xref: /openbsd/usr.sbin/ntpd/ntpd.conf.5 (revision 404b540a)
1.\" $OpenBSD: ntpd.conf.5,v 1.22 2009/05/18 20:08:24 stevesk Exp $
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3.\" Copyright (c) 2003, 2004 Henning Brauer <henning@openbsd.org>
4.\"
5.\" Permission to use, copy, modify, and distribute this software for any
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17.Dd $Mdocdate: May 18 2009 $
18.Dt NTPD.CONF 5
19.Os
20.Sh NAME
21.Nm ntpd.conf
22.Nd Network Time Protocol daemon configuration file
23.Sh DESCRIPTION
24This manual page describes the format of the
25.Xr ntpd 8
26configuration file.
27.Pp
28.Nm
29has the following format:
30.Pp
31Empty lines and lines beginning with the
32.Sq #
33character are ignored.
34.Pp
35Keywords may be specified multiple times within the configuration file.
36They are as follows:
37.Bl -tag -width Ds
38.It Ic listen on Ar address
39Specify a local IP address or a hostname the
40.Xr ntpd 8
41daemon should listen on.
42If it appears multiple times,
43.Xr ntpd 8
44will listen on each given address.
45If
46.Sq *
47is given as an address,
48.Xr ntpd 8
49will listen on all local addresses.
50.Xr ntpd 8
51does not listen on any address by default.
52For example:
53.Bd -literal -offset indent
54listen on *
55.Ed
56.Pp
57or
58.Bd -literal -offset indent
59listen on 127.0.0.1
60listen on ::1
61.Ed
62.It Xo Ic sensor Ar device
63.Op Ic correction Ar microseconds
64.Op Ic weight Ar weight-value
65.Op Ic refid Ar string
66.Xc
67Specify a timedelta sensor device
68.Xr ntpd 8
69should use.
70The sensor can be specified multiple times:
71.Xr ntpd 8
72will use each given sensor that actually exists.
73Non-existent sensors are ignored.
74If
75.Sq *
76is given as device name,
77.Xr ntpd 8
78will use all timedelta sensors it finds.
79.Xr ntpd 8
80does not use any timedelta sensor by default.
81For example:
82.Bd -literal -offset indent
83sensor *
84sensor nmea0
85.Ed
86.Pp
87An optional correction in microseconds can be given to compensate
88for the sensor's offset.
89The maximum correction is 127 seconds.
90For example, if a DCF77 receiver is lagging 70ms behind
91actual time:
92.Bd -literal -offset indent
93sensor udcf0 correction 70000
94.Ed
95.Pp
96The optional
97.Ic weight
98keyword permits finer control over the relative importance
99of time sources (servers or sensor devices).
100Weights are specified in the range 1 to 10;
101if no weight is given,
102the default is 1.
103A server with a weight of 5, for example,
104will have five times more influence on time offset calculation
105than a server with a weight of 1.
106.Pp
107An optional reference ID string - up to 4 ASCII characters - can be
108given to publish the sensor type to clients.
109RFC 2030 suggests some common reference identifiers, but new identifiers
110"can be contrived as appropriate."
111If an ID string is not given,
112.Xr ntpd 8
113will use a generic reference ID.
114For example:
115.Bd -literal -offset indent
116sensor nmea0 refid GPS
117.Ed
118.It Xo Ic server Ar address
119.Op Ic weight Ar weight-value
120.Xc
121Specify the IP address or the hostname of an NTP
122server to synchronize to.
123If it appears multiple times,
124.Xr ntpd 8
125will try to synchronize to all of the servers specified.
126If a hostname resolves to multiple IPv4 and/or IPv6 addresses,
127.Xr ntpd 8
128uses the first address.
129If it does not get a reply,
130.Xr ntpd 8
131retries with the next address and continues to do so until a working address
132is found.
133For example:
134.Bd -literal -offset indent
135server 10.0.0.2 weight 5
136server ntp.example.org weight 1
137.Ed
138.Pp
139To provide redundancy, it is good practice to configure multiple servers.
140In general, best accuracy is obtained by using servers that have a low
141network latency.
142.It Xo Ic servers Ar address
143.Op Ic weight Ar weight-value
144.Xc
145As with
146.Cm server ,
147specify the IP address or hostname of an NTP server to synchronize to.
148If it appears multiple times,
149.Xr ntpd 8
150will try to synchronize to all of the servers specified.
151Should the hostname resolve to multiple IP addresses,
152.Xr ntpd 8
153will try to synchronize to all of them.
154For example:
155.Bd -literal -offset indent
156servers pool.ntp.org
157.Ed
158.El
159.Sh FILES
160.Bl -tag -width "/etc/ntpd.confXXX" -compact
161.It Pa /etc/ntpd.conf
162default
163.Xr ntpd 8
164configuration file
165.El
166.Sh SEE ALSO
167.Xr ntpd 8 ,
168.Xr sysctl 8
169.Sh HISTORY
170The
171.Nm
172file format first appeared in
173.Ox 3.6 .
174