[ntp:questions] Re: Specifying command line parameters for ntpd running as a w2k service?

Martin Burnicki martin.burnicki at meinberg.de
Mon Jan 24 16:59:46 UTC 2005


You have no need to know wrote:
> In the non-windows world you can put args on the command line in the
> startup script, so the ability to put args in a config file directive
> would be a convenience.
> 
> From this thread you can not pass args to a service, so you have to either
> have a registry key, or as I suggested, a config file directive.
> 
> Going the config file way makes for consistency. The fewer registry keys,
> the harder Windows is to stuff up. There have even been rumours M$ has
> seen the light and may go back to individual applications having their own
> config files.

There's already a config file for the NTP daemon, normally /etc/ntp.con. I'm
sure you know.

Unfortunately it's not the case that every command line parameter has a
corresponding keyword which can be put into the ntp.conf file, and
vice-versa. 

For example, you can specify the drift file either in ntp.conf or on the
command line. On the other hand, AFAIK there is no keyword for ntp.conf
which corresponds to the command line option '-g'. 

Definition of some corresponding keywords would be a different approach to
workaround the limitation that no parameters can be passed to a Windows
service if the service ist started automatically by the service manager.

I think the '-g' option is what people currently find mostly missing under
Windows. Either a "command line" from the registry or a new corresponding
keyword could be a solution. 

The command line string from the registry is a special Windows hack, but
additional keywords could be used for any supported OS.


Martin
-- 
Martin Burnicki

Meinberg Funkuhren
Bad Pyrmont
Germany



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