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From: tim@pipex.net (Tim Goodwin)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.misc
Subject: Re: rdate for FreeBSD
Date: 30 Apr 1997 09:59:29 GMT
Organization: UUNET, Cambridge, UK.
Lines: 42
Message-ID: <5k7561$85e@tube.news.pipex.net>
References: <9014106B902414DF.F2C1CE0DB63DC135.683F46B51D3A4FBF@library-proxy.airnews.net> <E9CL33.LM@sphynx.fdn.fr> <DB7ECA28AB48E25C.480A35112851C7DE.B4902F4E00C95599@library-proxy.airnews.net>
NNTP-Posting-Host: grommet.uunet.pipex.com
Xref: euryale.cc.adfa.oz.au comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.misc:39996
In article <DB7ECA28AB48E25C.480A35112851C7DE.B4902F4E00C95599@library-proxy.airnews.net>,
Phil Crown <pcrown@airmail.net> wrote:
>Any tips are welcome.
Well, xntpd may not be simple, but I wouldn't use anything else. It's
fairly easy to use: it's got excellent autoconfiguration, and lots of
documentation (part of the reason why the distribution is so large).
The key difference between xntpd and other time synchronization methods,
is that xntpd doesn't just discover what time it is, it also discovers
how fast or slow your computer's clock runs, and makes continuous micro
adjustments to compensate. Once it's settled down, it can keep your
clock accurate to within a few milliseconds sending only one packet
every 20 minutes.
You can use it to keep an isolated network in very close time
synchronization. Better, if you have an Internet connection, you can
get real UTC, with leap seconds and all, from public NTP servers (such
as ntp[012].pipex.net).
If you've got FreeBSD, you've already got xntpd. To start it up, just
say
xntpdflags=""
in /etc/sysconfig, and put something like this in /etc/ntp.conf.
# External peers
peer ntp0.pipex.net
peer ntp1.pipex.net
peer ntp2.pipex.net
# Local peers
other-host-0.local.dom
other-host-1.local.dom
driftfile /etc/ntp.drift
Tim.
--
Tim Goodwin | "I suppose this is another case of those darn IP/TCP guys who
UUNET, UK | work in practice but not in theory." -- Paul Mockapetris