Bug 772389

Summary:	ntpdate doesn't include a default ntp.conf
Product:	[Fedora] Fedora	Reporter:	Peter Robinson <pbrobinson>
Component:	ntp	Assignee:	Miroslav Lichvar <mlichvar>
Status:	CLOSED RAWHIDE	QA Contact:	Fedora Extras Quality Assurance <extras-qa>
Severity:	unspecified	Docs Contact:
Priority:	unspecified
Version:	rawhide	CC:	mlichvar, pertusus
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Last Closed:	2012-01-09 11:54:01 UTC	Type:	---
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Description Peter Robinson 2012-01-07 12:48:31 UTC

the ntpdate package which is all that is really needed for a client to keep the date within a reasonable sync doesn't include /etc/ntp.conf

As a result a default install doesn't set the date as there's no time servers to use. A simple fix would be to include the same /etc/ntp.conf file included in the ntp package as used by ntpd. If both packages are installed there will be no conflict as the md5sum of the file will be identical and it will allow the ntpdate.service to be usable out of the box without any config as it should

Comment 1 Miroslav Lichvar 2012-01-09 11:54:01 UTC

The ntpdate service is disabled by default and it has its own config in the /etc/ntp/step-tickers file, ntp.conf is used only as a fallback.

Also, ntpdate will be probably dropped in the upcoming ntp-4.2.8 release. The Fedora default is to run a fully featured NTP client.

Comment 2 Peter Robinson 2012-01-09 12:55:33 UTC

It doesn't use that config by default and it should so its still a bug. Also running the full daemon on startup or on a daily/weekly is a bit of overkill if you just want to ensure the date is mostly correct but doesn't need micro second accuracy

Comment 3 Miroslav Lichvar 2012-01-09 13:58:19 UTC

It uses the config by default, but it's empty. You need to enable the service and put some servers in the config.

I think usefulness of the service depends on how often is the machine rebooted. If daily, I guess time error of couple seconds is not a big deal for some users.

Comment 4 Peter Robinson 2012-01-09 14:07:58 UTC

(In reply to comment #3)
> It uses the config by default, but it's empty. You need to enable the service
> and put some servers in the config.

It shouldn't be, it should be useful out of the box, like ntpd and hence this bug report

> I think usefulness of the service depends on how often is the machine rebooted.
> If daily, I guess time error of couple seconds is not a big deal for some
> users.

well for smaller devices such as tablets and small devices that run power its quite useful and to have it working out of the box so end users don't need to configure things should be the case. With the ntp.conf that's shipped it just works (and seems to reference that by default).

Comment 5 Miroslav Lichvar 2012-01-09 15:00:51 UTC

The ntpdate or ntpd service still needs to be enabled, they are not enabled by default.

Would it be acceptable to add some default servers to the step-tickers file?

Comment 6 Miroslav Lichvar 2012-02-07 12:17:35 UTC

pool.ntp.org servers added to default step-tickers in ntp-4.2.6p4-3.fc17.