Network Time Protocol NTP
NTP is a utility program used to query NTP servers which hep format the current time and request changes to that time. Why is this important?? Having a constant time throughout a network helps with troubleshooting and gives the administrator a commonality when looking at problem spots within a network.
The first thing to do is download and install the NTP package. An RPM version can be found on the sh-linux.org web site. Once the file is downloaded run the command rpm -Uvh ~/ntp-4.1.1-1.src.rpm.
The /etc/ntp.conf file is the main configuration file for Linux's NTP where you put the IP addresses that you want to configure with. A listing of the servers with which to sync with can be found at the eecis.udel.edu site. After you have made your changes save the file and restart the NTP server with the command /etc/init.d/ntpd restart.
To test that the NTP server is running type pgrep ntpd you should get the process number for the NTP process. Also trying using the command ntpq -p if the result set shows no IP addresses this is a good telltale sign that the NTP server is not updating properly.
An issue to be aware of is in Fedore Core 2 file permissions are not set within the /etc directory and you will have to set the owner and group to be "ntp". Another issue is to be aware that NTP servers communicate using UDP through port 123 and sometimes a firewall will have this port blocked off. If you are having a problem communicating, check the firewall to see if it is allowing communication through this port.
************ Update
Linux.com has ran an article concerning this same subject through their Command Line Series.
The first thing to do is download and install the NTP package. An RPM version can be found on the sh-linux.org web site. Once the file is downloaded run the command rpm -Uvh ~/ntp-4.1.1-1.src.rpm.
The /etc/ntp.conf file is the main configuration file for Linux's NTP where you put the IP addresses that you want to configure with. A listing of the servers with which to sync with can be found at the eecis.udel.edu site. After you have made your changes save the file and restart the NTP server with the command /etc/init.d/ntpd restart.
To test that the NTP server is running type pgrep ntpd you should get the process number for the NTP process. Also trying using the command ntpq -p if the result set shows no IP addresses this is a good telltale sign that the NTP server is not updating properly.
An issue to be aware of is in Fedore Core 2 file permissions are not set within the /etc directory and you will have to set the owner and group to be "ntp". Another issue is to be aware that NTP servers communicate using UDP through port 123 and sometimes a firewall will have this port blocked off. If you are having a problem communicating, check the firewall to see if it is allowing communication through this port.
************ Update
Linux.com has ran an article concerning this same subject through their Command Line Series.
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