Problems trying to syncronize with NTP server

goldmine · 12-06-2012, 10:54 AM

I am experiencing similar issues. I have a fresh Ubuntu 12.04 server and installed ntp and ntpdate.

Now when I run:

Code:

service ntp status

I get

Code:

* NTP server is not running

When

Code:

service ntp restart

I get

Code:

* Stopping NTP server ntpd   
start-stop-daemon: warning: failed to kill 25164: No such process
                                                                                                                                                                [ OK ]
 * Starting NTP server ntpd                                                                                                                       [ OK ]

When I check the status it is still not running

Code:

* NTP server is not running

When I try

Code:

ntpq -pn

I get

Code:

ntpq: read: Connection refused

Here is the content of /etc/ntpd.conf

Code:

# /etc/ntp.conf, configuration for ntpd; see ntp.conf(5) for help

driftfile /var/lib/ntp/ntp.drift

# Enable this if you want statistics to be logged.
# statsdir /var/log/ntpstats/

statistics loopstats peerstats clockstats
filegen loopstats file loopstats type day enable
filegen peerstats file peerstats type day enable
filegen clockstats file clockstats type day enable

# Specify one or more NTP servers.

# Use servers from the NTP Pool Project.
server 0.ubuntu.pool.ntp.org
server 1.ubuntu.pool.ntp.org
server 2.ubuntu.pool.ntp.org
server 3.ubuntu.pool.ntp.org

# Use Ubuntu's ntp server as a fallback.
server ntp.ubuntu.com

# By default, exchange time with everybody, but don't allow configuration.
restrict -4 default kod notrap nomodify nopeer noquery
restrict -6 default kod notrap nomodify nopeer noquery

# Local users may interrogate the ntp server more closely.
restrict 127.0.0.1
restrict ::1

# Clients from this (example!) subnet have unlimited access, but only if
# cryptographically authenticated.
#restrict 192.168.123.0 mask 255.255.255.0 notrust


# If you want to provide time to your local subnet, change the next line.
# (Again, the address is an example only.)
#broadcast 192.168.123.255

# If you want to listen to time broadcasts on your local subnet, de-comment the
# next lines.  Please do this only if you trust everybody on the network!
#disable auth
#broadcastclient

Any help will be very much appreciated!

robertjinx · 12-06-2012, 03:38 PM

Whats the output of /var/log/syslog when you try to restart or start ntp?

goldmine · 12-07-2012, 06:10 AM

Thanks Robert for getting back to me. Here is the output sequence that I get in /var/log/syslog just after restarting the service. It seems that the last 2 lines are where the problem resides (segmentation fault). No idea why that is though.

Dec 6 18:15:07 ******** ntpd[28292]: ntpd 4.2.6p3@1.2290-o Tue Jun 5 20:12:08 UTC 2012 (1)
Dec 6 18:15:07 ******** ntpd[28293]: proto: precision = 0.108 usec
Dec 6 18:15:07 ******** ntpd[28293]: ntp_io: estimated max descriptors: 1024, initial socket boundary: 16
Dec 6 18:15:07 ******** ntpd[28293]: Listen and drop on 0 v4wildcard 0.0.0.0 UDP 123
Dec 6 18:15:07 ******** ntpd[28293]: Listen and drop on 1 v6wildcard :: UDP 123
Dec 6 18:15:07 ******** ntpd[28293]: Listen normally on 2 lo 127.0.0.1 UDP 123
Dec 6 18:15:07 ******** ntpd[28293]: Listen normally on 3 eth0 37.59.xxx.xxx UDP 123
Dec 6 18:15:07 ******** ntpd[28293]: Listen normally on 4 eth0:0 87.98.xxx.xxx UDP 123
Dec 6 18:15:07 ******** ntpd[28293]: Listen normally on 5 eth0 fe80::4e72:b9ff:xxxx:xxxx UDP 123
Dec 6 18:15:07 ******** ntpd[28293]: Listen normally on 6 eth0 2001:41d0:xxxx:xxxx::1 UDP 123
Dec 6 18:15:07 ******** ntpd[28293]: Listen normally on 7 lo ::1 UDP 123
Dec 6 18:15:07 ******** ntpd[28293]: peers refreshed
Dec 6 18:15:07 ******** ntpd[28293]: Listening on routing socket on fd #24 for interface updates
Dec 6 18:15:09 ******** ntpd[28293]: Deleting interface #7 lo, ::1#123, interface stats: received=0, sent=0, dropped=0, active_time=2 secs
Dec 6 18:15:09 ******** ntpd[28293]: Deleting interface #6 eth0, 2001:41d0:xxxx:xxxx::1#123, interface stats: received=0, sent=0, dropped=0, active_time=2 secs
Dec 6 18:15:09 ******** ntpd[28293]: 2001:4b98:dc0:47:216:3eff:xxxx:xxxx interface 2001:41d0:xxxx:xxxx::1 -> (none)
Dec 6 18:15:09 ******** kernel: ntpd[28293]: segfault at 8 ip 00007f29dc285e5e sp 00007fffddea9890 error 4 in ntpd[7f29dc268000+97000]
Dec 6 18:15:09 ******** kernel: grsec: From 109.128.209.161: Segmentation fault occurred at 0000000000000008 in /usr/sbin/ntpd[ntpd:28293] uid/euid:106/106 gid/egid:110/110, parent /sbin/init[init:1] uid/euid

robertjinx · 12-07-2012, 06:53 AM

Here is your problem:

Code:

Dec 6 18:15:09 ******** kernel: ntpd[28293]: segfault at 8 ip 00007f29dc285e5e sp 00007fffddea9890 error 4 in ntpd[7f29dc268000+97000]
Dec 6 18:15:09 ******** kernel: grsec: From 109.128.209.161: Segmentation fault occurred at 0000000000000008 in /usr/sbin/ntpd[ntpd:28293] uid/euid:106/106 gid/egid:110/110, parent /sbin/init[init:1] uid/euid

You're running some grsec patched kernel? Maybe thats your issue. I'm refering to this: http://grsecurity.net/. Maybe you should configure your system or switch the kernel to something without the grsec patches.

goldmine · 12-07-2012, 08:09 AM

Thanks again for the reply. I am relatively new to Linux, so about the grsec patch I presume but I don't know. This is a dedicated server from OVH and comes with an Ubuntu 12.04 installation. Do you have any idea how I could configure grsec?

robertjinx · 12-07-2012, 08:13 AM

Get the output of "uname -a" command.

goldmine · 12-07-2012, 09:39 AM

Here is the output of the uname -a command:
Linux xxxxxxxxx.com 3.2.13-grsec-xxxx-grs-ipv6-64 #1 SMP Thu Mar 29 09:48:59 UTC 2012 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

robertjinx · 12-07-2012, 11:39 AM

Yep, you have a patched kernel with grsec patches. You should read online how to setup it up. If it's a dedicated server then you can always installed a Ubuntu vanilla kernel (without the grsec patches).