[ntp:questions] Finding out where ntpd gets its ntp.conf file

Joseph Gwinn joegwinn at comcast.net
Thu Sep 4 12:04:04 UTC 2008


In article <30s4p5-as9.ln1 at gateway.py.meinberg.de>,
 Martin Burnicki <martin.burnicki at meinberg.de> wrote:

> Joe,
> 
> Joseph Gwinn wrote:
> > In article <48bf5d9c$0$21355$c30e37c6 at pit-reader.telstra.net>,
> >  "Peter J. Cherny" <peterc at luddite.com.au> wrote:
> > 
> >> Joseph Gwinn wrote:
> >> >...
> >> > Which brings me to a question:  How does one get NTP to tell you
> >> > exactly where it is getting such things as the ntp.conf file from, all
> >> > without
> >>  >...
> >> [peterc at tantalus ~]$ strings /usr/sbin/ntpd|grep ntp.conf
> >> /etc/ntp.conf
> > 
> > In the RHEL case, this would find exactly the wrong copy of ntp.conf,
> > being the one we were changing to no avail, not the one that NTP was in
> > fact using.
> > 
> > 
> >> [peterc at tantalus ~]$ strace -f -o x /usr/sbin/ntpd -g
> > 
> > I'll have to look into this.  It sounds like it might be general enough.
> > 
> >  
> >> [root at tantalus ~]# grep ntp.conf x
> >> 3351  open("/etc/ntp.conf", O_RDONLY)   = 4
> > 
> > Doesn't this assume that the correct "ntp.conf" file is called ntp.conf?
> > It may be common, the standard convention, but it is not required.
> > 
> > The whole point is to find the correct file without making assumptions,
> > because on a strange computer strange things may have been done.
> 
> I fully agree.
> 
> Ntpd generates a bunch of messages about what it has found in the config
> file, at least in debug mode.
> 
> Maybe you should open an enhancement request on http://bugs.ntp.org to make
> ntpd also print the name of the config file it is using, maybe only in
> debug mode.

I'm surprised that it doesn't already print the full filename of every 
file it uses.

Will debug mode do much if the binary wasn't compiled for debug?  I'm 
trying to use the provided binary, whatever it might be, and recompiling 
is usually far too much trouble to be practical.  Especially as the 
effort is per platform type, and we have multiple types.

I will file an enhancement request.  However, my feeling is that this 
function would be most useful if added to ntpq, and yielded the full 
filename including directories, as there may be multiple "ntp.conf" 
files scattered about.  The key is to get NTP to tell us which file NTP 
is using, without interference from our firmly held but sadly mistaken 
assumptions about what NTP ought to be doing.

Joe Gwinn




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