I do have one question, though. You mentioned the time sync will occur after a reboot. I need the synchronization to occur several time a day without ever rebooting. How can I achieve this?
The ntpd service will immediately synchronize with the servers listed in /etc/ntp/step-tickers when the SERVICE is restarted; this does not mean rebooting the box but rather issuing the "service ntpd restart" command. This is only so that the time is properly synchronized right from the start.
From then on, the ntpd service follows a complicated algorithm of scheduling queries to ensure that your clock is always in sync. Do not worry about it... the clock WILL NOT be synchronized once a day. It will be sync'ed probably once a minute for 10 minutes, then once every five minutes for 4 hours, then once every 15 minutes for 10 hours, and so on. (Not real numbers, just an example.)
While this is going on, ntpd will change the value of /etc/ntp/drift, which is an internal correction factor for whatever error is in your hardware clock. With this correction, the ntpd service can use the hardware clock to keep accurate time for longer periods between synchronizations without losing accuracy. The result: low network traffic and very accurate time all the time.
Just place one or more valid servers in step-tickers, configure ntp.conf, restart ntpd and quit worrying. You can later check that things are OK with "ntptrace localhost".
-- Rodolfo J. Paiz [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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