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Date:      Tue, 14 Jul 2015 14:31:40 -0400
From:      Charles Sprickman <spork@bway.net>
To:        Paul Mather <paul@gromit.dlib.vt.edu>
Cc:        krad <kraduk@gmail.com>, freebsd-stable <freebsd-stable@freebsd.org>
Subject:   Re: Circular dependency between local_unbound and ntpd?
Message-ID:  <BA6C16E2-2EBF-4B30-9B1B-1C36A889AE3C@bway.net>
In-Reply-To: <E6BF2A3D-01CA-4AE5-AB3D-883ADE3DF26C@gromit.dlib.vt.edu>
References:  <EDD17B95-0EA7-4C97-836D-7707416C0F07@gromit.dlib.vt.edu> <CALfReye4Byhv0dX%2B2JVm=CEuAPnDitYOwgBFm_071Qwg_jvP_g@mail.gmail.com> <E6BF2A3D-01CA-4AE5-AB3D-883ADE3DF26C@gromit.dlib.vt.edu>

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On Jul 14, 2015, at 10:47 AM, Paul Mather <paul@gromit.dlib.vt.edu> =
wrote:

> On Jul 14, 2015, at 10:33 AM, krad <kraduk@gmail.com> wrote:
>>=20
>> As
>>=20
>> $ grep REQUIRE /etc/rc.d/ntpd
>> # REQUIRE: DAEMON ntpdate FILESYSTEMS devfs
>>=20
>>=20
>> You could set something similar to the following in the rc.conf
>>=20
>> ntpdate_hosts=3D"a.b.c.d w.x.y.z"
>> ntpdate_enable=3Dyes
>=20
> Thanks for that suggestion.  I assume the "a.b.c.d w.x.y.z" are IP =
addresses, not hostnames, otherwise we'd have the same problem.
>=20
> The /etc/rc.d/ntpdate startup script has a "REQUIRE: NETWORKING ..." =
and /etc/rc.d/local_unbound has a "BEFORE: NETWORKING" in it, meaning it =
will be running before ntpdate runs.  That means DNS resolution will =
require an accurate clock and, I assume, mean that ntpdate will require =
IP addresses, too?
>=20
> So, it still comes down to this: do I need to know the IP address of =
an NTP server to be able to use local_unbound safely with NTP?

Hopefully not.  I have a client with a number of Mikrotik routers =
sprinkled around upstate.  They did not have an NTP server to point to, =
so I used a pool server.  Mikrotik will take a hostname, but it saves an =
IP.  A year later I see a few not reestablish OpenVPN connections after =
power failures, spend an hour troubleshooting, turns out that those IPs =
were no longer NTP servers, the box thought it was 1970, and that causes =
the VPN to fail.

TL;DR, don=92t save NTP servers by IP in config files.

Charles

>=20
> Cheers,
>=20
> Paul.
>=20
>=20
>>=20
>>=20
>>=20
>>=20
>> On 14 July 2015 at 14:43, Paul Mather <paul@gromit.dlib.vt.edu =
<mailto:paul@gromit.dlib.vt.edu>> wrote:
>> I believe I ran afoul of a circular dependency between local_unbound =
and ntpd on my 10.2-PRERELEASE system.  I use a stock /etc/ntp.conf and =
use ntpd_sync_on_start=3D"YES".
>>=20
>> Last night, a BIOS settings reset cause my CMOS clock to go WAY out =
of synch for the first time.  No problem, I thought: NTP will correct it =
at boot.
>>=20
>> Wrong!
>>=20
>> When my system booted, the time was not corrected.  Also, DNS =
resolution was not working.  I figured out it was because local_unbound =
relies on an accurately set clock, but the clock could not be set =
accurately because my stock ntp.conf requires working DNS resolution to =
reach the NTP servers.
>>=20
>> That sounds like a potential circular dependency to me.
>>=20
>> My workaround at the time was to look up 0.freebsd.pool.ntp.org =
<http://0.freebsd.pool.ntp.org/>; on another system; stop ntpd; then do a =
ntpdate using the IP addresses to set the clock. Once the clock was set =
accurately, things were all hunky dory.
>>=20
>> Does anyone have any suggestion for an automatic way around this?  I =
guess one way would be to put the IP address of an NTP server into my =
ntp.conf file, so at least one would be reachable without needing a =
working DNS?
>>=20
>> My main concern is for those systems like my Raspberry Pi and =
Beaglebone Black that don't have a battery-backed clock.  I currently =
don't use local_unbound on those, but it seems like I'd encounter this =
problem routinely if I did.
>>=20
>> Cheers,
>>=20
>> Paul.
>> _______________________________________________
>> freebsd-stable@freebsd.org <mailto:freebsd-stable@freebsd.org> =
mailing list
>> http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-stable =
<http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-stable>;
>> To unsubscribe, send any mail to =
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>>=20
>=20
> _______________________________________________
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> To unsubscribe, send any mail to =
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