[ntp:questions] Re: Stratum?

Richard B. Gilbert rgilbert88 at comcast.net
Fri Nov 19 17:29:45 UTC 2004


Jan wrote:

> Richard B. Gilbert wrote:
>
>> Jan wrote:
>>
>>  > I'm sorry to post this question, which I'm sure must be a FAQ - I
>>  > haven't been able to find any answer in what docs I have read, 
>> though.
>>  > This is the situation:
>>  >
>>  > I have an AIX server that I use as the NTP server on our LAN, and a
>>  > number of clients running a number of UNIXes. All of this seems to
>>  > works fine, except for the two that run RedHat Linux - they insist
>>  > that our NTP server is not acceptable because it is 'stratum 16'.
>>  >
>>  > So how can I set the stratum on the server? I'm sure there must be a
>>  > parameter...
>>  >
>> One other possibility is that your AIX server really is stratum 16
>> because it is not synchronized.  Not likely however; if this were so,
>> you  should have problems with all the other clients as well.
>>
> First of all - thanks to all who have helped so far. I have had some 
> problems with my mail client, but it seems to be sorted out now.
>
> I haven't had the chance to try out all the suggestions, but since you 
> mentioned it, I have checked what the public servers I use tell: they 
> all seem to be stratum 16! Is this something in my settings? All the 
> server names come from the public list of stratum 2 servers.
>
> /jan

Issue the command "ntpq -p".  Does the "Reach" field for any server show 
other than zero?   If all show zero then you are not able to send 
queries to the servers or receive replies from the servers or both!  If 
this is the case than, as Steve suggested, your firewall is the most 
probable cause.

If everything is working properly, the reach field should show a an 
octal number in the range 1-377.  The field is a shift register; each 
response from a server causes a one bit to be shifted into the rightmost 
bit position.  Each failure  shifts a zero bit in so 377 means that you 
have had eight consecutive responses from the server and zero means that 
you have either just initialized the association or that you have had no 
success with the most recent eight requests.



More information about the questions mailing list