xref: /freebsd/contrib/ntp/ntpd/ntp.conf.mdoc.in (revision 514fb3872166a361faa81d89909f65913e90b1b2)
1.Dd June 23 2020
2.Dt NTP_CONF 5 File Formats
3.Os
4.\"  EDIT THIS FILE WITH CAUTION  (ntp.mdoc)
5.\"
6.\"  It has been AutoGen-ed  June 23, 2020 at 02:20:27 AM by AutoGen 5.18.5
7.\"  From the definitions    ntp.conf.def
8.\"  and the template file   agmdoc-cmd.tpl
9.Sh NAME
10.Nm ntp.conf
11.Nd Network Time Protocol (NTP) daemon configuration file format
12.Sh SYNOPSIS
13.Nm
14.Op Fl \-option\-name
15.Op Fl \-option\-name Ar value
16.Pp
17All arguments must be options.
18.Pp
19.Sh DESCRIPTION
20The
21.Nm
22configuration file is read at initial startup by the
23.Xr ntpd @NTPD_MS@
24daemon in order to specify the synchronization sources,
25modes and other related information.
26Usually, it is installed in the
27.Pa /etc
28directory,
29but could be installed elsewhere
30(see the daemon's
31.Fl c
32command line option).
33.Pp
34The file format is similar to other
35.Ux
36configuration files.
37Comments begin with a
38.Ql #
39character and extend to the end of the line;
40blank lines are ignored.
41Configuration commands consist of an initial keyword
42followed by a list of arguments,
43some of which may be optional, separated by whitespace.
44Commands may not be continued over multiple lines.
45Arguments may be host names,
46host addresses written in numeric, dotted\-quad form,
47integers, floating point numbers (when specifying times in seconds)
48and text strings.
49.Pp
50The rest of this page describes the configuration and control options.
51The
52.Qq Notes on Configuring NTP and Setting up an NTP Subnet
53page
54(available as part of the HTML documentation
55provided in
56.Pa /usr/share/doc/ntp )
57contains an extended discussion of these options.
58In addition to the discussion of general
59.Sx Configuration Options ,
60there are sections describing the following supported functionality
61and the options used to control it:
62.Bl -bullet -offset indent
63.It
64.Sx Authentication Support
65.It
66.Sx Monitoring Support
67.It
68.Sx Access Control Support
69.It
70.Sx Automatic NTP Configuration Options
71.It
72.Sx Reference Clock Support
73.It
74.Sx Miscellaneous Options
75.El
76.Pp
77Following these is a section describing
78.Sx Miscellaneous Options .
79While there is a rich set of options available,
80the only required option is one or more
81.Ic pool ,
82.Ic server ,
83.Ic peer ,
84.Ic broadcast
85or
86.Ic manycastclient
87commands.
88.Sh Configuration Support
89Following is a description of the configuration commands in
90NTPv4.
91These commands have the same basic functions as in NTPv3 and
92in some cases new functions and new arguments.
93There are two
94classes of commands, configuration commands that configure a
95persistent association with a remote server or peer or reference
96clock, and auxiliary commands that specify environmental variables
97that control various related operations.
98.Ss Configuration Commands
99The various modes are determined by the command keyword and the
100type of the required IP address.
101Addresses are classed by type as
102(s) a remote server or peer (IPv4 class A, B and C), (b) the
103broadcast address of a local interface, (m) a multicast address (IPv4
104class D), or (r) a reference clock address (127.127.x.x).
105Note that
106only those options applicable to each command are listed below.
107Use
108of options not listed may not be caught as an error, but may result
109in some weird and even destructive behavior.
110.Pp
111If the Basic Socket Interface Extensions for IPv6 (RFC\-2553)
112is detected, support for the IPv6 address family is generated
113in addition to the default support of the IPv4 address family.
114In a few cases, including the
115.Cm reslist
116billboard generated
117by
118.Xr ntpq @NTPQ_MS@
119or
120.Xr ntpdc @NTPDC_MS@ ,
121IPv6 addresses are automatically generated.
122IPv6 addresses can be identified by the presence of colons
123.Dq \&:
124in the address field.
125IPv6 addresses can be used almost everywhere where
126IPv4 addresses can be used,
127with the exception of reference clock addresses,
128which are always IPv4.
129.Pp
130Note that in contexts where a host name is expected, a
131.Fl 4
132qualifier preceding
133the host name forces DNS resolution to the IPv4 namespace,
134while a
135.Fl 6
136qualifier forces DNS resolution to the IPv6 namespace.
137See IPv6 references for the
138equivalent classes for that address family.
139.Bl -tag -width indent
140.It Xo Ic pool Ar address
141.Op Cm burst
142.Op Cm iburst
143.Op Cm version Ar version
144.Op Cm prefer
145.Op Cm minpoll Ar minpoll
146.Op Cm maxpoll Ar maxpoll
147.Op Cm xmtnonce
148.Xc
149.It Xo Ic server Ar address
150.Op Cm key Ar key \&| Cm autokey
151.Op Cm burst
152.Op Cm iburst
153.Op Cm version Ar version
154.Op Cm prefer
155.Op Cm minpoll Ar minpoll
156.Op Cm maxpoll Ar maxpoll
157.Op Cm true
158.Op Cm xmtnonce
159.Xc
160.It Xo Ic peer Ar address
161.Op Cm key Ar key \&| Cm autokey
162.Op Cm version Ar version
163.Op Cm prefer
164.Op Cm minpoll Ar minpoll
165.Op Cm maxpoll Ar maxpoll
166.Op Cm true
167.Op Cm xleave
168.Xc
169.It Xo Ic broadcast Ar address
170.Op Cm key Ar key \&| Cm autokey
171.Op Cm version Ar version
172.Op Cm prefer
173.Op Cm minpoll Ar minpoll
174.Op Cm ttl Ar ttl
175.Op Cm xleave
176.Xc
177.It Xo Ic manycastclient Ar address
178.Op Cm key Ar key \&| Cm autokey
179.Op Cm version Ar version
180.Op Cm prefer
181.Op Cm minpoll Ar minpoll
182.Op Cm maxpoll Ar maxpoll
183.Op Cm ttl Ar ttl
184.Xc
185.El
186.Pp
187These five commands specify the time server name or address to
188be used and the mode in which to operate.
189The
190.Ar address
191can be
192either a DNS name or an IP address in dotted\-quad notation.
193Additional information on association behavior can be found in the
194.Qq Association Management
195page
196(available as part of the HTML documentation
197provided in
198.Pa /usr/share/doc/ntp ) .
199.Bl -tag -width indent
200.It Ic pool
201For type s addresses, this command mobilizes a persistent
202client mode association with a number of remote servers.
203In this mode the local clock can synchronized to the
204remote server, but the remote server can never be synchronized to
205the local clock.
206.It Ic server
207For type s and r addresses, this command mobilizes a persistent
208client mode association with the specified remote server or local
209radio clock.
210In this mode the local clock can synchronized to the
211remote server, but the remote server can never be synchronized to
212the local clock.
213This command should
214.Em not
215be used for type
216b or m addresses.
217.It Ic peer
218For type s addresses (only), this command mobilizes a
219persistent symmetric\-active mode association with the specified
220remote peer.
221In this mode the local clock can be synchronized to
222the remote peer or the remote peer can be synchronized to the local
223clock.
224This is useful in a network of servers where, depending on
225various failure scenarios, either the local or remote peer may be
226the better source of time.
227This command should NOT be used for type
228b, m or r addresses.
229.It Ic broadcast
230For type b and m addresses (only), this
231command mobilizes a persistent broadcast mode association.
232Multiple
233commands can be used to specify multiple local broadcast interfaces
234(subnets) and/or multiple multicast groups.
235Note that local
236broadcast messages go only to the interface associated with the
237subnet specified, but multicast messages go to all interfaces.
238In broadcast mode the local server sends periodic broadcast
239messages to a client population at the
240.Ar address
241specified, which is usually the broadcast address on (one of) the
242local network(s) or a multicast address assigned to NTP.
243The IANA
244has assigned the multicast group address IPv4 224.0.1.1 and
245IPv6 ff05::101 (site local) exclusively to
246NTP, but other nonconflicting addresses can be used to contain the
247messages within administrative boundaries.
248Ordinarily, this
249specification applies only to the local server operating as a
250sender; for operation as a broadcast client, see the
251.Ic broadcastclient
252or
253.Ic multicastclient
254commands
255below.
256.It Ic manycastclient
257For type m addresses (only), this command mobilizes a
258manycast client mode association for the multicast address
259specified.
260In this case a specific address must be supplied which
261matches the address used on the
262.Ic manycastserver
263command for
264the designated manycast servers.
265The NTP multicast address
266224.0.1.1 assigned by the IANA should NOT be used, unless specific
267means are taken to avoid spraying large areas of the Internet with
268these messages and causing a possibly massive implosion of replies
269at the sender.
270The
271.Ic manycastserver
272command specifies that the local server
273is to operate in client mode with the remote servers that are
274discovered as the result of broadcast/multicast messages.
275The
276client broadcasts a request message to the group address associated
277with the specified
278.Ar address
279and specifically enabled
280servers respond to these messages.
281The client selects the servers
282providing the best time and continues as with the
283.Ic server
284command.
285The remaining servers are discarded as if never
286heard.
287.El
288.Pp
289Options:
290.Bl -tag -width indent
291.It Cm autokey
292All packets sent to and received from the server or peer are to
293include authentication fields encrypted using the autokey scheme
294described in
295.Sx Authentication Options .
296.It Cm burst
297when the server is reachable, send a burst of eight packets
298instead of the usual one.
299The packet spacing is normally 2 s;
300however, the spacing between the first and second packets
301can be changed with the
302.Ic calldelay
303command to allow
304additional time for a modem or ISDN call to complete.
305This is designed to improve timekeeping quality
306with the
307.Ic server
308command and s addresses.
309.It Cm iburst
310When the server is unreachable, send a burst of eight packets
311instead of the usual one.
312The packet spacing is normally 2 s;
313however, the spacing between the first two packets can be
314changed with the
315.Ic calldelay
316command to allow
317additional time for a modem or ISDN call to complete.
318This is designed to speed the initial synchronization
319acquisition with the
320.Ic server
321command and s addresses and when
322.Xr ntpd @NTPD_MS@
323is started with the
324.Fl q
325option.
326.It Cm key Ar key
327All packets sent to and received from the server or peer are to
328include authentication fields encrypted using the specified
329.Ar key
330identifier with values from 1 to 65535, inclusive.
331The
332default is to include no encryption field.
333.It Cm minpoll Ar minpoll
334.It Cm maxpoll Ar maxpoll
335These options specify the minimum and maximum poll intervals
336for NTP messages, as a power of 2 in seconds
337The maximum poll
338interval defaults to 10 (1,024 s), but can be increased by the
339.Cm maxpoll
340option to an upper limit of 17 (36.4 h).
341The
342minimum poll interval defaults to 6 (64 s), but can be decreased by
343the
344.Cm minpoll
345option to a lower limit of 4 (16 s).
346.It Cm noselect
347Marks the server as unused, except for display purposes.
348The server is discarded by the selection algroithm.
349.It Cm preempt
350Says the association can be preempted.
351.It Cm prefer
352Marks the server as preferred.
353All other things being equal,
354this host will be chosen for synchronization among a set of
355correctly operating hosts.
356See the
357.Qq Mitigation Rules and the prefer Keyword
358page
359(available as part of the HTML documentation
360provided in
361.Pa /usr/share/doc/ntp )
362for further information.
363.It Cm true
364Marks the server as a truechimer,
365forcing the association to always survive the selection and clustering algorithms.
366This option should almost certainly
367.Em only
368be used while testing an association.
369.It Cm ttl Ar ttl
370This option is used only with broadcast server and manycast
371client modes.
372It specifies the time\-to\-live
373.Ar ttl
374to
375use on broadcast server and multicast server and the maximum
376.Ar ttl
377for the expanding ring search with manycast
378client packets.
379Selection of the proper value, which defaults to
380127, is something of a black art and should be coordinated with the
381network administrator.
382.It Cm version Ar version
383Specifies the version number to be used for outgoing NTP
384packets.
385Versions 1\-4 are the choices, with version 4 the
386default.
387.It Cm xleave
388Valid in
389.Cm peer
390and
391.Cm broadcast
392modes only, this flag enables interleave mode.
393.It Cm xmtnonce
394Valid only for
395.Cm server
396and
397.Cm pool
398modes, this flag puts a random number in the packet's transmit timestamp.
399.El
400.Ss Auxiliary Commands
401.Bl -tag -width indent
402.It Ic broadcastclient
403This command enables reception of broadcast server messages to
404any local interface (type b) address.
405Upon receiving a message for
406the first time, the broadcast client measures the nominal server
407propagation delay using a brief client/server exchange with the
408server, then enters the broadcast client mode, in which it
409synchronizes to succeeding broadcast messages.
410Note that, in order
411to avoid accidental or malicious disruption in this mode, both the
412server and client should operate using symmetric\-key or public\-key
413authentication as described in
414.Sx Authentication Options .
415.It Ic manycastserver Ar address ...
416This command enables reception of manycast client messages to
417the multicast group address(es) (type m) specified.
418At least one
419address is required, but the NTP multicast address 224.0.1.1
420assigned by the IANA should NOT be used, unless specific means are
421taken to limit the span of the reply and avoid a possibly massive
422implosion at the original sender.
423Note that, in order to avoid
424accidental or malicious disruption in this mode, both the server
425and client should operate using symmetric\-key or public\-key
426authentication as described in
427.Sx Authentication Options .
428.It Ic multicastclient Ar address ...
429This command enables reception of multicast server messages to
430the multicast group address(es) (type m) specified.
431Upon receiving
432a message for the first time, the multicast client measures the
433nominal server propagation delay using a brief client/server
434exchange with the server, then enters the broadcast client mode, in
435which it synchronizes to succeeding multicast messages.
436Note that,
437in order to avoid accidental or malicious disruption in this mode,
438both the server and client should operate using symmetric\-key or
439public\-key authentication as described in
440.Sx Authentication Options .
441.It Ic mdnstries Ar number
442If we are participating in mDNS,
443after we have synched for the first time
444we attempt to register with the mDNS system.
445If that registration attempt fails,
446we try again at one minute intervals for up to
447.Ic mdnstries
448times.
449After all,
450.Ic ntpd
451may be starting before mDNS.
452The default value for
453.Ic mdnstries
454is 5.
455.El
456.Sh Authentication Support
457Authentication support allows the NTP client to verify that the
458server is in fact known and trusted and not an intruder intending
459accidentally or on purpose to masquerade as that server.
460The NTPv3
461specification RFC\-1305 defines a scheme which provides
462cryptographic authentication of received NTP packets.
463Originally,
464this was done using the Data Encryption Standard (DES) algorithm
465operating in Cipher Block Chaining (CBC) mode, commonly called
466DES\-CBC.
467Subsequently, this was replaced by the RSA Message Digest
4685 (MD5) algorithm using a private key, commonly called keyed\-MD5.
469Either algorithm computes a message digest, or one\-way hash, which
470can be used to verify the server has the correct private key and
471key identifier.
472.Pp
473NTPv4 retains the NTPv3 scheme, properly described as symmetric key
474cryptography and, in addition, provides a new Autokey scheme
475based on public key cryptography.
476Public key cryptography is generally considered more secure
477than symmetric key cryptography, since the security is based
478on a private value which is generated by each server and
479never revealed.
480With Autokey all key distribution and
481management functions involve only public values, which
482considerably simplifies key distribution and storage.
483Public key management is based on X.509 certificates,
484which can be provided by commercial services or
485produced by utility programs in the OpenSSL software library
486or the NTPv4 distribution.
487.Pp
488While the algorithms for symmetric key cryptography are
489included in the NTPv4 distribution, public key cryptography
490requires the OpenSSL software library to be installed
491before building the NTP distribution.
492Directions for doing that
493are on the Building and Installing the Distribution page.
494.Pp
495Authentication is configured separately for each association
496using the
497.Cm key
498or
499.Cm autokey
500subcommand on the
501.Ic peer ,
502.Ic server ,
503.Ic broadcast
504and
505.Ic manycastclient
506configuration commands as described in
507.Sx Configuration Options
508page.
509The authentication
510options described below specify the locations of the key files,
511if other than default, which symmetric keys are trusted
512and the interval between various operations, if other than default.
513.Pp
514Authentication is always enabled,
515although ineffective if not configured as
516described below.
517If a NTP packet arrives
518including a message authentication
519code (MAC), it is accepted only if it
520passes all cryptographic checks.
521The
522checks require correct key ID, key value
523and message digest.
524If the packet has
525been modified in any way or replayed
526by an intruder, it will fail one or more
527of these checks and be discarded.
528Furthermore, the Autokey scheme requires a
529preliminary protocol exchange to obtain
530the server certificate, verify its
531credentials and initialize the protocol
532.Pp
533The
534.Cm auth
535flag controls whether new associations or
536remote configuration commands require cryptographic authentication.
537This flag can be set or reset by the
538.Ic enable
539and
540.Ic disable
541commands and also by remote
542configuration commands sent by a
543.Xr ntpdc @NTPDC_MS@
544program running on
545another machine.
546If this flag is enabled, which is the default
547case, new broadcast client and symmetric passive associations and
548remote configuration commands must be cryptographically
549authenticated using either symmetric key or public key cryptography.
550If this
551flag is disabled, these operations are effective
552even if not cryptographic
553authenticated.
554It should be understood
555that operating with the
556.Ic auth
557flag disabled invites a significant vulnerability
558where a rogue hacker can
559masquerade as a falseticker and seriously
560disrupt system timekeeping.
561It is
562important to note that this flag has no purpose
563other than to allow or disallow
564a new association in response to new broadcast
565and symmetric active messages
566and remote configuration commands and, in particular,
567the flag has no effect on
568the authentication process itself.
569.Pp
570An attractive alternative where multicast support is available
571is manycast mode, in which clients periodically troll
572for servers as described in the
573.Sx Automatic NTP Configuration Options
574page.
575Either symmetric key or public key
576cryptographic authentication can be used in this mode.
577The principle advantage
578of manycast mode is that potential servers need not be
579configured in advance,
580since the client finds them during regular operation,
581and the configuration
582files for all clients can be identical.
583.Pp
584The security model and protocol schemes for
585both symmetric key and public key
586cryptography are summarized below;
587further details are in the briefings, papers
588and reports at the NTP project page linked from
589.Li http://www.ntp.org/ .
590.Ss Symmetric\-Key Cryptography
591The original RFC\-1305 specification allows any one of possibly
59265,535 keys, each distinguished by a 32\-bit key identifier, to
593authenticate an association.
594The servers and clients involved must
595agree on the key and key identifier to
596authenticate NTP packets.
597Keys and
598related information are specified in a key
599file, usually called
600.Pa ntp.keys ,
601which must be distributed and stored using
602secure means beyond the scope of the NTP protocol itself.
603Besides the keys used
604for ordinary NTP associations,
605additional keys can be used as passwords for the
606.Xr ntpq @NTPQ_MS@
607and
608.Xr ntpdc @NTPDC_MS@
609utility programs.
610.Pp
611When
612.Xr ntpd @NTPD_MS@
613is first started, it reads the key file specified in the
614.Ic keys
615configuration command and installs the keys
616in the key cache.
617However,
618individual keys must be activated with the
619.Ic trusted
620command before use.
621This
622allows, for instance, the installation of possibly
623several batches of keys and
624then activating or deactivating each batch
625remotely using
626.Xr ntpdc @NTPDC_MS@ .
627This also provides a revocation capability that can be used
628if a key becomes compromised.
629The
630.Ic requestkey
631command selects the key used as the password for the
632.Xr ntpdc @NTPDC_MS@
633utility, while the
634.Ic controlkey
635command selects the key used as the password for the
636.Xr ntpq @NTPQ_MS@
637utility.
638.Ss Public Key Cryptography
639NTPv4 supports the original NTPv3 symmetric key scheme
640described in RFC\-1305 and in addition the Autokey protocol,
641which is based on public key cryptography.
642The Autokey Version 2 protocol described on the Autokey Protocol
643page verifies packet integrity using MD5 message digests
644and verifies the source with digital signatures and any of several
645digest/signature schemes.
646Optional identity schemes described on the Identity Schemes
647page and based on cryptographic challenge/response algorithms
648are also available.
649Using all of these schemes provides strong security against
650replay with or without modification, spoofing, masquerade
651and most forms of clogging attacks.
652.\" .Pp
653.\" The cryptographic means necessary for all Autokey operations
654.\" is provided by the OpenSSL software library.
655.\" This library is available from http://www.openssl.org/
656.\" and can be installed using the procedures outlined
657.\" in the Building and Installing the Distribution page.
658.\" Once installed,
659.\" the configure and build
660.\" process automatically detects the library and links
661.\" the library routines required.
662.Pp
663The Autokey protocol has several modes of operation
664corresponding to the various NTP modes supported.
665Most modes use a special cookie which can be
666computed independently by the client and server,
667but encrypted in transmission.
668All modes use in addition a variant of the S\-KEY scheme,
669in which a pseudo\-random key list is generated and used
670in reverse order.
671These schemes are described along with an executive summary,
672current status, briefing slides and reading list on the
673.Sx Autonomous Authentication
674page.
675.Pp
676The specific cryptographic environment used by Autokey servers
677and clients is determined by a set of files
678and soft links generated by the
679.Xr ntp\-keygen 1ntpkeygenmdoc
680program.
681This includes a required host key file,
682required certificate file and optional sign key file,
683leapsecond file and identity scheme files.
684The
685digest/signature scheme is specified in the X.509 certificate
686along with the matching sign key.
687There are several schemes
688available in the OpenSSL software library, each identified
689by a specific string such as
690.Cm md5WithRSAEncryption ,
691which stands for the MD5 message digest with RSA
692encryption scheme.
693The current NTP distribution supports
694all the schemes in the OpenSSL library, including
695those based on RSA and DSA digital signatures.
696.Pp
697NTP secure groups can be used to define cryptographic compartments
698and security hierarchies.
699It is important that every host
700in the group be able to construct a certificate trail to one
701or more trusted hosts in the same group.
702Each group
703host runs the Autokey protocol to obtain the certificates
704for all hosts along the trail to one or more trusted hosts.
705This requires the configuration file in all hosts to be
706engineered so that, even under anticipated failure conditions,
707the NTP subnet will form such that every group host can find
708a trail to at least one trusted host.
709.Ss Naming and Addressing
710It is important to note that Autokey does not use DNS to
711resolve addresses, since DNS can't be completely trusted
712until the name servers have synchronized clocks.
713The cryptographic name used by Autokey to bind the host identity
714credentials and cryptographic values must be independent
715of interface, network and any other naming convention.
716The name appears in the host certificate in either or both
717the subject and issuer fields, so protection against
718DNS compromise is essential.
719.Pp
720By convention, the name of an Autokey host is the name returned
721by the Unix
722.Xr gethostname 2
723system call or equivalent in other systems.
724By the system design
725model, there are no provisions to allow alternate names or aliases.
726However, this is not to say that DNS aliases, different names
727for each interface, etc., are constrained in any way.
728.Pp
729It is also important to note that Autokey verifies authenticity
730using the host name, network address and public keys,
731all of which are bound together by the protocol specifically
732to deflect masquerade attacks.
733For this reason Autokey
734includes the source and destination IP addresses in message digest
735computations and so the same addresses must be available
736at both the server and client.
737For this reason operation
738with network address translation schemes is not possible.
739This reflects the intended robust security model where government
740and corporate NTP servers are operated outside firewall perimeters.
741.Ss Operation
742A specific combination of authentication scheme (none,
743symmetric key, public key) and identity scheme is called
744a cryptotype, although not all combinations are compatible.
745There may be management configurations where the clients,
746servers and peers may not all support the same cryptotypes.
747A secure NTPv4 subnet can be configured in many ways while
748keeping in mind the principles explained above and
749in this section.
750Note however that some cryptotype
751combinations may successfully interoperate with each other,
752but may not represent good security practice.
753.Pp
754The cryptotype of an association is determined at the time
755of mobilization, either at configuration time or some time
756later when a message of appropriate cryptotype arrives.
757When mobilized by a
758.Ic server
759or
760.Ic peer
761configuration command and no
762.Ic key
763or
764.Ic autokey
765subcommands are present, the association is not
766authenticated; if the
767.Ic key
768subcommand is present, the association is authenticated
769using the symmetric key ID specified; if the
770.Ic autokey
771subcommand is present, the association is authenticated
772using Autokey.
773.Pp
774When multiple identity schemes are supported in the Autokey
775protocol, the first message exchange determines which one is used.
776The client request message contains bits corresponding
777to which schemes it has available.
778The server response message
779contains bits corresponding to which schemes it has available.
780Both server and client match the received bits with their own
781and select a common scheme.
782.Pp
783Following the principle that time is a public value,
784a server responds to any client packet that matches
785its cryptotype capabilities.
786Thus, a server receiving
787an unauthenticated packet will respond with an unauthenticated
788packet, while the same server receiving a packet of a cryptotype
789it supports will respond with packets of that cryptotype.
790However, unconfigured broadcast or manycast client
791associations or symmetric passive associations will not be
792mobilized unless the server supports a cryptotype compatible
793with the first packet received.
794By default, unauthenticated associations will not be mobilized
795unless overridden in a decidedly dangerous way.
796.Pp
797Some examples may help to reduce confusion.
798Client Alice has no specific cryptotype selected.
799Server Bob has both a symmetric key file and minimal Autokey files.
800Alice's unauthenticated messages arrive at Bob, who replies with
801unauthenticated messages.
802Cathy has a copy of Bob's symmetric
803key file and has selected key ID 4 in messages to Bob.
804Bob verifies the message with his key ID 4.
805If it's the
806same key and the message is verified, Bob sends Cathy a reply
807authenticated with that key.
808If verification fails,
809Bob sends Cathy a thing called a crypto\-NAK, which tells her
810something broke.
811She can see the evidence using the
812.Xr ntpq @NTPQ_MS@
813program.
814.Pp
815Denise has rolled her own host key and certificate.
816She also uses one of the identity schemes as Bob.
817She sends the first Autokey message to Bob and they
818both dance the protocol authentication and identity steps.
819If all comes out okay, Denise and Bob continue as described above.
820.Pp
821It should be clear from the above that Bob can support
822all the girls at the same time, as long as he has compatible
823authentication and identity credentials.
824Now, Bob can act just like the girls in his own choice of servers;
825he can run multiple configured associations with multiple different
826servers (or the same server, although that might not be useful).
827But, wise security policy might preclude some cryptotype
828combinations; for instance, running an identity scheme
829with one server and no authentication with another might not be wise.
830.Ss Key Management
831The cryptographic values used by the Autokey protocol are
832incorporated as a set of files generated by the
833.Xr ntp\-keygen 1ntpkeygenmdoc
834utility program, including symmetric key, host key and
835public certificate files, as well as sign key, identity parameters
836and leapseconds files.
837Alternatively, host and sign keys and
838certificate files can be generated by the OpenSSL utilities
839and certificates can be imported from public certificate
840authorities.
841Note that symmetric keys are necessary for the
842.Xr ntpq @NTPQ_MS@
843and
844.Xr ntpdc @NTPDC_MS@
845utility programs.
846The remaining files are necessary only for the
847Autokey protocol.
848.Pp
849Certificates imported from OpenSSL or public certificate
850authorities have certian limitations.
851The certificate should be in ASN.1 syntax, X.509 Version 3
852format and encoded in PEM, which is the same format
853used by OpenSSL.
854The overall length of the certificate encoded
855in ASN.1 must not exceed 1024 bytes.
856The subject distinguished
857name field (CN) is the fully qualified name of the host
858on which it is used; the remaining subject fields are ignored.
859The certificate extension fields must not contain either
860a subject key identifier or a issuer key identifier field;
861however, an extended key usage field for a trusted host must
862contain the value
863.Cm trustRoot ; .
864Other extension fields are ignored.
865.Ss Authentication Commands
866.Bl -tag -width indent
867.It Ic autokey Op Ar logsec
868Specifies the interval between regenerations of the session key
869list used with the Autokey protocol.
870Note that the size of the key
871list for each association depends on this interval and the current
872poll interval.
873The default value is 12 (4096 s or about 1.1 hours).
874For poll intervals above the specified interval, a session key list
875with a single entry will be regenerated for every message
876sent.
877.It Ic controlkey Ar key
878Specifies the key identifier to use with the
879.Xr ntpq @NTPQ_MS@
880utility, which uses the standard
881protocol defined in RFC\-1305.
882The
883.Ar key
884argument is
885the key identifier for a trusted key, where the value can be in the
886range 1 to 65,535, inclusive.
887.It Xo Ic crypto
888.Op Cm cert Ar file
889.Op Cm leap Ar file
890.Op Cm randfile Ar file
891.Op Cm host Ar file
892.Op Cm sign Ar file
893.Op Cm gq Ar file
894.Op Cm gqpar Ar file
895.Op Cm iffpar Ar file
896.Op Cm mvpar Ar file
897.Op Cm pw Ar password
898.Xc
899This command requires the OpenSSL library.
900It activates public key
901cryptography, selects the message digest and signature
902encryption scheme and loads the required private and public
903values described above.
904If one or more files are left unspecified,
905the default names are used as described above.
906Unless the complete path and name of the file are specified, the
907location of a file is relative to the keys directory specified
908in the
909.Ic keysdir
910command or default
911.Pa /usr/local/etc .
912Following are the subcommands:
913.Bl -tag -width indent
914.It Cm cert Ar file
915Specifies the location of the required host public certificate file.
916This overrides the link
917.Pa ntpkey_cert_ Ns Ar hostname
918in the keys directory.
919.It Cm gqpar Ar file
920Specifies the location of the optional GQ parameters file.
921This
922overrides the link
923.Pa ntpkey_gq_ Ns Ar hostname
924in the keys directory.
925.It Cm host Ar file
926Specifies the location of the required host key file.
927This overrides
928the link
929.Pa ntpkey_key_ Ns Ar hostname
930in the keys directory.
931.It Cm iffpar Ar file
932Specifies the location of the optional IFF parameters file.
933This overrides the link
934.Pa ntpkey_iff_ Ns Ar hostname
935in the keys directory.
936.It Cm leap Ar file
937Specifies the location of the optional leapsecond file.
938This overrides the link
939.Pa ntpkey_leap
940in the keys directory.
941.It Cm mvpar Ar file
942Specifies the location of the optional MV parameters file.
943This overrides the link
944.Pa ntpkey_mv_ Ns Ar hostname
945in the keys directory.
946.It Cm pw Ar password
947Specifies the password to decrypt files containing private keys and
948identity parameters.
949This is required only if these files have been
950encrypted.
951.It Cm randfile Ar file
952Specifies the location of the random seed file used by the OpenSSL
953library.
954The defaults are described in the main text above.
955.It Cm sign Ar file
956Specifies the location of the optional sign key file.
957This overrides
958the link
959.Pa ntpkey_sign_ Ns Ar hostname
960in the keys directory.
961If this file is
962not found, the host key is also the sign key.
963.El
964.It Ic keys Ar keyfile
965Specifies the complete path and location of the MD5 key file
966containing the keys and key identifiers used by
967.Xr ntpd @NTPD_MS@ ,
968.Xr ntpq @NTPQ_MS@
969and
970.Xr ntpdc @NTPDC_MS@
971when operating with symmetric key cryptography.
972This is the same operation as the
973.Fl k
974command line option.
975.It Ic keysdir Ar path
976This command specifies the default directory path for
977cryptographic keys, parameters and certificates.
978The default is
979.Pa /usr/local/etc/ .
980.It Ic requestkey Ar key
981Specifies the key identifier to use with the
982.Xr ntpdc @NTPDC_MS@
983utility program, which uses a
984proprietary protocol specific to this implementation of
985.Xr ntpd @NTPD_MS@ .
986The
987.Ar key
988argument is a key identifier
989for the trusted key, where the value can be in the range 1 to
99065,535, inclusive.
991.It Ic revoke Ar logsec
992Specifies the interval between re\-randomization of certain
993cryptographic values used by the Autokey scheme, as a power of 2 in
994seconds.
995These values need to be updated frequently in order to
996deflect brute\-force attacks on the algorithms of the scheme;
997however, updating some values is a relatively expensive operation.
998The default interval is 16 (65,536 s or about 18 hours).
999For poll
1000intervals above the specified interval, the values will be updated
1001for every message sent.
1002.It Ic trustedkey Ar key ...
1003Specifies the key identifiers which are trusted for the
1004purposes of authenticating peers with symmetric key cryptography,
1005as well as keys used by the
1006.Xr ntpq @NTPQ_MS@
1007and
1008.Xr ntpdc @NTPDC_MS@
1009programs.
1010The authentication procedures require that both the local
1011and remote servers share the same key and key identifier for this
1012purpose, although different keys can be used with different
1013servers.
1014The
1015.Ar key
1016arguments are 32\-bit unsigned
1017integers with values from 1 to 65,535.
1018.El
1019.Ss Error Codes
1020The following error codes are reported via the NTP control
1021and monitoring protocol trap mechanism.
1022.Bl -tag -width indent
1023.It 101
1024.Pq bad field format or length
1025The packet has invalid version, length or format.
1026.It 102
1027.Pq bad timestamp
1028The packet timestamp is the same or older than the most recent received.
1029This could be due to a replay or a server clock time step.
1030.It 103
1031.Pq bad filestamp
1032The packet filestamp is the same or older than the most recent received.
1033This could be due to a replay or a key file generation error.
1034.It 104
1035.Pq bad or missing public key
1036The public key is missing, has incorrect format or is an unsupported type.
1037.It 105
1038.Pq unsupported digest type
1039The server requires an unsupported digest/signature scheme.
1040.It 106
1041.Pq mismatched digest types
1042Not used.
1043.It 107
1044.Pq bad signature length
1045The signature length does not match the current public key.
1046.It 108
1047.Pq signature not verified
1048The message fails the signature check.
1049It could be bogus or signed by a
1050different private key.
1051.It 109
1052.Pq certificate not verified
1053The certificate is invalid or signed with the wrong key.
1054.It 110
1055.Pq certificate not verified
1056The certificate is not yet valid or has expired or the signature could not
1057be verified.
1058.It 111
1059.Pq bad or missing cookie
1060The cookie is missing, corrupted or bogus.
1061.It 112
1062.Pq bad or missing leapseconds table
1063The leapseconds table is missing, corrupted or bogus.
1064.It 113
1065.Pq bad or missing certificate
1066The certificate is missing, corrupted or bogus.
1067.It 114
1068.Pq bad or missing identity
1069The identity key is missing, corrupt or bogus.
1070.El
1071.Sh Monitoring Support
1072.Xr ntpd @NTPD_MS@
1073includes a comprehensive monitoring facility suitable
1074for continuous, long term recording of server and client
1075timekeeping performance.
1076See the
1077.Ic statistics
1078command below
1079for a listing and example of each type of statistics currently
1080supported.
1081Statistic files are managed using file generation sets
1082and scripts in the
1083.Pa ./scripts
1084directory of the source code distribution.
1085Using
1086these facilities and
1087.Ux
1088.Xr cron 8
1089jobs, the data can be
1090automatically summarized and archived for retrospective analysis.
1091.Ss Monitoring Commands
1092.Bl -tag -width indent
1093.It Ic statistics Ar name ...
1094Enables writing of statistics records.
1095Currently, eight kinds of
1096.Ar name
1097statistics are supported.
1098.Bl -tag -width indent
1099.It Cm clockstats
1100Enables recording of clock driver statistics information.
1101Each update
1102received from a clock driver appends a line of the following form to
1103the file generation set named
1104.Cm clockstats :
1105.Bd -literal
110649213 525.624 127.127.4.1 93 226 00:08:29.606 D
1107.Ed
1108.Pp
1109The first two fields show the date (Modified Julian Day) and time
1110(seconds and fraction past UTC midnight).
1111The next field shows the
1112clock address in dotted\-quad notation.
1113The final field shows the last
1114timecode received from the clock in decoded ASCII format, where
1115meaningful.
1116In some clock drivers a good deal of additional information
1117can be gathered and displayed as well.
1118See information specific to each
1119clock for further details.
1120.It Cm cryptostats
1121This option requires the OpenSSL cryptographic software library.
1122It
1123enables recording of cryptographic public key protocol information.
1124Each message received by the protocol module appends a line of the
1125following form to the file generation set named
1126.Cm cryptostats :
1127.Bd -literal
112849213 525.624 127.127.4.1 message
1129.Ed
1130.Pp
1131The first two fields show the date (Modified Julian Day) and time
1132(seconds and fraction past UTC midnight).
1133The next field shows the peer
1134address in dotted\-quad notation, The final message field includes the
1135message type and certain ancillary information.
1136See the
1137.Sx Authentication Options
1138section for further information.
1139.It Cm loopstats
1140Enables recording of loop filter statistics information.
1141Each
1142update of the local clock outputs a line of the following form to
1143the file generation set named
1144.Cm loopstats :
1145.Bd -literal
114650935 75440.031 0.000006019 13.778190 0.000351733 0.0133806
1147.Ed
1148.Pp
1149The first two fields show the date (Modified Julian Day) and
1150time (seconds and fraction past UTC midnight).
1151The next five fields
1152show time offset (seconds), frequency offset (parts per million \-
1153PPM), RMS jitter (seconds), Allan deviation (PPM) and clock
1154discipline time constant.
1155.It Cm peerstats
1156Enables recording of peer statistics information.
1157This includes
1158statistics records of all peers of a NTP server and of special
1159signals, where present and configured.
1160Each valid update appends a
1161line of the following form to the current element of a file
1162generation set named
1163.Cm peerstats :
1164.Bd -literal
116548773 10847.650 127.127.4.1 9714 \-0.001605376 0.000000000 0.001424877 0.000958674
1166.Ed
1167.Pp
1168The first two fields show the date (Modified Julian Day) and
1169time (seconds and fraction past UTC midnight).
1170The next two fields
1171show the peer address in dotted\-quad notation and status,
1172respectively.
1173The status field is encoded in hex in the format
1174described in Appendix A of the NTP specification RFC 1305.
1175The final four fields show the offset,
1176delay, dispersion and RMS jitter, all in seconds.
1177.It Cm rawstats
1178Enables recording of raw\-timestamp statistics information.
1179This
1180includes statistics records of all peers of a NTP server and of
1181special signals, where present and configured.
1182Each NTP message
1183received from a peer or clock driver appends a line of the
1184following form to the file generation set named
1185.Cm rawstats :
1186.Bd -literal
118750928 2132.543 128.4.1.1 128.4.1.20 3102453281.584327000 3102453281.58622800031 02453332.540806000 3102453332.541458000
1188.Ed
1189.Pp
1190The first two fields show the date (Modified Julian Day) and
1191time (seconds and fraction past UTC midnight).
1192The next two fields
1193show the remote peer or clock address followed by the local address
1194in dotted\-quad notation.
1195The final four fields show the originate,
1196receive, transmit and final NTP timestamps in order.
1197The timestamp
1198values are as received and before processing by the various data
1199smoothing and mitigation algorithms.
1200.It Cm sysstats
1201Enables recording of ntpd statistics counters on a periodic basis.
1202Each
1203hour a line of the following form is appended to the file generation
1204set named
1205.Cm sysstats :
1206.Bd -literal
120750928 2132.543 36000 81965 0 9546 56 71793 512 540 10 147
1208.Ed
1209.Pp
1210The first two fields show the date (Modified Julian Day) and time
1211(seconds and fraction past UTC midnight).
1212The remaining ten fields show
1213the statistics counter values accumulated since the last generated
1214line.
1215.Bl -tag -width indent
1216.It Time since restart Cm 36000
1217Time in hours since the system was last rebooted.
1218.It Packets received Cm 81965
1219Total number of packets received.
1220.It Packets processed Cm 0
1221Number of packets received in response to previous packets sent
1222.It Current version Cm 9546
1223Number of packets matching the current NTP version.
1224.It Previous version Cm 56
1225Number of packets matching the previous NTP version.
1226.It Bad version Cm 71793
1227Number of packets matching neither NTP version.
1228.It Access denied Cm 512
1229Number of packets denied access for any reason.
1230.It Bad length or format Cm 540
1231Number of packets with invalid length, format or port number.
1232.It Bad authentication Cm 10
1233Number of packets not verified as authentic.
1234.It Rate exceeded Cm 147
1235Number of packets discarded due to rate limitation.
1236.El
1237.It Cm statsdir Ar directory_path
1238Indicates the full path of a directory where statistics files
1239should be created (see below).
1240This keyword allows
1241the (otherwise constant)
1242.Cm filegen
1243filename prefix to be modified for file generation sets, which
1244is useful for handling statistics logs.
1245.It Cm filegen Ar name Xo
1246.Op Cm file Ar filename
1247.Op Cm type Ar typename
1248.Op Cm link | nolink
1249.Op Cm enable | disable
1250.Xc
1251Configures setting of generation file set name.
1252Generation
1253file sets provide a means for handling files that are
1254continuously growing during the lifetime of a server.
1255Server statistics are a typical example for such files.
1256Generation file sets provide access to a set of files used
1257to store the actual data.
1258At any time at most one element
1259of the set is being written to.
1260The type given specifies
1261when and how data will be directed to a new element of the set.
1262This way, information stored in elements of a file set
1263that are currently unused are available for administrational
1264operations without the risk of disturbing the operation of ntpd.
1265(Most important: they can be removed to free space for new data
1266produced.)
1267.Pp
1268Note that this command can be sent from the
1269.Xr ntpdc @NTPDC_MS@
1270program running at a remote location.
1271.Bl -tag -width indent
1272.It Cm name
1273This is the type of the statistics records, as shown in the
1274.Cm statistics
1275command.
1276.It Cm file Ar filename
1277This is the file name for the statistics records.
1278Filenames of set
1279members are built from three concatenated elements
1280.Ar Cm prefix ,
1281.Ar Cm filename
1282and
1283.Ar Cm suffix :
1284.Bl -tag -width indent
1285.It Cm prefix
1286This is a constant filename path.
1287It is not subject to
1288modifications via the
1289.Ar filegen
1290option.
1291It is defined by the
1292server, usually specified as a compile\-time constant.
1293It may,
1294however, be configurable for individual file generation sets
1295via other commands.
1296For example, the prefix used with
1297.Ar loopstats
1298and
1299.Ar peerstats
1300generation can be configured using the
1301.Ar statsdir
1302option explained above.
1303.It Cm filename
1304This string is directly concatenated to the prefix mentioned
1305above (no intervening
1306.Ql / ) .
1307This can be modified using
1308the file argument to the
1309.Ar filegen
1310statement.
1311No
1312.Pa ..
1313elements are
1314allowed in this component to prevent filenames referring to
1315parts outside the filesystem hierarchy denoted by
1316.Ar prefix .
1317.It Cm suffix
1318This part is reflects individual elements of a file set.
1319It is
1320generated according to the type of a file set.
1321.El
1322.It Cm type Ar typename
1323A file generation set is characterized by its type.
1324The following
1325types are supported:
1326.Bl -tag -width indent
1327.It Cm none
1328The file set is actually a single plain file.
1329.It Cm pid
1330One element of file set is used per incarnation of a ntpd
1331server.
1332This type does not perform any changes to file set
1333members during runtime, however it provides an easy way of
1334separating files belonging to different
1335.Xr ntpd @NTPD_MS@
1336server incarnations.
1337The set member filename is built by appending a
1338.Ql \&.
1339to concatenated
1340.Ar prefix
1341and
1342.Ar filename
1343strings, and
1344appending the decimal representation of the process ID of the
1345.Xr ntpd @NTPD_MS@
1346server process.
1347.It Cm day
1348One file generation set element is created per day.
1349A day is
1350defined as the period between 00:00 and 24:00 UTC.
1351The file set
1352member suffix consists of a
1353.Ql \&.
1354and a day specification in
1355the form
1356.Cm YYYYMMdd .
1357.Cm YYYY
1358is a 4\-digit year number (e.g., 1992).
1359.Cm MM
1360is a two digit month number.
1361.Cm dd
1362is a two digit day number.
1363Thus, all information written at 10 December 1992 would end up
1364in a file named
1365.Ar prefix
1366.Ar filename Ns .19921210 .
1367.It Cm week
1368Any file set member contains data related to a certain week of
1369a year.
1370The term week is defined by computing day\-of\-year
1371modulo 7.
1372Elements of such a file generation set are
1373distinguished by appending the following suffix to the file set
1374filename base: A dot, a 4\-digit year number, the letter
1375.Cm W ,
1376and a 2\-digit week number.
1377For example, information from January,
137810th 1992 would end up in a file with suffix
1379.No . Ns Ar 1992W1 .
1380.It Cm month
1381One generation file set element is generated per month.
1382The
1383file name suffix consists of a dot, a 4\-digit year number, and
1384a 2\-digit month.
1385.It Cm year
1386One generation file element is generated per year.
1387The filename
1388suffix consists of a dot and a 4 digit year number.
1389.It Cm age
1390This type of file generation sets changes to a new element of
1391the file set every 24 hours of server operation.
1392The filename
1393suffix consists of a dot, the letter
1394.Cm a ,
1395and an 8\-digit number.
1396This number is taken to be the number of seconds the server is
1397running at the start of the corresponding 24\-hour period.
1398Information is only written to a file generation by specifying
1399.Cm enable ;
1400output is prevented by specifying
1401.Cm disable .
1402.El
1403.It Cm link | nolink
1404It is convenient to be able to access the current element of a file
1405generation set by a fixed name.
1406This feature is enabled by
1407specifying
1408.Cm link
1409and disabled using
1410.Cm nolink .
1411If link is specified, a
1412hard link from the current file set element to a file without
1413suffix is created.
1414When there is already a file with this name and
1415the number of links of this file is one, it is renamed appending a
1416dot, the letter
1417.Cm C ,
1418and the pid of the
1419.Xr ntpd @NTPD_MS@
1420server process.
1421When the
1422number of links is greater than one, the file is unlinked.
1423This
1424allows the current file to be accessed by a constant name.
1425.It Cm enable \&| Cm disable
1426Enables or disables the recording function.
1427.El
1428.El
1429.El
1430.Sh Access Control Support
1431The
1432.Xr ntpd @NTPD_MS@
1433daemon implements a general purpose address/mask based restriction
1434list.
1435The list contains address/match entries sorted first
1436by increasing address values and and then by increasing mask values.
1437A match occurs when the bitwise AND of the mask and the packet
1438source address is equal to the bitwise AND of the mask and
1439address in the list.
1440The list is searched in order with the
1441last match found defining the restriction flags associated
1442with the entry.
1443Additional information and examples can be found in the
1444.Qq Notes on Configuring NTP and Setting up a NTP Subnet
1445page
1446(available as part of the HTML documentation
1447provided in
1448.Pa /usr/share/doc/ntp ) .
1449.Pp
1450The restriction facility was implemented in conformance
1451with the access policies for the original NSFnet backbone
1452time servers.
1453Later the facility was expanded to deflect
1454cryptographic and clogging attacks.
1455While this facility may
1456be useful for keeping unwanted or broken or malicious clients
1457from congesting innocent servers, it should not be considered
1458an alternative to the NTP authentication facilities.
1459Source address based restrictions are easily circumvented
1460by a determined cracker.
1461.Pp
1462Clients can be denied service because they are explicitly
1463included in the restrict list created by the
1464.Ic restrict
1465command
1466or implicitly as the result of cryptographic or rate limit
1467violations.
1468Cryptographic violations include certificate
1469or identity verification failure; rate limit violations generally
1470result from defective NTP implementations that send packets
1471at abusive rates.
1472Some violations cause denied service
1473only for the offending packet, others cause denied service
1474for a timed period and others cause the denied service for
1475an indefinite period.
1476When a client or network is denied access
1477for an indefinite period, the only way at present to remove
1478the restrictions is by restarting the server.
1479.Ss The Kiss\-of\-Death Packet
1480Ordinarily, packets denied service are simply dropped with no
1481further action except incrementing statistics counters.
1482Sometimes a
1483more proactive response is needed, such as a server message that
1484explicitly requests the client to stop sending and leave a message
1485for the system operator.
1486A special packet format has been created
1487for this purpose called the "kiss\-of\-death" (KoD) packet.
1488KoD packets have the leap bits set unsynchronized and stratum set
1489to zero and the reference identifier field set to a four\-byte
1490ASCII code.
1491If the
1492.Cm noserve
1493or
1494.Cm notrust
1495flag of the matching restrict list entry is set,
1496the code is "DENY"; if the
1497.Cm limited
1498flag is set and the rate limit
1499is exceeded, the code is "RATE".
1500Finally, if a cryptographic violation occurs, the code is "CRYP".
1501.Pp
1502A client receiving a KoD performs a set of sanity checks to
1503minimize security exposure, then updates the stratum and
1504reference identifier peer variables, sets the access
1505denied (TEST4) bit in the peer flash variable and sends
1506a message to the log.
1507As long as the TEST4 bit is set,
1508the client will send no further packets to the server.
1509The only way at present to recover from this condition is
1510to restart the protocol at both the client and server.
1511This
1512happens automatically at the client when the association times out.
1513It will happen at the server only if the server operator cooperates.
1514.Ss Access Control Commands
1515.Bl -tag -width indent
1516.It Xo Ic discard
1517.Op Cm average Ar avg
1518.Op Cm minimum Ar min
1519.Op Cm monitor Ar prob
1520.Xc
1521Set the parameters of the
1522.Cm limited
1523facility which protects the server from
1524client abuse.
1525The
1526.Cm average
1527subcommand specifies the minimum average packet
1528spacing, while the
1529.Cm minimum
1530subcommand specifies the minimum packet spacing.
1531Packets that violate these minima are discarded
1532and a kiss\-o'\-death packet returned if enabled.
1533The default
1534minimum average and minimum are 5 and 2, respectively.
1535The
1536.Ic monitor
1537subcommand specifies the probability of discard
1538for packets that overflow the rate\-control window.
1539.It Xo Ic restrict address
1540.Op Cm mask Ar mask
1541.Op Cm ippeerlimit Ar int
1542.Op Ar flag ...
1543.Xc
1544The
1545.Ar address
1546argument expressed in
1547dotted\-quad form is the address of a host or network.
1548Alternatively, the
1549.Ar address
1550argument can be a valid host DNS name.
1551The
1552.Ar mask
1553argument expressed in dotted\-quad form defaults to
1554.Cm 255.255.255.255 ,
1555meaning that the
1556.Ar address
1557is treated as the address of an individual host.
1558A default entry (address
1559.Cm 0.0.0.0 ,
1560mask
1561.Cm 0.0.0.0 )
1562is always included and is always the first entry in the list.
1563Note that text string
1564.Cm default ,
1565with no mask option, may
1566be used to indicate the default entry.
1567The
1568.Cm ippeerlimit
1569directive limits the number of peer requests for each IP to
1570.Ar int ,
1571where a value of \-1 means "unlimited", the current default.
1572A value of 0 means "none".
1573There would usually be at most 1 peering request per IP,
1574but if the remote peering requests are behind a proxy
1575there could well be more than 1 per IP.
1576In the current implementation,
1577.Cm flag
1578always
1579restricts access, i.e., an entry with no flags indicates that free
1580access to the server is to be given.
1581The flags are not orthogonal,
1582in that more restrictive flags will often make less restrictive
1583ones redundant.
1584The flags can generally be classed into two
1585categories, those which restrict time service and those which
1586restrict informational queries and attempts to do run\-time
1587reconfiguration of the server.
1588One or more of the following flags
1589may be specified:
1590.Bl -tag -width indent
1591.It Cm ignore
1592Deny packets of all kinds, including
1593.Xr ntpq @NTPQ_MS@
1594and
1595.Xr ntpdc @NTPDC_MS@
1596queries.
1597.It Cm kod
1598If this flag is set when an access violation occurs, a kiss\-o'\-death
1599(KoD) packet is sent.
1600KoD packets are rate limited to no more than one
1601per second.
1602If another KoD packet occurs within one second after the
1603last one, the packet is dropped.
1604.It Cm limited
1605Deny service if the packet spacing violates the lower limits specified
1606in the
1607.Ic discard
1608command.
1609A history of clients is kept using the
1610monitoring capability of
1611.Xr ntpd @NTPD_MS@ .
1612Thus, monitoring is always active as
1613long as there is a restriction entry with the
1614.Cm limited
1615flag.
1616.It Cm lowpriotrap
1617Declare traps set by matching hosts to be low priority.
1618The
1619number of traps a server can maintain is limited (the current limit
1620is 3).
1621Traps are usually assigned on a first come, first served
1622basis, with later trap requestors being denied service.
1623This flag
1624modifies the assignment algorithm by allowing low priority traps to
1625be overridden by later requests for normal priority traps.
1626.It Cm noepeer
1627Deny ephemeral peer requests,
1628even if they come from an authenticated source.
1629Note that the ability to use a symmetric key for authentication may be restricted to
1630one or more IPs or subnets via the third field of the
1631.Pa ntp.keys
1632file.
1633This restriction is not enabled by default,
1634to maintain backward compatability.
1635Expect
1636.Cm noepeer
1637to become the default in ntp\-4.4.
1638.It Cm nomodify
1639Deny
1640.Xr ntpq @NTPQ_MS@
1641and
1642.Xr ntpdc @NTPDC_MS@
1643queries which attempt to modify the state of the
1644server (i.e., run time reconfiguration).
1645Queries which return
1646information are permitted.
1647.It Cm noquery
1648Deny
1649.Xr ntpq @NTPQ_MS@
1650and
1651.Xr ntpdc @NTPDC_MS@
1652queries.
1653Time service is not affected.
1654.It Cm nopeer
1655Deny unauthenticated packets which would result in mobilizing a new association.
1656This includes
1657broadcast and symmetric active packets
1658when a configured association does not exist.
1659It also includes
1660.Cm pool
1661associations, so if you want to use servers from a
1662.Cm pool
1663directive and also want to use
1664.Cm nopeer
1665by default, you'll want a
1666.Cm "restrict source ..."
1667line as well that does
1668.Em not
1669include the
1670.Cm nopeer
1671directive.
1672.It Cm noserve
1673Deny all packets except
1674.Xr ntpq @NTPQ_MS@
1675and
1676.Xr ntpdc @NTPDC_MS@
1677queries.
1678.It Cm notrap
1679Decline to provide mode 6 control message trap service to matching
1680hosts.
1681The trap service is a subsystem of the
1682.Xr ntpq @NTPQ_MS@
1683control message
1684protocol which is intended for use by remote event logging programs.
1685.It Cm notrust
1686Deny service unless the packet is cryptographically authenticated.
1687.It Cm ntpport
1688This is actually a match algorithm modifier, rather than a
1689restriction flag.
1690Its presence causes the restriction entry to be
1691matched only if the source port in the packet is the standard NTP
1692UDP port (123).
1693Both
1694.Cm ntpport
1695and
1696.Cm non\-ntpport
1697may
1698be specified.
1699The
1700.Cm ntpport
1701is considered more specific and
1702is sorted later in the list.
1703.It Ic "serverresponse fuzz"
1704When reponding to server requests,
1705fuzz the low order bits of the
1706.Cm reftime .
1707.It Cm version
1708Deny packets that do not match the current NTP version.
1709.El
1710.Pp
1711Default restriction list entries with the flags ignore, interface,
1712ntpport, for each of the local host's interface addresses are
1713inserted into the table at startup to prevent the server
1714from attempting to synchronize to its own time.
1715A default entry is also always present, though if it is
1716otherwise unconfigured; no flags are associated
1717with the default entry (i.e., everything besides your own
1718NTP server is unrestricted).
1719.El
1720.Sh Automatic NTP Configuration Options
1721.Ss Manycasting
1722Manycasting is a automatic discovery and configuration paradigm
1723new to NTPv4.
1724It is intended as a means for a multicast client
1725to troll the nearby network neighborhood to find cooperating
1726manycast servers, validate them using cryptographic means
1727and evaluate their time values with respect to other servers
1728that might be lurking in the vicinity.
1729The intended result is that each manycast client mobilizes
1730client associations with some number of the "best"
1731of the nearby manycast servers, yet automatically reconfigures
1732to sustain this number of servers should one or another fail.
1733.Pp
1734Note that the manycasting paradigm does not coincide
1735with the anycast paradigm described in RFC\-1546,
1736which is designed to find a single server from a clique
1737of servers providing the same service.
1738The manycast paradigm is designed to find a plurality
1739of redundant servers satisfying defined optimality criteria.
1740.Pp
1741Manycasting can be used with either symmetric key
1742or public key cryptography.
1743The public key infrastructure (PKI)
1744offers the best protection against compromised keys
1745and is generally considered stronger, at least with relatively
1746large key sizes.
1747It is implemented using the Autokey protocol and
1748the OpenSSL cryptographic library available from
1749.Li http://www.openssl.org/ .
1750The library can also be used with other NTPv4 modes
1751as well and is highly recommended, especially for broadcast modes.
1752.Pp
1753A persistent manycast client association is configured
1754using the
1755.Ic manycastclient
1756command, which is similar to the
1757.Ic server
1758command but with a multicast (IPv4 class
1759.Cm D
1760or IPv6 prefix
1761.Cm FF )
1762group address.
1763The IANA has designated IPv4 address 224.1.1.1
1764and IPv6 address FF05::101 (site local) for NTP.
1765When more servers are needed, it broadcasts manycast
1766client messages to this address at the minimum feasible rate
1767and minimum feasible time\-to\-live (TTL) hops, depending
1768on how many servers have already been found.
1769There can be as many manycast client associations
1770as different group address, each one serving as a template
1771for a future ephemeral unicast client/server association.
1772.Pp
1773Manycast servers configured with the
1774.Ic manycastserver
1775command listen on the specified group address for manycast
1776client messages.
1777Note the distinction between manycast client,
1778which actively broadcasts messages, and manycast server,
1779which passively responds to them.
1780If a manycast server is
1781in scope of the current TTL and is itself synchronized
1782to a valid source and operating at a stratum level equal
1783to or lower than the manycast client, it replies to the
1784manycast client message with an ordinary unicast server message.
1785.Pp
1786The manycast client receiving this message mobilizes
1787an ephemeral client/server association according to the
1788matching manycast client template, but only if cryptographically
1789authenticated and the server stratum is less than or equal
1790to the client stratum.
1791Authentication is explicitly required
1792and either symmetric key or public key (Autokey) can be used.
1793Then, the client polls the server at its unicast address
1794in burst mode in order to reliably set the host clock
1795and validate the source.
1796This normally results
1797in a volley of eight client/server at 2\-s intervals
1798during which both the synchronization and cryptographic
1799protocols run concurrently.
1800Following the volley,
1801the client runs the NTP intersection and clustering
1802algorithms, which act to discard all but the "best"
1803associations according to stratum and synchronization
1804distance.
1805The surviving associations then continue
1806in ordinary client/server mode.
1807.Pp
1808The manycast client polling strategy is designed to reduce
1809as much as possible the volume of manycast client messages
1810and the effects of implosion due to near\-simultaneous
1811arrival of manycast server messages.
1812The strategy is determined by the
1813.Ic manycastclient ,
1814.Ic tos
1815and
1816.Ic ttl
1817configuration commands.
1818The manycast poll interval is
1819normally eight times the system poll interval,
1820which starts out at the
1821.Cm minpoll
1822value specified in the
1823.Ic manycastclient ,
1824command and, under normal circumstances, increments to the
1825.Cm maxpolll
1826value specified in this command.
1827Initially, the TTL is
1828set at the minimum hops specified by the
1829.Ic ttl
1830command.
1831At each retransmission the TTL is increased until reaching
1832the maximum hops specified by this command or a sufficient
1833number client associations have been found.
1834Further retransmissions use the same TTL.
1835.Pp
1836The quality and reliability of the suite of associations
1837discovered by the manycast client is determined by the NTP
1838mitigation algorithms and the
1839.Cm minclock
1840and
1841.Cm minsane
1842values specified in the
1843.Ic tos
1844configuration command.
1845At least
1846.Cm minsane
1847candidate servers must be available and the mitigation
1848algorithms produce at least
1849.Cm minclock
1850survivors in order to synchronize the clock.
1851Byzantine agreement principles require at least four
1852candidates in order to correctly discard a single falseticker.
1853For legacy purposes,
1854.Cm minsane
1855defaults to 1 and
1856.Cm minclock
1857defaults to 3.
1858For manycast service
1859.Cm minsane
1860should be explicitly set to 4, assuming at least that
1861number of servers are available.
1862.Pp
1863If at least
1864.Cm minclock
1865servers are found, the manycast poll interval is immediately
1866set to eight times
1867.Cm maxpoll .
1868If less than
1869.Cm minclock
1870servers are found when the TTL has reached the maximum hops,
1871the manycast poll interval is doubled.
1872For each transmission
1873after that, the poll interval is doubled again until
1874reaching the maximum of eight times
1875.Cm maxpoll .
1876Further transmissions use the same poll interval and
1877TTL values.
1878Note that while all this is going on,
1879each client/server association found is operating normally
1880it the system poll interval.
1881.Pp
1882Administratively scoped multicast boundaries are normally
1883specified by the network router configuration and,
1884in the case of IPv6, the link/site scope prefix.
1885By default, the increment for TTL hops is 32 starting
1886from 31; however, the
1887.Ic ttl
1888configuration command can be
1889used to modify the values to match the scope rules.
1890.Pp
1891It is often useful to narrow the range of acceptable
1892servers which can be found by manycast client associations.
1893Because manycast servers respond only when the client
1894stratum is equal to or greater than the server stratum,
1895primary (stratum 1) servers fill find only primary servers
1896in TTL range, which is probably the most common objective.
1897However, unless configured otherwise, all manycast clients
1898in TTL range will eventually find all primary servers
1899in TTL range, which is probably not the most common
1900objective in large networks.
1901The
1902.Ic tos
1903command can be used to modify this behavior.
1904Servers with stratum below
1905.Cm floor
1906or above
1907.Cm ceiling
1908specified in the
1909.Ic tos
1910command are strongly discouraged during the selection
1911process; however, these servers may be temporally
1912accepted if the number of servers within TTL range is
1913less than
1914.Cm minclock .
1915.Pp
1916The above actions occur for each manycast client message,
1917which repeats at the designated poll interval.
1918However, once the ephemeral client association is mobilized,
1919subsequent manycast server replies are discarded,
1920since that would result in a duplicate association.
1921If during a poll interval the number of client associations
1922falls below
1923.Cm minclock ,
1924all manycast client prototype associations are reset
1925to the initial poll interval and TTL hops and operation
1926resumes from the beginning.
1927It is important to avoid
1928frequent manycast client messages, since each one requires
1929all manycast servers in TTL range to respond.
1930The result could well be an implosion, either minor or major,
1931depending on the number of servers in range.
1932The recommended value for
1933.Cm maxpoll
1934is 12 (4,096 s).
1935.Pp
1936It is possible and frequently useful to configure a host
1937as both manycast client and manycast server.
1938A number of hosts configured this way and sharing a common
1939group address will automatically organize themselves
1940in an optimum configuration based on stratum and
1941synchronization distance.
1942For example, consider an NTP
1943subnet of two primary servers and a hundred or more
1944dependent clients.
1945With two exceptions, all servers
1946and clients have identical configuration files including both
1947.Ic multicastclient
1948and
1949.Ic multicastserver
1950commands using, for instance, multicast group address
1951239.1.1.1.
1952The only exception is that each primary server
1953configuration file must include commands for the primary
1954reference source such as a GPS receiver.
1955.Pp
1956The remaining configuration files for all secondary
1957servers and clients have the same contents, except for the
1958.Ic tos
1959command, which is specific for each stratum level.
1960For stratum 1 and stratum 2 servers, that command is
1961not necessary.
1962For stratum 3 and above servers the
1963.Cm floor
1964value is set to the intended stratum number.
1965Thus, all stratum 3 configuration files are identical,
1966all stratum 4 files are identical and so forth.
1967.Pp
1968Once operations have stabilized in this scenario,
1969the primary servers will find the primary reference source
1970and each other, since they both operate at the same
1971stratum (1), but not with any secondary server or client,
1972since these operate at a higher stratum.
1973The secondary
1974servers will find the servers at the same stratum level.
1975If one of the primary servers loses its GPS receiver,
1976it will continue to operate as a client and other clients
1977will time out the corresponding association and
1978re\-associate accordingly.
1979.Pp
1980Some administrators prefer to avoid running
1981.Xr ntpd @NTPD_MS@
1982continuously and run either
1983.Xr sntp @SNTP_MS@
1984or
1985.Xr ntpd @NTPD_MS@
1986.Fl q
1987as a cron job.
1988In either case the servers must be
1989configured in advance and the program fails if none are
1990available when the cron job runs.
1991A really slick
1992application of manycast is with
1993.Xr ntpd @NTPD_MS@
1994.Fl q .
1995The program wakes up, scans the local landscape looking
1996for the usual suspects, selects the best from among
1997the rascals, sets the clock and then departs.
1998Servers do not have to be configured in advance and
1999all clients throughout the network can have the same
2000configuration file.
2001.Ss Manycast Interactions with Autokey
2002Each time a manycast client sends a client mode packet
2003to a multicast group address, all manycast servers
2004in scope generate a reply including the host name
2005and status word.
2006The manycast clients then run
2007the Autokey protocol, which collects and verifies
2008all certificates involved.
2009Following the burst interval
2010all but three survivors are cast off,
2011but the certificates remain in the local cache.
2012It often happens that several complete signing trails
2013from the client to the primary servers are collected in this way.
2014.Pp
2015About once an hour or less often if the poll interval
2016exceeds this, the client regenerates the Autokey key list.
2017This is in general transparent in client/server mode.
2018However, about once per day the server private value
2019used to generate cookies is refreshed along with all
2020manycast client associations.
2021In this case all
2022cryptographic values including certificates is refreshed.
2023If a new certificate has been generated since
2024the last refresh epoch, it will automatically revoke
2025all prior certificates that happen to be in the
2026certificate cache.
2027At the same time, the manycast
2028scheme starts all over from the beginning and
2029the expanding ring shrinks to the minimum and increments
2030from there while collecting all servers in scope.
2031.Ss Broadcast Options
2032.Bl -tag -width indent
2033.It Xo Ic tos
2034.Oo
2035.Cm bcpollbstep Ar gate
2036.Oc
2037.Xc
2038This command provides a way to delay,
2039by the specified number of broadcast poll intervals,
2040believing backward time steps from a broadcast server.
2041Broadcast time networks are expected to be trusted.
2042In the event a broadcast server's time is stepped backwards,
2043there is clear benefit to having the clients notice this change
2044as soon as possible.
2045Attacks such as replay attacks can happen, however,
2046and even though there are a number of protections built in to
2047broadcast mode, attempts to perform a replay attack are possible.
2048This value defaults to 0, but can be changed
2049to any number of poll intervals between 0 and 4.
2050.El
2051.Ss Manycast Options
2052.Bl -tag -width indent
2053.It Xo Ic tos
2054.Oo
2055.Cm ceiling Ar ceiling |
2056.Cm cohort { 0 | 1 } |
2057.Cm floor Ar floor |
2058.Cm minclock Ar minclock |
2059.Cm minsane Ar minsane
2060.Oc
2061.Xc
2062This command affects the clock selection and clustering
2063algorithms.
2064It can be used to select the quality and
2065quantity of peers used to synchronize the system clock
2066and is most useful in manycast mode.
2067The variables operate
2068as follows:
2069.Bl -tag -width indent
2070.It Cm ceiling Ar ceiling
2071Peers with strata above
2072.Cm ceiling
2073will be discarded if there are at least
2074.Cm minclock
2075peers remaining.
2076This value defaults to 15, but can be changed
2077to any number from 1 to 15.
2078.It Cm cohort Bro 0 | 1 Brc
2079This is a binary flag which enables (0) or disables (1)
2080manycast server replies to manycast clients with the same
2081stratum level.
2082This is useful to reduce implosions where
2083large numbers of clients with the same stratum level
2084are present.
2085The default is to enable these replies.
2086.It Cm floor Ar floor
2087Peers with strata below
2088.Cm floor
2089will be discarded if there are at least
2090.Cm minclock
2091peers remaining.
2092This value defaults to 1, but can be changed
2093to any number from 1 to 15.
2094.It Cm minclock Ar minclock
2095The clustering algorithm repeatedly casts out outlier
2096associations until no more than
2097.Cm minclock
2098associations remain.
2099This value defaults to 3,
2100but can be changed to any number from 1 to the number of
2101configured sources.
2102.It Cm minsane Ar minsane
2103This is the minimum number of candidates available
2104to the clock selection algorithm in order to produce
2105one or more truechimers for the clustering algorithm.
2106If fewer than this number are available, the clock is
2107undisciplined and allowed to run free.
2108The default is 1
2109for legacy purposes.
2110However, according to principles of
2111Byzantine agreement,
2112.Cm minsane
2113should be at least 4 in order to detect and discard
2114a single falseticker.
2115.El
2116.It Cm ttl Ar hop ...
2117This command specifies a list of TTL values in increasing
2118order, up to 8 values can be specified.
2119In manycast mode these values are used in turn
2120in an expanding\-ring search.
2121The default is eight
2122multiples of 32 starting at 31.
2123.El
2124.Sh Reference Clock Support
2125The NTP Version 4 daemon supports some three dozen different radio,
2126satellite and modem reference clocks plus a special pseudo\-clock
2127used for backup or when no other clock source is available.
2128Detailed descriptions of individual device drivers and options can
2129be found in the
2130.Qq Reference Clock Drivers
2131page
2132(available as part of the HTML documentation
2133provided in
2134.Pa /usr/share/doc/ntp ) .
2135Additional information can be found in the pages linked
2136there, including the
2137.Qq Debugging Hints for Reference Clock Drivers
2138and
2139.Qq How To Write a Reference Clock Driver
2140pages
2141(available as part of the HTML documentation
2142provided in
2143.Pa /usr/share/doc/ntp ) .
2144In addition, support for a PPS
2145signal is available as described in the
2146.Qq Pulse\-per\-second (PPS) Signal Interfacing
2147page
2148(available as part of the HTML documentation
2149provided in
2150.Pa /usr/share/doc/ntp ) .
2151Many
2152drivers support special line discipline/streams modules which can
2153significantly improve the accuracy using the driver.
2154These are
2155described in the
2156.Qq Line Disciplines and Streams Drivers
2157page
2158(available as part of the HTML documentation
2159provided in
2160.Pa /usr/share/doc/ntp ) .
2161.Pp
2162A reference clock will generally (though not always) be a radio
2163timecode receiver which is synchronized to a source of standard
2164time such as the services offered by the NRC in Canada and NIST and
2165USNO in the US.
2166The interface between the computer and the timecode
2167receiver is device dependent, but is usually a serial port.
2168A
2169device driver specific to each reference clock must be selected and
2170compiled in the distribution; however, most common radio, satellite
2171and modem clocks are included by default.
2172Note that an attempt to
2173configure a reference clock when the driver has not been compiled
2174or the hardware port has not been appropriately configured results
2175in a scalding remark to the system log file, but is otherwise non
2176hazardous.
2177.Pp
2178For the purposes of configuration,
2179.Xr ntpd @NTPD_MS@
2180treats
2181reference clocks in a manner analogous to normal NTP peers as much
2182as possible.
2183Reference clocks are identified by a syntactically
2184correct but invalid IP address, in order to distinguish them from
2185normal NTP peers.
2186Reference clock addresses are of the form
2187.Sm off
2188.Li 127.127. Ar t . Ar u ,
2189.Sm on
2190where
2191.Ar t
2192is an integer
2193denoting the clock type and
2194.Ar u
2195indicates the unit
2196number in the range 0\-3.
2197While it may seem overkill, it is in fact
2198sometimes useful to configure multiple reference clocks of the same
2199type, in which case the unit numbers must be unique.
2200.Pp
2201The
2202.Ic server
2203command is used to configure a reference
2204clock, where the
2205.Ar address
2206argument in that command
2207is the clock address.
2208The
2209.Cm key ,
2210.Cm version
2211and
2212.Cm ttl
2213options are not used for reference clock support.
2214The
2215.Cm mode
2216option is added for reference clock support, as
2217described below.
2218The
2219.Cm prefer
2220option can be useful to
2221persuade the server to cherish a reference clock with somewhat more
2222enthusiasm than other reference clocks or peers.
2223Further
2224information on this option can be found in the
2225.Qq Mitigation Rules and the prefer Keyword
2226(available as part of the HTML documentation
2227provided in
2228.Pa /usr/share/doc/ntp )
2229page.
2230The
2231.Cm minpoll
2232and
2233.Cm maxpoll
2234options have
2235meaning only for selected clock drivers.
2236See the individual clock
2237driver document pages for additional information.
2238.Pp
2239The
2240.Ic fudge
2241command is used to provide additional
2242information for individual clock drivers and normally follows
2243immediately after the
2244.Ic server
2245command.
2246The
2247.Ar address
2248argument specifies the clock address.
2249The
2250.Cm refid
2251and
2252.Cm stratum
2253options can be used to
2254override the defaults for the device.
2255There are two optional
2256device\-dependent time offsets and four flags that can be included
2257in the
2258.Ic fudge
2259command as well.
2260.Pp
2261The stratum number of a reference clock is by default zero.
2262Since the
2263.Xr ntpd @NTPD_MS@
2264daemon adds one to the stratum of each
2265peer, a primary server ordinarily displays an external stratum of
2266one.
2267In order to provide engineered backups, it is often useful to
2268specify the reference clock stratum as greater than zero.
2269The
2270.Cm stratum
2271option is used for this purpose.
2272Also, in cases
2273involving both a reference clock and a pulse\-per\-second (PPS)
2274discipline signal, it is useful to specify the reference clock
2275identifier as other than the default, depending on the driver.
2276The
2277.Cm refid
2278option is used for this purpose.
2279Except where noted,
2280these options apply to all clock drivers.
2281.Ss Reference Clock Commands
2282.Bl -tag -width indent
2283.It Xo Ic server
2284.Sm off
2285.Li 127.127. Ar t . Ar u
2286.Sm on
2287.Op Cm prefer
2288.Op Cm mode Ar int
2289.Op Cm minpoll Ar int
2290.Op Cm maxpoll Ar int
2291.Xc
2292This command can be used to configure reference clocks in
2293special ways.
2294The options are interpreted as follows:
2295.Bl -tag -width indent
2296.It Cm prefer
2297Marks the reference clock as preferred.
2298All other things being
2299equal, this host will be chosen for synchronization among a set of
2300correctly operating hosts.
2301See the
2302.Qq Mitigation Rules and the prefer Keyword
2303page
2304(available as part of the HTML documentation
2305provided in
2306.Pa /usr/share/doc/ntp )
2307for further information.
2308.It Cm mode Ar int
2309Specifies a mode number which is interpreted in a
2310device\-specific fashion.
2311For instance, it selects a dialing
2312protocol in the ACTS driver and a device subtype in the
2313parse
2314drivers.
2315.It Cm minpoll Ar int
2316.It Cm maxpoll Ar int
2317These options specify the minimum and maximum polling interval
2318for reference clock messages, as a power of 2 in seconds
2319For
2320most directly connected reference clocks, both
2321.Cm minpoll
2322and
2323.Cm maxpoll
2324default to 6 (64 s).
2325For modem reference clocks,
2326.Cm minpoll
2327defaults to 10 (17.1 m) and
2328.Cm maxpoll
2329defaults to 14 (4.5 h).
2330The allowable range is 4 (16 s) to 17 (36.4 h) inclusive.
2331.El
2332.It Xo Ic fudge
2333.Sm off
2334.Li 127.127. Ar t . Ar u
2335.Sm on
2336.Op Cm time1 Ar sec
2337.Op Cm time2 Ar sec
2338.Op Cm stratum Ar int
2339.Op Cm refid Ar string
2340.Op Cm mode Ar int
2341.Op Cm flag1 Cm 0 \&| Cm 1
2342.Op Cm flag2 Cm 0 \&| Cm 1
2343.Op Cm flag3 Cm 0 \&| Cm 1
2344.Op Cm flag4 Cm 0 \&| Cm 1
2345.Xc
2346This command can be used to configure reference clocks in
2347special ways.
2348It must immediately follow the
2349.Ic server
2350command which configures the driver.
2351Note that the same capability
2352is possible at run time using the
2353.Xr ntpdc @NTPDC_MS@
2354program.
2355The options are interpreted as
2356follows:
2357.Bl -tag -width indent
2358.It Cm time1 Ar sec
2359Specifies a constant to be added to the time offset produced by
2360the driver, a fixed\-point decimal number in seconds.
2361This is used
2362as a calibration constant to adjust the nominal time offset of a
2363particular clock to agree with an external standard, such as a
2364precision PPS signal.
2365It also provides a way to correct a
2366systematic error or bias due to serial port or operating system
2367latencies, different cable lengths or receiver internal delay.
2368The
2369specified offset is in addition to the propagation delay provided
2370by other means, such as internal DIPswitches.
2371Where a calibration
2372for an individual system and driver is available, an approximate
2373correction is noted in the driver documentation pages.
2374Note: in order to facilitate calibration when more than one
2375radio clock or PPS signal is supported, a special calibration
2376feature is available.
2377It takes the form of an argument to the
2378.Ic enable
2379command described in
2380.Sx Miscellaneous Options
2381page and operates as described in the
2382.Qq Reference Clock Drivers
2383page
2384(available as part of the HTML documentation
2385provided in
2386.Pa /usr/share/doc/ntp ) .
2387.It Cm time2 Ar secs
2388Specifies a fixed\-point decimal number in seconds, which is
2389interpreted in a driver\-dependent way.
2390See the descriptions of
2391specific drivers in the
2392.Qq Reference Clock Drivers
2393page
2394(available as part of the HTML documentation
2395provided in
2396.Pa /usr/share/doc/ntp ).
2397.It Cm stratum Ar int
2398Specifies the stratum number assigned to the driver, an integer
2399between 0 and 15.
2400This number overrides the default stratum number
2401ordinarily assigned by the driver itself, usually zero.
2402.It Cm refid Ar string
2403Specifies an ASCII string of from one to four characters which
2404defines the reference identifier used by the driver.
2405This string
2406overrides the default identifier ordinarily assigned by the driver
2407itself.
2408.It Cm mode Ar int
2409Specifies a mode number which is interpreted in a
2410device\-specific fashion.
2411For instance, it selects a dialing
2412protocol in the ACTS driver and a device subtype in the
2413parse
2414drivers.
2415.It Cm flag1 Cm 0 \&| Cm 1
2416.It Cm flag2 Cm 0 \&| Cm 1
2417.It Cm flag3 Cm 0 \&| Cm 1
2418.It Cm flag4 Cm 0 \&| Cm 1
2419These four flags are used for customizing the clock driver.
2420The
2421interpretation of these values, and whether they are used at all,
2422is a function of the particular clock driver.
2423However, by
2424convention
2425.Cm flag4
2426is used to enable recording monitoring
2427data to the
2428.Cm clockstats
2429file configured with the
2430.Ic filegen
2431command.
2432Further information on the
2433.Ic filegen
2434command can be found in
2435.Sx Monitoring Options .
2436.El
2437.El
2438.Sh Miscellaneous Options
2439.Bl -tag -width indent
2440.It Ic broadcastdelay Ar seconds
2441The broadcast and multicast modes require a special calibration
2442to determine the network delay between the local and remote
2443servers.
2444Ordinarily, this is done automatically by the initial
2445protocol exchanges between the client and server.
2446In some cases,
2447the calibration procedure may fail due to network or server access
2448controls, for example.
2449This command specifies the default delay to
2450be used under these circumstances.
2451Typically (for Ethernet), a
2452number between 0.003 and 0.007 seconds is appropriate.
2453The default
2454when this command is not used is 0.004 seconds.
2455.It Ic calldelay Ar delay
2456This option controls the delay in seconds between the first and second
2457packets sent in burst or iburst mode to allow additional time for a modem
2458or ISDN call to complete.
2459.It Ic driftfile Ar driftfile
2460This command specifies the complete path and name of the file used to
2461record the frequency of the local clock oscillator.
2462This is the same
2463operation as the
2464.Fl f
2465command line option.
2466If the file exists, it is read at
2467startup in order to set the initial frequency and then updated once per
2468hour with the current frequency computed by the daemon.
2469If the file name is
2470specified, but the file itself does not exist, the starts with an initial
2471frequency of zero and creates the file when writing it for the first time.
2472If this command is not given, the daemon will always start with an initial
2473frequency of zero.
2474.Pp
2475The file format consists of a single line containing a single
2476floating point number, which records the frequency offset measured
2477in parts\-per\-million (PPM).
2478The file is updated by first writing
2479the current drift value into a temporary file and then renaming
2480this file to replace the old version.
2481This implies that
2482.Xr ntpd @NTPD_MS@
2483must have write permission for the directory the
2484drift file is located in, and that file system links, symbolic or
2485otherwise, should be avoided.
2486.It Ic dscp Ar value
2487This option specifies the Differentiated Services Control Point (DSCP) value,
2488a 6\-bit code.
2489The default value is 46, signifying Expedited Forwarding.
2490.It Xo Ic enable
2491.Oo
2492.Cm auth | Cm bclient |
2493.Cm calibrate | Cm kernel |
2494.Cm mode7 | Cm monitor |
2495.Cm ntp | Cm stats |
2496.Cm peer_clear_digest_early |
2497.Cm unpeer_crypto_early | Cm unpeer_crypto_nak_early | Cm unpeer_digest_early
2498.Oc
2499.Xc
2500.It Xo Ic disable
2501.Oo
2502.Cm auth | Cm bclient |
2503.Cm calibrate | Cm kernel |
2504.Cm mode7 | Cm monitor |
2505.Cm ntp | Cm stats |
2506.Cm peer_clear_digest_early |
2507.Cm unpeer_crypto_early | Cm unpeer_crypto_nak_early | Cm unpeer_digest_early
2508.Oc
2509.Xc
2510Provides a way to enable or disable various server options.
2511Flags not mentioned are unaffected.
2512Note that all of these flags
2513can be controlled remotely using the
2514.Xr ntpdc @NTPDC_MS@
2515utility program.
2516.Bl -tag -width indent
2517.It Cm auth
2518Enables the server to synchronize with unconfigured peers only if the
2519peer has been correctly authenticated using either public key or
2520private key cryptography.
2521The default for this flag is
2522.Ic enable .
2523.It Cm bclient
2524Enables the server to listen for a message from a broadcast or
2525multicast server, as in the
2526.Ic multicastclient
2527command with default
2528address.
2529The default for this flag is
2530.Ic disable .
2531.It Cm calibrate
2532Enables the calibrate feature for reference clocks.
2533The default for
2534this flag is
2535.Ic disable .
2536.It Cm kernel
2537Enables the kernel time discipline, if available.
2538The default for this
2539flag is
2540.Ic enable
2541if support is available, otherwise
2542.Ic disable .
2543.It Cm mode7
2544Enables processing of NTP mode 7 implementation\-specific requests
2545which are used by the deprecated
2546.Xr ntpdc @NTPDC_MS@
2547program.
2548The default for this flag is disable.
2549This flag is excluded from runtime configuration using
2550.Xr ntpq @NTPQ_MS@ .
2551The
2552.Xr ntpq @NTPQ_MS@
2553program provides the same capabilities as
2554.Xr ntpdc @NTPDC_MS@
2555using standard mode 6 requests.
2556.It Cm monitor
2557Enables the monitoring facility.
2558See the
2559.Xr ntpdc @NTPDC_MS@
2560program
2561and the
2562.Ic monlist
2563command or further information.
2564The
2565default for this flag is
2566.Ic enable .
2567.It Cm ntp
2568Enables time and frequency discipline.
2569In effect, this switch opens and
2570closes the feedback loop, which is useful for testing.
2571The default for
2572this flag is
2573.Ic enable .
2574.It Cm peer_clear_digest_early
2575By default, if
2576.Xr ntpd @NTPD_MS@
2577is using autokey and it
2578receives a crypto\-NAK packet that
2579passes the duplicate packet and origin timestamp checks
2580the peer variables are immediately cleared.
2581While this is generally a feature
2582as it allows for quick recovery if a server key has changed,
2583a properly forged and appropriately delivered crypto\-NAK packet
2584can be used in a DoS attack.
2585If you have active noticable problems with this type of DoS attack
2586then you should consider
2587disabling this option.
2588You can check your
2589.Cm peerstats
2590file for evidence of any of these attacks.
2591The
2592default for this flag is
2593.Ic enable .
2594.It Cm stats
2595Enables the statistics facility.
2596See the
2597.Sx Monitoring Options
2598section for further information.
2599The default for this flag is
2600.Ic disable .
2601.It Cm unpeer_crypto_early
2602By default, if
2603.Xr ntpd @NTPD_MS@
2604receives an autokey packet that fails TEST9,
2605a crypto failure,
2606the association is immediately cleared.
2607This is almost certainly a feature,
2608but if, in spite of the current recommendation of not using autokey,
2609you are
2610.B still
2611using autokey
2612.B and
2613you are seeing this sort of DoS attack
2614disabling this flag will delay
2615tearing down the association until the reachability counter
2616becomes zero.
2617You can check your
2618.Cm peerstats
2619file for evidence of any of these attacks.
2620The
2621default for this flag is
2622.Ic enable .
2623.It Cm unpeer_crypto_nak_early
2624By default, if
2625.Xr ntpd @NTPD_MS@
2626receives a crypto\-NAK packet that
2627passes the duplicate packet and origin timestamp checks
2628the association is immediately cleared.
2629While this is generally a feature
2630as it allows for quick recovery if a server key has changed,
2631a properly forged and appropriately delivered crypto\-NAK packet
2632can be used in a DoS attack.
2633If you have active noticable problems with this type of DoS attack
2634then you should consider
2635disabling this option.
2636You can check your
2637.Cm peerstats
2638file for evidence of any of these attacks.
2639The
2640default for this flag is
2641.Ic enable .
2642.It Cm unpeer_digest_early
2643By default, if
2644.Xr ntpd @NTPD_MS@
2645receives what should be an authenticated packet
2646that passes other packet sanity checks but
2647contains an invalid digest
2648the association is immediately cleared.
2649While this is generally a feature
2650as it allows for quick recovery,
2651if this type of packet is carefully forged and sent
2652during an appropriate window it can be used for a DoS attack.
2653If you have active noticable problems with this type of DoS attack
2654then you should consider
2655disabling this option.
2656You can check your
2657.Cm peerstats
2658file for evidence of any of these attacks.
2659The
2660default for this flag is
2661.Ic enable .
2662.El
2663.It Ic includefile Ar includefile
2664This command allows additional configuration commands
2665to be included from a separate file.
2666Include files may
2667be nested to a depth of five; upon reaching the end of any
2668include file, command processing resumes in the previous
2669configuration file.
2670This option is useful for sites that run
2671.Xr ntpd @NTPD_MS@
2672on multiple hosts, with (mostly) common options (e.g., a
2673restriction list).
2674.It Xo Ic interface
2675.Oo
2676.Cm listen | Cm ignore | Cm drop
2677.Oc
2678.Oo
2679.Cm all | Cm ipv4 | Cm ipv6 | Cm wildcard
2680.Ar name | Ar address
2681.Oo Cm / Ar prefixlen
2682.Oc
2683.Oc
2684.Xc
2685The
2686.Cm interface
2687directive controls which network addresses
2688.Xr ntpd @NTPD_MS@
2689opens, and whether input is dropped without processing.
2690The first parameter determines the action for addresses
2691which match the second parameter.
2692The second parameter specifies a class of addresses,
2693or a specific interface name,
2694or an address.
2695In the address case,
2696.Ar prefixlen
2697determines how many bits must match for this rule to apply.
2698.Cm ignore
2699prevents opening matching addresses,
2700.Cm drop
2701causes
2702.Xr ntpd @NTPD_MS@
2703to open the address and drop all received packets without examination.
2704Multiple
2705.Cm interface
2706directives can be used.
2707The last rule which matches a particular address determines the action for it.
2708.Cm interface
2709directives are disabled if any
2710.Fl I ,
2711.Fl \-interface ,
2712.Fl L ,
2713or
2714.Fl \-novirtualips
2715command\-line options are specified in the configuration file,
2716all available network addresses are opened.
2717The
2718.Cm nic
2719directive is an alias for
2720.Cm interface .
2721.It Ic leapfile Ar leapfile
2722This command loads the IERS leapseconds file and initializes the
2723leapsecond values for the next leapsecond event, leapfile expiration
2724time, and TAI offset.
2725The file can be obtained directly from the IERS at
2726.Li https://hpiers.obspm.fr/iers/bul/bulc/ntp/leap\-seconds.list
2727or
2728.Li ftp://hpiers.obspm.fr/iers/bul/bulc/ntp/leap\-seconds.list .
2729The
2730.Cm leapfile
2731is scanned when
2732.Xr ntpd @NTPD_MS@
2733processes the
2734.Cm leapfile directive or when
2735.Cm ntpd detects that the
2736.Ar leapfile
2737has changed.
2738.Cm ntpd
2739checks once a day to see if the
2740.Ar leapfile
2741has changed.
2742The
2743.Xr update\-leap 1update_leapmdoc
2744script can be run to see if the
2745.Ar leapfile
2746should be updated.
2747.It Ic leapsmearinterval Ar seconds
2748This EXPERIMENTAL option is only available if
2749.Xr ntpd @NTPD_MS@
2750was built with the
2751.Cm \-\-enable\-leap\-smear
2752option to the
2753.Cm configure
2754script.
2755It specifies the interval over which a leap second correction will be applied.
2756Recommended values for this option are between
27577200 (2 hours) and 86400 (24 hours).
2758.Sy DO NOT USE THIS OPTION ON PUBLIC\-ACCESS SERVERS!
2759See http://bugs.ntp.org/2855 for more information.
2760.It Ic logconfig Ar configkeyword
2761This command controls the amount and type of output written to
2762the system
2763.Xr syslog 3
2764facility or the alternate
2765.Ic logfile
2766log file.
2767By default, all output is turned on.
2768All
2769.Ar configkeyword
2770keywords can be prefixed with
2771.Ql = ,
2772.Ql +
2773and
2774.Ql \- ,
2775where
2776.Ql =
2777sets the
2778.Xr syslog 3
2779priority mask,
2780.Ql +
2781adds and
2782.Ql \-
2783removes
2784messages.
2785.Xr syslog 3
2786messages can be controlled in four
2787classes
2788.Po
2789.Cm clock ,
2790.Cm peer ,
2791.Cm sys
2792and
2793.Cm sync
2794.Pc .
2795Within these classes four types of messages can be
2796controlled: informational messages
2797.Po
2798.Cm info
2799.Pc ,
2800event messages
2801.Po
2802.Cm events
2803.Pc ,
2804statistics messages
2805.Po
2806.Cm statistics
2807.Pc
2808and
2809status messages
2810.Po
2811.Cm status
2812.Pc .
2813.Pp
2814Configuration keywords are formed by concatenating the message class with
2815the event class.
2816The
2817.Cm all
2818prefix can be used instead of a message class.
2819A
2820message class may also be followed by the
2821.Cm all
2822keyword to enable/disable all
2823messages of the respective message class.
2824Thus, a minimal log configuration
2825could look like this:
2826.Bd -literal
2827logconfig =syncstatus +sysevents
2828.Ed
2829.Pp
2830This would just list the synchronizations state of
2831.Xr ntpd @NTPD_MS@
2832and the major system events.
2833For a simple reference server, the
2834following minimum message configuration could be useful:
2835.Bd -literal
2836logconfig =syncall +clockall
2837.Ed
2838.Pp
2839This configuration will list all clock information and
2840synchronization information.
2841All other events and messages about
2842peers, system events and so on is suppressed.
2843.It Ic logfile Ar logfile
2844This command specifies the location of an alternate log file to
2845be used instead of the default system
2846.Xr syslog 3
2847facility.
2848This is the same operation as the
2849.Fl l
2850command line option.
2851.It Xo Ic mru
2852.Oo
2853.Cm maxdepth Ar count | Cm maxmem Ar kilobytes |
2854.Cm mindepth Ar count | Cm maxage Ar seconds |
2855.Cm initialloc Ar count | Cm initmem Ar kilobytes |
2856.Cm incalloc Ar count | Cm incmem Ar kilobytes
2857.Oc
2858.Xc
2859Controls size limite of the monitoring facility's Most Recently Used
2860(MRU) list
2861of client addresses, which is also used by the
2862rate control facility.
2863.Bl -tag -width indent
2864.It Ic maxdepth Ar count
2865.It Ic maxmem Ar kilobytes
2866Equivalent upper limits on the size of the MRU list, in terms of entries or kilobytes.
2867The acutal limit will be up to
2868.Cm incalloc
2869entries or
2870.Cm incmem
2871kilobytes larger.
2872As with all of the
2873.Cm mru
2874options offered in units of entries or kilobytes, if both
2875.Cm maxdepth
2876and
2877.Cm maxmem are used, the last one used controls.
2878The default is 1024 kilobytes.
2879.It Cm mindepth Ar count
2880Lower limit on the MRU list size.
2881When the MRU list has fewer than
2882.Cm mindepth
2883entries, existing entries are never removed to make room for newer ones,
2884regardless of their age.
2885The default is 600 entries.
2886.It Cm maxage Ar seconds
2887Once the MRU list has
2888.Cm mindepth
2889entries and an additional client is to ba added to the list,
2890if the oldest entry was updated more than
2891.Cm maxage
2892seconds ago, that entry is removed and its storage is reused.
2893If the oldest entry was updated more recently the MRU list is grown,
2894subject to
2895.Cm maxdepth / moxmem .
2896The default is 64 seconds.
2897.It Cm initalloc Ar count
2898.It Cm initmem Ar kilobytes
2899Initial memory allocation at the time the monitoringfacility is first enabled,
2900in terms of the number of entries or kilobytes.
2901The default is 4 kilobytes.
2902.It Cm incalloc Ar count
2903.It Cm incmem Ar kilobytes
2904Size of additional memory allocations when growing the MRU list, in entries or kilobytes.
2905The default is 4 kilobytes.
2906.El
2907.It Ic nonvolatile Ar threshold
2908Specify the
2909.Ar threshold
2910delta in seconds before an hourly change to the
2911.Cm driftfile
2912(frequency file) will be written, with a default value of 1e\-7 (0.1 PPM).
2913The frequency file is inspected each hour.
2914If the difference between the current frequency and the last value written
2915exceeds the threshold, the file is written and the
2916.Cm threshold
2917becomes the new threshold value.
2918If the threshold is not exceeeded, it is reduced by half.
2919This is intended to reduce the number of file writes
2920for embedded systems with nonvolatile memory.
2921.It Ic phone Ar dial ...
2922This command is used in conjunction with
2923the ACTS modem driver (type 18)
2924or the JJY driver (type 40, mode 100 \- 180).
2925For the ACTS modem driver (type 18), the arguments consist of
2926a maximum of 10 telephone numbers used to dial USNO, NIST, or European
2927time service.
2928For the JJY driver (type 40 mode 100 \- 180), the argument is
2929one telephone number used to dial the telephone JJY service.
2930The Hayes command ATDT is normally prepended to the number.
2931The number can contain other modem control codes as well.
2932.It Xo Cm pollskewlist
2933.Oo
2934.Ar poll
2935.Ar value | value
2936.Oc
2937.Ar ...
2938.Oo
2939.Cm default
2940.Ar value | value
2941.Oc
2942.Xc
2943Enable skewing of our poll requests to our servers.
2944.Ar poll
2945is a number between 3 and 17 inclusive, identifying a specific poll interval.
2946A poll interval is 2^n seconds in duration,
2947so a poll value of 3 corresponds to 8 seconds
2948and
2949a poll interval of 17 corresponds to
2950131,072 seconds, or about a day and a half.
2951The next two numbers must be between 0 and one\-half of the poll interval,
2952inclusive.
2953The first number specifies how early the poll may start,
2954while
2955the second number specifies how late the poll may be delayed.
2956With no arguments, internally specified default values are chosen.
2957.It Xo Ic reset
2958.Oo
2959.Ic allpeers
2960.Oc
2961.Oo
2962.Ic auth
2963.Oc
2964.Oo
2965.Ic ctl
2966.Oc
2967.Oo
2968.Ic io
2969.Oc
2970.Oo
2971.Ic mem
2972.Oc
2973.Oo
2974.Ic sys
2975.Oc
2976.Oo
2977.Ic timer
2978.Oc
2979.Xc
2980Reset one or more groups of counters maintained by
2981.Cm ntpd
2982and exposed by
2983.Cm ntpq
2984and
2985.Cm ntpdc .
2986.It Xo Ic rlimit
2987.Oo
2988.Cm memlock Ar Nmegabytes |
2989.Cm stacksize Ar N4kPages
2990.Cm filenum Ar Nfiledescriptors
2991.Oc
2992.Xc
2993.Bl -tag -width indent
2994.It Cm memlock Ar Nmegabytes
2995Specify the number of megabytes of memory that should be
2996allocated and locked.
2997Probably only available under Linux, this option may be useful
2998when dropping root (the
2999.Fl i
3000option).
3001The default is 32 megabytes on non\-Linux machines, and \-1 under Linux.
3002-1 means "do not lock the process into memory".
30030 means "lock whatever memory the process wants into memory".
3004.It Cm stacksize Ar N4kPages
3005Specifies the maximum size of the process stack on systems with the
3006.Fn mlockall
3007function.
3008Defaults to 50 4k pages (200 4k pages in OpenBSD).
3009.It Cm filenum Ar Nfiledescriptors
3010Specifies the maximum number of file descriptors ntpd may have open at once.
3011Defaults to the system default.
3012.El
3013.It Ic saveconfigdir Ar directory_path
3014Specify the directory in which to write configuration snapshots
3015requested with
3016.Cm ntpq 's
3017.Cm saveconfig
3018command.
3019If
3020.Cm saveconfigdir
3021does not appear in the configuration file,
3022.Cm saveconfig
3023requests are rejected by
3024.Cm ntpd .
3025.It Ic saveconfig Ar filename
3026Write the current configuration, including any runtime
3027modifications given with
3028.Cm :config
3029or
3030.Cm config\-from\-file
3031to the
3032.Cm ntpd
3033host's
3034.Ar filename
3035in the
3036.Cm saveconfigdir .
3037This command will be rejected unless the
3038.Cm saveconfigdir
3039directive appears in
3040.Cm ntpd 's
3041configuration file.
3042.Ar filename
3043can use
3044.Xr strftime 3
3045format directives to substitute the current date and time,
3046for example,
3047.Cm saveconfig\ ntp\-%Y%m%d\-%H%M%S.conf .
3048The filename used is stored in the system variable
3049.Cm savedconfig .
3050Authentication is required.
3051.It Ic setvar Ar variable Op Cm default
3052This command adds an additional system variable.
3053These
3054variables can be used to distribute additional information such as
3055the access policy.
3056If the variable of the form
3057.Sm off
3058.Va name = Ar value
3059.Sm on
3060is followed by the
3061.Cm default
3062keyword, the
3063variable will be listed as part of the default system variables
3064.Po
3065.Xr ntpq @NTPQ_MS@
3066.Ic rv
3067command
3068.Pc ) .
3069These additional variables serve
3070informational purposes only.
3071They are not related to the protocol
3072other that they can be listed.
3073The known protocol variables will
3074always override any variables defined via the
3075.Ic setvar
3076mechanism.
3077There are three special variables that contain the names
3078of all variable of the same group.
3079The
3080.Va sys_var_list
3081holds
3082the names of all system variables.
3083The
3084.Va peer_var_list
3085holds
3086the names of all peer variables and the
3087.Va clock_var_list
3088holds the names of the reference clock variables.
3089.It Cm sysinfo
3090Display operational summary.
3091.It Cm sysstats
3092Show statistics counters maintained in the protocol module.
3093.It Xo Ic tinker
3094.Oo
3095.Cm allan Ar allan |
3096.Cm dispersion Ar dispersion |
3097.Cm freq Ar freq |
3098.Cm huffpuff Ar huffpuff |
3099.Cm panic Ar panic |
3100.Cm step Ar step |
3101.Cm stepback Ar stepback |
3102.Cm stepfwd Ar stepfwd |
3103.Cm stepout Ar stepout
3104.Oc
3105.Xc
3106This command can be used to alter several system variables in
3107very exceptional circumstances.
3108It should occur in the
3109configuration file before any other configuration options.
3110The
3111default values of these variables have been carefully optimized for
3112a wide range of network speeds and reliability expectations.
3113In
3114general, they interact in intricate ways that are hard to predict
3115and some combinations can result in some very nasty behavior.
3116Very
3117rarely is it necessary to change the default values; but, some
3118folks cannot resist twisting the knobs anyway and this command is
3119for them.
3120Emphasis added: twisters are on their own and can expect
3121no help from the support group.
3122.Pp
3123The variables operate as follows:
3124.Bl -tag -width indent
3125.It Cm allan Ar allan
3126The argument becomes the new value for the minimum Allan
3127intercept, which is a parameter of the PLL/FLL clock discipline
3128algorithm.
3129The value in log2 seconds defaults to 7 (1024 s), which is also the lower
3130limit.
3131.It Cm dispersion Ar dispersion
3132The argument becomes the new value for the dispersion increase rate,
3133normally .000015 s/s.
3134.It Cm freq Ar freq
3135The argument becomes the initial value of the frequency offset in
3136parts\-per\-million.
3137This overrides the value in the frequency file, if
3138present, and avoids the initial training state if it is not.
3139.It Cm huffpuff Ar huffpuff
3140The argument becomes the new value for the experimental
3141huff\-n'\-puff filter span, which determines the most recent interval
3142the algorithm will search for a minimum delay.
3143The lower limit is
3144900 s (15 m), but a more reasonable value is 7200 (2 hours).
3145There
3146is no default, since the filter is not enabled unless this command
3147is given.
3148.It Cm panic Ar panic
3149The argument is the panic threshold, normally 1000 s.
3150If set to zero,
3151the panic sanity check is disabled and a clock offset of any value will
3152be accepted.
3153.It Cm step Ar step
3154The argument is the step threshold, which by default is 0.128 s.
3155It can
3156be set to any positive number in seconds.
3157If set to zero, step
3158adjustments will never occur.
3159Note: The kernel time discipline is
3160disabled if the step threshold is set to zero or greater than the
3161default.
3162.It Cm stepback Ar stepback
3163The argument is the step threshold for the backward direction,
3164which by default is 0.128 s.
3165It can
3166be set to any positive number in seconds.
3167If both the forward and backward step thresholds are set to zero, step
3168adjustments will never occur.
3169Note: The kernel time discipline is
3170disabled if
3171each direction of step threshold are either
3172set to zero or greater than .5 second.
3173.It Cm stepfwd Ar stepfwd
3174As for stepback, but for the forward direction.
3175.It Cm stepout Ar stepout
3176The argument is the stepout timeout, which by default is 900 s.
3177It can
3178be set to any positive number in seconds.
3179If set to zero, the stepout
3180pulses will not be suppressed.
3181.El
3182.It Cm writevar Ar assocID\ name = value [,...]
3183Write (create or update) the specified variables.
3184If the
3185.Cm assocID
3186is zero, the variablea re from the
3187system variables
3188name space, otherwise they are from the
3189peer variables
3190name space.
3191The
3192.Cm assocID
3193is required, as the same name can occur in both name spaces.
3194.It Xo Ic trap Ar host_address
3195.Op Cm port Ar port_number
3196.Op Cm interface Ar interface_address
3197.Xc
3198This command configures a trap receiver at the given host
3199address and port number for sending messages with the specified
3200local interface address.
3201If the port number is unspecified, a value
3202of 18447 is used.
3203If the interface address is not specified, the
3204message is sent with a source address of the local interface the
3205message is sent through.
3206Note that on a multihomed host the
3207interface used may vary from time to time with routing changes.
3208.It Cm ttl Ar hop ...
3209This command specifies a list of TTL values in increasing order.
3210Up to 8 values can be specified.
3211In
3212.Cm manycast
3213mode these values are used in\-turn in an expanding\-ring search.
3214The default is eight multiples of 32 starting at 31.
3215.Pp
3216The trap receiver will generally log event messages and other
3217information from the server in a log file.
3218While such monitor
3219programs may also request their own trap dynamically, configuring a
3220trap receiver will ensure that no messages are lost when the server
3221is started.
3222.It Cm hop Ar ...
3223This command specifies a list of TTL values in increasing order, up to 8
3224values can be specified.
3225In manycast mode these values are used in turn in
3226an expanding\-ring search.
3227The default is eight multiples of 32 starting at
322831.
3229.El
3230.Sh "OPTIONS"
3231.Bl -tag
3232.It Fl \-help
3233Display usage information and exit.
3234.It Fl \-more\-help
3235Pass the extended usage information through a pager.
3236.It Fl \-version Op Brq Ar v|c|n
3237Output version of program and exit.  The default mode is `v', a simple
3238version.  The `c' mode will print copyright information and `n' will
3239print the full copyright notice.
3240.El
3241.Sh "OPTION PRESETS"
3242Any option that is not marked as \fInot presettable\fP may be preset
3243by loading values from environment variables named:
3244.nf
3245  \fBNTP_CONF_<option\-name>\fP or \fBNTP_CONF\fP
3246.fi
3247.ad
3248.Sh "ENVIRONMENT"
3249See \fBOPTION PRESETS\fP for configuration environment variables.
3250.Sh FILES
3251.Bl -tag -width /etc/ntp.drift -compact
3252.It Pa /etc/ntp.conf
3253the default name of the configuration file
3254.It Pa ntp.keys
3255private MD5 keys
3256.It Pa ntpkey
3257RSA private key
3258.It Pa ntpkey_ Ns Ar host
3259RSA public key
3260.It Pa ntp_dh
3261Diffie\-Hellman agreement parameters
3262.El
3263.Sh "EXIT STATUS"
3264One of the following exit values will be returned:
3265.Bl -tag
3266.It 0 " (EXIT_SUCCESS)"
3267Successful program execution.
3268.It 1 " (EXIT_FAILURE)"
3269The operation failed or the command syntax was not valid.
3270.It 70 " (EX_SOFTWARE)"
3271libopts had an internal operational error.  Please report
3272it to autogen\-users@lists.sourceforge.net.  Thank you.
3273.El
3274.Sh "SEE ALSO"
3275.Xr ntpd @NTPD_MS@ ,
3276.Xr ntpdc @NTPDC_MS@ ,
3277.Xr ntpq @NTPQ_MS@
3278.Pp
3279In addition to the manual pages provided,
3280comprehensive documentation is available on the world wide web
3281at
3282.Li http://www.ntp.org/ .
3283A snapshot of this documentation is available in HTML format in
3284.Pa /usr/share/doc/ntp .
3285.Rs
3286.%A David L. Mills
3287.%T Network Time Protocol (Version 4)
3288.%O RFC5905
3289.Re
3290.Sh "AUTHORS"
3291The University of Delaware and Network Time Foundation
3292.Sh "COPYRIGHT"
3293Copyright (C) 1992\-2020 The University of Delaware and Network Time Foundation all rights reserved.
3294This program is released under the terms of the NTP license, <http://ntp.org/license>.
3295.Sh BUGS
3296The syntax checking is not picky; some combinations of
3297ridiculous and even hilarious options and modes may not be
3298detected.
3299.Pp
3300The
3301.Pa ntpkey_ Ns Ar host
3302files are really digital
3303certificates.
3304These should be obtained via secure directory
3305services when they become universally available.
3306.Pp
3307Please send bug reports to: http://bugs.ntp.org, bugs@ntp.org
3308.Sh NOTES
3309This document was derived from FreeBSD.
3310.Pp
3311This manual page was \fIAutoGen\fP\-erated from the \fBntp.conf\fP
3312option definitions.
3313