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OpenNTPd: Setting up an NTP server on OpenBSD

Introduction

Having your machines synchronized to the correct time is very practical! Especially when you're trying to read logs from two different machines.

For those who need microsecond-level precision, OpenNTPd is not the right solution - use the traditional NTP server instead.

Installation

Nothing to do :-)

Configuration

Open the /etc/ntpd.conf file and configure it as follows:

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# $OpenBSD: ntpd.conf,v 1.8 2007/07/13 09:05:52 henning Exp $
# sample ntpd configuration file, see ntpd.conf(5)

# Addresses to listen on (ntpd does not listen by default)
# listen on *

# sync to a single server
server 0.pool.ntp.org
server 1.pool.ntp.org
server 2.pool.ntp.org
server ntp1.jussieu.fr

# use a random selection of 8 public stratum 2 servers
# see http://support.ntp.org/bin/view/Servers/NTPPoolServers
servers pool.ntp.org

This is a basic configuration, but it works well.

Next, edit the /etc/rc.conf.local file to indicate that the NTP server should start at boot time, and modify the line as follows:

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ntpd_flags="-s"

Now, if you want to start the daemon to see how it works:

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ntpd

Verification

To ensure that everything is working, use this command:

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tail -f /var/log/daemon

It can take up to about 4 minutes to synchronize your machine.

Manual Synchronization

If you want to perform a manual synchronization, use this command:

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rdate -ncv 0.pool.ntp.org

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