[rhn-users] ntp parameter to reduce update interval

[cbeerse at gmail.com]

FM wrote:
> Hello,
>  From time to time I have to force all our servers to query ntp server 
> to get the clock back in time.
> 
> 
> Which option do I have to tune in ntpd.conf (on server or on clients) to 
> force clients to update their clock more often ?
> 

In my /etc/ntp.conf file, I have the next 'server' line.

========
##
# A list of available servers can be found here:
# http://www.pool.ntp.org/
# http://www.pool.ntp.org/#use
##
#server pool.ntp.org
server pool.ntp.org minpoll 15 maxpoll 17
========

The server is polled regularly, starting at every 2^minpoll seconds. Once the 
time is in sync, the poll time is extended up to every 2^maxpoll seconds. I 
don't know the defaults by head, as far as I see my machine, maxpoll is 10, 
resulting in a poll every 1024 seconds.

You can see this happen with `ntpq -p`: under the 'poll' column, the effective 
poll-time is given. Under 'when', you see how many seconds ago the last poll has 
been. Do not be horified by the numbers under 'delay', 'offset' and 'jitter', 
they are in milliseconds... (btw 'delay' is roughly the same as the `ping`-time 
to the machine)



CBee