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NTP client does not synchronize with peer servers operating in tos orphan mode

This document (7021172) is provided subject to the disclaimer at the end of this document.

Environment

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12

Situation

NTP clients connecting to a specified peer operating in tos orphan mode will not synchronize but use the local clock instead.
The client /etc/ntp.conf contains a tos orphan mode entry as well.

Resolution

Please remove the tos orphan option from /etc/ntp.conf and restart the client.

Cause

Tests have shown that clients might enter a condition where they consider themselves as the leader of the peer and not sync with other servers. In tos orphan mode it is common for the leader of the peer to show sync_unspec and refid=127.0.0.1 as timesource.

Additional Information

Details about the NTP tos orphan option are available in the NTP documentation: http://support.ntp.org/bin/view/Support/OrphanMode

This is an example output of an elected leader of a four node ntp peer operating in tos orphan mode.
Here the sync status is displayed as sync_unspec and refid points to 127.0.0.1 indicating the local clock is used.

ntp1:~ # ntpq -p -c rv
     remote           refid      st t when poll reach   delay   offset  jitter
==============================================================================
 ntp1.test.lan  .INIT.          16 s    -   64    0    0.000    0.000   0.000
 ntp2.test.lan  192.168.66.147   9 s   18   64  376    0.127   -0.011   0.016
 ntp3.test.lan  192.168.66.147   9 s   42   64  376    0.140   -0.005   0.006
 ntp4.test.lan  192.168.66.147   9 s   17   64  377    0.125   -0.008   0.011
associd=0 status=0016 leap_none, sync_unspec, 1 event, restart,
version="ntpd 4.2.8p10@1.3728-o Tue Mar 28 09:22:06 UTC 2017 (1)",
processor="x86_64", system="Linux/3.0.101-100-default", leap=00,
stratum=8, precision=-23, rootdelay=0.000, rootdisp=0.000,
refid=127.0.0.1,
reftime=00000000.00000000  Thu, Feb  7 2036  7:28:16.000,
clock=dd2d77e0.f382ea17  Thu, Aug  3 2017 12:22:24.951, peer=0, tc=3,
mintc=3, offset=0.000000, frequency=0.000, sys_jitter=0.000000,
clk_jitter=0.000, clk_wander=0.000

Disclaimer

This Support Knowledgebase provides a valuable tool for SUSE customers and parties interested in our products and solutions to acquire information, ideas and learn from one another. Materials are provided for informational, personal or non-commercial use within your organization and are presented "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND.

  • Document ID:7021172
  • Creation Date: 03-Aug-2017
  • Modified Date:03-Mar-2020
    • SUSE Linux Enterprise Server

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