Re: ntpd vs ntpdate with no hardware clock

From: bob prohaska <fbsd_at_www.zefox.net>
Date: Sun, 07 Jul 2024 17:15:16 UTC 
On Sun, Jul 07, 2024 at 10:16:34AM -0600, Warner Losh wrote:
> Try -q on ntpd. It will step system time, but only once.
> 
> FreeBSD will set the time to the last modification of /. At least for
> UFS... I'm guessing this is why it was within a minute.... and is FreeBSD's
> psuedo equivalent.
> 

Trying in /etc/rc.conf

ntpd_enable="YES"      
ntpd_sync_on_start="YES"

resulted in
Starting ntpd.
Jul  7 16:31:47 nemesis ntpd[1736]: leapsecond file ('/var/db/ntpd.leap-seconds.list'): expired 10 days ago
which looks like UTC presented as PDT.

Trying in /etc/rc.conf
ntpd_enable="YES"            # Run ntpd Network Time Protocol (or NO).
ntpd_sync_on_start="NO"     # Sync time on ntpd startup, even if offset is high
ntpd_flags="-q"
resulted in a report ending 
 7 Jul 16:37:55 ntpd[1731]: Clock offset exceeds panic threshold.
 7 Jul 16:37:55 ntpd[1731]: Set system clock by hand.

Finally, adding ntpd_sync_on_start="YES" set the time sensibly during boot.

Thanks very much, ntpd is now usable!

bob prohaska