how to test my ntp server .. whether it is working or not ??

try to access services on it?

Nothing to do with security - moved to Server.

There are 2 methods that can be used;

To see if the daemon is active, from a consol do;

top

do;

q

to quit.

This will show running processes and amongst them should be ntp

To show the status of the ntp daemon, again in a consol, do;

ntpq -p

This will show the status of your ntp and the preferred time source.

Also you can check with some portscan tool if UDP port 123 is open to make sure no firewall is blocking the service.

How do I check NTP is working on a new board. What are the services I need to check? How do I check them?

I am somewhat confused by your question.

All motherboards have a time chip built into them known as the System clock. When you setup the bios you set the date and time. That said they are never accurate and all have inherent drift. i.e. run too fast or slow.

ntp is a software based service that maintains the accuracy of the system clock automatically. ntp uses either primary (atomic clock) or secondary time servers to calculate the time drift of the system clock and then apply corrections based on the drift. I addition it compares its time with the designated reference clock at regular intervals. All this is done automatically once ntp has been installed. This is provided that you have a continuous connection to the Internet as this is an Internet based service.

ntp is a server layer and initiated on system boot if installed. This fact is stated in the boot log. You can check the status through the command line using a terminal with the command;

ntp -q

Hope this covers it for you.

1 members found this post helpful.

Thanks...that was useful information.


So if NTP was present then i would find traces of it in the bootlog? If I find traces on ntp in the bootlog can i confirm that ntp is present and running?


The command ntp -q is not found is not found on the board.

ntp is not installed as a standard application on all distros. If the ntp query is negative on your system then likely it is not present and you must install it. Most distros configure their ntp app to specific time servers so they work without much configuration required.

So I can only test its functionality after installing it on the board?

What about SLP protocol...how can I check if it is working...

ntp is normally installed in /etc as ntp.conf and initiated on boot through /etc/init.d/ntp on Debian systems.
If the command ntp -q is telling you that ntp is not found then this would indicate that it is not installed. The system log or boot log file will also tell you if ntp is started. There is also an ntp log file in /var/log if ntp is installed.
Use your package manager to install ntp. If is present it will tell that it is already installed.