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This file documents the use of the NTP Project's ntpd, a program for controlling ntpd.

ntpd: Network Time Protocol (NTP) Daemon User Manual
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The ntpd program is an operating system daemon that synchronizes the system clock to remote NTP time servers or local reference clocks. It is a complete implementation of NTP version 4 defined by RFC-5905, but also retains compatible with version 3 defined by RFC-1305 and versions 1 and 2, defined by RFC-1059 and RFC-1119, respectively. The program can operate in any of several modes, including client/server, symmetric and broadcast modes, and with both symmetric-key and public-key cryptography.

This document applies to version VERSION of ntpd.

Description
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The ntpd program ordinarily requires a configuration file described at ntp.conf. This configuration file contains configuration commands described on the pages listed above. However a client can discover remote servers and configure them automatically. This makes it possible to deploy a fleet of workstations without specifying configuration details specific to the local environment.

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 an initial volley of messages is exchanged to groom the data and set the clock in about ten seconds' time. If nothing is heard after a few minutes' time, the daemon times out and exits without setting the clock.

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Usage
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What   Default   Flag   Option
configuration file
/etc/ntp.conf
-c
conffile
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/NTP
-s
statsdir
keys path
/usr/local/etc
-k
keysdir