, which would cause the clock to be set backwards if the local clock time is more than 128
ms in the future relative to the server. In some applications, this behavior may be unacceptable. There
are several solutions, however. If the -x option is included on the command line, the clock will never be
stepped and only slew corrections will be used. But this choice comes at a cost that should be carefully
explored before deciding to use the -x option. The maximum slew rate possible is limited to 500
parts-per-million (PPM) as a consequence of the correctness principles on which the NTP protocol and
algorithm design are based. As a result, the local clock can take a long time to converge to an
acceptable offset, about 2,000 s for each second the clock is outside the acceptable range. During this
interval, the local clock will not be consistent with any other network clock and the system cannot be
used for distributed applications that require correctly synchronized network time.
In spite of the above precautions, sometimes when large frequency errors are present the resulting time
offsets stray outside the 128-ms range and an eventual step or slew time correction is required. If
following such a correction the frequency error is so large that the first sample is outside the
acceptable range, ntpd enters the same state as when the ntp.drift file is not present. The intent of
this behavior is to quickly correct the frequency and restore operation to the normal tracking mode. In
the most extreme cases, there may be occasional step/slew corrections and subsequent frequency
corrections. It helps in these cases to use the burst keyword when configuring the server, but ONLY when
you have permission to do so from the owner of the target host.
Finally, in the past, many startup scripts would run a separate utility to get the system clock close to
correct before starting ntpd(8), but this was never more than a mediocre hack and is no longer needed. If
you are following the best current practice <#starting> and you still need to set the system time before
starting ntpd, please open a bug report and document what is going on, and then look at using ntpdig(1).
There is a way to start ntpd(8) that often addresses all of the problems mentioned above.
Starting NTP (Best Current Practice)
First, use the iburst option on your server and pool entries.
If you can also keep a good ntp.drift file then ntpd(8) will effectively "warm-start" and your system’s
clock will be stable in under 11 seconds' time.
As soon as possible in the startup sequence, start ntpd(8) with at least the -g and perhaps the -N
options. Then, start the rest of your "normal" processes. This will give ntpd(8) as much time as possible
to get the system’s clock synchronized and stable.
Finally, if you have processes like dovecot or database servers that require monotonically-increasing
time, run ntpwait(8) as late as possible in the boot sequence (perhaps with the -v flag) and after
ntpwait(8) exits successfully it is as safe as it will ever be to start any processes that require stable
time.
Frequency Discipline
The ntpd behavior at startup depends on whether the frequency file, usually ntp.drift, exists. This file
contains the latest estimate of clock frequency error. When the ntpd is started and the file does not
exist, the ntpd enters a special mode designed to quickly adapt to the particular system clock oscillator
time and frequency error. This takes approximately 15 minutes, after which the time and frequency are set
to nominal values and the ntpd enters normal mode, where the time and frequency are continuously tracked
relative to the server. After one hour the frequency file is created and the current frequency offset
written to it. When the ntpd is started and the file does exist, the ntpd frequency is initialized from
the file and enters normal mode immediately. After that, the current frequency offset is written to the
file at hourly intervals.
Operating Modes
ntpd normally operates continuously while monitoring for small changes in frequency and trimming the
clock for the ultimate precision. However, it can operate in a one-time mode where the time is set from
an external server and frequency is set from a previously recorded frequency file.
By default, ntpd runs in continuous mode where each of possibly several external servers is polled at
intervals determined by an intricate state machine. The state machine measures the incidental roundtrip
delay jitter and oscillator frequency wander and determines the best poll interval using a heuristic
algorithm. Ordinarily, and in most operating environments, the state machine will start with 64s
intervals and eventually increase in steps to 1024s. A small amount of random variation is introduced in
order to avoid bunching at the servers. In addition, should a server become unreachable for some time,
the poll interval is increased in steps to 1024s in order to reduce network overhead.
In some cases, it may not be practical for ntpd to run continuously. The -q option is provided to support
running ntpd periodically from a cron(8) job. Setting this option will cause ntpd to exit just after
setting the clock for the first time. The procedure for initially setting the clock is the same as in
continuous mode; most applications will probably want to specify the iburst keyword with the server
configuration command. With this keyword, a volley of messages are exchanged to groom the data and the
clock is set in about 10 sec. If nothing is heard after a couple of minutes, the daemon times out and
exits.
When kernel support is available to discipline the clock frequency, which is the case for stock Solaris,
Linux, and FreeBSD, a useful feature is available to discipline the clock frequency. First, ntpd is run
in continuous mode with selected servers in order to measure and record the intrinsic clock frequency
offset in the frequency file. It may take some hours for the frequency and offset to settle down. Then
the ntpd is stopped and run in one-time mode as required. At each startup, the frequency is read from the
file and initializes the kernel frequency.
Poll Interval Control
This version of NTP includes an intricate state machine to reduce the network load while maintaining a
quality of synchronization consistent with the observed jitter and wander. There are a number of ways to
tailor the operation in order enhance accuracy by reducing the interval or to reduce network overhead by
increasing it. However, the user is advised to carefully consider the consequences of changing the poll
adjustment range from the default minimum of 64 s to the default maximum of 1,024 s. The default minimum
can be changed with the tinker minpoll command to a value not less than 16 s. This value is used for all
configured associations, unless overridden by the minpoll option on the configuration command. Note that
most device drivers will not operate properly if the poll interval is less than 64 s and that the
broadcast server and manycast client associations will also use the default unless overridden.
In some cases involving dial up or toll services, it may be useful to increase the minimum interval to a
few tens of minutes and maximum interval to a day or so. Under normal operation conditions, once the
clock discipline loop has stabilized the interval will be increased in steps from the minimum to the
maximum. However, this assumes the intrinsic clock frequency error is small enough for the discipline
loop correct it. The capture range of the loop is 500 PPM at an interval of 64s decreasing by a factor of
two for each doubling of the interval. At a minimum of 1,024 s, for example, the capture range is only 31
PPM. If the intrinsic error is greater than this, the drift file ntp.drift will have to be specially
tailored to reduce the residual error below this limit. Once this is done, the drift file is
automatically updated once per hour and is available to initialize the frequency on subsequent daemon
restarts.
The huff-n'-puff Filter
In scenarios where a considerable amount of data are to be downloaded or uploaded over telephone modems,
timekeeping quality can be seriously degraded. This occurs because the differential delays on the two
directions of transmission can be quite large. In many cases, the apparent time errors are so large as to
exceed the step threshold and a step correction can occur during and after the data transfer is in
progress.
The huff-n'-puff filter is designed to correct the apparent time offset in these cases. It depends on
knowledge of the propagation delay when no other traffic is present. In common scenarios, this occurs
during other than work hours. The filter maintains a shift register that remembers the minimum delay over
the most recent interval measured usually in hours. Under conditions of severe delay, the filter corrects
the apparent offset using the sign of the offset and the difference between the apparent delay and
minimum delay. The name of the filter reflects the negative (huff) and positive (puff) correction, which
depends on the sign of the offset.
The filter is activated by the tinker command and huffpuff keyword, as described in ntp.conf(5).
FILES
┌────────────────────┬───────────────────┬────────┬─────────────┐
│ │ │ │ │
│ File │ Default │ Option │ Option │
├────────────────────┼───────────────────┼────────┼─────────────┤
│ │ │ │ │
│ configuration file │ /etc/ntp.conf │ -c │ conffile │
├────────────────────┼───────────────────┼────────┼─────────────┤
│ │ │ │ │
│ configuration │ /etc/ntpsec/ntp.d │ -c │ conffile │
│ directory │ │ │ │
├────────────────────┼───────────────────┼────────┼─────────────┤
│ │ │ │ │
│ frequency file │ none │ -f │ driftfile │
├────────────────────┼───────────────────┼────────┼─────────────┤
│ │ │ │ │
│ leapseconds file │ none │ │ leapfile │
├────────────────────┼───────────────────┼────────┼─────────────┤
│ │ │ │ │
│ process ID file │ none │ -p │ pidfile │
├────────────────────┼───────────────────┼────────┼─────────────┤
│ │ │ │ │
│ log file │ system log │ -l │ logfile │
├────────────────────┼───────────────────┼────────┼─────────────┤
│ │ │ │ │
│ include file │ none │ none │ includefile │
├────────────────────┼───────────────────┼────────┼─────────────┤
│ │ │ │ │
│ statistics path │ /var/log/ntpsec │ -s │ statsdir │
├────────────────────┼───────────────────┼────────┼─────────────┤
│ │ │ │ │
│ keys file │ none │ -k │ keys │
└────────────────────┴───────────────────┴────────┴─────────────┘
Configuration files are parsed according to the following rules:
1. The plain config file (normally /etc/ntp.conf but the path can be overridden by the -c option) is
read first if it exists.
2. Then the configuration directory, if it exists, is scanned. Normally this directory is
/etc/ntpsec/ntp.d, but if the -c option is specified the /etc/ntpsec will be specified by the
directory name of the -c argument.
3. Each file beneath the configuration directory with the extension ".conf" is interpreted. Files are
interpreted in ASCII sort order of their pathnames. Files with other extensions or no extensions are
ignored.
SIGNALS
SIGQUIT, SIGINT, and SIGTERM will cause ntpd to clean up and exit.
SIGHUP checks various things that would otherwise require restarting ntpd.
It will reopen the log file if it has changed and check for a new leapseconds file if one was specified.
If the NTS server is enabled, it will reload the certificate file if it has changed. (It doesn’t check
for a new key file, but reloads it when it reloads the certificate file.)
It will also retry any pending DNS or NTS lookups.
On most systems, you can send SIGHUP to ntpd with
# killall -HUP ntpd
If built with debugging enabled (waf configured with --enable-debug) SIGUSR1 will increase the debug
level by 1 and SIGUSR2 will decrease it by 1. This may be helpful if you are running with -n, either just
to see the logging on your screen or with gdb.
BUGS
The -V option is not backward-compatible with its use (as the equivalent of -Z) in older versions.
STANDARDS
RFC 1059
David L. Mills, Network Time Protocol (Version 1), RFC 1059
RFC 1119
David L. Mills, Network Time Protocol (Version 2), RFC 1119
RFC 1305
David L. Mills, Network Time Protocol (Version 3), RFC 1305
RFC 5905
David L. Mills and J. Martin, Ed. and J. Burbank and W. Kasch, Network Time Protocol Version 4:
Protocol and Algorithms Specification, RFC 5905
RFC 5907
H. Gerstung and C. Elliott and B. Haberman, Ed., Definitions of Managed Objects for Network Time
Protocol Version 4: (NTPv4), RFC 5907
RFC 5908
R. Gayraud and B. Lourdelet, Network Time Protocol (NTP) Server Option for DHCPv6, RFC 5908
EXIT STATUS
One of the following exit values will be returned:
0 (EXIT_SUCCESS)
Successful program execution.
1 (EXIT_FAILURE)
Execution failed - examine system logfiles.
SEE ALSO
ntp.conf(5), ntpq(1), ntpdig(1).
NTPsec 2025-07-07 NTPD(8)