NAME

       ntptrace - trace a chain of NTP servers back to the primary source

SYNOPSIS

       ntptrace [ -m max_hops ] [ -n ]

DESCRIPTION

       ntptrace  determines  where a given Network Time Protocol (NTP) server gets its time from,
       and follows the chain of NTP servers back  to  their  master  time  source.  If  given  no
       arguments, it starts with localhost. Here is an example of the output from ntptrace:

       % ntptrace
       localhost: stratum 4, offset 0.0019529, synch distance 0.144135
       server2ozo.com: stratum 2, offset 0.0124263, synch distance 0.115784
       usndh.edu: stratum 1, offset 0.0019298, synch distance 0.011993, refid 'WWVB'

       On  each  line,  the fields are (left to right): the host name, the host stratum, the time
       offset between that host and the local host (as measured by ntptrace; this is  why  it  is
       not  always  zero  for  "localhost"),  the  host  synchronization  distance, and (only for
       stratum-1 servers) the reference clock ID. All times are given in seconds. Note  that  the
       stratum  is the server hop count to the primary source, while the synchronization distance
       is the estimated error relative to the primary source. These terms are  precisely  defined
       in RFC-1305.

OPTIONS

       -m max_hops
              Sets the number of server hops to follow (default = 99).

       -n     Turns  off  the  printing of host names; instead, host IP addresses are given. This
              may be useful if a nameserver is down.

BUGS

       This program makes no attempt to improve accuracy by doing multiple samples.