[SOLVED] ntp, timedatectl ...

DBabo · 11-12-2017, 09:44 PM

all i'm trying to do is to keep my machine synced with an ntp server.
apparently just enabling ntp service is not good enough/not right/not modern/not prestige/not something else.
And i should be using the timedatectl with systemd-timesyncd.

i read the manual and a few articles and clearly i'm not understanding how it should work.

My understanding:
instead of ntp i should use systemd-timesyncd together with timedatectl. To get time/date sync with network ntp service, i need to (remove ntp package first) enable systemd-timesyncd service and enable syncing of the date/time in the timedatectl.

Question:
and why once i do the above systemd-timesync is dead? isn't it suppose to run and keep the time in sync ??
and why do i get :
Network time on: yes
NTP synchronized: yes

even-though the systemd service is dead/idle ?

Code:

[root@server ~]# systemctl status systemd-timesyncd
● systemd-timesyncd.service - Network Time Synchronization
   Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/systemd-timesyncd.service; disabled; vendor preset: disabled)
   Active: active (running) since Sun 2017-11-12 21:33:18 EST; 22s ago
     Docs: man:systemd-timesyncd.service(8)
 Main PID: 14304 (systemd-timesyn)
   Status: "Synchronized to time server 204.2.134.164:123 (0.fedora.pool.ntp.org)."
    Tasks: 2 (limit: 4915)
   CGroup: /system.slice/systemd-timesyncd.service
           └─14304 /usr/lib/systemd/systemd-timesyncd

Nov 12 21:33:18 server.home systemd[1]: Starting Network Time Synchronization...
Nov 12 21:33:18 server.home systemd[1]: Started Network Time Synchronization.
Nov 12 21:33:19 server.home systemd-timesyncd[14304]: Synchronized to time server 204.2.134.164:123 (0.fedora.pool.ntp.org).
[root@server ~]# timedatectl set-ntp true
[root@server ~]# 
[root@server ~]# 
[root@server ~]# 
[root@server ~]# systemctl status systemd-timesyncd
● systemd-timesyncd.service - Network Time Synchronization
   Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/systemd-timesyncd.service; disabled; vendor preset: disabled)
   Active: inactive (dead) since Sun 2017-11-12 21:33:53 EST; 4s ago
     Docs: man:systemd-timesyncd.service(8)
 Main PID: 14304 (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS)
   Status: "Idle."

Nov 12 21:33:18 server.home systemd[1]: Starting Network Time Synchronization...
Nov 12 21:33:18 server.home systemd[1]: Started Network Time Synchronization.
Nov 12 21:33:19 server.home systemd-timesyncd[14304]: Synchronized to time server 204.2.134.164:123 (0.fedora.pool.ntp.org).
Nov 12 21:33:53 server.home systemd[1]: Stopping Network Time Synchronization...
Nov 12 21:33:53 server.home systemd[1]: Stopped Network Time Synchronization.
[root@server ~]# timedatectl status
      Local time: Sun 2017-11-12 21:34:04 EST
  Universal time: Mon 2017-11-13 02:34:04 UTC
        RTC time: Mon 2017-11-13 02:33:44
       Time zone: America/New_York (EST, -0500)
 Network time on: yes
NTP synchronized: yes
 RTC in local TZ: no

syg00 · 11-12-2017, 10:08 PM

Don't know wher you got that idea. In my F26 it's all handled automagically by chronyd.
Set options in Settings -> Date and Time, and off you go.

I should add this is gnome.

michaelk · 11-12-2017, 10:30 PM

systemd-timesyncd uses sntp which is a less complex implementation of the ntp protocol. It is a client only.
You can use either service but they can not run at the same time. Is ntp installed and running?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network_Time_Protocol

DBabo · 11-12-2017, 11:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by michaelk

systemd-timesyncd uses sntp which is a less complex implementation of the ntp protocol. It is a client only.
You can use either service but they can not run at the same time. Is ntp installed and running?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network_Time_Protocol

I took ntp out (uninstalled). What i dont underatand is why after enabling ntp in datetiemectl the systemd service dies?// see the code above. And sorry for typeoff im on mobile.

DBabo · 11-12-2017, 11:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by syg00

Don't know wher you got that idea. In my F26 it's all handled automagically by chronyd.
Set options in Settings -> Date and Time, and off you go.

I should add this is gnome.

Sorry, not sure what idea you r referring to. Im on f26 too, and assumed that im in sync , but i guess, i forgot to enable when upgraded(odd actually, since i always do that).
I cant see how its done in gui tools at the moment, and to be frank, more curious what iz it under the hood now.

michaelk · 11-13-2017, 08:32 AM

syg00 is correct chronyd is the default ntp client and therefore the reason why timesyncd is inactive.

https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Featu...ronyDefaultNTP

For chronyd's status
systemctl status chronyd

DBabo · 11-13-2017, 10:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by michaelk

syg00 is correct chronyd is the default ntp client and therefore the reason why timesyncd is inactive.

https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Featu...ronyDefaultNTP

For chronyd's status
systemctl status chronyd

Arh, i didnt read syg00's post properly! Thank you for pointing out. Now everyrhing adds up. Thank you gents!

DBabo · 11-13-2017, 02:38 PM

looks like chrony is the way forward.
https://access.redhat.com/documentat...e_chrony_suite