system time

unicorn

How to correct my system time?
I have failures at start up:
/etc/rc.d/ntpdate /etc/rc.d/local

rvp

unicorn How to correct my system time?

Try (as root):

ntpd -g -q 0.asia.pool.ntp.org 1.asia.pool.ntp.org 2.asia.pool.ntp.org

JuvenalUrbino

unicorn I have failures at start up:
/etc/rc.d/ntpdate /etc/rc.d/local

Check /var/run/rc.log to see what went wrong, especially regarding rc.local:

$ egrep 'ntpdate|rc.local'  /var/run/rc.log

unicorn How to correct my system time?

What @rvp suggested can also be put in rc.conf:

ntpd=YES
ntpd_flags="-g -x -U 3600 0.it.pool.ntp.org"

Or:

ntpdate=YES
ntpdate_flags="0.it.pool.ntp.org"

Network needs to be up (including wp_supplicant if on wireless), with dhcpcd having already assigned an IP address to the interface (unless using a static IP) for ntpdate to be capable to perform a one-time time adjustment on boot.

Find your closest public NTP server at https://www.ntppool.org.

pfr

Strangely enough, my Void Linux system wouldn't boot this morning because of an RTC error and I needed to reset the system clock from the BIOS.

I've never had an issue on NetBSD and never had ntpd set in my rc.conf. Although, the time was always a little bit out.

Since reading this thread I've followed the suggestion rvp (for oceania) and also put the following at the end of my rc.conf

ntpd=YES
ntpd_flags="-g -x -U 3600 0.oceania.pool.ntp.org"

Date and time seem spot on, but at boot get;

Nov 26 23:44:22 hackbox ntpd[372]: error resolving pool 2.netbsd.pool.ntp.org: Temporary failure in name resolution (2)

unicorn

thanks, and this command works

rvp ntpd -g -q 0.asia.pool.ntp.org 1.asia.pool.ntp.org 2.asia.pool.ntp.org

unicorn

JuvenalUrbino

command egrep 'ntpdate|rc.local' /var/run/rc.log outputs:

exiting, name server cannot be used: Temporary failure in name resolution(2)/etc/rc.d/ntpdate exited with code 1

my /etc/rc.conf:

ntpdate=YES
wscons=YES
dhclient=YES
dhcpcd=YES
rtclocaltime=YES
hostname=unicorn
ntpdate_hosts="cn.pool.ntp.org"
ntpd=YES
wpa_supplicant=YES

I had add ntpdate_flags="0.it.pool.ntp.org", is this ok?

rvp

unicorn If you're using DHCP to get the IP address, then add the -w flag to dhcpcd_flags to make dhcpcd wait for a carrier. I have in my /etc/rc.conf:

dhcpcd=YES
dhcpcd_flags="-w"

Then, you only need to add this in /etc/rc.conf to set the time using ntpdate:

ntpdate=YES

Everything else (default flags; pool server name) is already taken care of in a standard install.

pfr

So I have to come back to this.

Ever since adding messing with my rc.conf my boot time has increased.

Here is my local overides:

# Add local overrides below.
#
hostname="hackbox.local"
random_file=/etc/entropy-file
microcode=YES
#rtclocaltime=YES
rpcbind=YES
dbus=YES
famd=YES
powerd=YES
wpa_supplicant=YES
wpa_supplicant_flags="-B -D bsd -i iwn0 -c /etc/wpa_supplicant.conf"
dhcpcd=YES
dhcpcd_flags="-w -qM iwn0 -b"
npf=YES
xdm=NO
raidframe=NO
wscons=YES
sshd=NO
postfix=NO
ipv6addrctl=YES
ipv6addrctl_policy=ipv4_prefer
envsys=YES
ntpdate=YES
#ntpd_flags="-g -x -U 3600 0.oceania.pool.ntp.org"

I added the -w flag to my dhcpcd_flags which obviously takes it's time to get the ip. But when it gets to ntpdate it takes a good 5-10 seconds sometimes before getting to my login prompt.

Additionally, I've commented out the ntpd_flags because I was getting errors as mentioned in my previous post. I've also commented out rtclocaltimeat the beginning.. I forget why, but I guessed I didn't need it?

What can I do to make my rc.conf cleaner and speed up my boot time while still having the correct time set?

rvp

pfr What can I do to make my rc.conf cleaner and speed up my boot time while still having the correct time set?

You don't need to set the time on every boot. Given that RTCs only drift a few tens of seconds--if that--each month, you can comment all that ntp-stuff out and do service ntpdate onestart once a month or so.

If you boot into Linux on the same machine, then do what I do. I run this script once in a while when I boot into it. It sets the current system time using ntpdate, then syncs the RTC time to that using hwclock. On x86, all OSes set the system time from RTC initially, so all my Unixes are generally well synced.

ntpsync.sh

#!/bin/sh
exec sudo sh -euc '
  ntpdate -b pool.ntp.org
  exec /sbin/hwclock -w
'

pfr

Where I live we have Daylight Savings where we turn out clocks back an hour so that we have more day light in the evenings to get drunk in the park with our mates. If I remove the ntp stuff from my rc.conf then the time is an hour out. Only when I have both the dhcpcd -w flag and ntpdate=YES set in my rc.conf is the time correct. This also gives me longer boot times.

rvp

pfr Where I live we have Daylight Savings where we turn out clocks back an hour

Yes, I know about DST (a twice-yearly irritation).

pfr to get drunk in the park with our mates.

I'm slightly less familiar with this activity...

pfr This also gives me longer boot times.

OK, then you can

a) either do service ntpdate onestart twice a year, or
b) add -p 1 to ntpdate_flags in /etc/rc.conf.

Using a single time-sample should shorten the ntpdate run (and, home-users probably don't need milli-second accuracy--you don't right?).

EDIT: On *BSD, it looks like setting the system time also writes it back to the RTC--atleast on x86--so, if your RTC clock is in local time instead of UTC, you may have to set rtclocaltime=YES to inform the kernel of the correct offset from UTC (internal time in Unix is kept in UTC).

pfr

rvp I'm slightly less familiar with this activity...

It's Aussie tradition. Helps to keep the bats away.

rvp OK, then you can

a) either do service ntpdate onestart twice a year, or
b) add -p 1 to ntpdate_flags in /etc/rc.conf.

I dont think the service ntpdate onestart command takes into consideration DST. I tried that yesterday after remving all the ntp stuff and the time was still an hour ahead. Do I need anything in my rc.conf for option (a)?

If I choose (b), add something like this to rc.conf ?

ntpdate=YES
ntpdate_flags="-p 1 -g -x -U 3600 0.oceania.pool.ntp.org"
rtclocaltime=YES

And do I still need to have the -w flag in dhcpcd_flags?

rvp

pfr So add something like this to rc.conf?

Yes, except:

ntpdate_flags="-b -p1 oceania.pool.ntp.org"

(You can also omit the oceania.pool.ntp.org--a server name is picked up from the /etc/ntp.conf file.)

pfr Do I still need to have the -w flag in dhcpcd_flags?

Yes.