getting ntp to auto start on reboot
 

Hi,

On RedHat 7.3, running as a server (no graphical interface), I configured ntp.

I managed to winkle out all I needed to know to get it to work the way I wanted - syncing with official timeservers, providing time service to the rest of my network.

Now I want to get ntp to start when the machine reboots.

I thought I had it figured out, and did the following :
~ changed "-" to "2345" in /etc/rc.d/init.d/ntpd (inittab says id:3:initdefault: )
~ did /sbin/chkconfig --add ntpd
(response to that last command was right back to prompt. there was no error messages. there was also no success message...)

Then I rebooted. Did ps -ax | grep ntp. That returned nothing.

When I do /sbin/chkconfig --list ntpd, I get "off" for all levels.

Just now, reading a previous post about getting mysql to auto-start, I looked at the entries in rc2-5.d. In all those directories, the link to /etc/rc.d/init.d/ntpd is named K74ntpd.

I think I know that the linkname must start with S for the service to be started. I thought that chkconfig, as manager of the links, would cause that to be the case.

So, 2 questions :
~ Why did "/sbin/chkconfig --add ntpd" not work?
~ Is it safe to manually rename the current link to S74ntpd? (This server is a vital link in our DNS system. I don't want to thrash about thoughtlessly...)

TIA...

I don't know abot rh7.3, but in fc5, you would use

chkconfig ntpd on

to have ntpd start automatically

(typing chkconfig --list after this should show it set to on)

--add would seem to add the service to chkconfig's "list" of services (ie so it shows up in chkconfig --list), not activate it per se

K74ntpd defines what happens on shutdown (K = kill), whereas there should be a corresponding S entry (S = startup). These should be OK by default I'd have thought

thanks... that got me over the hump.

I'd taken note of the on|off|reset syntax in the man page, but got side-tracked with the --add switch...

I see now, the "2345" setting in the ntpd init file in init.d gets read when you do chkconfig <service> reset. Reading that setting writes the files in the rc2-5.d directories.

I didn't actually try "on" - still had the idea that was temporary, lost when the sytem re-started... I guess what actually happens is it writes the S and/or K file in the specified (or current level, if not specified?) runlevel directory...

anyway, thanks!