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ntpd.1ntpdmdoc revision 1.1.1.2.2.2
      1 .Dd December 19 2014
      2 .Dt NTPD 1ntpdmdoc User Commands
      3 .Os
      4 .\"  EDIT THIS FILE WITH CAUTION  (ntpd-opts.mdoc)
      5 .\"
      6 .\"  It has been AutoGen-ed  December 19, 2014 at 07:49:14 AM by AutoGen 5.18.5pre4
      7 .\"  From the definitions    ntpd-opts.def
      8 .\"  and the template file   agmdoc-cmd.tpl
      9 .Sh NAME
     10 .Nm ntpd
     11 .Nd NTP daemon program
     12 .Sh SYNOPSIS
     13 .Nm
     14 .\" Mixture of short (flag) options and long options
     15 .Op Fl flags
     16 .Op Fl flag Op Ar value
     17 .Op Fl \-option\-name Ns Oo Oo Ns "=| " Oc Ns Ar value Oc
     18 [ <server1> ... <serverN> ]
     19 .Pp
     20 .Sh DESCRIPTION
     21 The
     22 .Nm
     23 utility is an operating system daemon which sets
     24 and maintains the system time of day in synchronism with Internet
     25 standard time servers.
     26 It is a complete implementation of the
     27 Network Time Protocol (NTP) version 4, as defined by RFC\-5905,
     28 but also retains compatibility with
     29 version 3, as defined by RFC\-1305, and versions 1
     30 and 2, as defined by RFC\-1059 and RFC\-1119, respectively.
     31 .Pp
     32 The
     33 .Nm
     34 utility does most computations in 64\-bit floating point
     35 arithmetic and does relatively clumsy 64\-bit fixed point operations
     36 only when necessary to preserve the ultimate precision, about 232
     37 picoseconds.
     38 While the ultimate precision is not achievable with
     39 ordinary workstations and networks of today, it may be required
     40 with future gigahertz CPU clocks and gigabit LANs.
     41 .Pp
     42 Ordinarily,
     43 .Nm
     44 reads the
     45 .Xr ntp.conf 5
     46 configuration file at startup time in order to determine the
     47 synchronization sources and operating modes.
     48 It is also possible to
     49 specify a working, although limited, configuration entirely on the
     50 command line, obviating the need for a configuration file.
     51 This may
     52 be particularly useful when the local host is to be configured as a
     53 broadcast/multicast client, with all peers being determined by
     54 listening to broadcasts at run time.
     55 .Pp
     56 If NetInfo support is built into
     57 .Nm ,
     58 then
     59 .Nm
     60 will attempt to read its configuration from the
     61 NetInfo if the default
     62 .Xr ntp.conf 5
     63 file cannot be read and no file is
     64 specified by the
     65 .Fl c
     66 option.
     67 .Pp
     68 Various internal
     69 .Nm
     70 variables can be displayed and
     71 configuration options altered while the
     72 .Nm
     73 is running
     74 using the
     75 .Xr ntpq 1ntpqmdoc
     76 and
     77 .Xr ntpdc 1ntpdcmdoc
     78 utility programs.
     79 .Pp
     80 When
     81 .Nm
     82 starts it looks at the value of
     83 .Xr umask 2 ,
     84 and if zero
     85 .Nm
     86 will set the
     87 .Xr umask 2
     88 to 022.
     89 .Sh "OPTIONS"
     90 .Bl -tag
     91 .It  Fl 4 , Fl \-ipv4 
     92 Force IPv4 DNS name resolution.
     93 This option must not appear in combination with any of the following options:
     94 ipv6.
     95 .sp
     96 Force DNS resolution of following host names on the command line
     97 to the IPv4 namespace.
     98 .It  Fl 6 , Fl \-ipv6 
     99 Force IPv6 DNS name resolution.
    100 This option must not appear in combination with any of the following options:
    101 ipv4.
    102 .sp
    103 Force DNS resolution of following host names on the command line
    104 to the IPv6 namespace.
    105 .It  Fl a , Fl \-authreq 
    106 Require crypto authentication.
    107 This option must not appear in combination with any of the following options:
    108 authnoreq.
    109 .sp
    110 Require cryptographic authentication for broadcast client,
    111 multicast client and symmetric passive associations.
    112 This is the default.
    113 .It  Fl A , Fl \-authnoreq 
    114 Do not require crypto authentication.
    115 This option must not appear in combination with any of the following options:
    116 authreq.
    117 .sp
    118 Do not require cryptographic authentication for broadcast client,
    119 multicast client and symmetric passive associations.
    120 This is almost never a good idea.
    121 .It  Fl b , Fl \-bcastsync 
    122 Allow us to sync to broadcast servers.
    123 .sp
    124 .It  Fl c Ar string , Fl \-configfile Ns = Ns Ar string 
    125 configuration file name.
    126 .sp
    127 The name and path of the configuration file,
    128 \fI/etc/ntp.conf\fP
    129 by default.
    130 .It  Fl d , Fl \-debug\-level 
    131 Increase debug verbosity level.
    132 This option may appear an unlimited number of times.
    133 .sp
    134 .It  Fl D Ar number , Fl \-set\-debug\-level Ns = Ns Ar number 
    135 Set the debug verbosity level.
    136 This option may appear an unlimited number of times.
    137 This option takes an integer number as its argument.
    138 .sp
    139 .It  Fl f Ar string , Fl \-driftfile Ns = Ns Ar string 
    140 frequency drift file name.
    141 .sp
    142 The name and path of the frequency file,
    143 \fI/etc/ntp.drift\fP
    144 by default.
    145 This is the same operation as the
    146 \fBdriftfile\fP \fIdriftfile\fP
    147 configuration specification in the 
    148 \fI/etc/ntp.conf\fP
    149 file.
    150 .It  Fl g , Fl \-panicgate 
    151 Allow the first adjustment to be Big.
    152 This option may appear an unlimited number of times.
    153 .sp
    154 Normally,
    155 \fBntpd\fP
    156 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,
    157 \fBntpd\fP
    158 will exit with a message to the system log. This option can be used with the
    159 \fB\-q\fP
    160 and
    161 \fB\-x\fP
    162 options.
    163 See the
    164 \fBtinker\fP
    165 configuration file directive for other options.
    166 .It  Fl i Ar string , Fl \-jaildir Ns = Ns Ar string 
    167 Jail directory.
    168 .sp
    169 Chroot the server to the directory
    170 \fIjaildir\fP
    171 .
    172 This option also implies that the server attempts to drop root privileges at startup.
    173 You may need to also specify a
    174 \fB\-u\fP
    175 option.
    176 This option is only available if the OS supports adjusting the clock
    177 without full root privileges.
    178 This option is supported under NetBSD (configure with
    179 \fB\-\-enable\-clockctl\fP) or Linux (configure with
    180 \fB\-\-enable\-linuxcaps\fP) or Solaris (configure with \fB\-\-enable\-solarisprivs\fP).
    181 .It  Fl I Ar iface , Fl \-interface Ns = Ns Ar iface 
    182 Listen on an interface name or address.
    183 This option may appear an unlimited number of times.
    184 .sp
    185 Open the network address given, or all the addresses associated with the
    186 given interface name.  This option may appear multiple times.  This option
    187 also implies not opening other addresses, except wildcard and localhost.
    188 This option is deprecated. Please consider using the configuration file
    189 \fBinterface\fP command, which is more versatile. 
    190 .It  Fl k Ar string , Fl \-keyfile Ns = Ns Ar string 
    191 path to symmetric keys.
    192 .sp
    193 Specify the name and path of the symmetric key file.
    194 \fI/etc/ntp.keys\fP
    195 is the default.
    196 This is the same operation as the
    197 \fBkeys\fP \fIkeyfile\fP
    198 configuration file directive.
    199 .It  Fl l Ar string , Fl \-logfile Ns = Ns Ar string 
    200 path to the log file.
    201 .sp
    202 Specify the name and path of the log file.
    203 The default is the system log file.
    204 This is the same operation as the
    205 \fBlogfile\fP \fIlogfile\fP
    206 configuration file directive.
    207 .It  Fl L , Fl \-novirtualips 
    208 Do not listen to virtual interfaces.
    209 .sp
    210 Do not listen to virtual interfaces, defined as those with
    211 names containing a colon.  This option is deprecated.  Please
    212 consider using the configuration file \fBinterface\fP command, which
    213 is more versatile.
    214 .It  Fl M , Fl \-modifymmtimer 
    215 Modify Multimedia Timer (Windows only).
    216 .sp
    217 Set the Windows Multimedia Timer to highest resolution.  This
    218 ensures the resolution does not change while ntpd is running,
    219 avoiding timekeeping glitches associated with changes.
    220 .It  Fl n , Fl \-nofork 
    221 Do not fork.
    222 This option must not appear in combination with any of the following options:
    223 wait\-sync.
    224 .sp
    225 .It  Fl N , Fl \-nice 
    226 Run at high priority.
    227 .sp
    228 To the extent permitted by the operating system, run
    229 \fBntpd\fP
    230 at the highest priority.
    231 .It  Fl p Ar string , Fl \-pidfile Ns = Ns Ar string 
    232 path to the PID file.
    233 .sp
    234 Specify the name and path of the file used to record
    235 \fBntpd\fP's
    236 process ID.
    237 This is the same operation as the
    238 \fBpidfile\fP \fIpidfile\fP
    239 configuration file directive.
    240 .It  Fl P Ar number , Fl \-priority Ns = Ns Ar number 
    241 Process priority.
    242 This option takes an integer number as its argument.
    243 .sp
    244 To the extent permitted by the operating system, run
    245 \fBntpd\fP
    246 at the specified
    247 \fBsched_setscheduler(SCHED_FIFO)\fP
    248 priority.
    249 .It  Fl q , Fl \-quit 
    250 Set the time and quit.
    251 This option must not appear in combination with any of the following options:
    252 saveconfigquit, wait\-sync.
    253 .sp
    254 \fBntpd\fP
    255 will not daemonize and will exit after the clock is first
    256 synchronized.  This behavior mimics that of the
    257 \fBntpdate\fP
    258 program, which will soon be replaced with a shell script.
    259 The
    260 \fB\-g\fP
    261 and
    262 \fB\-x\fP
    263 options can be used with this option.
    264 Note: The kernel time discipline is disabled with this option.
    265 .It  Fl r Ar string , Fl \-propagationdelay Ns = Ns Ar string 
    266 Broadcast/propagation delay.
    267 .sp
    268 Specify the default propagation delay from the broadcast/multicast server to this client. This is necessary only if the delay cannot be computed automatically by the protocol.
    269 .It  Fl \-saveconfigquit  Ns = Ns Ar string 
    270 Save parsed configuration and quit.
    271 This option must not appear in combination with any of the following options:
    272 quit, wait\-sync.
    273 .sp
    274 Cause \fBntpd\fP to parse its startup configuration file and save an
    275 equivalent to the given filename and exit.  This option was
    276 designed for automated testing.
    277 .It  Fl s Ar string , Fl \-statsdir Ns = Ns Ar string 
    278 Statistics file location.
    279 .sp
    280 Specify the directory path for files created by the statistics facility.
    281 This is the same operation as the
    282 \fBstatsdir\fP \fIstatsdir\fP
    283 configuration file directive.
    284 .It  Fl t Ar tkey , Fl \-trustedkey Ns = Ns Ar tkey 
    285 Trusted key number.
    286 This option may appear an unlimited number of times.
    287 .sp
    288 Add the specified key number to the trusted key list.
    289 .It  Fl u Ar string , Fl \-user Ns = Ns Ar string 
    290 Run as userid (or userid:groupid).
    291 .sp
    292 Specify a user, and optionally a group, to switch to.
    293 This option is only available if the OS supports adjusting the clock
    294 without full root privileges.
    295 This option is supported under NetBSD (configure with
    296 \fB\-\-enable\-clockctl\fP) or Linux (configure with
    297 \fB\-\-enable\-linuxcaps\fP) or Solaris (configure with \fB\-\-enable\-solarisprivs\fP).
    298 .It  Fl U Ar number , Fl \-updateinterval Ns = Ns Ar number 
    299 interval in seconds between scans for new or dropped interfaces.
    300 This option takes an integer number as its argument.
    301 .sp
    302 Give the time in seconds between two scans for new or dropped interfaces.
    303 For systems with routing socket support the scans will be performed shortly after the interface change
    304 has been detected by the system.
    305 Use 0 to disable scanning. 60 seconds is the minimum time between scans.
    306 .It  Fl \-var  Ns = Ns Ar nvar 
    307 make ARG an ntp variable (RW).
    308 This option may appear an unlimited number of times.
    309 .sp
    310 .It  Fl \-dvar  Ns = Ns Ar ndvar 
    311 make ARG an ntp variable (RW|DEF).
    312 This option may appear an unlimited number of times.
    313 .sp
    314 .It  Fl w Ar number , Fl \-wait\-sync Ns = Ns Ar number 
    315 Seconds to wait for first clock sync.
    316 This option must not appear in combination with any of the following options:
    317 nofork, quit, saveconfigquit.
    318 This option takes an integer number as its argument.
    319 .sp
    320 If greater than zero, alters \fBntpd\fP's behavior when forking to
    321 daemonize.  Instead of exiting with status 0 immediately after
    322 the fork, the parent waits up to the specified number of
    323 seconds for the child to first synchronize the clock.  The exit
    324 status is zero (success) if the clock was synchronized,
    325 otherwise it is \fBETIMEDOUT\fP.
    326 This provides the option for a script starting \fBntpd\fP to easily
    327 wait for the first set of the clock before proceeding.
    328 .It  Fl x , Fl \-slew 
    329 Slew up to 600 seconds.
    330 .sp
    331 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.
    332 This option sets the threshold to 600 s, which is well within the accuracy window to set the clock manually.
    333 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.
    334 Thus, an adjustment as much as 600 s will take almost 14 days to complete.
    335 This option can be used with the
    336 \fB\-g\fP
    337 and
    338 \fB\-q\fP
    339 options.
    340 See the
    341 \fBtinker\fP
    342 configuration file directive for other options.
    343 Note: The kernel time discipline is disabled with this option.
    344 .It  Fl \-usepcc 
    345 Use CPU cycle counter (Windows only).
    346 .sp
    347 Attempt to substitute the CPU counter for \fBQueryPerformanceCounter\fP.
    348 The CPU counter and \fBQueryPerformanceCounter\fP are compared, and if
    349 they have the same frequency, the CPU counter (RDTSC on x86) is
    350 used directly, saving the overhead of a system call.
    351 .It  Fl \-pccfreq  Ns = Ns Ar string 
    352 Force CPU cycle counter use (Windows only).
    353 .sp
    354 Force substitution the CPU counter for \fBQueryPerformanceCounter\fP.
    355 The CPU counter (RDTSC on x86) is used unconditionally with the
    356 given frequency (in Hz).
    357 .It  Fl m , Fl \-mdns 
    358 Register with mDNS as a NTP server.
    359 .sp
    360 Registers as an NTP server with the local mDNS server which allows
    361 the server to be discovered via mDNS client lookup.
    362 .It Fl \&? , Fl \-help
    363 Display usage information and exit.
    364 .It Fl \&! , Fl \-more\-help
    365 Pass the extended usage information through a pager.
    366 .It Fl \-version Op Brq Ar v|c|n
    367 Output version of program and exit.  The default mode is `v', a simple
    368 version.  The `c' mode will print copyright information and `n' will
    369 print the full copyright notice.
    370 .El
    371 .Sh "OPTION PRESETS"
    372 Any option that is not marked as \fInot presettable\fP may be preset
    373 by loading values from environment variables named:
    374 .nf
    375   \fBNTPD_<option\-name>\fP or \fBNTPD\fP
    376 .fi
    377 .ad
    378 .Sh USAGE
    379 .Ss "How NTP Operates"
    380 The
    381 .Nm
    382 utility operates by exchanging messages with
    383 one or more configured servers over a range of designated poll intervals.
    384 When
    385 started, whether for the first or subsequent times, the program
    386 requires several exchanges from the majority of these servers so
    387 the signal processing and mitigation algorithms can accumulate and
    388 groom the data and set the clock.
    389 In order to protect the network
    390 from bursts, the initial poll interval for each server is delayed
    391 an interval randomized over a few seconds.
    392 At the default initial poll
    393 interval of 64s, several minutes can elapse before the clock is
    394 set.
    395 This initial delay to set the clock
    396 can be safely and dramatically reduced using the
    397 .Cm iburst
    398 keyword with the
    399 .Ic server
    400 configuration
    401 command, as described in
    402 .Xr ntp.conf 5 .
    403 .Pp
    404 Most operating systems and hardware of today incorporate a
    405 time\-of\-year (TOY) chip to maintain the time during periods when
    406 the power is off.
    407 When the machine is booted, the chip is used to
    408 initialize the operating system time.
    409 After the machine has
    410 synchronized to a NTP server, the operating system corrects the
    411 chip from time to time.
    412 In the default case, if
    413 .Nm
    414 detects that the time on the host
    415 is more than 1000s from the server time,
    416 .Nm
    417 assumes something must be terribly wrong and the only
    418 reliable action is for the operator to intervene and set the clock
    419 by hand.
    420 (Reasons for this include there is no TOY chip,
    421 or its battery is dead, or that the TOY chip is just of poor quality.)
    422 This causes
    423 .Nm
    424 to exit with a panic message to
    425 the system log.
    426 The
    427 .Fl g
    428 option overrides this check and the
    429 clock will be set to the server time regardless of the chip time
    430 (up to 68 years in the past or future \(em
    431 this is a limitation of the NTPv4 protocol).
    432 However, and to protect against broken hardware, such as when the
    433 CMOS battery fails or the clock counter becomes defective, once the
    434 clock has been set an error greater than 1000s will cause
    435 .Nm
    436 to exit anyway.
    437 .Pp
    438 Under ordinary conditions,
    439 .Nm
    440 adjusts the clock in
    441 small steps so that the timescale is effectively continuous and
    442 without discontinuities.
    443 Under conditions of extreme network
    444 congestion, the roundtrip delay jitter can exceed three seconds and
    445 the synchronization distance, which is equal to one\-half the
    446 roundtrip delay plus error budget terms, can become very large.
    447 The
    448 .Nm
    449 algorithms discard sample offsets exceeding 128 ms,
    450 unless the interval during which no sample offset is less than 128
    451 ms exceeds 900s.
    452 The first sample after that, no matter what the
    453 offset, steps the clock to the indicated time.
    454 In practice this
    455 reduces the false alarm rate where the clock is stepped in error to
    456 a vanishingly low incidence.
    457 .Pp
    458 As the result of this behavior, once the clock has been set it
    459 very rarely strays more than 128 ms even under extreme cases of
    460 network path congestion and jitter.
    461 Sometimes, in particular when
    462 .Nm
    463 is first started without a valid drift file
    464 on a system with a large intrinsic drift
    465 the error might grow to exceed 128 ms,
    466 which would cause the clock to be set backwards
    467 if the local clock time is more than 128 s
    468 in the future relative to the server.
    469 In some applications, this behavior may be unacceptable.
    470 There are several solutions, however.
    471 If the
    472 .Fl x
    473 option is included on the command line, the clock will
    474 never be stepped and only slew corrections will be used.
    475 But this choice comes with a cost that
    476 should be carefully explored before deciding to use
    477 the
    478 .Fl x
    479 option.
    480 The maximum slew rate possible is limited
    481 to 500 parts\-per\-million (PPM) as a consequence of the correctness
    482 principles on which the NTP protocol and algorithm design are
    483 based.
    484 As a result, the local clock can take a long time to
    485 converge to an acceptable offset, about 2,000 s for each second the
    486 clock is outside the acceptable range.
    487 During this interval the
    488 local clock will not be consistent with any other network clock and
    489 the system cannot be used for distributed applications that require
    490 correctly synchronized network time.
    491 .Pp
    492 In spite of the above precautions, sometimes when large
    493 frequency errors are present the resulting time offsets stray
    494 outside the 128\-ms range and an eventual step or slew time
    495 correction is required.
    496 If following such a correction the
    497 frequency error is so large that the first sample is outside the
    498 acceptable range,
    499 .Nm
    500 enters the same state as when the
    501 .Pa ntp.drift
    502 file is not present.
    503 The intent of this behavior
    504 is to quickly correct the frequency and restore operation to the
    505 normal tracking mode.
    506 In the most extreme cases
    507 (the host
    508 .Cm time.ien.it
    509 comes to mind), there may be occasional
    510 step/slew corrections and subsequent frequency corrections.
    511 It
    512 helps in these cases to use the
    513 .Cm burst
    514 keyword when
    515 configuring the server, but
    516 ONLY
    517 when you have permission to do so from the owner of the target host.
    518 .Pp
    519 Finally,
    520 in the past many startup scripts would run
    521 .Xr ntpdate 1ntpdatemdoc
    522 to get the system clock close to correct before starting
    523 .Xr ntpd 1ntpdmdoc ,
    524 but this was never more than a mediocre hack and is no longer needed.
    525 If you are following the instructions in
    526 .Sx "Starting NTP (Best Current Practice)"
    527 and you still need to set the system time before starting
    528 .Nm ,
    529 please open a bug report and document what is going on,
    530 and then look at using
    531 .Xr sntp 1sntpmdoc .
    532 .Pp
    533 There is a way to start
    534 .Xr ntpd 1ntpdmdoc
    535 that often addresses all of the problems mentioned above.
    536 .Ss "Starting NTP (Best Current Practice)"
    537 First, use the
    538 .Cm iburst
    539 option on your
    540 .Cm server
    541 entries.
    542 .Pp
    543 If you can also keep a good
    544 .Pa ntp.drift
    545 file then
    546 .Xr ntpd 1ntpdmdoc
    547 will effectively "warm\-start" and your system's clock will
    548 be stable in under 11 seconds' time.
    549 .Pp
    550 As soon as possible in the startup sequence, start
    551 .Xr ntpd 1ntpdmdoc
    552 with at least the
    553 .Fl g
    554 and perhaps the
    555 .Fl N
    556 options.
    557 Then,
    558 start the rest of your "normal" processes.
    559 This will give
    560 .Xr ntpd 1ntpdmdoc
    561 as much time as possible to get the system's clock synchronized and stable.
    562 .Pp
    563 Finally,
    564 if you have processes like
    565 .Cm dovecot
    566 or database servers
    567 that require
    568 monotonically\-increasing time,
    569 run
    570 .Xr ntp\-wait 1ntp\-waitmdoc
    571 as late as possible in the boot sequence
    572 (perhaps with the
    573 .Fl v
    574 flag)
    575 and after
    576 .Xr ntp\-wait 1ntp\-waitmdoc
    577 exits successfully
    578 it is as safe as it will ever be to start any process that require
    579 stable time.
    580 .Ss "Frequency Discipline"
    581 The
    582 .Nm
    583 behavior at startup depends on whether the
    584 frequency file, usually
    585 .Pa ntp.drift ,
    586 exists.
    587 This file
    588 contains the latest estimate of clock frequency error.
    589 When the
    590 .Nm
    591 is started and the file does not exist, the
    592 .Nm
    593 enters a special mode designed to quickly adapt to
    594 the particular system clock oscillator time and frequency error.
    595 This takes approximately 15 minutes, after which the time and
    596 frequency are set to nominal values and the
    597 .Nm
    598 enters
    599 normal mode, where the time and frequency are continuously tracked
    600 relative to the server.
    601 After one hour the frequency file is
    602 created and the current frequency offset written to it.
    603 When the
    604 .Nm
    605 is started and the file does exist, the
    606 .Nm
    607 frequency is initialized from the file and enters normal mode
    608 immediately.
    609 After that the current frequency offset is written to
    610 the file at hourly intervals.
    611 .Ss "Operating Modes"
    612 The
    613 .Nm
    614 utility can operate in any of several modes, including
    615 symmetric active/passive, client/server broadcast/multicast and
    616 manycast, as described in the
    617 .Qq Association Management
    618 page
    619 (available as part of the HTML documentation
    620 provided in
    621 .Pa /usr/share/doc/ntp ) .
    622 It normally operates continuously while
    623 monitoring for small changes in frequency and trimming the clock
    624 for the ultimate precision.
    625 However, it can operate in a one\-time
    626 mode where the time is set from an external server and frequency is
    627 set from a previously recorded frequency file.
    628 A
    629 broadcast/multicast or manycast client can discover remote servers,
    630 compute server\-client propagation delay correction factors and
    631 configure itself automatically.
    632 This makes it possible to deploy a
    633 fleet of workstations without specifying configuration details
    634 specific to the local environment.
    635 .Pp
    636 By default,
    637 .Nm
    638 runs in continuous mode where each of
    639 possibly several external servers is polled at intervals determined
    640 by an intricate state machine.
    641 The state machine measures the
    642 incidental roundtrip delay jitter and oscillator frequency wander
    643 and determines the best poll interval using a heuristic algorithm.
    644 Ordinarily, and in most operating environments, the state machine
    645 will start with 64s intervals and eventually increase in steps to
    646 1024s.
    647 A small amount of random variation is introduced in order to
    648 avoid bunching at the servers.
    649 In addition, should a server become
    650 unreachable for some time, the poll interval is increased in steps
    651 to 1024s in order to reduce network overhead.
    652 .Pp
    653 In some cases it may not be practical for
    654 .Nm
    655 to run continuously.
    656 A common workaround has been to run the
    657 .Xr ntpdate 1ntpdatemdoc
    658 or
    659 .Xr sntp 1sntpmdoc
    660 programs from a
    661 .Xr cron 8
    662 job at designated
    663 times.
    664 However, these programs do not have the crafted signal
    665 processing, error checking or mitigation algorithms of
    666 .Nm .
    667 The
    668 .Fl q
    669 option is intended for this purpose.
    670 Setting this option will cause
    671 .Nm
    672 to exit just after
    673 setting the clock for the first time.
    674 The procedure for initially
    675 setting the clock is the same as in continuous mode; most
    676 applications will probably want to specify the
    677 .Cm iburst
    678 keyword with the
    679 .Ic server
    680 configuration command.
    681 With this
    682 keyword a volley of messages are exchanged to groom the data and
    683 the clock is set in about 10 s.
    684 If nothing is heard after a
    685 couple of minutes, the daemon times out and exits.
    686 After a suitable
    687 period of mourning, the
    688 .Xr ntpdate 1ntpdatemdoc
    689 program will be
    690 retired.
    691 .Pp
    692 When kernel support is available to discipline the clock
    693 frequency, which is the case for stock Solaris, Tru64, Linux and
    694 .Fx ,
    695 a useful feature is available to discipline the clock
    696 frequency.
    697 First,
    698 .Nm
    699 is run in continuous mode with
    700 selected servers in order to measure and record the intrinsic clock
    701 frequency offset in the frequency file.
    702 It may take some hours for
    703 the frequency and offset to settle down.
    704 Then the
    705 .Nm
    706 is
    707 stopped and run in one\-time mode as required.
    708 At each startup, the
    709 frequency is read from the file and initializes the kernel
    710 frequency.
    711 .Ss "Poll Interval Control"
    712 This version of NTP includes an intricate state machine to
    713 reduce the network load while maintaining a quality of
    714 synchronization consistent with the observed jitter and wander.
    715 There are a number of ways to tailor the operation in order enhance
    716 accuracy by reducing the interval or to reduce network overhead by
    717 increasing it.
    718 However, the user is advised to carefully consider
    719 the consequences of changing the poll adjustment range from the
    720 default minimum of 64 s to the default maximum of 1,024 s.
    721 The
    722 default minimum can be changed with the
    723 .Ic tinker
    724 .Cm minpoll
    725 command to a value not less than 16 s.
    726 This value is used for all
    727 configured associations, unless overridden by the
    728 .Cm minpoll
    729 option on the configuration command.
    730 Note that most device drivers
    731 will not operate properly if the poll interval is less than 64 s
    732 and that the broadcast server and manycast client associations will
    733 also use the default, unless overridden.
    734 .Pp
    735 In some cases involving dial up or toll services, it may be
    736 useful to increase the minimum interval to a few tens of minutes
    737 and maximum interval to a day or so.
    738 Under normal operation
    739 conditions, once the clock discipline loop has stabilized the
    740 interval will be increased in steps from the minimum to the
    741 maximum.
    742 However, this assumes the intrinsic clock frequency error
    743 is small enough for the discipline loop correct it.
    744 The capture
    745 range of the loop is 500 PPM at an interval of 64s decreasing by a
    746 factor of two for each doubling of interval.
    747 At a minimum of 1,024
    748 s, for example, the capture range is only 31 PPM.
    749 If the intrinsic
    750 error is greater than this, the drift file
    751 .Pa ntp.drift
    752 will
    753 have to be specially tailored to reduce the residual error below
    754 this limit.
    755 Once this is done, the drift file is automatically
    756 updated once per hour and is available to initialize the frequency
    757 on subsequent daemon restarts.
    758 .Ss "The huff\-n'\-puff Filter"
    759 In scenarios where a considerable amount of data are to be
    760 downloaded or uploaded over telephone modems, timekeeping quality
    761 can be seriously degraded.
    762 This occurs because the differential
    763 delays on the two directions of transmission can be quite large.
    764 In
    765 many cases the apparent time errors are so large as to exceed the
    766 step threshold and a step correction can occur during and after the
    767 data transfer is in progress.
    768 .Pp
    769 The huff\-n'\-puff filter is designed to correct the apparent time
    770 offset in these cases.
    771 It depends on knowledge of the propagation
    772 delay when no other traffic is present.
    773 In common scenarios this
    774 occurs during other than work hours.
    775 The filter maintains a shift
    776 register that remembers the minimum delay over the most recent
    777 interval measured usually in hours.
    778 Under conditions of severe
    779 delay, the filter corrects the apparent offset using the sign of
    780 the offset and the difference between the apparent delay and
    781 minimum delay.
    782 The name of the filter reflects the negative (huff)
    783 and positive (puff) correction, which depends on the sign of the
    784 offset.
    785 .Pp
    786 The filter is activated by the
    787 .Ic tinker
    788 command and
    789 .Cm huffpuff
    790 keyword, as described in
    791 .Xr ntp.conf 5 .
    792 .Sh "ENVIRONMENT"
    793 See \fBOPTION PRESETS\fP for configuration environment variables.
    794 .Sh FILES
    795 .Bl -tag -width /etc/ntp.drift -compact
    796 .It Pa /etc/ntp.conf
    797 the default name of the configuration file
    798 .It Pa /etc/ntp.drift
    799 the default name of the drift file
    800 .It Pa /etc/ntp.keys
    801 the default name of the key file
    802 .El
    803 .Sh "EXIT STATUS"
    804 One of the following exit values will be returned:
    805 .Bl -tag
    806 .It 0 " (EXIT_SUCCESS)"
    807 Successful program execution.
    808 .It 1 " (EXIT_FAILURE)"
    809 The operation failed or the command syntax was not valid.
    810 .It 70 " (EX_SOFTWARE)"
    811 libopts had an internal operational error.  Please report
    812 it to autogen\-users (a] lists.sourceforge.net.  Thank you.
    813 .El
    814 .Sh "SEE ALSO"
    815 .Xr ntp.conf 5 ,
    816 .Xr ntpdate 1ntpdatemdoc ,
    817 .Xr ntpdc 1ntpdcmdoc ,
    818 .Xr ntpq 1ntpqmdoc ,
    819 .Xr sntp 1sntpmdoc
    820 .Pp
    821 In addition to the manual pages provided,
    822 comprehensive documentation is available on the world wide web
    823 at
    824 .Li http://www.ntp.org/ .
    825 A snapshot of this documentation is available in HTML format in
    826 .Pa /usr/share/doc/ntp .
    827 .Rs
    828 .%A David L. Mills
    829 .%T Network Time Protocol (Version 1)
    830 .%O RFC1059
    831 .Re
    832 .Rs
    833 .%A David L. Mills
    834 .%T Network Time Protocol (Version 2)
    835 .%O RFC1119
    836 .Re
    837 .Rs
    838 .%A David L. Mills
    839 .%T Network Time Protocol (Version 3)
    840 .%O RFC1305
    841 .Re
    842 .Rs
    843 .%A David L. Mills
    844 .%A J. Martin, Ed.
    845 .%A J. Burbank
    846 .%A W. Kasch
    847 .%T Network Time Protocol Version 4: Protocol and Algorithms Specification
    848 .%O RFC5905
    849 .Re
    850 .Rs
    851 .%A David L. Mills
    852 .%A B. Haberman, Ed.
    853 .%T Network Time Protocol Version 4: Autokey Specification
    854 .%O RFC5906
    855 .Re
    856 .Rs
    857 .%A H. Gerstung
    858 .%A C. Elliott
    859 .%A B. Haberman, Ed.
    860 .%T Definitions of Managed Objects for Network Time Protocol Version 4: (NTPv4)
    861 .%O RFC5907
    862 .Re
    863 .Rs
    864 .%A R. Gayraud
    865 .%A B. Lourdelet
    866 .%T Network Time Protocol (NTP) Server Option for DHCPv6
    867 .%O RFC5908
    868 .Re
    869 .Sh "AUTHORS"
    870 The University of Delaware
    871 .Sh "COPYRIGHT"
    872 Copyright (C) 1970\-2014 The University of Delaware all rights reserved.
    873 This program is released under the terms of the NTP license, <http://ntp.org/license>.
    874 .Sh BUGS
    875 The
    876 .Nm
    877 utility has gotten rather fat.
    878 While not huge, it has gotten
    879 larger than might be desirable for an elevated\-priority
    880 .Nm
    881 running on a workstation, particularly since many of
    882 the fancy features which consume the space were designed more with
    883 a busy primary server, rather than a high stratum workstation in
    884 mind.
    885 .Pp
    886 Please send bug reports to: http://bugs.ntp.org, bugs (a] ntp.org
    887 .Sh NOTES
    888 Portions of this document came from FreeBSD.
    889 .Pp
    890 This manual page was \fIAutoGen\fP\-erated from the \fBntpd\fP
    891 option definitions.
    892