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Date:      Tue, 4 May 2021 09:58:41 -0400
From:      Paul Mather <paul@gromit.dlib.vt.edu>
To:        bob prohaska <fbsd@www.zefox.net>
Cc:        tech-lists <tech-lists@zyxst.net>, freebsd-arm@freebsd.org
Subject:   Re: Timezone problems on -current
Message-ID:  <F93D8E92-C307-4799-8F6B-572D8184DD1A@gromit.dlib.vt.edu>
In-Reply-To: <20210504042024.GA42279@www.zefox.net>
References:  <20210503153442.GB37236@www.zefox.net> <YJCf00lvkp%2BUyamn@cloud.zyxst.net> <20210504015222.GE37236@www.zefox.net> <YJDB0KEogTC1hWkF@ceres.zyxst.net> <20210504042024.GA42279@www.zefox.net>

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On May 4, 2021, at 12:20 AM, bob prohaska <fbsd@www.zefox.net> wrote:

> On Tue, May 04, 2021 at 04:38:56AM +0100, tech-lists wrote:
>> On Mon, May 03, 2021 at 06:52:22PM -0700, bob prohaska wrote:
>>=20
>>> Up to now I've used only the line
>>> ntpdate_enable=3D"YES"
>>=20
>> Seems ntpdate isn't required if these are set in /etc/rc.conf
>>=20
>> ntpd_enable=3D"YES"
>> ntpd_sync_on_start=3D"YES"
>>=20
>> even on boards with no RTC.
>=20
> Indeed it looks as if ntpdate is going away, replaced by
> enhancements to ntpd.=20
>=20
> Still, I think the timekeeping errors are caused by a somewhat
> unconventional network setup on the machine having problems.
> The rest of the hosts in my "data center" use ntpdate and=20
> have no trouble keeping their clocks right, but those hosts
> all have wired ethernet. The host with the wrong clock setting
> uses an ethernet-to-wifi adapter. Can't be sure until more=20
> testing is done. And, I might be wrong again.....


The problem with ntpdate is that it is a one-time clock adjustment =
whereas ntpd is a continuous time monitoring/adjustment.  So, if your =
system has problems with clock drift or just keeping accurate time, =
ntpdate run on boot will not help in the long term.  Ntpd, on the other =
hand, will.

Note also that 'ntpd_sync_on_start=3D"YES"' is effectively the same as =
running ntpddate.  The 'ntpd_sync_on_start=3D"YES"' setting lets ntpd =
perform a one-time large step time adjustment (via the "-g" option), =
which is essentially what you are achieving when running ntpdate.  =
Normally, ntpd will baulk if the clock is off by 1000s, which can easily =
happen with systems that have no RTC, hence the need for the =
'ntpd_sync_on_start=3D"YES"' flag.

When I ran FreeBSD/arm, I used the net/ntimed port to maintain time, =
which is a simple, low-resource alternative to ntpd for keeping time on =
FreeBSD/arm clients.

Cheers,

Paul.




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