Configuring the Network Time Protocol Daemon

The NTP daemon, ntpd(1M), provides a mechanism for keeping the time settings synchronized between the SSP and the domains. OBP obtains the time from the SSP when the domain is booted, and NTP keeps the time synchronized from that point on.

The configuration is based on information provided by the system administrator. If you are not currently running in an NTP subnet, and you do not have access to the Internet, and you are not going to use a radio clock, you can set up the Sun Enterprise 10000 system to use its own internal time-of-day clock as the reference clock. Usually, however, the SSP uses its internal time-of-day clock for the Sun Enterprise 10000 system.

The NTP packages are compiled with support for a local reference clock. This means that your system can poll itself for the time instead of polling another system or network clock. The poll is done through the network loopback interface. The first three numbers in the IP address are 127.127.1. The last numbers in the IP address are the NTP stratum to use for the clock.

When setting up a Sun Enterprise 10000 system and its SSP, set the SSP to stratum 4. Set up the Sun Enterprise 10000 system as a peer to the SSP and set the local clock two strata higher.

If the ntp.conf file does not exist, create it as described in the following procedure.

To Create the ntp.conf File

1. On the SSP, log in as a user who can assume the root role and assume it.

2. Create the /etc/inet/ntp.conf file in a text editor.

You must have an ntp.conf file on both the SSP and the platform. The following is an example of server/peer lines in the /etc/inet/ntp.conf file on the SSP.

server 127.127.1.4

You can add lines similar to the following to the /etc/inet/ntp.conf file on the platform:

server ssp_name
server 127.127.1.13
fudge 127.127.1.13 stratum 13

For more information on the NTP daemon, refer to the Network Time Protocol User's Guide and the NTP Reference.