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Building a Stratum 1 NTP Server Using Odroid C2

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  • J
    jcpingu @stephenw10
    last edited by Jun 22, 2021, 1:48 AM

    @stephenw10
    Thank you. I will advise latest status...

    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
    • J
      jcpingu @stephenw10
      last edited by Jun 22, 2021, 2:09 AM

      @stephenw10
      The good News:
      b022b744-34df-44b1-b57b-6840e82c4dca-image.png

      The not so good news, I am still seeing clock unsynchronized:
      6f2be03c-eca7-445a-811f-dfa31af4a896-image.png

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • J
        jcpingu @stephenw10
        last edited by Jun 22, 2021, 2:55 AM

        @stephenw10
        I was looking @ your example, and I see that it also shows this error:
        Jun 21 18:35:03 ntpd 56634 kernel reports TIME_ERROR: 0x41: Clock Unsynchronized

        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • S
          stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
          last edited by Jun 22, 2021, 10:49 AM

          Yes, I expect it to show that when ntpd is first started. It won't sync until sometime later when ntp is confident the time data it has is correct.
          Wait some time and recheck. Or it may have already sync'd there since it show an offset or effectively 0 (2Ξs) from the GPS time.

          Steve

          J 2 Replies Last reply Jun 22, 2021, 3:57 PM Reply Quote 1
          • J
            jcpingu @stephenw10
            last edited by Jun 22, 2021, 3:57 PM

            @stephenw10
            Thank you for all your help. I truly appreciate your patience and kindness. I still see the error this morning. However ntpq -p is showing the right output. I am assuming there's nothing I can do about the error...
            f64cc788-75d7-4e80-b6de-1709d5f94363-image.png

            B 2 Replies Last reply Jun 22, 2021, 4:46 PM Reply Quote 0
            • B
              bingo600 @jcpingu
              last edited by Jun 22, 2021, 4:46 PM

              @jcpingu

              Have a look here
              https://serverfault.com/questions/1048870/ntpd-fails-to-sync-time-error-0x41-clock-unsynchronized

              Especially this command : ntpq -c sysinfo

              Normally as @stephenw10 mentioned , ntpd won't just accept a new clocksource , before investigating if it's "ok".

              I usually expect approx 5 minutes (after daemon start) for the daemon to "trust/select" a clocksource.

              If you find my answer useful - Please give the post a 👍 - "thumbs up"

              pfSense+ 23.05.1 (ZFS)

              QOTOM-Q355G4 Quad Lan.
              CPU  : Core i5 5250U, Ram : 8GB Kingston DDR3LV 1600
              LAN  : 4 x Intel 211, Disk  : 240G SAMSUNG MZ7L3240HCHQ SSD

              J 1 Reply Last reply Jun 22, 2021, 4:53 PM Reply Quote 1
              • J
                jcpingu @bingo600
                last edited by Jun 22, 2021, 4:53 PM

                @bingo600
                Here's the output of that command. I will check out the link. Thanks...
                ff838b1f-9a99-4f6b-a70c-f2fe599803ff-image.png

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                • J
                  jcpingu @stephenw10
                  last edited by Jun 22, 2021, 5:11 PM

                  @stephenw10
                  This is my ntp.conf file. Based on bingo600 comments above. Is there anything else that needs to happen here?

                  server 127.127.20.0 mode 81 minpoll 4 maxpoll 4 prefer
                  fudge 127.127.20.0 flag1 1 refid GPS

                  security

                  restrict default kod limited nomodify nopeer
                  restrict -6 default kod limited nomodify nopeer

                  Local users may interrogate the NTP server fully.

                  restrict 127.0.0.1
                  restrict -6 ::1

                  stats

                  driftfile /var/lib/ntp/ntp.drift

                  Enable statistics logging.

                  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

                  leap file

                  leapfile /var/lib/ntp/leap-seconds.list

                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                  • S
                    stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                    last edited by Jun 22, 2021, 5:28 PM

                    No, I think it's working as expected.
                    That error will always appear when you restart ntpd for any reason. I would only vbe concerned if it is still logging new errors after running for some time.

                    Steve

                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                    • B
                      bingo600 @jcpingu
                      last edited by bingo600 Jun 22, 2021, 7:05 PM Jun 22, 2021, 6:02 PM

                      @jcpingu

                      Try to put in a few ntp pool servers for reference.

                      Add this to your ntp.conf

                      # Internet time servers for sanity
                      server 0.pool.ntp.org iburst prefer 
                      server 1.pool.ntp.org iburst 
                      server 2.pool.ntp.org iburst 
                      server 3.pool.ntp.org iburst
                      

                      From here:
                      http://doc.ntp.org/4.2.6/drivers/driver20.html

                      It seems like the $GNRMC is not a supported sentence , and that either
                      $GPZDA or $GPZDG must be sent for the NTP system to be fully autonomous. As in being able to set date/time fully via NTP.

                      What GPS model do you have ?
                      Is it from "China" ... Where most Ublox'es are "fakes"

                      This is not an "all bad" mesage , as the PPS still will keep your clock extremely accurate (sub seconds) . You just need a bit of help setting the seconds.

                      But it's strange that the nmea driver is so picky.
                      Maybe gpsd would help here

                      /Bingo

                      If you find my answer useful - Please give the post a 👍 - "thumbs up"

                      pfSense+ 23.05.1 (ZFS)

                      QOTOM-Q355G4 Quad Lan.
                      CPU  : Core i5 5250U, Ram : 8GB Kingston DDR3LV 1600
                      LAN  : 4 x Intel 211, Disk  : 240G SAMSUNG MZ7L3240HCHQ SSD

                      B J 2 Replies Last reply Jun 22, 2021, 6:43 PM Reply Quote 0
                      • B
                        bingo600 @bingo600
                        last edited by bingo600 Jun 22, 2021, 7:03 PM Jun 22, 2021, 6:43 PM

                        @bingo600

                        The NTP nmea refdriver doc is "buggy"

                        I just had a quick glance at the source
                        https://github.com/ntp-project/ntp/blob/master-no-authorname/ntpd/refclock_nmea.c

                        08de05e8-b0c3-4db4-9d95-939ec3e666a3-image.png

                        And it's comparing the last 3 (4) characters in the sentence so any RMC works

                        And it seems like it's parsing/setting the date from RMC sentenses too.
                        The only thing ZDA is providing "extra" is YYYY vs YY from RMC.

                        c398f0a9-851a-409d-903c-f38f9d323831-image.png

                        It should be possible to make a working NTP system with just RMC sentences , if NTP has been updated to assume that YY (21) means 2021.
                        Which i expect the unfold_century function does.

                        /Bingo

                        If you find my answer useful - Please give the post a 👍 - "thumbs up"

                        pfSense+ 23.05.1 (ZFS)

                        QOTOM-Q355G4 Quad Lan.
                        CPU  : Core i5 5250U, Ram : 8GB Kingston DDR3LV 1600
                        LAN  : 4 x Intel 211, Disk  : 240G SAMSUNG MZ7L3240HCHQ SSD

                        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                        • J
                          jcpingu @bingo600
                          last edited by Jun 22, 2021, 7:16 PM

                          @bingo600 said in Building a Stratum 1 NTP Server Using Odroid C2:

                          ntp pool servers

                          Does it matter where the ntp pool servers are inserted in the ntp.conf file?

                          B 1 Reply Last reply Jun 22, 2021, 7:22 PM Reply Quote 0
                          • B
                            bingo600 @jcpingu
                            last edited by bingo600 Jun 22, 2021, 7:56 PM Jun 22, 2021, 7:22 PM

                            @jcpingu

                            This guy puts it after the drift file

                            # Drift file to remember clock rate across restarts
                            driftfile /var/lib/ntp/ntp.drift
                            # Servers
                            pool uk.pool.ntp.org iburst
                            

                            And have a look here
                            https://lintut.com/how-to-verify-ntp-setup-is-working-properly-in-linux-or-unix-server/

                            Verifying a stratum1 server might not be "super easy"

                            Use
                            ntpstat

                            My box says (No GPS installed) :

                            ntpstat
                            synchronised to NTP server (80.71.132.xxx) at stratum 2 
                               time correct to within 48 ms
                               polling server every 1024 s
                            
                            

                            And
                            ntpq -p

                            ntpq -p
                                 remote           refid      st t when poll reach   delay   offset  jitter
                            ==============================================================================
                            -n1.taur.xx      .PPS0.           1 u  753 1024  377    7.164   -0.397   0.383
                            *80.71.132.10x.i .GPS.            1 u  985 1024  377    1.862   -0.114   0.111
                            +mmo2.ntp.xx  .PPS.            1 u  141 1024  377    2.827   -0.571   0.479
                             5.103.139.163.s .GPS.            1 u   8d 1024    0    3.267    0.348   0.000
                            -82.180.61.122   193.204.114.233  2 u  735 1024  377   40.205    0.981   0.419
                            +grape.inet.xx.n 68.166.61.255    2 u  315 1024  377    1.207   -0.107   0.089
                            
                            

                            The peer with the * in front (here 80.71.132.10x.i ) is the one that is used (synced to) right now.

                            o = pps peer
                            * = sys peer
                            # = too distant
                            + = selected
                            x = false ticker
                            - = discarded
                            
                            

                            Show the output of your ntpq -p

                            If you find my answer useful - Please give the post a 👍 - "thumbs up"

                            pfSense+ 23.05.1 (ZFS)

                            QOTOM-Q355G4 Quad Lan.
                            CPU  : Core i5 5250U, Ram : 8GB Kingston DDR3LV 1600
                            LAN  : 4 x Intel 211, Disk  : 240G SAMSUNG MZ7L3240HCHQ SSD

                            J 2 Replies Last reply Jun 22, 2021, 7:59 PM Reply Quote 0
                            • J
                              jcpingu @bingo600
                              last edited by Jun 22, 2021, 7:59 PM

                              @bingo600
                              here's ntpq -p output
                              5e7ce23a-d697-4082-8c35-3fddfeaf0d2b-image.png

                              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                              • J
                                jcpingu @bingo600
                                last edited by Jun 22, 2021, 8:02 PM

                                @bingo600
                                Here's systemctl status ntp output, still showing clock unsync error:
                                d7d84c61-17bb-4d92-8b92-7e1cd34d61be-image.png

                                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                • S
                                  stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                                  last edited by stephenw10 Jun 22, 2021, 8:20 PM Jun 22, 2021, 8:20 PM

                                  That error is when you started the ntp daemon. It has no data at that point, it will never sync. It's expected.

                                  That output from ntpq looks good. You just need to wait for more peers with greater reach values.

                                  Steve

                                  J 1 Reply Last reply Jun 22, 2021, 8:28 PM Reply Quote 1
                                  • J
                                    jcpingu @stephenw10
                                    last edited by Jun 22, 2021, 8:28 PM

                                    @stephenw10
                                    My question now is do I really need these? or was my original ntp.conf was just fine without these...

                                    Internet time servers for sanity

                                    server 0.pool.ntp.org iburst prefer
                                    server 1.pool.ntp.org iburst
                                    server 2.pool.ntp.org iburst
                                    server 3.pool.ntp.org iburst

                                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                    • S
                                      stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                                      last edited by Jun 22, 2021, 9:35 PM

                                      I would keep some external servers defined. More sources in agreement is going to make ntp happier, faster 😉

                                      J 1 Reply Last reply Jun 23, 2021, 1:13 AM Reply Quote 1
                                      • J
                                        jcpingu @stephenw10
                                        last edited by Jun 23, 2021, 1:13 AM

                                        @stephenw10
                                        Thank you

                                        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
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