4

We have a Debian webserver that I am trying to use ntpdate to keep the time in sync.

When I run 

ntpdate ntp0.cs.mu.oz.au

I receive

16 Sep 10:55:36 ntpdate[21626]: step time server 128.250.36.2 offset 318.914011 sec

With no errors, which should be a good thing, I think...

When I check the time again though, it's not changed.

I am also unable to set the time manually using

date --set 11:00:00

So I have a feeling there are other issues.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Update

Sorry for the bum steer guys, this machine is a XenServer VM, which I managed to forget.

After updating the Host clock, the VM time is now correct.

Thanks for your replies. Thanks.

LukeR
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  • Not related to the original request, but... note that ntp0.cs.mu.oz.au has now been discontinued and stopped responding to queries. I suggest using au.pool.ntp.org instead. – Wilson Jan 15 '10 at 06:39

5 Answers5

9

I have been through this before.

Try (on domU):

echo 1 > /proc/sys/xen/independent_wallclock

and try updating the time again.

Karolis T.
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1

Try by this procedure:

Stop the ntpd service first: 

service ntpd stop

Now update the local time

ntpdate "server name"

and after this start the service:

service ntdp start
user9517
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Pankaj Arora
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1

Did the time change when you set the new time using date?

Try and check the machine hardware clock. (man hwclock)

Muhammad
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1

Try running ntpdate on an unprivileged port (in case you are running ntpd), otherwise it will refuse make any changes.

ntpdate -u ntp0.cs.mu.oz.au
Xerxes
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0

Have you given it time? Generally ntp will slowly adjust the time so when you look at logs things still make sense, and applications don't get messed up. This is called slewing, you can read about it in 'man ntpdate' or RFC 1305.

"Time adjustments are made by ntpdate in one of two ways. If ntpdate determines the clock is in error more than 0.5 second it will simply step the time by calling the system settimeofday() rou‐ tine. If the error is less than 0.5 seconds, it will slew the time by calling the system adjtime() routine. The latter technique is less disruptive and more accurate when the error is small, and works quite well when ntpdate is run by cron every hour or two."

Kyle Brandt
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