Lab: Hosting NTP Server

Start by doing a
   ping 10.10.10.2
to check if computer is reachable.

Which virtualisation software do you use ?

Hi delance,

Thanks, I'm running VM Workstation, and have the 2 instances of Ubuntu 9.10.
All traffic between the 2 instances are ok, running on the same vmnet.

It looks more as ntp configuration issue than network issue.

(http://www.malekal.com/ntp.html for myself)

Do you want to have:
     external ntp server -> local ntp server -> local client
or
     local ntp server -> local client

Can you post configuration files in this thread if they are not too big (else send to <email address hidden>) and give me the identity and version of ntp server you use) ? I will see what I can do.

Hi delance,

Actually, I just need to provide a local ntp server -> local client.

Because it is just a lab and to show that the NTP server is setup and functional.

The config is as posted in the original question.

driftfile /var/lib/ntp/ntp.drift
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

server 3.sg.pool.ntp.org

restrict -4 default kod notrap nomodify nopeer noquery
restrict -6 default kod notrap nomodify nopeer noquery

restrict 10.10.10.0 mask 255.255.255.0 nomodify notrap
restrict 127.0.0.1
restrict ::1

broadcast 10.10.10.255

Check in /etc/services you have lines
     ntp 123/tcp
     ntp 123/udp # Network Time Protocol
Check process ntpd is running.

Add in file /etc/ntp.conf:
     server 127.127.1.0
Reboot, and in a terminal, run
     ntpq -p
to check server.

I get:
root@lucid:~# ntpq -p
     remote refid st t when poll reach delay offset jitter
==============================================================================
*LOCAL(0) .LOCL. 5 l 20 64 17 0.000 0.000 0.001
root@lucid:~# ntptrace
localhost: stratum 6, offset 0.000000, synch distance 0.198386

(Note for me: http://www.funix.org/fr/linux/ntp.htm)

PS: what is your level in software ?

Hi delance,

I am a complete newbie in linux.

user@gandhi:/$ ntpq -p
     remote refid st t when poll reach delay offset jitter
==============================================================================
10.10.10.255 .BCST. 16 - - 64 0 0.000 0.000 0.031

user@gandhi:/$ ntptrace
ganghi: stratum 16, offset 0.000000, synch distance 0.044145

The 2 lines are in the service as stated.

I will try to clear the whole config file, and insert only a plain vanilla config as per your config reference.

Hi all,

As a last resort, I removed all configuration and am using the local clock as a reliable time source.

server 127.127.1.0

driftfile /var/lib/ntp/ntp.drift

restrict 127.0.0.1 mask 255.255.255.255

restrict 10.10.10.0 mask 255.255.255.0

user@gandhi:~$ sudo ntpq -p

remote refid st t when poll reach delay offset jitter
LOCAL(0) .LOCL. 5 l 10 64 7 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.002

However, doing a ntpdate 10.10.10.2 from the client still yields "no server suitable for synchronization found"

After managing to clear out all the DHCP cache, and also connecting via NAT to the internet, the server appears to work.
The client is now able to grab a reliable time from the NTP server.
While the NTP server is getting Stratum 2 time from an asian ntp pool.

Many thanks to all friends who have helped to guide me.