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ntpq (1m)

Name

ntpq - Network Time Protocol query program

Synopsis

/usr/sbin/ntpq [-46dpinv?!] [-c command]
[-D debuglvl] [-< optfile] [-> optfile]  [host] [...]

Description


System Administration Commands                                        ntpq(1M)



NAME
       ntpq - Network Time Protocol query program

SYNOPSIS
       /usr/sbin/ntpq [-46dpinv?!] [-c command]
           [-D debuglvl] [-< optfile] [-> optfile]  [host] [...]

DESCRIPTION
       The  ntpq utility program is used to monitor NTP daemon ntpd operations
       and determine performance. It uses the standard NTP mode 6 control mes-
       sage  formats defined in Appendix B of the NTPv3 specification RFC1305.
       The same formats are used in NTPv4, although some of the variables have
       changed  and  new  ones  added. The description on this page is for the
       NTPv4 variables.

       The program can be run either in interactive mode or  controlled  using
       command  line arguments. Requests to read and write arbitrary variables
       can be assembled, with raw  and  pretty-printed  output  options  being
       available.  The  ntpq utility can also obtain and print a list of peers
       in a common format by sending multiple queries to the server.

       If one or more request options are included on the  command  line  when
       ntpq  is executed, each of the requests will be sent to the NTP servers
       running on each of the hosts given as command line arguments, or on the
       localhost  by  default.  If  no  request  options  are given, ntpq will
       attempt to read commands from the standard input and execute  these  on
       the  NTP  server  running  on the first host given on the command line,
       again defaulting to localhost when no other  host  is  specified.  ntpq
       will prompt for commands if the standard input is a terminal device.

       The  ntpq  utility  uses NTP mode 6 packets to communicate with the NTP
       server, and hence can be used to query any  compatible  server  on  the
       network  which  permits  it. Note that since NTP is a UDP protocol this
       communication will be somewhat unreliable, especially over  large  dis-
       tances in terms of network topology. The ntpq program makes one attempt
       to retransmit requests, and will time requests out if the  remote  host
       is not heard from within a suitable timeout time.

       In contexts where a host name is expected, a -4 qualifier preceding the
       host name forces DNS resolution to the IPv4 namespace, while a -6 qual-
       ifier forces DNS resolution to the IPv6 namespace. On the command line,
       only one of the two  can be given.

       For examples of usage of ntpq, see the NTP Debugging Techniques page at
       file:///usr/share/doc/ntp/debug.html.

OPTIONS
       Specifying  a  command  line  option other than -i or -n will cause the
       specified query (queries) to be sent to the indicated  host(s)  immedi-
       ately.   Otherwise,  ntpq  will attempt to read interactive format com-
       mands from the standard input.

       -4, --ipv4
              Force DNS resolution of following host names on the command line
              to the IPv4 namespace. Cannot be used with the --ipv6 option.

       -6, --ipv6
              Force DNS resolution of following host names on the command line
              to the IPv6 namespace. Cannot be used with the --ipv4 option.

       -c cmd, --command=cmd
              The following argument is interpreted as an  interactive  format
              command  and  is added to the list of commands to be executed on
              the specified host(s).  This option may appear an unlimited num-
              ber  of  times. After all such commands are executed against all
              listed hosts, the program exits.

       -d, --debug-level
              Increase output debug message level.  This option may appear  an
              unlimited number of times.

       -D number, --set-debug-level=string
              Set  the  output debug message level.  This option may appear an
              unlimited number of times, but only the last one will be used.

       -p, --peers
              Print a list of the peers known to the server as well as a  sum-
              mary  of their state. This is equivalent to the 'peers' interac-
              tive command.

       -i, --interactive
              Force ntpq to operate in  interactive  mode.   Prompts  will  be
              written  to the standard output and commands read from the stan-
              dard input.  This option must not  appear  in  combination  with
              either the --command or --peers options.

       -n, --numeric
              Output all host addresses in numeric format rather than convert-
              ing to the host names.

       -?, --help
              Display usage information and exit.

       -!, --more-help
              Extended usage information passed thru a pager.

       -> rcfile, --save-opts=rcfile
              Save the option state to rcfile.

       -< rcfile, --load-opts=rcfile, --no-load-opts
              Load options from rcfile.  The no-load-opts  form  will  disable
              the  loading of earlier RC/INI files.  --no-load-opts is handled
              early, out of order.

       -v, --version
              Output version of program and exit.

   OPTION PRESETS
       Most options may be preset by loading values from configuration file(s)
       and values from environment variables named:
         NTPQ_<option-name> or NTPQ
       The  environmental  presets  take precedence (are processed later than)
       the configuration files. The option-name should be in all capital  let-
       ters.   For  example,  to  set  the --command option, you would set the
       NTPQ_COMMAND environment variable.  The users home  directory  and  the
       current directory are searched for a file named .ntprc.

USAGE
       Interactive  format  commands  consist of a keyword followed by zero to
       four arguments.  Only enough characters of the full keyword to uniquely
       identify  the  command  need be typed.  The output of a command is nor-
       mally sent to the standard output, but optionally the output  of  indi-
       vidual  commands  may be sent to a file by appending a >, followed by a
       file name, to the command line.

   Internal Commands
       A number of interactive commands are executed entirely within the  ntpq
       utility  itself  and  do not result in requests being sent to a server.
       These commands are as follows:





       cl

       clocklist
                                                          timeout
                                                          version
                                         poll






       ? [command_keyword],  help [command_keyword]
              Prints a list of all the command keywords known  to  ntpq.  Fol-
              lowed  by a command keyword will print function and usage infor-
              mation about the command.

       addvars variable_name[=value]  ...

       rmvars variable_name ...

       showvars

       clearvars
              The data carried by NTP mode 6 messages consists of  a  list  of
              items of the form variable_name=value. In requests to read vari-
              able, the =value is ignored, and can be omitted.  The ntpq util-
              ity  maintains  an internal list in which data to be included in
              control messages can be assembled, and sent using  the  readlist
              and  writelist  commands  described  below.  The addvars command
              allows variables and their optional values to be  added  to  the
              list.  If more than one variable is to be added, the list should
              be comma-separated and not contain  white  space.  The  showvars
              command lists the current variable list.  The rmvars command can
              be used to remove individual variables from the list, while  the
              clearlist command removes all variables from the list.

       authenticate [ yes | no ]
              Normally  ntpq  only  sends authentication with  write requests.
              The command authenticate yes causes ntpq to send  authentication
              with  all  requests  it makes.  The command authenticate with no
              keyword causes ntpq to display whether or not ntpq is  currently
              authenticating requests.

       :config config_command
              Sends  the  entire  line  after :config to the ntpd daemon to be
              interpreted as a configuration file command.  Multiple  commands
              may be separated by semi-colons.

       config-from-file config_file
              Sends  the  entire  file  config_file  to  the ntpd daemon to be
              interpreted as configuration file commands.

       cooked Causes output from query commands to be "cooked", so that  vari-
              ables which are recognized by ntpq will have their values refor-
              matted for  human  consumption.   Variables  which  ntpq  thinks
              should  have  a  decodable  value  but  didn't are marked with a
              trailing ?.

       debug [ more | less | off ]
              With no argument, displays the current debug level.   Otherwise,
              the debug level is changed by the indicated amount.

       delay milliseconds
              Specify  a  time  interval to be added to timestamps included in
              requests which require authentication.  This is used  to  enable
              (unreliable)  server  reconfiguration  over  long  delay network
              paths or  between  machines  whose  clocks  are  unsynchronized.
              Actually the server does not now require timestamps in authenti-
              cated requests, so this command may be obsolete.

       host [ [ -4 | -6 ] hostname ]
              Set the host to which future queries will be sent.  The hostname
              may  be  either  a host name or a numeric address. With no argu-
              ment, prints the current host.

       hostnames [ yes | no ]
              If yes is specified, host names are printed in information  dis-
              plays.   If  no  is  specified,  numeric  addresses  are printed
              instead. With no argument,  prints  the  current  setting.   The
              default  is  yes,  unless  modified  using  the  command line -n
              switch.

       keyid [ keyid# ]
              This command specifies the key number to be used to authenticate
              configuration  requests.   This  must correspond to a key number
              the server has been configured to use for this purpose.

       keytype [ md5 ]
              Prints or sets the type of key  used  for  authentication.  Cur-
              rently only md5 is accepted.

       ntpversion [ 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 ]
              Sets  the  NTP  version  number  which  ntpq  claims in packets.
              Defaults to 2. Note that mode 6 control messages didn't exist in
              NTP version 1.  Luckily there appear to be no servers left which
              demand version 1.  With no argument, displays  the  current  NTP
              version that will be used when communicating with servers.

       passwd This  command  prompts you to type in a password (which will not
              be echoed) which will  be  used  to  authenticate  configuration
              requests.   The  password  must correspond to the key configured
              for use by the NTP server for this purpose.

       quit   Exit ntpq .

       raw    Causes all output from query commands  is  printed  as  received
              from  the remote server.  The only formating/interpretation done
              on the data is to transform nonascii data into a printable  (but
              barely understandable) form.

       timeout milliseconds
              Specify  a  timeout period for responses to server queries.  The
              default is  about  5000  milliseconds.   Note  that  since  ntpq
              retries  each query once after a timeout, the total waiting time
              for a timeout will be twice the timeout value set.

   Control Message Commands
       Each association known to an NTP server has a 16 bit  integer  associa-
       tion  identifier.  NTP control messages which carry peer variables must
       identify the peer the values correspond to by including its association
       ID.  An association ID of 0 is special, and indicates the variables are
       system variables, whose names are drawn from a separate name space.

       Control message commands result in one or  more  NTP  mode  6  messages
       being  sent to the server, and cause the data returned to be printed in
       some format. Most commands currently implemented send a single  message
       and expect a single response. The current exceptions are the peers com-
       mand, which will send a preprogrammed series of messages to obtain  the
       data  it  needs,  and  the  mreadlist and mreadvar commands, which will
       iterate over a range of associations.

       associations
              Obtains and prints a list of association  identifiers  and  peer
              statuses for in-spec peers of the server being queried. The list
              is printed in columns. The first of these is an index  numbering
              the  associations from 1 for internal use, the second the actual
              association identifier returned by the server and the third  the
              status  word  for the peer. This is followed by a number of col-
              umns containing data decoded from the status word. See the peers
              command  for  a decode of the condition field. The data returned
              by the associations command is cached  internally  in  ntpq  and
              used  in subsequent commands.  After the first associations com-
              mand the index can be used in place of the  association  identi-
              fier by specifing the identifier in the form &index.

       clocklist [assocID]

       cl  [assocID]
              Read  the values of the clock variables included in the variable
              list

       clockvar [assocID] [variable_name [ = value [...]] [...]

       cv [assocID] [variable_name [ = value [...] ][...]
              Requests that a list of the server's clock  variables  be  sent.
              Servers  which have a radio clock or other external synchroniza-
              tion will respond positively to this. If the association identi-
              fier  is omitted or zero the request is for the variables of the
              system clock and will generally get a positive response from all
              servers  with  a  clock.  If the server treats clocks as pseudo-
              peers, and hence can possibly have more than one clock connected
              at  once,  referencing  the appropriate peer association ID will
              show the variables of a particular clock. Omitting the  variable
              list will cause the server to return a default variable display.

       lassociations
              Obtains  and  prints  a list of association identifiers and peer
              statuses for all associations for which the server is  maintain-
              ing  state.  This  command differs from the associations command
              only for servers which retain state for out-of-spec client asso-
              ciations (i.e., fuzzballs). Such associations are normally omit-
              ted from the display when the associations command is used,  but
              are  included in the output of lassociations. When used with the
              ntpd in this distribution, this command is idenitical to associ-
              ations.

       lpassociations
              Print  data  for  all associations, including out-of-spec client
              associations, from the internally cached list of associations.

       lopeers
              Same as opeers but from the internally cached data.

       lpeers Like peers, except a summary of all associations for  which  the
              server  is maintaining state is printed. This can produce a much
              longer list of peers from fuzzball servers, but for most servers
              this is identical with peers.

       mreadlist assocID assocID

       mrl assocID assocID
              Like  the readlist command, except the query is done for each of
              a range of (nonzero) association IDs. This range  is  determined
              from the association list cached by the most recent associations
              command. An assocIDs may be either an  association  identify  or
              the equivilant &index form.

       mreadvar assocID assocID [ variable_name [ = value[ ... ]

       mrv assocID assocID [ variable_name [ = value[ ... ]
              Like the readvar command, except the query is done for each of a
              range of (nonzero) association IDs.  This  range  is  determined
              from the association list cached by the most recent associations
              command.

       opeers An old form of the peers command with the reference ID  replaced
              by the local interface address.

       passociations
              Displays  association  data  concerning  in-spec  peers from the
              internally cached list of associations.  This  command  performs
              identically  to  the  associations  except  that it displays the
              internally stored data rather than making a new query.

       peers  Obtains a current list peers of the server, along with a summary
              of  each  peer's state. Summary information includes the address
              of the remote  peer,  the  reference  ID  (0.0.0.0  if  this  is
              unknown),  the  stratum of the remote peer, the type of the peer
              (local, unicast, multicast or broadcast), when the  last  packet
              was received, the polling interval, in seconds, the reachability
              register, in octal, and the current estimated delay, offset  and
              dispersion  of  the  peer, all in milliseconds. The character at
              the left margin of each line shows the synchronization status of
              the  association and is a valuable diagnostic tool. The encoding
              and meaning of this character, called the tally code,  is  given
              later in this page.

       pstatus assocID
              Sends a read status request to the server for the given associa-
              tion. The names and values of the peer variables  returned  will
              be  printed.  Note  that the status word from the header is dis-
              played preceding the variables, both in hexadecimal and in  pid-
              geon English.

       readlist [ assocID ]

       rl [ assocID ]
              Requests  that the values of the variables in the internal vari-
              able list be returned by the server. If the  association  ID  is
              omitted  or  is  0  the variables are assumed to be system vari-
              ables. Otherwise they are treated  as  peer  variables.  If  the
              internal  variable list is empty a request is sent without data,
              which should induce the remote server to return a  default  dis-
              play.

       readvar assocID variable_name [ = value ] [ ...]

       rv assocID [ variable_name [ = value ] [...]
              Requests  that the values of the specified variables be returned
              by the server by sending a read variables request. If the  asso-
              ciation ID is omitted or is given as zero the variables are sys-
              tem variables, otherwise they are peer variables and the  values
              returned  will  be those of the corresponding peer. Omitting the
              variable list will send a request  with  no  data  which  should
              induce  the server to return a default display. The encoding and
              meaning  of  the  variables  derived  from  NTPv3  is  given  in
              RFC-1305; the encoding and meaning of the additional NTPv4 vari-
              ables are given later in this page.

       writevar assocID variable_name [ = value [ ...]
              Like the readvar request, except  the  specified  variables  are
              written instead of read.

       writelist [ assocID ]
              Like  the  readlist  request, except the internal list variables
              are written instead of read.

   Tally Codes
       The character in the left margin in the  peers  billboard,  called  the
       tally  code,  shows the fate of each association in the clock selection
       process. Following is a list of these characters, the pidgeon  used  in
       the rv command, and a short explanation of the condition revealed.

       space reject
              The  peer  is  discarded  as  unreachable,  synchronized to this
              server (synch loop) or outrageous synchronization distance.

       x falseticker
              The peer is discarded by the intersection algorithm as a falset-
              icker.

       . excess
              The peer is discarded as not among the first ten peers sorted by
              synchronization distance and so is probably a poor candidate for
              further consideration.

       - outlyer
              The peer is discarded by the clustering algorithm as an outlyer.

       + candidate
              The  peer  is a survivor and a candidate for the combining algo-
              rithm.

       # selected
              The peer is a survivor, but not among the first six peers sorted
              by synchronization distance. If the association is ephemeral, it
              may be demobilized to conserve resources.

       * sys.peer
              The peer has been declared the system peer and lends  its  vari-
              ables to the system variables.

       o pps.peer
              The  peer  has been declared the system peer and lends its vari-
              ables to thesystem variables. However, the  actual  system  syn-
              chronization  is  derived  from a pulse-per-second (PPS) signal,
              either indirectly via the PPS reference clock driver or directly
              via kernel interface.

   System Variables
       The status, leap, stratum, precision, rootdelay, rootdispersion, refid,
       reftime,  poll,  offset,  and  frequency  variables  are  described  in
       RFC-1305  specification.  Additional NTPv4 system variables include the
       following:

       version
              Everything you might need to know about the software version and
              generation time.

       processor
              The processor and kernel identification string.

       system The operating system version and release identifier.

       state  The  state of the clock discipline state machine. The values are
              described in the architecture briefing on the NTP  Project  page
              linked from www.ntp.org.

       peer   The  internal integer used to identify the association currently
              designated the system peer.

       jitter The estimated time error of the  system  clock  measured  as  an
              exponential average of RMS time differences.

       stability
              The  estimated  frequency stability of the system clock measured
              as an exponential average of RMS frequency differences.

       In addition, some or all of the following system variables  related  to
       the  crypto authentication are displayed, depending on the state of the
       particular crypto dance in use:

       hostname
              The name of the host  as  returned  by  the  Unix  gethostname()
              library function.

       hostkey
              The NTP filestamp of the host key file.

       flags  The current flags word bits and message digest algorithm identi-
              fier (NID) in hex format. The high order 16 bits  of  the  four-
              byte  word  contain  the NID from the OpenSSL ligrary, while the
              low-order  bits  are  interpreted  as  follows:  0x01:   autokey
              enabled,  0x02:  NIST leapseconds file loaded, 0x10: PC identity
              scheme, 0x20: IFF identity scheme, 0x40: GQ identity scheme.

       cert   A list of certificates held by the host. Each entry includes the
              subject,  issuer, flags and NTP filestamp in order. The bits are
              interpreted as  follows:  0x01:  signed  by  the  server,  0x02:
              trusted,  0x04:  private,  0x08:  contains  errors  and  is  not
              trusted.

       leapseconds
              The NTP filestamp of the NIST leapseconds file.

       refresh
              The NTP timestamp when the host public cryptographic values were
              refreshed and signed.

       signature
              The host digest/signature scheme name from the OpenSSL library.

       tai    The TAI-UTC offset in seconds obtained from the NIST leapseconds
              table.

   Peer Variables
       The status, srcadr, srcport, dstadr, dstport, leap, stratum, precision,
       rootdelay,  rootdispersion,  readh, hmode, pmode, hpoll, ppoll, offset,
       delay, dspersion, reftime variables are described in the RFC-1305 spec-
       ification,  as  are  the  timestamps org, rec and xmt. Additional NTPv4
       system variables include the following.

       flash  The flash code for the most recent packet received. The encoding
              and meaning of these codes is given later in this page.

       jitter The  estimated time error of the peer clock measured as an expo-
              nential average of RMS time differences.

       unreach
              The value of the counter which records the number of poll inter-
              vals since the last valid packet was received.

       In addition, some or all of the following  peer variables are displayed
       related to the crypto auithentication:

       flags  The current flag bits. This word is the server host status  word
              with  additional bits used by the Autokey state machine. See the
              source code for the bit encoding.

       hostname
              The server host name.

       initkey key
              The initial key used by the key list generator  in  the  Autokey
              protocol.

       initsequence index
              The  initial index used by the key list generator in the Autokey
              protocol.

       signature
              The server message digest/signature scheme name from the OpenSSL
              software library.

       timestamp time
              The  NTP  timestamp when the last Autokey key list was generated
              and signed.

   Flash Codes
       The flash code is a valuable debugging aid displayed in the peer  vari-
       ables  list. It shows the results of the original sanity checks defined
       in the NTP specification RFC-1305 and additional ones added  in  NTPv4.
       There  are 12 tests designated TEST1 through TEST12. The tests are per-
       formed in a certain order designed to gain maximum diagnostic  informa-
       tion while protecting against accidental or malicious errors. The flash
       variable is initialized to zero as each packet is  received.  If  after
       each set of tests one or more bits are set, the packet is discarded.

       Tests  TEST1  through  TEST3 check the packet timestamps from which the
       offset and delay are calculated. If any bits are  set,  the  packet  is
       discarded;  otherwise, the packet header variables are saved. TEST4 and
       TEST5 are associated with access control and cryptographic  authentica-
       tion.  If  any  bits  are set, the packet is discarded immediately with
       nothing changed.

       Tests TEST6 through TEST8 check the health of the server. If  any  bits
       are set, the packet is discarded; otherwise, the offset and delay rela-
       tive to the server are calculated and saved. TEST9 checks the health of
       the  association  itself. If any bits are set, the packet is discarded;
       otherwise, the saved variables are passed to the clock filter and miti-
       gation algorithms.

       Tests  TEST10  through  TEST12  check  the  authentication  state using
       Autokey public-key cryptography, as  described  in  the  Authentication
       Options page at file:///usr/share/doc/ntp/authopt.html. If any bits are
       set and the association  has  previously  been  marked  reachable,  the
       packet  is  discarded;  otherwise, the originate and receive timestamps
       are saved, as required by the NTP protocol, and processing continues.

       The flash bits for each test are defined as follows.

       0x001 TEST1
              Duplicate packet. The packet is at best a casual  retransmission
              and at worst a malicious replay.

       0x002 TEST2
              Bogus  packet. The packet is not a reply to a message previously
              sent. This can happen when  the  NTP  daemon  is  restarted  and
              before somebody else notices.

       0x004 TEST3
              Unsynchronized.  One  or more timestamp fields are invalid. This
              normally happens when the first packet from a peer is received.

       0x008 TEST4
              Access is  denied.  See  the  Access  Control  Options  page  at
              file:///usr/share/doc/ntp/accopt.html.

       0x010 TEST5
              Cryptographic   authentication  fails.  See  the  Authentication
              Options page referenced above.

       0x020TEST6
              The server is unsynchronized. Wind up its clock first.

       0x040 TEST7
              The server stratum is at the  maximum  of  15.  It  is  probably
              unsynchronized and its clock needs to be wound up.

       0x080 TEST8
              Either  the root delay or dispersion is greater than one second,
              which is highly unlikely unless the peer  is  unsynchronized  to
              Mars.

       0x100 TEST9
              Either  the peer delay or dispersion is greater than one second,
              which is higly unlikely unless the peer is on Mars.

       0x200 TEST10
              The autokey protocol has detected an authentication failure. See
              the Authentication Options page.

       0x400 TEST11
              The  autokey  protocol  has  not  verified the server or peer is
              proventic and has valid public key credentials. See the  Authen-
              tication Options page.

       0x800 TEST12
              A protocol or configuration error has occurred in the public key
              algorithms or a possible intrusion event has been detected.  See
              the Authentication Options page.


ATTRIBUTES
       See attributes(5) for descriptions of the following attributes:


       +---------------+---------------------+
       |ATTRIBUTE TYPE |  ATTRIBUTE VALUE    |
       +---------------+---------------------+
       |Availability   | service/network/ntp |
       +---------------+---------------------+
       |Stability      | Uncommitted         |
       +---------------+---------------------+
NOTES
       The  documentation  available  at  /usr/share/doc/ntp is provided as is
       from the NTP distribution and  may  contain  information  that  is  not
       applicable to the software as provided in this partIcular distribution.

       The  output of the ntpqP in version 4 differs from that in version 3 by
       the replacement of the dispersion value with the jitter  value  in  the
       peers output.

SEE ALSO
       ntpd(1M), ntpdc(1M), ntprc(4), attributes(5)


       This     software     was    built    from    source    available    at
       https://java.net/projects/solaris-userland.   The  original   community
       source          was         downloaded         from          http://ar-
       chive.ntp.org/ntp4/ntp-4.2/ntp-4.2.8p10.tar.gz

       Further information about this software can be found on the open source
       community website at http://www.ntp.org/.



                                                                      ntpq(1M)