Symmetricom Time Server user manual Cross Check Functionality with Ntpq and Ntpdc

Appendix A: NTP Version 3, NTPQ, and NTPDC Cross Check Functionality with NTPQ and NTPDC

A.3 Cross Check Functionality with NTPQ and NTPDC

Note: A number of NTP-related programs, such as NTPDC and NTPQ, are not supported, in the conventional sense, by Dr. Mills’ NTP, and therefore cannot be supported by Symmetricom, Inc. (TrueTime, Inc. is now Symmetricom, Inc.) The user of these programs does so at his or her own risk.

NTPQ and NTPDC are query programs used to obtain TimeVault’s offset, relative to any server for which the unit is configured (page 3-36or page 4-69show where this list is located in the "ntp.conf" file), as well as information about any of the unit’s synchronization sources, such as ACTS. A separate SNMP alarm (trapMsg7, see ) notifies you when the TimeVault offset is greater than 1 second relative to the first NTP server in the ntp.conf file list, and the server is not otherwise in an alarm condition.

If you enable TimeVault’s Remote Lock feature, you disable all settable features of NTPQ and

NTPDC.

A.3.1 NTPQ

NTPQ is a query program that uses the standard protocol defined in RFC-1305 to diagnose and repair problems that affect the operation of NTP. NTPQ uses NTP mode 6 (control mode) packets to query NTP servers (and any compatible servers on the network that permit it) about current state, as well as to request changes in that state. NTPQ can also obtain and print a list of peers in a common format by sending multiple queries to the server.

A.3.2 NTPDC

NTPDC is a special query program that uses NTP mode 7 (private mode) packets to provide extensive state and statistics information and can be used to set configuration options at run time.

The NTP daemon sends information about the current calculated offset between its time and the time of each of its NTP peers. The NTPDC command formats the information on the standard output.

TimeVault uses NTP v. 4.0. Do not mix NTP v. 3.0 and NTP v. 4.0 utilities and daemons. For example, the NTPDC program cannot be used to monitor the XNTP daemon. To monitor the XNTP daemon, use either NTPQ or XNTPDC. However, do not use XNTPDC to monitor NTP use NTPDC instead.

A.3.3 For more information

NTPQ and NTPDC are fully documented at the following Internet sites:

•NTPQ: http://www.eecis.udel.edu/~ntp/ntp_spool/html/ntpq.htm and

•http://www.doc.ic.ac.uk/~mac/manuals/hpux-manual-pages/hpux/usr/local/man/man8/ntpq.8.html

A-96 TimeVault™ User’s Manual 6000-100AppA.fm Rev. C