Bug 44286
| Summary: | /etc/defaults/rc.conf uses the obsolete ntpdate | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Product: | Base System | Reporter: | Chris Pepper <pepper> |
| Component: | conf | Assignee: | freebsd-bugs (Nobody) <bugs> |
| Status: | Closed Not A Bug | ||
| Severity: | Affects Only Me | CC: | ian |
| Priority: | Normal | ||
| Version: | 4.7-STABLE | ||
| Hardware: | Any | ||
| OS: | Any | ||
On Sat, Oct 19, 2002 at 06:29:34PM -0400, Chris Pepper wrote:
> Note: The functionality of this program is now available in the ntpd(8)
> program. See the -q command line option in the ntpd(8) page. After a
> suitable period of mourning, the ntpdate program is to be retired from
> this distribution.
I seem to remember a discussion regarding this about six months or so ago,
where the outcome was that ntpd -q does *not* do the same thing, or at least
not reliably enough.
Ceri
--
you can't see when light's so strong
you can't see when light is gone
At 2:37 PM +0100 2002/10/20, Ceri Davies wrote: >On Sat, Oct 19, 2002 at 06:29:34PM -0400, Chris Pepper wrote: > >> Note: The functionality of this program is now available in the ntpd(8) >> program. See the -q command line option in the ntpd(8) page. After a >> suitable period of mourning, the ntpdate program is to be retired from >> this distribution. > >I seem to remember a discussion regarding this about six months or so ago, >where the outcome was that ntpd -q does *not* do the same thing, or at least >not reliably enough. Then ntpdate.8 needs to be amended to state that ntpd is in process of taking over for ntpdate, rather than being a complete drop-in replacement at present. Chris > Note: The functionality of this program is now available in the ntpd(8) > program. See the -q command line option in the ntpd(8) page. After a > suitable period of mourning, the ntpdate program is to be retired from > this distribution. -- Chris Pepper: <http://www.reppep.com/~pepper/> Rockefeller University: <http://www.rockefeller.edu/> Responsible Changed From-To: freebsd-bugs->roberto Assign to ntp maintainer Hi, I just had a side comment on this PR. The note about ntpdate being obsolete is correct, but not because ntpd now acts as a drop in replacement. Rather, ntpd provides a much more reliable and stable service that is less likely to cause problems for everyone involved. It should definitely become the default time chime program. Using ntpdate just at boot time is not advisable as computer clocks these days are not particularly reliable, and drift will accumulate over a matter of days and weeks, resulting in significant differences between systems and wierd behaviors. If you use ntpdate periodically, such as from a cron job, you're doing essentially the same work that ntpd does, yet with high overhead and less accuracy. Net: ntpd is a win, and ntpdate should be phased out. Certainly ntpd should be the FreeBSD default. Regards, Tony According to http://support.ntp.org/bin/view/Dev/DeprecatingNtpdate /usr/bin/sntp can now be used instead of ntpdate. For bugs matching the following criteria: Status: In Progress Changed: (is less than) 2014-06-01 Reset to default assignee and clear in-progress tags. Mail being skipped The ntp project declared ntpdate to be deprecated almost 20 years ago. Despite that, they show no signs of removing it, and instead have been actively maintaining it. |
/etc/defaults/rc.conf suggests ntpdate, but ntpdate(8) says it's been superseded by ntpd. [www:~] root# grep -i ntp /etc/defaults/rc.conf ntpdate_enable="NO" # Run ntpdate to sync time on boot (or NO). ntpdate_program="/usr/sbin/ntpdate" # path to ntpdate, if you want a different one. ntpdate_flags="-b" # Flags to ntpdate (if enabled). xntpd_enable="NO" # Run ntpd Network Time Protocol (or NO). xntpd_program="/usr/sbin/ntpd" # path to ntpd, if you want a different one. xntpd_flags="-p /var/run/ntpd.pid" # Flags to ntpd (if enabled). [www:~] pepper> man ntpdate NTPDATE(8) FreeBSD System Manager's Manual NTPDATE(8) NAME ntpdate - set the date and time via NTP SYNOPSIS ntpdate [-bBdoqsuv] [-a key] [-e authdelay] [-k keyfile] [-o version] DESCRIPTION Note: The functionality of this program is now available in the ntpd(8) program. See the -q command line option in the ntpd(8) page. After a suitable period of mourning, the ntpdate program is to be retired from this distribution. Fix: Change ntpdate_program in /etc/defaults/rc.conf to ntpd and clear ntpdate_flags, since -b means something entirely different between ntpdate and ntpd. This assumes that ntpd is otherwise a suitable replacement for ntpd, which I understand from its man page, but have not confirmed personally. How-To-Repeat: grep ntp /etc/defaults/rc.conf man ntpdate