Red Hat Bugzilla – Bug 449750
ntpd -q does not exit when no servers are defined in /etc/ntpd.conf
Last modified: 2011-06-24 11:23:37 EDT
ntpdate has been deprecated and the functionality provided by it is now available in ntpd using the -q parameter. From man ntpd -- In some cases it may not be practical for ntpd to run continuously. A common workaround has been to run the ntpdate program from a cron job at designated times. However, this program does not have the crafted signal processing, error checking and mitigation algorithms of ntpd . The -q option is intended for this purpose. Setting this option will cause ntpd to exit just after setting the clock for the first time. The procedure for initially setting the clock is the same as in continuous mode; most applications will probably want to specify the iburst keyword with the server configuration command. With this keyword a volley of messages are exchanged to groom the data and the clock is set in about a minute. If nothing is heard after a couple of minutes, the daemon times out and exits. After a suitable period of mourning, the ntpdate program may be retired -- When no servers configured in ntp.conf (misconfiguration) - ntpd -q never exits. --
Debugged run with simple config file. # more /etc/ntp.conf driftfile /var/lib/ntp/drift keys /etc/ntp/keys server 172.16.52.228 # /usr/sbin/ntpd -q -d -g -x ntpd 4.2.0a@1.1190-r Thu Oct 5 04:11:32 EDT 2006 (1) addto_syslog: ntpd 4.2.0a@1.1190-r Thu Oct 5 04:11:32 EDT 2006 (1) addto_syslog: precision = 3.000 usec create_sockets(123) bind() fd 4, family 2, port 123, addr 0.0.0.0, flags=8 addto_syslog: Listening on interface wildcard, 0.0.0.0#123 bind() fd 5, family 10, port 123, addr ::, flags=0 addto_syslog: Listening on interface wildcard, ::#123 bind() fd 6, family 2, port 123, addr 127.0.0.1, flags=0 addto_syslog: Listening on interface lo, 127.0.0.1#123 bind() fd 7, family 2, port 123, addr 10.33.1.120, flags=8 addto_syslog: Listening on interface eth0, 10.33.1.120#123 bind() fd 8, family 2, port 123, addr 172.16.19.1, flags=8 addto_syslog: Listening on interface vmnet1, 172.16.19.1#123 bind() fd 9, family 2, port 123, addr 172.16.102.1, flags=8 addto_syslog: Listening on interface vmnet8, 172.16.102.1#123 init_io: maxactivefd 9 local_clock: time 0 clock 0.000000 offset 0.000000 freq 0.000 state 0 addto_syslog: frequency initialized -5.208 PPM from /var/lib/ntp/drift local_clock: time 0 clock 0.000000 offset 0.000000 freq -5.208 state 1 key_expire: at 0 peer_clear: at 0 assoc ID 27268 refid INIT newpeer: 10.33.1.120->172.16.52.228 mode 3 vers 4 poll 6 10 flags 0x201 0x1 ttl key 00000000 report_event: system event 'event_restart' (0x01) status 'sync_alarm, sync_unspec, 1 event, event_unspec' (0xc010) transmit: at 1 10.33.1.120->172.16.52.228 mode 3 auth_agekeys: at 1 keys 1 expired 0 timer: refresh ts 0 receive: at 1 10.33.1.120<-172.16.52.228 mode 4 code 1 peer 172.16.52.228 event 'event_reach' (0x84) status 'unreach, conf, 1 event, event_reach' (0x8014) clock_filter: popcorn 0.001465 0.000015 transmit: at 3 10.33.1.120->172.16.52.228 mode 3 receive: at 3 10.33.1.120<-172.16.52.228 mode 4 code 1 clock_filter: n 2 off -0.001465 del 0.100089 dsp 3.937520 jit 0.000684, age 3 transmit: at 5 10.33.1.120->172.16.52.228 mode 3 receive: at 5 10.33.1.120<-172.16.52.228 mode 4 code 1 clock_filter: n 3 off -0.001822 del 0.099910 dsp 1.937524 jit 0.000779, age 2 transmit: at 7 10.33.1.120->172.16.52.228 mode 3 receive: at 7 10.33.1.120<-172.16.52.228 mode 4 code 1 clock_filter: n 4 off -0.001822 del 0.099910 dsp 0.937551 jit 0.005624, age 4 transmit: at 9 10.33.1.120->172.16.52.228 mode 3 receive: at 9 10.33.1.120<-172.16.52.228 mode 4 code 1 clock_filter: n 5 off -0.001822 del 0.099910 dsp 0.437573 jit 0.004872, age 6 report_event: system event 'event_peer/strat_chg' (0x04) status 'sync_alarm, sync_ntp, 2 events, event_restart' (0xc621) addto_syslog: synchronized to 172.16.52.228, stratum 2 clock_update: at 9 assoc 1 local_clock: assocID 27268 offset -0.001822253 freq -5.208 state 1 addto_syslog: time slew -0.001822 s ntpd: time slew -0.001822s #
Debugged run with faulty simple config file. # more /etc/ntp.conf driftfile /var/lib/ntp/drift keys /etc/ntp/keys # /usr/sbin/ntpd -q -d -g -x ntpd 4.2.0a@1.1190-r Thu Oct 5 04:11:32 EDT 2006 (1) addto_syslog: ntpd 4.2.0a@1.1190-r Thu Oct 5 04:11:32 EDT 2006 (1) addto_syslog: precision = 3.000 usec create_sockets(123) bind() fd 4, family 2, port 123, addr 0.0.0.0, flags=8 addto_syslog: Listening on interface wildcard, 0.0.0.0#123 bind() fd 5, family 10, port 123, addr ::, flags=0 addto_syslog: Listening on interface wildcard, ::#123 bind() fd 6, family 2, port 123, addr 127.0.0.1, flags=0 addto_syslog: Listening on interface lo, 127.0.0.1#123 bind() fd 7, family 2, port 123, addr 10.33.1.120, flags=8 addto_syslog: Listening on interface eth0, 10.33.1.120#123 bind() fd 8, family 2, port 123, addr 172.16.19.1, flags=8 addto_syslog: Listening on interface vmnet1, 172.16.19.1#123 bind() fd 9, family 2, port 123, addr 172.16.102.1, flags=8 addto_syslog: Listening on interface vmnet8, 172.16.102.1#123 init_io: maxactivefd 9 local_clock: time 0 clock 0.000000 offset 0.000000 freq 0.000 state 0 addto_syslog: frequency initialized -5.208 PPM from /var/lib/ntp/drift local_clock: time 0 clock 0.000000 offset 0.000000 freq -5.208 state 1 report_event: system event 'event_restart' (0x01) status 'sync_alarm, sync_unspec, 1 event, event_unspec' (0xc010) auth_agekeys: at 1 keys 1 expired 0 timer: refresh ts 0 auth_agekeys: at 60 keys 1 expired 0 auth_agekeys: at 120 keys 1 expired 0 auth_agekeys: at 180 keys 1 expired 0 auth_agekeys: at 240 keys 1 expired 0 auth_agekeys: at 300 keys 1 expired 0 auth_agekeys: at 360 keys 1 expired 0 auth_agekeys: at 420 keys 1 expired 0 auth_agekeys: at 480 keys 1 expired 0 auth_agekeys: at 540 keys 1 expired 0 auth_agekeys: at 600 keys 1 expired 0 auth_agekeys: at 660 keys 1 expired 0 auth_agekeys: at 720 keys 1 expired 0 addto_syslog: ntpd exiting on signal 2 #
Upstream bug report: https://support.ntp.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=1034
This request was evaluated by Red Hat Product Management for inclusion, but this component is not scheduled to be updated in the current Red Hat Enterprise Linux release. If you would like this request to be reviewed for the next minor release, ask your support representative to set the next rhel-x.y flag to "?".
As RHEL-4.9 is the last update for RHEL-4, which should address only security, performance and critical issues, I'm closing this bug as WONTFIX. If you are still experiencing this issue with RHEL-5, please reopen it against RHEL-5. If this issue is critical for you, please contact Red Hat support.
An advisory has been issued which should help the problem described in this bug report. This report is therefore being closed with a resolution of ERRATA. For more information on therefore solution and/or where to find the updated files, please follow the link below. You may reopen this bug report if the solution does not work for you. http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHBA-2011-0222.html
Technical note added. If any revisions are required, please edit the "Technical Notes" field accordingly. All revisions will be proofread by the Engineering Content Services team. New Contents: The "-q" switch causes ntpd to exit immediately after setting the clock but this action only occurs if there are configured servers for ntpd to set a clock against. The man page did not note this latter point. This ambiguity meant it was possible to conclude ntpd was misbehaving when it did not quit if run with the "-q" switch but with no configured servers. With this update, the ntpd man page now notes that "ntpd -q" only exits if used to set the clock with configured servers.