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    Using pfSense's time server

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved General pfSense Questions
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    • G
      GomezAddams
      last edited by

      @Balanga:

      @GomezAddams:

      Daytime doesn't use ntp, it uses an older, simpler protocol. I think…

      What should I use instead?

      ntpdate -q

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      • B
        Balanga
        last edited by

        @GomezAddams:

        @Balanga:

        @GomezAddams:

        Daytime doesn't use ntp, it uses an older, simpler protocol. I think…

        What should I use instead?

        ntpdate -q

        The FreeBSD version ntpdate works fine, but when I run an OS/2 version I get

        C:\usr\bin>ntpdate.exe -q -d 192.168.1.1
        9 Jun 20:41:21 C:\usr\bin\ntpdate.exe[13633]: ntpd 4.2.0-os2-emx build 2
        Looking for host 192.168.1.1 and service ntp
        host found : pfSense.localdomain
        transmit(192.168.1.1)
        receive(192.168.1.1)
        transmit(192.168.1.1)
        receive(192.168.1.1)
        transmit(192.168.1.1)
        transmit(192.168.1.1)
        transmit(192.168.1.1)
        192.168.1.1: Server dropped: strata too high
        server 192.168.1.1, port 123
        stratum 16, precision -6, leap 11, trust 000
        refid [192.168.1.1], delay 0.02557, dispersion 24.06950
        transmitted 4, in filter 4
        reference time:    00000000.00000000  Thu, Feb  7 2036  6:28:16.000
        originate timestamp: db0444e1.d1eb851e  Thu, Jun  9 2016 20:41:21.820
        transmit timestamp:  db0444e2.deb851eb  Thu, Jun  9 2016 20:41:22.870
        filter delay:  0.02557  0.04124  0.00000  0.00000
                0.00000  0.00000  0.00000  0.00000
        filter offset: 0.139033 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000
                0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000
        delay 0.02557, dispersion 24.06950
        offset 0.139033

        9 Jun 20:41:23 C:\usr\bin\ntpdate.exe[13633]: no server suitable for synchronization found

        Can't say that any of that means anything to me….

        Incidentally looking at the FreeBSD man page

        https://www.freebsd.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=ntpdate&sektion=8

        it says

        After a
            suitable period of mourning, the ntpdate utility is to be retired from
            this distribution.

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        • stan-qazS
          stan-qaz
          last edited by

          That is saying your ntp server is not well, stratum 16 is about equal in accuracy to a sundial!  :-)

          192.168.1.1: Server dropped: strata too high
          server 192.168.1.1, port 123
          stratum 16, precision -6, leap 11, trust 000
          

          ntp docs here:

          http://www.ntp.org/documentation.html

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          • B
            Balanga
            last edited by

            For comparison I just tried the same command from a FreeBSD system

            root@Desktop:~ # ntpdate -q -d 192.168.1.1
            10 Jun 10:21:56 ntpdate[5544]: ntpdate 4.2.8p6-a (1)
            transmit(192.168.1.1)
            receive(192.168.1.1)
            transmit(192.168.1.1)
            receive(192.168.1.1)
            transmit(192.168.1.1)
            receive(192.168.1.1)
            transmit(192.168.1.1)
            receive(192.168.1.1)
            server 192.168.1.1, port 123
            stratum 3, precision -19, leap 00, trust 000
            refid [192.168.1.1], delay 0.02594, dispersion 0.00002
            transmitted 4, in filter 4
            reference time:    db0503de.fb41da29  Fri, Jun 10 2016 10:16:14.981
            originate timestamp: db05053a.fd647e67  Fri, Jun 10 2016 10:22:02.989
            transmit timestamp:  db05053a.ee249963  Fri, Jun 10 2016 10:22:02.930
            filter delay:  0.02600  0.02597  0.02594  0.02599
                    0.00000  0.00000  0.00000  0.00000
            filter offset: 0.059365 0.059361 0.059325 0.059352
                    0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000
            delay 0.02594, dispersion 0.00002
            offset 0.059325

            10 Jun 10:22:02 ntpdate[5544]: adjust time server 192.168.1.1 offset 0.059325 sec

            I guess this shows a problem with the program I'm usingon OS/2.

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            • johnpozJ
              johnpoz LAYER 8 Global Moderator
              last edited by

              ntpd 4.2.0-

              That is a OLD version of ntp..  That is prob why your having problems..  And works from the system using 4.2.8p6

              4.2.0 is from 2003 for gosh sake..

              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

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              • H
                Harvy66
                last edited by

                @johnpoz:

                I would have to look at what was going on yesterday afternoon evening on why it got a little haywired - but even then your talking 20 microseconds off, not miliseconds.  Normally it is within 5micro seconds.  Which for the < than $100 it cost to put together.  I pretty sure that is pretty freaking good ;)  Way better then your going to get syncing off the internet.

                My information could be old, but it seems the issue in the reviews was not so much how accurate the PI was able to stay with GPS, but other computer's ability to sync with the PI was hindered by the USB Ethernet making for "poor" quality by some definition of poor.

                Active Peer 208.100.4.52 216.86.146.46 2 u 14 256 377 11.469 0.457 0.332
                Candidate 67.202.100.50 216.86.146.46 2 u 174 256 377 11.859 0.666 0.166
                Outlier 216.239.36.15 92.118.64.39 2 u 198 256 377 35.324 -0.364 0.334
                Outlier 216.152.240.220 164.67.62.194 2 u 165 256 377 63.997 0.363 0.173

                You know it's good when 0.3ms offset is considered an "Outlier".

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                • johnpozJ
                  johnpoz LAYER 8 Global Moderator
                  last edited by

                  My pi serves up to pool, hundreds of connections all the time…

                  
                  ntpq> monstats
                  enabled:              0x1
                  addresses:            3097
                  peak addresses:       3097
                  maximum addresses:    14563
                  reclaim above count:  600
                  reclaim older than:   64
                  kilobytes:            218
                  maximum kilobytes:    1024
                  ntpq>
                  
                  

                  ntpq> mrulist
                  Ctrl-C will stop MRU retrieval and display partial results.
                  ^Cmrulist retrieval interrupted by operator.
                  Displaying partial client list.
                  Retrieved 1654 unique MRU entries and 0 updates.

                  So pretty sure it can handle serving up ntp to your network just fine…

                  Here is my workstation that syncs with my pi, and I have the poll really short

                  
                  > ntpq
                  ntpq> pe
                       remote           refid      st t when poll reach   delay   offset  jitter
                  ==============================================================================
                  *pi3-ntp.local.l .PPS.            1 u   12   32  377    0.266   -0.015   0.007
                  ntpq>
                  
                  

                  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

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                  • H
                    Harvy66
                    last edited by

                    Those are much better stats. Better drivers and hardware I bet. Thank you sir, I now have a new project to plan for.

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                    • stan-qazS
                      stan-qaz
                      last edited by

                      I'm using a very old, non-turbo Pi v1, so old it had to be modified to allow the GPS HAT to mount on it. No tweaks to the basic Raspberrian OS except I don't start the X server on it since it isn't needed with SSH access.

                      The timekeeping on the Pi is pretty good as yhis ntpq from a ssh to the pi shows:

                      pi@pi-v1 ~ $ ntpq -p
                           remote           refid      st t when poll reach   delay   offset  jitter
                      ==============================================================================
                      oGPS_NMEA(0)     .GPS0.           0 l    8    8  377    0.000    0.002   0.004
                      pi@pi-v1 ~ $ 
                      

                      That there is some issue on the Pi, as can be seen here compared to the pfSense system, the delay and jitter on the Piare higher, which I attribute that to the weak Ethernet.

                      t3400-n:/home/stan # ntpq -p server.home
                           remote           refid      st t when poll reach   delay   offset  jitter
                      ==============================================================================
                      *pi-v1.home      .GPS0.           1 u  361 1024  377    0.549    0.274   0.033
                      +pfSense.home    172.16.0.4       2 u  442 1024  377    0.206    0.020   0.055
                       server.home     .INIT.          16 u    - 1024    0    0.000    0.000   0.000
                      +ntp.cox.net     .GPS.            1 u  956 1024  377   51.861    1.931   0.297
                      t3400-n:/home/stan # 
                              1 u  956 1024  377   51.861    1.931   0.297
                      t3400-n:/home/stan # 
                      
                      

                      If the attachments work here the first is a full ntp display, it is pretty much swamped by the high disp plot. The second is the same plot with the disp line suppressed.

                      Still for under $100 it is going to be hard to get a more convenient or accurate local time server. I find it quite nice to have my time stable even when the WAN is down due to ISP or equipment problems. Pi, GPS HAT, power brick and remote antenna, throw in a case if you feel fancy. You can also find the old v1 Pi boards dirt cheap as folks move to the v2 or v3 ones.

                      Screenshot_20160611_013513.png
                      Screenshot_20160611_013513.png_thumb
                      Screenshot_20160611_013653.png
                      Screenshot_20160611_013653.png_thumb

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                      • B
                        Balanga
                        last edited by

                        Makes me want to dig out my Pi …. What OS are you running on it? Last time I tried I couldn't get FreeBSD installed on it.

                        I don't suppose pfSense would work on it :)....

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                        • stan-qazS
                          stan-qaz
                          last edited by

                          Nope, pfSense won't run but using the basic Pi OS and following the help in the forums I have mine running. It works well enough that I don't pay any attention to it for months on end.

                          Basic forum topic: https://forums.adafruit.com/viewtopic.php?f=50&t=70133

                          I'd start reading it about here to miss the initial confusion: https://forums.adafruit.com/viewtopic.php?f=50&t=70133&start=60#p359668

                          I got involved a bit later: https://forums.adafruit.com/viewtopic.php?f=50&t=70133&start=90#p360387

                          A bit on the network delay in the Pi: https://forums.adafruit.com/viewtopic.php?f=50&t=70133&start=150#p389708

                          If you search the Adafruit forums on GPS you'll hit a few more topics that apply to newer hardware and later OS releases.

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                          • johnpozJ
                            johnpoz LAYER 8 Global Moderator
                            last edited by

                            If you want quick easy to follow guide with info on what to order, and getting a ntp stratum 1 on a pi..

                            http://www.satsignal.eu/ntp/Raspberry-Pi-quickstart.html
                            Quick start NTP on the Raspberry Pi

                            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

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                            • stan-qazS
                              stan-qaz
                              last edited by

                              I applied the tweaks mentioned here to my Pi and it has really improved the stability of the time system on my pfSense box. I will be trying a newer version of the Pi than my very old v1 to see if that improves the USB - Ethernet delay.

                              The left side scale (+1 to -1 ms) is showing all the items except the Disp. The Disp is on the left side (+5 to +40 ms) scale. The disp is still high enough that if it is shown on the same scale it swamps the other data.

                              ntp-chart-june-16-16.png
                              ntp-chart-june-16-16.png_thumb

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