ntpq.1m (2010 09)

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ntpq(1M) ntpq(1M)

NAME

ntpq - standard Network Time Protocol query program

SYNOPSIS

ntpq [-dinp][-c command]... [host ]...

DESCRIPTION

ntpq is used to query NTP servers, that implement the recommended NTP mode 6 control message for-

mat about current state and to request changes in that state. The program may be run either in interac-

tive mode or controlled mode using command line arguments. Requests to read and write arbitrary vari-

ables can be assembled, with raw and pretty-printed output options available.

ntpq 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 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 to localhost by default. If no request options are given,

ntpq attempts 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 prompts for commands if the stan-

dard 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 com-

munication is somewhat unreliable, especially over large distances in terms of network topology. ntpq

makes one attempt to retransmit requests, and will time out if the remote host is not heard from within a

suitable timeout time.

Command Line Options

The command line options supported are described below. Specifying a command line option other than

-i or -n causes the speciﬁed query (queries) to be sent to the indicated host(s) immediately. Otherwise,

ntpq attempts to read interactive format commands from the standard input.

-c command

Interactive format command. The command is added to the list of commands to be executed on the

speciﬁed host(s). Multiple -c options may be given.

-d Print debugging information.

-i Force ntpq to operate in interactive mode. Prompts are written to the standard output and com-

mands read from the standard 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 summary of their state. This is equivalent

to the peers interactive command.

Interactive Commands

Interactive format commands consist of a keyword followed by zero to four arguments. Only enough char-

acters of the full keyword to uniquely identify the command needs to 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, on 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 below.

? [ command_keyword ]

help [ command_keyword ]

A ? or help by itself prints a list of all the command keywords known to this version of

ntpq.A? or help followed by a command keyword prints function and usage information

about the command.

addvars [ variable_name=value ][ ... ]

rmvars [ variable_name=value ][ ... ]

clearvars

The data carried by NTP mode 6 messages consists of a list of items of the form

variable_name = value, where the = value is ignored, and can be omitted in

requests to the server to read variables. ntpq maintains an internal list in which data to be

HP-UX 11i Version 3: September 2010 − 1 − Hewlett-Packard Company 1

Summary of content (4 pages)

PAGE 1
ntpq(1M) ntpq(1M) NAME ntpq - standard Network Time Protocol query program SYNOPSIS ntpq [-dinp] [-c command]... [host ]... DESCRIPTION ntpq is used to query NTP servers, that implement the recommended NTP mode 6 control message format about current state and to request changes in that state. The program may be run either in interactive mode or controlled mode using command line arguments.
PAGE 2
ntpq(1M) ntpq(1M) included in control messages can be assembled, and sent using the readlist and writel- ist commands described below. addvars This 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. rmvars This command can be used to remove individual variables from the list. clearlist This command removes all variables from the list.
PAGE 3
ntpq(1M) ntpq(1M) 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 command, which sends a preprogrammed series of messages to obtain the data it needs, and the mreadlist and mreadvar commands, which iterate over a range of associations.
PAGE 4
ntpq(1M) ntpq(1M) register, in octal, and the current estimated delay, offset and dispersion of the peer, all in milliseconds. The character in the left margin indicates the fate of this peer in the clock selection process. The codes have the following meaning: Discarded due to high stratum and/or failed sanity checks. x Designated falseticker by the intersection algorithm. . Culled from the end of the candidate list. - Discarded by the clustering algorithm.