[Mageia-dev] Why ntpdate still there?

Mon Feb 11 15:23:44 CET 2013

Le lundi 11 février 2013 13:18:23, Colin Guthrie a écrit :
+> So ntpdate as a service is just a one-shot thing, it happens once at
+> boot to ensure the clocks are properly set and then ntpd takes over for
+> the rest of the time that machine stays up.
+> 
+> As far as I'm aware, there is nothing integrated into crontab regarding
+> ntpdate, but please feel free to correct me on that one.
+
+Yes, this was the old system. I am not an expert in ntp, but I have read 
+carefully http://ntp.org few years ago and I return on it now and then.
+I can miss something... I am not the truth!
+
+On the web site http://www.ntp.org/  ->Implementation Documentation
+http://www.eecis.udel.edu/~mills/ntp/html/ntpdate.html said:
+Disclaimer: The functionality of this program is now available in the ntpd 
+program. See the -q command line option in the ntpd - Network Time Protocol 
+(NTP) daemon page. After a suitable period of mourning, the ntpdate program is 
+to be retired from this distribution
+
+And http://www.eecis.udel.edu/~mills/ntp/html/ntpd.html and the man tell us:
+
+-q
+Exit the ntpd just after the first time the clock is set. This behavior mimics 
+that of the ntpdate program, which is to be retired. The -g and -x options can 
+be used with this option. Note: The kernel time discipline is disabled with 
+this option.
+-g
+Normally, ntpd exits with a message to the system log if the offset exceeds the 
+panic threshold, which is 1000 s by default. This option allows the time to be 
+set to any value without restriction; however, this can happen only once. If 
+the threshold is exceeded after that, ntpd will exit with a message to the 
+system log. This option can be used with the -q and -x options. See the tinker 
+command for other options.
+
+The same options are set in the man of ntp.
+
+IMO, ntpdate should be replaced with: ntpd -gq
+I don't understand why ntpdate is listed as an active daemon in drakxservices.
+
+In /etc/sysconfig/ntpd :
+- Mageia 1 : OPTIONS="-u ntp:ntp -p /var/run/ntpd.pid"
+- Mageia 2 : OPTIONS="-g"
+- Mageia 3 : OPTIONS="-g"
+
+Then it seems that ntpdate is no longer useful since Mageia 2.
+
+-- 
+Pierre Jarillon - http://pjarillon.free.fr/
+Vice-président de l'ABUL : http://abul.org
+Microsoft is for computers what McDonald is for French gastronomy
+