xref: /original-bsd/usr.sbin/timed/timed/timed.8 (revision f955cb91)
1.\" Copyright (c) 1980, 1991 Regents of the University of California.
2.\" All rights reserved.
3.\"
4.\" %sccs.include.redist.roff%
5.\"
6.\"     @(#)timed.8	6.6 (Berkeley) 04/27/91
7.\"
8.Dd
9.Dt TIMED 8
10.Os BSD 4.3
11.Sh NAME
12.Nm timed
13.Nd time server daemon
14.Sh SYNOPSIS
15.Nm timed
16.Op Fl M
17.Op Fl t
18.Op Fl i Ar network
19.Op Fl n Ar network
20.Sh DESCRIPTION
21This
22is the time server daemon and is normally invoked
23at boot time from the
24.Xr rc 8
25file.
26It synchronizes the host's time with the time of other
27machines in a local area network running
28.Nm timed 8 .
29These time servers will slow down the clocks of some machines
30and speed up the clocks of others to bring them to the average network time.
31The average network time is computed from measurements of clock differences
32using the
33.Tn ICMP
34timestamp request message.
35.Pp
36The service provided by
37.Nm timed
38is based  on a master-slave
39scheme.
40When
41.Nm timed 8
42is started on a machine, it asks the master for the network time
43and sets the host's clock to that time.
44After that, it accepts synchronization messages periodically sent by
45the master and calls
46.Xr adjtime 2
47to perform the needed corrections on the host's clock.
48.Pp
49It also communicates with
50.Xr date 1
51in order to set the date globally,
52and with
53.Xr timedc 8 ,
54a timed control program.
55If the machine running the master crashes, then the slaves will elect
56a new master from among slaves running with the
57.Fl M
58flag.
59A
60.Nm timed
61running without the
62.Fl M
63flag will remain a slave.
64The
65.Fl t
66flag enables
67.Nm timed
68to trace the messages it receives in the
69file
70.Pa /var/log/timed.log .
71Tracing can be turned on or off by the program
72.Xr timedc 8 .
73Normally
74.Nm timed
75checks for a master time server on each network to which
76it is connected, except as modified by the options described below.
77It will request synchronization service from the first master server
78located.
79If permitted by the
80.Fl M
81flag, it will provide synchronization service on any attached networks
82on which no current master server was detected.
83Such a server propagates the time computed by the top-level master.
84The
85.Fl n
86flag, followed by the name of a network which the host is connected to
87(see
88.Xr networks 5 ) ,
89overrides the default choice of the
90network addresses made by the program.
91Each time the
92.Fl n
93flag appears, that network name is added to a list of valid networks.
94All other networks are ignored.
95The
96.Fl i
97flag, followed by the name of a network to which the host is connected
98(see
99.Xr networks 5 ) ,
100overrides the default choice of the network addresses made by the program.
101Each time the
102.Fl i
103flag appears, that network name is added to a list of networks to ignore.
104All other networks are used by the time daemon.
105The
106.Fl n
107and
108.Fl i
109flags are meaningless if used together.
110.Sh FILES
111.Bl -tag -width /var/log/timed.masterlog -compact
112.It Pa /var/log/timed.log
113tracing file for timed
114.It Pa /var/log/timed.masterlog
115log file for master timed
116.El
117.Sh SEE ALSO
118.Xr date 1 ,
119.Xr adjtime 2 ,
120.Xr gettimeofday 2 ,
121.Xr icmp 4 ,
122.Xr timedc 8 ,
123.Rs
124.%T "TSP: The Time Synchronization Protocol for UNIX 4.3BSD"
125.%A R. Gusella
126.%A S. Zatti
127.Re
128.Sh HISTORY
129The
130.Nm
131daemon appeared in
132.Bx 4.3 .
133