How do I synchronize clock on Linux?
 

On Windows XP the clock automatically synchronizes with some time server. How can I do that on SuSE 9.1?

I don't have Suse booted up right now so just guessing that it's the same for Redhat. :(

Right click on the clock ( lower right of screen )
Select: Adjust Date & Time...
Select: Date & Time tab
[X] Enable Network Time Protocol
Server______________

I tried but it brings up YAST to change the time, date, region and time zone. That's all it lets me change.

This is just one thing out of a growing stack of little anoyances in SuSE. I'm about a c*nt hair from switching distros. Maybe Mandrake.

maybe you dont have the ntp client installed ?

the feates on right clicking the clock are of the desktop environment (kde / gnome)
changinf distro wont make any difference if it sues same desktop environment.

I have it installed but it says "Your network connection must be started before the NTP daemon starts." in YAST. I have dialup.

then start your dialup ocnnection before starting ntp.

The ntpdate command can manually set the clock. Then you do not need to run the ntpd deamon.

Another posibility is to use ntpdate in a daily cronjob. It is particularly useful since you avoid having a deamon running all the time and the time barely drops out of sync in one day.

How do I set up a cronjob? Is there a user friendly GUI in SuSE I can use or am I going to have to whip out the Konsole?

There is a utility called chrony, which, when properly setup (easy) will automagically synchronize with the atomic clocks you specify in the config file anytime you connect to the internet. It is designed specifically for intermittent internet connections such as dialup. The documentation includes examples of config file entries to make. You can get lists of atomic clocks around the world to which you can synchronize. Just google up "public ntp time servers" to find and download a list of servers.

Once it's setup, it runs in background. Does it all for you.

A cronjob will run a task at a specific time. It will run anyway even if your not connected. I've never used dialup with linux but I do believe you can run a command after the dialer connects.