ntpq(8) System Manager's Manual ntpq(8)
NAME
ntpq - standard NTP query program
SYNOPSIS
ntpq [-46dinp] [-c command] [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 variable names
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 can also obtain and print a list of peers in a com-
mon format by sending multiple queries to the server.
If one or more request options is 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
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.
ntpq 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 distances in terms
of network topology. ntpq makes one attempt to retransmit requests, and
will time requests out if the remote host is not heard from within a
suitable timeout time.
Note that 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 qualifier forces DNS resolution to the IPv6 namespace.
For examples and usage, see the NTP Debugging Techniques page.
Command line options are described following. Specifying a command line
option other than -i or -n will cause the specified query (queries) to
be sent to the indicated host(s) immediately. Otherwise, ntpq will
attempt to read interactive format commands from the standard input.
-4 Force DNS resolution of following host names on the command
line to the IPv4 namespace.
-6 Force DNS resolution of following host names on the command
line to the IPv6 namespace.
-c 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). Multiple -c options may be given.
-d Turn on debugging mode.
-i Force ntpq to operate in interactive mode. Prompts will be
written to the standard output and commands read from the stan-
dard input.
-n Output all host addresses in dotted-quad numeric format rather
than converting to the canonical host names.
-p 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.
INTERNAL COMMANDS
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 normally
sent to the standard output, but optionally the output of individual
commands may be sent to a file by appending a >, followed by a file
name, to the command line. A number of interactive format commands are
executed entirely within the ntpq program itself and do not result in
NTP mode-6 requests being sent to a server. These are described follow-
ing.
? [command_keyword]
help [command_keyword]
A ? by itself will print a list of all the command keywords
known to ntpq. A ? followed by a command keyword will print
function and usage information about the command.
addvars name [ = value] [...]
rmvars name [...]
clearvars
The arguments to this command consist of a list of items of the
form name = value, where the = value is ignored, and can be
omitted in read requests. ntpq 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 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 rmvars command can be used to remove individual
variables from the list, while the clearlist command removes
all variables from the list.
cooked Display server messages in prettyprint format.
debug more | less | off
Turns internal query program debugging on and off.
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 authen-
ticated requests, so this command may be obsolete.
host name
Set the host to which future queries will be sent. The name may
be either a DNS name or a numeric address.
hostnames [yes | no]
If yes is specified, host names are printed in information dis-
plays. If no is specified, numeric addresses are printed
instead. The default is yes, unless modified using the command
line -n switch.
keyid keyid
This command specifies the key number to be used to authenti-
cate configuration requests. This must correspond to a key num-
ber the server has been configured to use for this purpose.
ntpversion 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
Sets the NTP version number which ntpq claims in packets.
Defaults to 2, Note that mode-6 control messages (and modes,
for that matter) didn't exist in NTP version 1.
passwd This command prompts for a password to authenticate configura-
tion requests. The password must correspond to the key config-
ured for NTP server for this purpose.
quit Exit ntpq.
raw Display server messages as received and without reformatting.
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
Association IDs are used to identify system, peer and clock variables.
System variables are assigned an association ID of zero and system name
space, while each association is assigned a nonzero association ID and
peer namespace. Most control commands send a single mode-6 message to
the server and expect a single response message. The exceptions are the
peers command, which sends a series of messages, and the mreadlist and
mreadvar commands, which iterate over a range of associations.
associations
Display a list of mobilized associations in the form ind assid
status conf reach auth condition last_event cnt
+----------+---------------------------------------------------------------+
Variable |Description |
+----------+---------------------------------------------------------------+
ind |index on this list |
+----------+---------------------------------------------------------------+
assid |association ID |
+----------+---------------------------------------------------------------+
status |peer status word |
+----------+---------------------------------------------------------------+
conf |yes: persistent, no: ephemeral |
+----------+---------------------------------------------------------------+
reach |yes: reachable, no: unreachable |
+----------+---------------------------------------------------------------+
auth |ok, yes, bad and none |
+----------+---------------------------------------------------------------+
condition |selection status (see the select field of the peer status word)|
+----------+---------------------------------------------------------------+
last_event |event report (see the event field of the peer status word) |
+----------+---------------------------------------------------------------+
cnt |event count (see the count field of the peer status word) |
+----------+---------------------------------------------------------------+
clockvar assocID [name [ = value [...]] [...]
cv assocID [name [ = value [...] ][...]
Display a list of clock variables for those assocations sup-
porting a reference clock.
:config [...]
Send the remainder of the command line, including whitespace,
to the server as a run-time configuration command in the same
format as the configuration file. This command is experimental
until further notice and clarification. Authentication is of
course required.
config-from-file filename
Send the each line of filename to the server as run-time con-
figuration commands in the same format as the configuration
file. This command is experimental until further notice and
clarification. Authentication is of course required.
keyid Specify the key ID to use for write requests.
lassociations
Perform the same function as the associations command, execept
display mobilized and unmobilized associations.
mreadvar assocID assocID [ variable_name [ = value[ ... ]
mrv assocID assocID [ variable_name [ = value[ ... ]
Perform the same function as the readvar command, except for a
range of association IDs. This range is determined from the
association list cached by the most recent associations com-
mand.
passociations
Perform the same function as the associations command, except
that it uses previously stored data rather than making a new
query.
passwd Specify the password to use for write requests.
peers Display a list of peers in the form [tally]remote refid st t
when pool reach delay offset jitter
+--------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Variable |Description |
+--------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
[tally] |single-character code indicating current value of the select field of the peer status word|
+--------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
remote |host name (or IP number) of peer |
+--------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
refid |association ID or kiss code |
+--------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
st |stratum |
+--------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
t |u: unicast, b: broadcast, l: local |
+--------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
when |sec/min/hr since last received packet |
+--------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
poll |poll interval (log2 s) |
+--------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
reach |reach shift register (octal) |
+--------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
delay |roundtrip delay |
+--------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
offset |offset |
+--------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
jitter |jitter |
+--------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
readvar assocID name [ = value ] [,...]
rv assocID [ name ] [,...]
Display the specified variables. If assocID is zero, the vari-
ables are from the system variables name space, otherwise they
are from the peer variables name space. The assocID is
required, as the same name can occur in both spaces. If no name
is included, all operative variables in the name space are dis-
played. In this case only, if the assocID is omitted, it is
assumed zero. Multiple names are specified with comma separa-
tors and without whitespace. Note that time values are repre-
sented in milliseconds and frequency values in parts-per-mil-
lion (PPM). Some NTP timestamps are represented in the format
YYYYMMDDTTTT, where YYYY is the year, MM the month of year, DD
the day of month and TTTT the time of day.
saveconfig filename
Write the current configuration, including any runtime modifi-
cations given with :config or config-from-file, to the ntpd
host's file filename. This command will be rejected by the
server unless saveconfigdir appears in the ntpd configuration
file. filename can use strftime() format specifiers to substi-
tute the current date and time, for example, saveconfig
ntp-%Y%m%d-%H%M%S.conf. The filename used is stored in system
variable savedconfig. Authentication is required.
writevar assocID name = value [,...]
Write the specified variables. If the assocID is zero, the
variables are from the system variables name space, otherwise
they are from the peer variables name space. The assocID is
required, as the same name can occur in both spaces.
STATUS WORDS AND KISS CODES
The current state of the operating program is shown in a set of status
words maintained by the system and each association separately. These
words are displayed in the rv and as commands both in hexadecimal and
decoded short tip strings. The codes, tips and short explanations are
on the Event Messages and Status Words page. The page also includes a
list of system and peer messages, the code for the latest of which is
included in the status word.
Information resulting from protocol machine state transitions is dis-
played using an informal set of ASCII strings called kiss codes. The
original purpose was for kiss-o'-death (KoD) packets sent by the server
to advise the client of an unusual condition. They are now displayed,
when appropriate, in the reference identifier field in various bill-
boards.
SYSTEM VARIABLES
The following system variables appear in the rv billboard. Not all
variables are displayed in some configurations.
+-------------+--------------------------------------------------------+
|Variable | Description |
+-------------+--------------------------------------------------------+
|status | system status word |
+-------------+--------------------------------------------------------+
|version | NTP software version and build time |
+-------------+--------------------------------------------------------+
|processor | hardware platform and version |
+-------------+--------------------------------------------------------+
|system | operating system and version |
+-------------+--------------------------------------------------------+
|leap | leap warning indicator (0-3) |
+-------------+--------------------------------------------------------+
|stratum | stratum (1-15) |
+-------------+--------------------------------------------------------+
|precision | precision (log2 s) |
+-------------+--------------------------------------------------------+
|rootdelay | total roundtrip delay to the primary reference clock |
+-------------+--------------------------------------------------------+
|rootdisp | total dispersion to the primary reference clock |
+-------------+--------------------------------------------------------+
|peer | system peer association ID |
+-------------+--------------------------------------------------------+
|tc | time constant and poll exponent (log2 s) (3-17) |
+-------------+--------------------------------------------------------+
|mintc | minimum time constant (log2 s) (3-10) |
+-------------+--------------------------------------------------------+
|clock | date and time of day |
+-------------+--------------------------------------------------------+
|refid | reference ID or kiss code |
+-------------+--------------------------------------------------------+
|reftime | reference time |
+-------------+--------------------------------------------------------+
|offset | combined time offset |
+-------------+--------------------------------------------------------+
|sys_jitter | combined system jitter |
+-------------+--------------------------------------------------------+
|frequency | clock frequency offset (PPM) |
+-------------+--------------------------------------------------------+
|clk_wander | clock frequency wander (PPM) |
+-------------+--------------------------------------------------------+
|clk_jitter | clock jitter |
+-------------+--------------------------------------------------------+
|tai | TAI-UTC offset (s) |
+-------------+--------------------------------------------------------+
|leapsec | NTP seconds when the next leap second is/was inserted |
+-------------+--------------------------------------------------------+
|expire | NTP seconds when the NIST leapseconds file expires |
+-------------+--------------------------------------------------------+
The jitter and wander statistics are exponentially-weighted RMS aver-
ages. The system jitter is defined in the NTPv4 specification; the
clock jitter statistic is computed by the clock discipline module.
When the NTPv4 daemon is compiled with the OpenSSL software library,
additional system variables are displayed, including some or all of the
following, depending on the particular Autokey dance:
+--------------+-------------------------------------------------------+
| Variable | Description |
+--------------+-------------------------------------------------------+
| host | Autokey host name |
+--------------+-------------------------------------------------------+
| group | Autokey group name |
+--------------+-------------------------------------------------------+
| flags | host flags (see Autokey specification) |
+--------------+-------------------------------------------------------+
| digest | OpenSSL message digest algorithm |
+--------------+-------------------------------------------------------+
| signature | OpenSSL digest/signature scheme |
+--------------+-------------------------------------------------------+
| update | NTP seconds at last signature update |
+--------------+-------------------------------------------------------+
| cert | certificate subject, issuer and certificate flags |
+--------------+-------------------------------------------------------+
| until | NTP seconds when the certificate expires |
+--------------+-------------------------------------------------------+
PEER VARIABLES
The following system variables apear in the rv billboard for each asso-
ciation. Not all variables are displayed in some configurations.
+--------------+----------------------------------------------------------+
Variable |Description |
+--------------+----------------------------------------------------------+
associd |association ID |
+--------------+----------------------------------------------------------+
status |peer status word |
+--------------+----------------------------------------------------------+
srcadr srcport |source (remote) IP address and port |
+--------------+----------------------------------------------------------+
dstadr dstport |destination (local) IP address and port |
+--------------+----------------------------------------------------------+
leap |leap indicator (0-3) |
+--------------+----------------------------------------------------------+
stratum |stratum (0-15) |
+--------------+----------------------------------------------------------+
precision |precision (log2 s) |
+--------------+----------------------------------------------------------+
rootdelay |total roundtrip delay to the primary reference clock |
+--------------+----------------------------------------------------------+
rootdisp |total root dispersion to the primary reference clock |
+--------------+----------------------------------------------------------+
refid |reference ID or kiss code |
+--------------+----------------------------------------------------------+
reftime |reference time |
+--------------+----------------------------------------------------------+
reach |reach register (octal) |
+--------------+----------------------------------------------------------+
unreach |unreach counter |
+--------------+----------------------------------------------------------+
hmode |host mode (1-6) |
+--------------+----------------------------------------------------------+
pmode |peer mode (1-5) |
+--------------+----------------------------------------------------------+
hpoll |host poll exponent (log2 s) (3-17) |
+--------------+----------------------------------------------------------+
ppoll |peer poll exponent (log2 s) (3-17) |
+--------------+----------------------------------------------------------+
headway |headway (see Rate Management and the Kiss-o'-Death Packet)|
+--------------+----------------------------------------------------------+
flash |flash status word |
+--------------+----------------------------------------------------------+
offset |filter offset |
+--------------+----------------------------------------------------------+
delay |filter delay |
+--------------+----------------------------------------------------------+
dispersion |filter dispersion |
+--------------+----------------------------------------------------------+
jitter |filter jitter |
+--------------+----------------------------------------------------------+
bias |unicast/broadcast bias |
+--------------+----------------------------------------------------------+
xleave |interleave delay (see NTP Interleaved Modes) |
+--------------+----------------------------------------------------------+
The bias vaqriable is calculated when the first broadcast packet is
received after the calibration volley. It represents the offset of the
broadcast subgraph relative to the unicast subgraph. The xleave vari-
able appears only the interleaved symmetric and ingterleaved modes. It
represents the internal queueing, buffering and transmission delays for
the preceeding packet.
When the NTPv4 daemon is compiled with the OpenSSL software library,
additional peer variables are displayed, including the following:
+---------------------+------------------------------------------------+
| Variable | Description |
+---------------------+------------------------------------------------+
| flags | peer flags (see Autokey specification) |
+---------------------+------------------------------------------------+
| host | Autokey server name |
+---------------------+------------------------------------------------+
| flags | peer flags (see Autokey specification) |
+---------------------+------------------------------------------------+
| signature | OpenSSL digest/signature shceme |
+---------------------+------------------------------------------------+
| initsequence | initial key ID |
+---------------------+------------------------------------------------+
| initkey | initial key index |
+---------------------+------------------------------------------------+
| timestamp | Autokey signature timestamp |
+---------------------+------------------------------------------------+
CLOCK VARIABLES
The following clock variables apear in the cv billboard for each asso-
ciation with a reference clock. Not all variables are displayed in some
configurations.
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| Variable | Description |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| associd | association ID |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| status | clock status word |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| device | device description |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| timecode | ASCII timecode string (specific to device) |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| poll | poll messages sent |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| noreply | no reply |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| badformat | bad format |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| baddata | bad date or time |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| fudgetime1 | fudge time 1 |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| fudgetime2 | fudge time 2 |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| stratum | driver stratum |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| refid | driver reference ID |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| flags | driver flags |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
SEE ALSO
ntp_decode(5), ntpd(8), ntpdc(8)
The official HTML documentation.
This file was automatically generated from HTML source.
ntpq(8)