how start ntp?

deepforest · 2026-01-25 00:34:32

Ceres
i am install ntp from here
pkginfo.devuan.org/cgi-bin/package-query.html?c=package&q=ntp=1:4.2.8p15+dfsg-2~1.2.2+dfsg1-1+deb12u1&eXtra
but how start ntp?

root@devuan:/home/freeartist-devuan# rc-status
Runlevel: default
 rsyslog                                                                                                                                                                                             [  started  ]
 ntpsec                                                                                                                                                                                              [  started  ]
 cron                                                                                                                                                                                                [  started  ]
 console-setup.sh                                                                                                                                                                                    [  started  ]
 dbus                                                                                                                                                                                                [  started  ]
 slim                                                                                                                                                                                                [  started  ]
 sddm                                                                                                                                                                                                [  started  ]
 bluetooth                                                                                                                                                                                           [  started  ]
 seatd                                                                                                                                                                                               [  started  ]
 avahi-daemon                                                                                                                                                                                        [  started  ]
 cups                                                                                                                                                                                                [  started  ]
 cups-browsed                                                                                                                                                                                        [  started  ]
 network-manager                                                                                                                                                                                     [  started  ]
 acpid                                                                                                                                                                                               [  started  ]
 elogind                                                                                                                                                                                             [  started  ]
 gdm3                                                                                                                                                                                                [  started  ]
 sudo                                                                                                                                                                                                [  started  ]
 bootlogs                                                                                                                                                                                            [  started  ]
 lightdm                                                                                                                                                                                             [  started  ]
 pulseaudio-enable-autospawn                                                                                                                                                                         [  started  ]
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 saned                                                                                                                                                                                               [  started  ]
 stop-bootlogd                                                                                                                                                                                       [  started  ]
 rc.local                                                                                                                                                                                            [  started  ]
Dynamic Runlevel: hotplugged
Dynamic Runlevel: needed/wanted
 umountroot                                                                                                                                                                                          [  started  ]
 umountfs                                                                                                                                                                                            [  started  ]
 umountnfs.sh                                                                                                                                                                                        [  started  ]
Dynamic Runlevel: manual
root@devuan:/home/freeartist-devuan#

Last edited by deepforest (2026-01-25 00:38:22)

GlennW · 2026-01-25 22:53:53

Try ntpsec, use it the same way...

deepforest · 2026-01-26 05:28:39

Thanks, but same(

pcalvert · 2026-01-26 08:55:34

I don't know about Devuan, but Refracta comes with ntpdate installed. That's what I use.

Although it should run automatically, I run ntpdate manually every day, right after the system boots up and right before I shut down. I do that because my computer is only connected to the internet when I am actively using it.

steve_v · 2026-01-26 12:02:32

There are a half-dozen potential NTP clients available, which you use is personal preference.
The most lightweight is opentpd, while the most modern (and most suitable for machines with intermittent connectivity) is chrony. I can vouch for both currently (as well as ntpdate and ntpsec in the past) working just fine on Devuan.

The real question is: Which one is your GUI nonsense looking for, how is it checking, and why doesn't it see ntpsec? If it's doing something really dumb like looking for a specific init script (or worse, systemd service on dbus), it's not going to work with openrc without some tinkering.

I don't recognise that GUI window, but it looks gtk-ish. Last I heard xfce didn't have a native timezone config whatchamacallit... So MATE maybe? If that's the case it's probably looking for timedatectl+timesyncd, which is a systemd thing so you are likely SOL.

Then again I really don't know why anyone would need a GUI for setting the time to begin with, so personally I'd just ignore it.

Last edited by steve_v (2026-01-26 12:12:50)

Calamity · 2026-01-26 15:18:36

That dialog looks like part of the old gnome-system-tools package, which provides a GUI Time & Date utility, along with one for users and groups management.

Perhaps it lacks compatibility with the current NTP clients.

rolfie · 2026-01-26 15:25:27

gnome-system-tools is broken, no maintainer any more.

deepforest · 2026-01-26 16:14:25

The most lightweight is opentpd, while the most modern (and most suitable for machines with intermittent connectivity) is chrony.

tried chrony, same, not recognise by xfce(gnome!??) time settings

The real question is: Which one is your GUI nonsense looking for, how is it checking, and why doesn't it see ntpsec? If it's doing something really dumb like looking for a specific init script (or worse, systemd service on dbus), it's not going to work with openrc without some tinkering.
I don't recognise that GUI window, but it looks gtk-ish. Last I heard xfce didn't have a native timezone config whatchamacallit...

its xfce(gnome!??) time/calendar settings window

Last edited by deepforest (2026-01-26 16:19:21)

deepforest · 2026-01-26 16:17:08

That dialog looks like part of the old gnome-system-tools package, which provides a GUI Time & Date utility, along with one for users and groups management.
Perhaps it lacks compatibility with the current NTP clients.

huuh, it's mess, so xfce not has own time/calendar app, also as network-manager is part of gnome?

deepforest · 2026-01-26 23:06:20

That dialog looks like part of the old gnome-system-tools package, which provides a GUI Time & Date utility, along with one for users and groups management.
Perhaps it lacks compatibility with the current NTP clients

no its native xfce clock applet(or its gnome app?)
https://docs.xfce.org/xfce/xfce4-panel/4.20/clock

Last edited by deepforest (2026-01-26 23:09:38)

stargate-sg1-cheyenne-mtn · 2026-01-27 12:02:15

might help to review the results of:

apt info ntp ntpdate ntpsec ntpsec-ntpdate chrony htpdate

in daedalus several of them are listed as dummy packages

(no idea what would be listed in ceres)

as always, ymmv

Last edited by stargate-sg1-cheyenne-mtn (2026-01-27 13:57:05)

rduke · 2026-01-27 12:27:34

FTW I've spent considerable time over the years farting around with ntp.
Here is what I do now on all of my machines:

1. apt remove ntp ntpsec
2. apt install htpdate
3. get on with my life :-)

Calamity · 2026-01-27 13:29:43

no its native xfce clock applet(or its gnome app?)

Not really. The Clock applet dialog is indeed part of Xfce, but that Time and Date Settings window definitely comes from gnome-system-tools - which Xfce (for some odd reason) still relies on for system time configuration. Without it being present (as is probably the case with the default Xfce installation), the Xfce Clock applet settings will not even show the 'Time and Date Settings' button.

deepforest · 2026-01-27 23:58:18

FTW I've spent considerable time over the years farting around with ntp.
Here is what I do now on all of my machines:
1. apt remove ntp ntpsec
2. apt install htpdate
3. get on with my life :-)

Same, srry

deepforest · 2026-01-28 00:01:59

Not really. The Clock applet dialog is indeed part of Xfce, but that Time and Date Settings window definitely comes from gnome-system-tools - which Xfce (for some odd reason) still relies on for system time configuration. Without it being present (as is probably the case with the default Xfce installation), the Xfce Clock applet settings will not even show the 'Time and Date Settings' button

Understood, thanks.
So, MATE looks more solid than XFCE for this point?

deepforest · 2026-01-28 05:08:35

gnome-system-tools is broken, no maintainer any more.

and why if this tool unmaintained and have bugs, why Debian and Devuan still use it as time tool?
https://forum.xfce.org/viewtopic.php?pid=81938#p81938

steve_v · 2026-01-28 06:25:51

if this tool unmaintained and have bugs, why Debian and Devuan still use it as time tool

Because nobody has volunteered to fix it yet?

If it's the default GUI time configuration "tool" (which, AFAICT it is not), then it should work with the default ntp daemon.
If it's just a GUI tool among several options... The same applies as with any other software in the distro - there's a lot of stuff available, and it's up to the user to decide which they want to use and check compatibility of their selections.

NTP isn't broken, your chosen optional GUI frontend is. Fix it, report it to the relevant bugtracker(s), or use something else.
You could of course just configure your NTP daemon using it's own mechanisims (and have been up and running days ago), rather than insisting on this ancient unmaintained GNOME castoff GUI silliness.
NTP will keep your clock in sync, GUI or not. How often do you really need to change timezone anyway, and why do you need a control panel for a one-line config change?

Last edited by steve_v (2026-01-28 06:31:00)

Calamity · 2026-01-28 10:19:57

So, MATE looks more solid than XFCE for this point?

I think so. Last time I tried MATE, it looked more comprehensive and feature-complete compared to Xfce, which is more akin to WMs in terms of requiring external modularity, although in terms of resource usage it's a DE alright.

I would personally much rather stick with MATE, but for some reason as soon as I tried to adjust monitor brightness settings in there, my screen went black. Not quite sure what happened, maybe some kind of hardware quirk. But still, if you're looking for completeness, MATE is the way to go. It does provide its own Time & Date tool as I remember.

rolfie · 2026-01-28 13:34:08

I am simply using npt. No graphical tool above, since at least the gnome-system-tools are broken since about 2022 or even longer.

With Daedalus ntpsec was introduced as replacement for the simple ntp, with Excalibur I have installed

ntpsec
ntpsec-ntpdate
ntpsec-ntpdig

The time server(s) to be used are configured in /etc/ntpsec/ntp.conf

That setup is working flawlessly.

Last edited by rolfie (2026-01-28 13:34:33)

Altoid · 2026-01-28 16:00:47

Hello:

Rolfie wrote:

... simply using npt.
No graphical tool ...

Around 12/22 I set up a cron job at /etc/cron.daily/dev-ntpdate to set time for my box.
Not my doing, picked it up somewhere along the line but cannot remember where.
Added my comments to make sure I had an idea as to what was going on.

It logs to /var/log/syslog

------
#!/bin/sh
# added to set time via ntpdate daily
# invoke ntpdate to set time from system clock
# -4    Force IPv4 DNS name resolution
# -6    Force IPv6 DNS name resolution
# -s    Log to syslog
# -t    N.N Specify timeout

if [ -x /usr/sbin/ntpdate ]; then
        /usr/sbin/ntpdate -4 -s -t 5 pool.ntp.org
fi
------

Here is today's log entry:

--- snip ---
Jan 28 06:23:24 devuan ntpdate: CLOCK: time stepped by -2.595612
Jan 28 06:23:24 devuan ntpdate: 2026-01-28 06:23:24.808991 (-0300) -2.595612 +/- 0.002286 pool.ntp.org 170.155.148.1 s2 no-leap

Only issue I had was around mid last year due to some command (-u?) having been deprecated.
Aside from that, it has worked properly.

Best,

A.

Last edited by Altoid (2026-01-28 17:14:59)

Devarch · 2026-01-28 18:17:48

I run it manually

ntpdate -s pool.ntp.org

when my system clock is more than ~ 20 secconds away. I remember also adding it to rc.local to let time to be synchronized once at boot time.

deepforest · 2026-01-28 20:36:12

so current no variants for automatic synchronization xfce clock to ntp?

Calamity · 2026-01-28 20:49:38

The clock will be synchronized automatically as soon as you install an NTP client, and Xfce Clock applet will display the correct time.
There's simply no GUI to enable NTP under Xfce, but it's not really even necessary, as people here pointed out.

deepforest · 2026-01-29 09:34:01

The clock will be synchronized automatically as soon as you install an NTP client, and Xfce Clock applet will display the correct time.
There's simply no GUI to enable NTP under Xfce, but it's not really even necessary, as people here pointed out.

Thanks, that what i want to hear

Because nobody has volunteered to fix it yet?
If it's the default GUI time configuration "tool" (which, AFAICT it is not), then it should work with the default ntp daemon.
If it's just a GUI tool among several options... The same applies as with any other software in the distro - there's a lot of stuff available, and it's up to the user to decide which they want to use and check compatibility of their selections.
NTP isn't broken, your chosen optional GUI frontend is. Fix it, report it to the relevant bugtracker(s), or use something else.
You could of course just configure your NTP daemon using it's own mechanisims (and have been up and running days ago), rather than insisting on this ancient unmaintained GNOME castoff GUI silliness.
NTP will keep your clock in sync, GUI or not. How often do you really need to change timezone anyway, and why do you need a control panel for a one-line config change?

Why at all use unmaintained third-party tool if ntp working good whithout it?
Check at Artix(openrc), xfce clock has no gnome-tool for admin time and chrony working good for synchronisation time there.

kapqa · 2026-01-29 11:11:19

thanks ,

there is still confusion about date and time -

"ntpdate" and "ntp" seem no longe available also for kde on devuan 6; it useed to function well?

would like to tick "set date and time automatically" but it is not available for my location.

EDIT: i could install "ntpsec-ntpdate" and it would allow to do "sudo ntpdate" however it says there is no

ntpdig: no eligible servers

https://ibb.co/j9nfDSGh

EDIt: it seem the new command is "sudo ntpdate-debian" , now the time has adjusted via terminal, thanks!

sudo ntp
ntpctl ntpd ntpdate ntpdate-debian ntpdig

Last edited by kapqa (2026-01-29 11:14:40)

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#1 2026-01-25 00:34:32

how start ntp?

#2 2026-01-25 22:53:53

Re: how start ntp?

#3 2026-01-26 05:28:39

Re: how start ntp?

#4 2026-01-26 08:55:34

Re: how start ntp?

#5 2026-01-26 12:02:32

Re: how start ntp?

#6 2026-01-26 15:18:36

Re: how start ntp?

#7 2026-01-26 15:25:27

Re: how start ntp?

#8 2026-01-26 16:14:25

Re: how start ntp?

#9 2026-01-26 16:17:08

Re: how start ntp?

#10 2026-01-26 23:06:20

Re: how start ntp?

#11 2026-01-27 12:02:15

Re: how start ntp?

#12 2026-01-27 12:27:34

Re: how start ntp?

#13 2026-01-27 13:29:43

Re: how start ntp?

#14 2026-01-27 23:58:18

Re: how start ntp?

#15 2026-01-28 00:01:59

Re: how start ntp?

#16 2026-01-28 05:08:35

Re: how start ntp?

#17 2026-01-28 06:25:51

Re: how start ntp?

#18 2026-01-28 10:19:57

Re: how start ntp?

#19 2026-01-28 13:34:08

Re: how start ntp?

#20 2026-01-28 16:00:47

Re: how start ntp?

#21 2026-01-28 18:17:48

Re: how start ntp?

#22 2026-01-28 20:36:12

Re: how start ntp?

#23 2026-01-28 20:49:38

Re: how start ntp?

#24 2026-01-29 09:34:01

Re: how start ntp?

#25 2026-01-29 11:11:19

Re: how start ntp?

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