Hi Experts,

I see this error in a couple of redhat server.
# service ntpd status
ntpd dead but pid file exists

ntp o/p's
[root@vikuat_Linux ~]# ntpq -p
remote refid st t when poll reach delay offset jitter
==============================================================================
+120-88-47-10.in 103.1.106.69 2 u 4 64 177 252.902 -83.351 140.147
*time1.scl3.mozi .GPS. 1 u 119 64 76 667.023 -14.453 104.695
LOCAL(0) .LOCL. 10 l 1 64 77 0.000 0.000 0.000
[root@vikuat_Linux ~]# ntpstat
synchronised to NTP server (63.245.214.135) at stratum 2
time correct to within 129 ms
polling server every 64 s
[root@vikuat_Linux ~]#

RedHat version:-
# more /etc/redhat-release
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server release 6.1 (Santiago)

Linux Kernel Version:-
# uname -a
Linux vikuat_Linux 2.6.32-131.0.15.el6.x86_64 #1 SMP Tue May 10 15:42:40 EDT 2011 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

Logs in /var/log/messages
Sep 29 03:37:34 vikuat_Linux ntpd[9411]: offset 0.034814 sec freq -100.532 ppm error 0.202127 poll 10
Sep 29 03:43:03 vikuat_Linux ntpd[9411]: time reset +0.139536 s
607 Sep 29 03:43:03 vikuat_Linux ntpd[9411]: system event 'event_clock_reset' (0x05) status 'sync_alarm, sync_unspec, 10 events, event_peer/strat_chg' (0xc0a4)
608 Sep 29 03:43:03 vikuat_Linux ntpd[9411]: system event 'event_peer/strat_chg' (0x04) status 'sync_alarm, sync_unspec, 11 events, event_clock_reset' (0xc0b5)
Sep 29 03:43:17 vikuat_Linux ntpd[9411]: peer 120.88.47.10 event 'event_reach' (0x84) status 'unreach, conf, 3 events, event_reach' (0x8034)
Sep 29 03:43:22 vikuat_Linux ntpd[9411]: peer LOCAL(0) event 'event_reach' (0x84) status 'unreach, conf, 3 events, event_reach' (0x8034)
Sep 29 05:37:35 vikuat_Linux ntpd[9411]: offset -0.051772 sec freq -91.758 ppm error 0.141176 poll 8

AND, then I see lot of these messages under the same sections:-
Sep 29 11:37:35 vikuat_Linux gdm-binary[1905]: WARNING: Couldn't connect to system bus: Failed to connect to socket /var/run/dbus/system_bus_socket: Connection refused
10123 Sep 29 11:37:38 vikuat_Linux gdm-binary[1905]: WARNING: Couldn't connect to system bus: Failed to connect to socket /var/run/dbus/system_bus_socket: Connection refused
10124 Sep 29 11:37:41 vikuat_Linux gdm-binary[1905]: WARNING: Couldn't connect to system bus: Failed to connect to socket /var/run/dbus/system_bus_socket: Connection refused
10125 Sep 29 11:37:44 vikuat_Linux gdm-binary[1905]: WARNING: Couldn't connect to system bus: Failed to connect to socket /var/run/dbus/system_bus_socket: Connection refused
10126 Sep 29 11:37:47 vikuat_Linux gdm-binary[1905]: WARNING: Couldn't connect to system bus: Failed to connect to socket /var/run/dbus/system_bus_socket: Connection refused
10127 Sep 29 11:37:50 vikuat_Linux gdm-binary[1905]: WARNING: Couldn't connect to system bus: Failed to connect to socket /var/run/dbus/system_bus_socket: Connection refused
10128 Sep 29 11:37:53 vikuat_Linux gdm-binary[1905]: WARNING: Couldn't connect to system bus: Failed to connect to socket /var/run/dbus/system_bus_socket: Connection

Could this be the reason for ntpd error message ? I am not sure about this, your expert advice would be highly appreciated.

Also is it preferable to use ntpdate rather than ntpd. I recently moved the ntpdate to ntpd.

Since when?
What happened at that point (network, servers, configuration, updates)?


GDM is the Graphical Display Manager. NTPd does not rely on GDM.
D-Bus is a message bus system. NTPd does not rely on D-Bus AFAIK.


You hold the RHCE so I suggest you present a brief description of both applications, and their benefits (and drawbacks if any) with respect to usage.


You did WHAT?