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    NTP server stopped working

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved General pfSense Questions
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    • GertjanG
      Gertjan @belrpr
      last edited by

      @belrpr said in NTP server stopped working:

      Anyone know how to debug the problem?

      Like : Windows 11 : (sorry; French GUI) :

      76eeee93-6b27-4326-9b4e-13ef1fe341ff-image.png

      where 192.168.1.1.is my pfSense router.

      NTP server and client setup :

      6be26b31-a281-4629-bdfd-f39e8ba914bb-image.png

      so the NTP server listens on my 3 LAN interfaces.

      Every LAN interface need to contain firewall rules that permit NTP traffic - probably UDP, destination port 123.

      Lets fact check :

      [24.03-RC][root@pfSense.bhf.tld]/usr/local/pkg: sockstat -4 | grep ':123'
      root     ntpd       77669 21  udp4   192.168.1.1:123       *:*
      root     ntpd       77669 25  udp4   192.168.2.1:123       *:*
      root     ntpd       77669 27  udp4   192.168.100.1:123     *:*
      root     ntpd       77669 31  udp4   127.0.0.1:123         *:*
      root     ntpd       77669 32  udp4   10.10.10.1:123        *:*
      

      and this proofs that the ntp daemon (== server) listens on all my LAN interfaces, port 123.

      AFAIK, there is not much more to it.
      Maybe this : check if the pool used is actualy usable :

      ec469a82-7baa-4487-8229-71a8d48533cb-image.png

      So, yes, it is, my ntp 'client' is active, and synced with an upstream NTP server : Active Peer 2001:41d0:801:2000::acb

      No "help me" PM's please. Use the forum, the community will thank you.
      Edit : and where are the logs ??

      B 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
      • B
        belrpr @Gertjan
        last edited by

        @Gertjan said in NTP server stopped working:

        ce need to contain firewall rules that permit NTP traffic - probably UD

        So I've checked all thing.
        The lan rule is very open so this should be a problem:
        a8142c24-7910-4fc2-9d6a-de57e55206e6-image.png

        These are my NTP settings:
        a1c07855-d699-46f7-8269-e1b0be960d7a-image.png

        Here is proof that it is listening:
        e81d83a4-88f8-4dd2-b973-37ec175ca75a-image.png

        My NTP status:
        63454f39-f820-4798-b4af-f46fb1faf582-image.png

        But when I try NTP tool to sync time it never gets an awnser:
        34d44d02-deb2-4247-a995-51b5b1f59d63-image.png

        when I query an external one it just works:
        c2988cc7-e0fd-4c22-8996-449b83e020eb-image.png

        And I always tested using NTP tool.

        Maybe noting that I have vlans for my guest and lan on a lag group of 2 fysical ports:
        a8b42453-ad0d-4a41-8feb-d6c0c404e4bf-image.png
        but this was from the beginning.

        GertjanG 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • GertjanG
          Gertjan @belrpr
          last edited by

          @belrpr

          Couldn't find NTPtool but found this :

          bd6bf5d1-dda7-4a58-9221-49065644bd7c-image.png

          Ok, I insisted. Found it .... ( normally, I wouldn't even consider installing this kind of pre Windows 7 software on a Windows 11 device ... ) but ok, and sure enough :

          a79816b0-c76b-437d-984c-353cc1a09f17-image.png

          Port already in use ?????
          WTF : this is - is it ? a client - not a server app ? A client doesn't 'bind to a port like that ..... Ditched NTP tool ....

          VLANs : never used them. if set up correctly, VLANs can't be an issue ;)

          Btw : what about :

          34f16d7e-cfae-41a4-9ec9-df5cba7fe267-image.png

          Hit start and now you see all incoming and outcoming LAN traffic using UDP on port 123 :

          Client (my PC, 192.168.1.6) asking and pfSense (192.168.1.1) replying :

          13:02:14.933372 IP (tos 0x0, ttl 128, id 25871, offset 0, flags [none], proto UDP (17), length 76)
              192.168.1.6.52162 > 192.168.1.1.123: [udp sum ok] NTPv3, Client, length 48
          	Leap indicator:  (0), Stratum 0 (unspecified), poll 0 (1s), precision 0
          	Root Delay: 0.000000, Root dispersion: 0.000000, Reference-ID: (unspec)
          	  Reference Timestamp:  0.000000000
          	  Originator Timestamp: 0.000000000
          	  Receive Timestamp:    0.000000000
          	  Transmit Timestamp:   3922434134.684999999 (2024-04-18T13:02:14Z)
          	    Originator - Receive Timestamp:  0.000000000
          	    Originator - Transmit Timestamp: 3922434134.684999999 (2024-04-18T13:02:14Z)
          13:02:14.933472 IP (tos 0xb8, ttl 64, id 29204, offset 0, flags [none], proto UDP (17), length 76)
              192.168.1.1.123 > 192.168.1.6.52162: [udp sum ok] NTPv3, Server, length 48
          	Leap indicator:  (0), Stratum 3 (secondary reference), poll 3 (8s), precision -23
          	Root Delay: 0.026702, Root dispersion: 0.019515, Reference-ID: 0xac099600
          	  Reference Timestamp:  3922426453.956603380 (2024-04-18T10:54:13Z)
          	  Originator Timestamp: 3922434134.684999999 (2024-04-18T13:02:14Z)
          	  Receive Timestamp:    3922426934.933415658 (2024-04-18T11:02:14Z)
          	  Transmit Timestamp:   3922426934.933454875 (2024-04-18T11:02:14Z)
          	    Originator - Receive Timestamp:  -7199.751584341
          	    Originator - Transmit Timestamp: -7199.751545124
          

          No "help me" PM's please. Use the forum, the community will thank you.
          Edit : and where are the logs ??

          B 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • B
            belrpr @Gertjan
            last edited by

            @Gertjan
            So I requested 2 times the NTP from my laptop.
            50c4d640-4233-4c41-835c-e59a01e38a3d-image.png

            Then I got this result:
            e05d8ad3-ea0b-43ec-9f61-cf56956acd3d-image.png

            GertjanG 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • GertjanG
              Gertjan @belrpr
              last edited by

              @belrpr

              10.10.2.188 talks to 10.10.5.1 : these are /16 networks ?

              Probably not related, and tells about my ignorance :
              What is a "lagg" doing on a LAN ?
              ( link aggregation on a LAN ?)

              No "help me" PM's please. Use the forum, the community will thank you.
              Edit : and where are the logs ??

              B 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • B
                belrpr @Gertjan
                last edited by

                @Gertjan
                The lan is /16. The guest is /24.
                I need 16 because I have a lot of domotica which resides on the network.
                I've used the lag for redundancy. If one cable is unplugged the other one will still serve both the lan and the guest network.

                GertjanG johnpozJ 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • GertjanG
                  Gertjan @belrpr
                  last edited by

                  @belrpr

                  I'm fine with all that.
                  But let me ask this question : on a /24 non-VLAN interface, with ntp listening on that interface (also), it works for you ?

                  No "help me" PM's please. Use the forum, the community will thank you.
                  Edit : and where are the logs ??

                  B 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                  • johnpozJ
                    johnpoz LAYER 8 Global Moderator @belrpr
                    last edited by

                    @belrpr that sure is a lot of domotica ;) 65k some ips..

                    Well it seems to answer 10.10.3.1 and .2 IPs..

                    Do you have any ACLs set on the ntp server, do you have any rules in floating? The traffic from 2.188 gets to pfsense, but ntp doesn't answer so either it has a ACL via ntp setup, or you have a rule say in floating blocking it?

                    An intelligent man is sometimes forced to be drunk to spend time with his fools
                    If you get confused: Listen to the Music Play
                    Please don't Chat/PM me for help, unless mod related
                    SG-4860 24.11 | Lab VMs 2.8, 24.11

                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • stephenw10S
                      stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                      last edited by stephenw10

                      You appear to be using a VLAN1 tagged interface which can be problematic. Wouldn't be specific to ntp though.

                      Also it's common to find ntp using 123 as the source port as well as destination which means only one client can run at a time.

                      GertjanG 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                      • GertjanG
                        Gertjan @stephenw10
                        last edited by

                        @stephenw10 said in NTP server stopped working:

                        Also it's common to find ntp using 123 as the source port as well as destination which means only one client can run at a time

                        Nice catch. That explains the error I had with this ntptool :

                        10e7f11c-3c6a-4c2e-858c-74f45891e28f-image.png

                        That could really put me on the path where I had to repair something that wasn't broken.
                        The windows native ntp client on the same PC was syncing just fine against pfSense.

                        As I forgot to post m NTP ACL :

                        65503cfe-785d-4b4d-b8ba-c04b5e7338a3-image.png

                        No "help me" PM's please. Use the forum, the community will thank you.
                        Edit : and where are the logs ??

                        B 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                        • B
                          belrpr @Gertjan
                          last edited by

                          @Gertjan
                          My acl's are exactly the same.

                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                          • B
                            belrpr @Gertjan
                            last edited by

                            @Gertjan I have the same problem on another pfsense and there there isn't a lag group with vlans.
                            There each interface is a fysical interface.

                            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                            • stephenw10S
                              stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                              last edited by

                              What exactly is failing?

                              B 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                              • B
                                belrpr @stephenw10
                                last edited by

                                @stephenw10 NTP is not reacting on clients.
                                It is like it isn't running.

                                johnpozJ 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                • stephenw10S
                                  stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                                  last edited by

                                  You mean it's not replying to queries? What failure do you see at the client?

                                  Do you see the queries in a pcap on pfSense?

                                  Does it reply to local queries from pfSense itself like?:

                                  [24.03-RELEASE][admin@fw1.stevew.lan]/root: ntpdate -q 127.0.0.1
                                  server 127.0.0.1, stratum 1, offset +0.000087, delay 0.02589
                                  14 Jun 13:40:09 ntpdate[16884]: adjust time server 127.0.0.1 offset +0.000087 sec
                                  
                                  B 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                  • johnpozJ
                                    johnpoz LAYER 8 Global Moderator @belrpr
                                    last edited by

                                    @belrpr you mean clients get no answer? Is pfsense seeing the traffic? is it actually listening on the IP your trying to talk to it? What are you firewall rules on this interface?

                                    Do you have any rules in floating?

                                    Have seen users create tcp rules, have seen policy routing above where they allow access to ntp, etc..

                                    So you need to do some basic validation of what is actually going on to figure out what is wrong..

                                    [23.09.1-RELEASE][admin@sg4860.home.arpa]/root: sockstat -4 | grep .123
                                    root     ntpd       83745 21  udp4   192.168.9.253:123     *:*
                                    root     ntpd       83745 24  udp4   192.168.2.253:123     *:*
                                    root     ntpd       83745 27  udp4   192.168.3.253:123     *:*
                                    root     ntpd       83745 30  udp4   192.168.200.1:123     *:*
                                    root     ntpd       83745 32  udp4   192.168.7.253:123     *:*
                                    root     ntpd       83745 35  udp4   127.0.0.1:123         *:*
                                    root     ntpd       83745 36  udp4   10.10.10.1:123        *:*
                                    root     ntpd       83745 38  udp4   192.168.4.253:123     *:*
                                    root     ntpd       83745 40  udp4   192.168.6.253:123     *:*
                                    root     ntpd       83745 42  udp4   192.168.110.253:123   *:*
                                    root     ntpd       83745 44  udp4   10.1.1.253:123        *:*
                                    [23.09.1-RELEASE][admin@sg4860.home.arpa]/root: 
                                    

                                    I limited this to just IPv4 because no need to show my IPv6 GUA in an example.. With the -4 in the command.

                                    Sniff to validate your clients traffic is getting to pfsense interface, is this interface tagged or native?

                                    Lets see your firewall rules on the interface where traffic would be seen, etc.

                                    An intelligent man is sometimes forced to be drunk to spend time with his fools
                                    If you get confused: Listen to the Music Play
                                    Please don't Chat/PM me for help, unless mod related
                                    SG-4860 24.11 | Lab VMs 2.8, 24.11

                                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                    • B
                                      belrpr @stephenw10
                                      last edited by belrpr

                                      @stephenw10
                                      Hi I use a tool called NTP Tool.
                                      It sends the request but never gets an awnser.

                                      Will do a pcap on pfsense but need to read some stuff about how to do that.
                                      The local query works:

                                      server 127.0.0.1, stratum 2, offset +0.000096, delay 0.02606
                                      14 Jun 15:07:27 ntpdate[7221]: adjust time server 127.0.0.1 offset +0.000096 sec
                                      

                                      @johnpoz said in NTP server stopped working:

                                      sockstat -4 | grep .123

                                      The sockestat command gives:

                                      root     ntpd       89229 22  udp4   127.0.0.1:123         *:*
                                      root     ntpd       89229 24  udp4   10.10.5.1:123         *:*
                                      root     ntpd       89229 26  udp4   172.16.3.1:123        *:*
                                      
                                      johnpozJ GertjanG 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                      • johnpozJ
                                        johnpoz LAYER 8 Global Moderator @belrpr
                                        last edited by

                                        @belrpr so that is good info.. Now you just need to validate that pfsense is actually seeing the query from your client.

                                        What are your firewall rules on the interface, do you have any floating rules?

                                        Sniff is easy enough, under diagnostic menu, packet capture.. Pick your interface and port 123 and then do your test from your client.. Do you see that in the packet capture..

                                        packet.jpg

                                        An intelligent man is sometimes forced to be drunk to spend time with his fools
                                        If you get confused: Listen to the Music Play
                                        Please don't Chat/PM me for help, unless mod related
                                        SG-4860 24.11 | Lab VMs 2.8, 24.11

                                        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                        • GertjanG
                                          Gertjan @belrpr
                                          last edited by

                                          @belrpr said in NTP server stopped working:

                                          Hi I use a tool called NTP Tool

                                          Hummmm.
                                          That does ring a bell.
                                          Stop using that tool.

                                          Use another 'tool'.
                                          Like this one :

                                          3eac78e8-b452-4fb8-a02e-91021a01f687-image.png

                                          ( my French GUI Micorsoft Windows classic Time settings - but you have the same, as the info is valid since windows 95.)

                                          I just synced with pfSense = 192.168.1.1 :

                                          0e87b656-b9e9-413e-a1b9-aa318e431579-image.png

                                          so my tool works.

                                          No "help me" PM's please. Use the forum, the community will thank you.
                                          Edit : and where are the logs ??

                                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
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