Updated: 2022/Sep/29
Please read Privacy Policy. It's for your privacy.
NTPQ(8) System Manager's Manual (user) NTPQ(8)
NAME
ntpq - standard NTP query program
SYNOPSIS
ntpq [-flags] [-flag [value]] [--option-name[[=| ]value]] [ host ...]
DESCRIPTION
The ntpq utility program is used to query NTP servers to monitor NTP
operations and performance, requesting information about current state
and/or changes in that state. The program may be run either in
interactive mode or controlled using command line arguments. Requests to
read and write arbitrary variables can be assembled, with raw and
pretty-printed output options being available. The ntpq utility 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 localhost by
default. If no request options are given, ntpq will attempt 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. The ntpq utility will prompt
for commands if the standard 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 communication
will be somewhat unreliable, especially over large distances in terms of
network topology. The ntpq utility makes one attempt to retransmit
requests, and will time requests out if the remote host is not heard from
within a suitable timeout time.
Note that in contexts where a host name is expected, a -4 qualifier
preceding the host name forces resolution to the IPv4 namespace, while a
-6 qualifier forces resolution to the IPv6 namespace. For examples and
usage, see the "NTP Debugging Techniques" page.
Specifying a command line option other than -i or -n will cause the
specified query (queries) to be sent to the indicated host(s)
immediately. Otherwise, ntpq will attempt to read interactive format
commands from the standard input.
Internal Commands
Interactive format commands consist of a keyword followed by zero to four
arguments. Only enough characters of the full keyword to uniquely
identify the command need be typed.
A number of interactive format commands are executed entirely within the
ntpq utility itself and do not result in NTP requests being sent to a
server. These are described following.
? [command]
help [command] A `?' by itself will print a list of all the
commands known to ntpq. A `?' followed by a
command name will print function and usage
information about the command.
addvars name[=value][,...]
rmvars name[,...]
clearvars
showvars The arguments to this command consist of a list of
items of the form name[=value], where the =value is
ignored, and can be omitted, in requests to the
server to read variables. The ntpq utility
maintains an internal list in which data to be
included in messages can be assembled, and
displayed or set using the readlist and writelist
commands described below. The addvars 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. The rmvars command can be
used to remove individual variables from the list,
while the clearvars command removes all variables
from the list. The showvars command displays the
current list of optional variables.
authenticate [yes|no]
Normally ntpq does not authenticate requests unless
they are write requests. The command authenticate
yes causes ntpq to send authentication with all
requests it makes. Authenticated requests causes
some servers to handle requests slightly
differently. The command authenticate causes ntpq
to display whether or not it is currently
authenticating requests.
cooked Causes output from query commands to be "cooked",
so that variables which are recognized by ntpq will
have their values reformatted for human
consumption. Variables which ntpq could not decode
completely are marked with a trailing `?'.
debug [more|less|off]
With no argument, displays the current debug level.
Otherwise, the debugging level is changed as
indicated.
delay [milliseconds]
Specify a time interval to be added to timestamps
included in requests which require authentication.
This is used to enable (unreliable) server
reconfiguration over long delay network paths or
between machines whose clocks are unsynchronized.
Actually the server does not now require timestamps
in authenticated requests, so this command may be
obsolete. Without any arguments, displays the
current delay.
drefid [hash|ipv4]
Display refids as IPv4 or hash. Without any
arguments, displays whether refids are shown as
IPv4 addresses or hashes.
exit Exit ntpq.
host [name] Set the host to which future queries will be sent.
The name may be either a host name or a numeric
address. Without any arguments, displays the
current host.
hostnames [yes|no]
If yes is specified, host names are printed in
information displays. If no is specified, numeric
addresses are printed instead. The default is yes,
unless modified using the command line -n switch.
Without any arguments, displays whether host names
or numeric addresses are shown.
keyid [keyid] This command allows the specification of a key
number to be used to authenticate configuration
requests. This must correspond to the controlkey
key number the server has been configured to use
for this purpose. Without any arguments, displays
the current keyid.
keytype [digest]
Specify the digest algorithm to use for
authenticating requests, with default MD5. If ntpq
was built with OpenSSL support, and OpenSSL is
installed, digest can be any message digest
algorithm supported by OpenSSL. If no argument is
given, the current keytype digest algorithm used is
displayed.
ntpversion [1|2|3|4]
Sets the NTP version number which ntpq claims in
packets. Defaults to 3, and note that mode 6
control messages (and modes, for that matter)
didn't exist in NTP version 1. There appear to be
no servers left which demand version 1. With no
argument, displays the current NTP version that
will be used when communicating with servers.
passwd This command prompts you to type in a password
(which will not be echoed) which will be used to
authenticate configuration requests. The password
must correspond to the key configured for use by
the NTP server for this purpose if such requests
are to be successful.
poll [n] [verbose]
Poll an NTP server in client mode n times. Poll
not implemented yet.
quit Exit ntpq.
raw Causes all output from query commands is printed as
received from the remote server. The only
formating/interpretation done on the data is to
transform nonascii data into a printable (but
barely understandable) form.
timeout [milliseconds]
Specify a timeout period for responses to server
queries. The default is about 5000 milliseconds.
Without any arguments, displays the current timeout
period. Note that since ntpq retries each query
once after a timeout, the total waiting time for a
timeout will be twice the timeout value set.
version Display the version of the ntpq program.
Control Message Commands
Association ids are used to identify system, peer and clock variables.
System variables are assigned an association id of zero and system name
space, while each association is assigned a nonzero association id and
peer namespace. Most control commands send a single message to the
server and expect a single response message. The exceptions are the
peers command, which sends a series of messages, and the mreadlist and
mreadvar commands, which iterate over a range of associations.
apeers Display a list of peers in the form:
[tally]remote refid assid st t when pool reach
delay offset jitter
where the output is just like the peers command except
that the refid is displayed in hex format and the
association number is also displayed.
associations
Display a list of mobilized associations in the form:
ind assid status conf reach auth condition
last_event cnt
Variable Description
ind index on this list
assid association id
status peer status word
conf yes: persistent, no: ephemeral
reach yes: reachable, no: unreachable
auth ok, yes, bad and none
condition selection status (see the select field of the
peer status word)
last_event event report (see the event field of the peer
status word)
cnt event count (see the count field of the peer
status word)
authinfo Display the authentication statistics counters: time
since reset, stored keys, free keys, key lookups, keys
not found, uncached keys, expired keys, encryptions,
decryptions.
clocklist [associd]
cl [associd]
Display all clock variables in the variable list for
those associations supporting a reference clock.
clockvar [associd] [name[=value]][,...]
cv [associd] [name[=value]][,...]
Display a list of clock variables for those associations
supporting a reference clock.
:config configuration command line
Send the remainder of the command line, including
whitespace, to the server as a run-time configuration
command in the same format as a line in the
configuration file. This command is experimental until
further notice and clarification. Authentication is of
course required.
config-from-file filename
Send each line of filename to the server as run-time
configuration commands in the same format as lines in
the configuration file. This command is experimental
until further notice and clarification. Authentication
is required.
ifstats Display status and statistics counters for each local
network interface address: interface number, interface
name and address or broadcast, drop, flag, ttl, mc,
received, sent, send failed, peers, uptime.
Authentication is required.
iostats Display network and reference clock I/O statistics: time
since reset, receive buffers, free receive buffers, used
receive buffers, low water refills, dropped packets,
ignored packets, received packets, packets sent, packet
send failures, input wakeups, useful input wakeups.
kerninfo Display kernel loop and PPS statistics: associd, status,
pll offset, pll frequency, maximum error, estimated
error, kernel status, pll time constant, precision,
frequency tolerance, pps frequency, pps stability, pps
jitter, calibration interval, calibration cycles, jitter
exceeded, stability exceeded, calibration errors. As
with other ntpq output, times are in milliseconds; very
small values may be shown as exponentials. The
precision value displayed is in milliseconds as well,
unlike the precision system variable.
lassociations
Perform the same function as the associations command,
except display mobilized and unmobilized associations,
including all clients.
lopeers [-4|-6]
Display a list of all peers and clients showing dstadr
(associated with the given IP version).
lpassociations
Display the last obtained list of associations,
including all clients.
lpeers [-4|-6]
Display a list of all peers and clients (associated with
the given IP version).
monstats Display monitor facility status, statistics, and limits:
enabled, addresses, peak addresses, maximum addresses,
reclaim above count, reclaim older than, kilobytes,
maximum kilobytes.
mreadlist associdlo associdhi
mrl associdlo associdhi
Perform the same function as the readlist command for a
range of association ids.
mreadvar associdlo associdhi [name][,...]
This range may be determined from the list displayed by
any command showing associations.
mrv associdlo associdhi [name][,...]
Perform the same function as the readvar command for a
range of association ids. This range may be determined
from the list displayed by any command showing
associations.
mrulist [limited | kod | mincount=count | laddr=localaddr |
sort=[-]sortorder | resany=hexmask | resall=hexmask]
Display traffic counts of the most recently seen source
addresses collected and maintained by the monitor
facility. With the exception of sort=[-]sortorder, the
options filter the list returned by ntpd(8). The
limited and kod options return only entries representing
client addresses from which the last packet received
triggered either discarding or a KoD response. The
mincount=count option filters entries representing less
than count packets. The laddr=localaddr option filters
entries for packets received on any local address other
than localaddr. resany=hexmask and resall=hexmask
filter entries containing none or less than all,
respectively, of the bits in hexmask, which must begin
with 0x. The sortorder defaults to lstint and may be
addr, avgint, count, lstint, or any of those preceded by
`-' to reverse the sort order. The output columns are:
Column Description
lstint Interval in seconds between the receipt
of the most recent packet from this
address and the completion of the
retrieval of the MRU list by ntpq.
avgint Average interval in s between packets
from this address.
rstr Restriction flags associated with this
address. Most are copied unchanged
from the matching restrict command,
however 0x400 (kod) and 0x20 (limited)
flags are cleared unless the last
packet from this address triggered a
rate control response.
r Rate control indicator, either a
period, L or K for no rate control
response, rate limiting by discarding,
or rate limiting with a KoD response,
respectively.
m Packet mode.
v Packet version number.
count Packets received from this address.
rport Source port of last packet from this
address.
remote address
host or DNS name, numeric address, or
address followed by claimed DNS name
which could not be verified in
parentheses.
opeers [-4 | -6]
Obtain and print the old-style list of all peers and
clients showing dstadr (associated with the given IP
version), rather than the refid.
passociations
Perform the same function as the associations command,
except that it uses previously stored data rather than
making a new query.
peers Display a list of peers in the form:
[tally]remote refid st t when pool reach delay
offset jitter
Variable Description
[tally] single-character code indicating
current value of the select field of
the peer status word: decode.html#peer
remote host name (or IP number) of peer. The
value displayed will be truncated to 15
characters unless the ntpq -w option is
given, in which case the full value
will be displayed on the first line,
and if too long, the remaining data
will be displayed on the next line.
refid source IP address or 'kiss code:
decode.html#kiss
st stratum: 0 for local reference clocks,
1 for servers with local reference
clocks, ..., 16 for unsynchronized
server clocks
t u: unicast or manycast client, b:
broadcast or multicast client, p: pool
source, l: local (reference clock), s:
symmetric (peer), A: manycast server,
B: broadcast server, M: multicast
server
when time in seconds, minutes, hours, or
days since the last packet was
received, or `-' if a packet has never
been received
poll poll interval (s)
reach reach shift register (octal)
delay roundtrip delay
offset offset of server relative to this host
jitter offset RMS error estimate.
pstats associd
Display the statistics for the peer with the given
associd: associd, status, remote host, local address,
time last received, time until next send, reachability
change, packets sent, packets received, bad
authentication, bogus origin, duplicate, bad dispersion,
bad reference time, candidate order.
readlist [associd]
rl [associd]
Display all system or peer variables. If the associd is
omitted, it is assumed to be zero.
readvar [associd name[=value] [, ...]]
rv [associd name[=value] [, ...]]
Display the specified system or peer variables. If
associd is zero, the variables are from the System
Variables name space, otherwise they are from the Peer
Variables name space. The associd is required, as the
same name can occur in both spaces. If no name is
included, all operative variables in the name space are
displayed. In this case only, if the associd is
omitted, it is assumed to be zero. Multiple names are
specified with comma separators and without whitespace.
Note that time values are represented in milliseconds
and frequency values in parts-per-million (PPM). Some
NTP timestamps are represented in the format YYYYMM DD
TTTT, where YYYY is the year, MM the month of year, DD
the day of month and TTTT the time of day.
reslist Display the access control (restrict) list for ntpq.
Authentication is required.
saveconfig filename
Save the current configuration, including any runtime
modifications made by :config or config-from-file, to
the NTP server host file filename. This command will be
rejected by the server unless saveconfigdir:
miscopt.html#saveconfigdir appears in the ntpd(8)
configuration file. filename can use date(1) format
specifiers to substitute the current date and time, for
example,
saveconfig ntp-%Y%m%d-%H%M%S.conf.
The filename used is stored in system variable
savedconfig. Authentication is required.
sysinfo Display system operational summary: associd, status,
system peer, system peer mode, leap indicator, stratum,
log2 precision, root delay, root dispersion, reference
id, reference time, system jitter, clock jitter, clock
wander, broadcast delay, symm. auth. delay.
sysstats Display system uptime and packet counts maintained in
the protocol module: uptime, sysstats reset, packets
received, current version, older version, bad length or
format, authentication failed, declined, restricted,
rate limited, KoD responses, processed for time.
timerstats
Display interval timer counters: time since reset, timer
overruns, calls to transmit.
writelist associd
Set all system or peer variables included in the
variable list.
writevar associd name=value [, ...]
Set the specified variables in the variable list. If
the associd is zero, the variables are from the System
Variables name space, otherwise they are from the Peer
Variables name space. The associd is required, as the
same name can occur in both spaces. Authentication is
required.
Status Words and Kiss Codes
The current state of the operating program is shown in a set of status
words maintained by the system. Status information is also available on
a per-association basis. These words are displayed by the readlist and
associations commands both in hexadecimal and in decoded short tip
strings. The codes, tips and short explanations are documented on the
Event Messages and Status Words: decode.html page. The page also
includes a list of system and peer messages, the code for the latest of
which is included in the status word.
Information resulting from protocol machine state transitions is
displayed using an informal set of ASCII strings called kiss codes:
decode.html#kiss. The original purpose was for kiss-o'-death (KoD)
packets sent by the server to advise the client of an unusual condition.
They are now displayed, when appropriate, in the reference identifier
field in various billboards.
System Variables
The following system variables appear in the readlist billboard. Not all
variables are displayed in some configurations.
Variable Description
status system status word: decode.html#sys
version NTP software version and build time
processor hardware platform and version
system operating system and version
leap leap warning indicator (0-3)
stratum stratum (1-15)
precision precision (log2 s)
rootdelay total roundtrip delay to the primary reference clock
rootdisp total dispersion to the primary reference clock
refid reference id or kiss code: decode.html#kiss
reftime reference time
clock date and time of day
peer system peer association id
tc time constant and poll exponent (log2 s) (3-17)
mintc minimum time constant (log2 s) (3-10)
offset combined offset of server relative to this host
frequency frequency drift (PPM) relative to hardware clock
sys_jitter
combined system jitter
clk_wander
clock frequency wander (PPM)
clk_jitter
clock jitter
tai TAI-UTC offset (s)
leapsec NTP seconds when the next leap second is/was inserted
expire NTP seconds when the NIST leapseconds file expires
The jitter and wander statistics are exponentially-weighted RMS averages.
The system jitter is defined in the NTPv4 specification; the clock jitter
statistic is computed by the clock discipline module.
When the NTPv4 daemon is compiled with the OpenSSL software library,
additional system variables are displayed, including some or all of the
following, depending on the particular Autokey dance:
Variable Description
host Autokey host name for this host
ident Autokey group name for this host
flags host flags (see Autokey specification)
digest OpenSSL message digest algorithm
signature OpenSSL digest/signature scheme
update NTP seconds at last signature update
cert certificate subject, issuer and certificate flags
until NTP seconds when the certificate expires
Peer Variables
The following peer variables appear in the readlist billboard for each
association. Not all variables are displayed in some configurations.
Variable Description
associd association id
status peer status word: decode.html#peer
srcadr source (remote) IP address
srcport source (remote) port
dstadr destination (local) IP address
dstport destination (local) port
leap leap indicator (0-3)
stratum stratum (0-15)
precision precision (log2 s)
rootdelay total roundtrip delay to the primary reference clock
rootdisp total root dispersion to the primary reference clock
refid reference id or kiss code: decode.html#kiss
reftime reference time
rec last packet received time
reach reach register (octal)
unreach unreach counter
hmode host mode (1-6)
pmode peer mode (1-5)
hpoll host poll exponent (log2 s) (3-17)
ppoll peer poll exponent (log2 s) (3-17)
headway headway (see Rate Management and the Kiss-o'-Death
Packet: rate.html)
flash flash status word: decode.html#flash
keyid symmetric key id
offset filter offset
delay filter delay
dispersion
filter dispersion
jitter filter jitter
bias unicast/broadcast bias
xleave interleave delay (see NTP Interleaved Modes:
xleave.html)
The bias variable is calculated when the first broadcast packet is
received after the calibration volley. It represents the offset of the
broadcast subgraph relative to the unicast subgraph. The xleave variable
appears only for the interleaved symmetric and interleaved modes. It
represents the internal queuing, buffering and transmission delays for
the preceding packet.
When the NTPv4 daemon is compiled with the OpenSSL software library,
additional peer variables are displayed, including the following:
Variable Description
flags peer flags (see Autokey specification)
host Autokey server name
flags peer flags (see Autokey specification)
signature OpenSSL digest/signature scheme
initsequence
initial key id
initkey initial key index
timestamp Autokey signature timestamp
ident Autokey group name for this association
Clock Variables
The following clock variables appear in the clocklist billboard for each
association with a reference clock. Not all variables are displayed in
some configurations.
Variable Description
associd association id
status clock status word: decode.html#clock
device device description
timecode ASCII time code string (specific to device)
poll poll messages sent
noreply no reply
badformat bad format
baddata bad date or time
fudgetime1
fudge time 1
fudgetime2
fudge time 2
stratum driver stratum
refid driver reference id
flags driver flags
OPTIONS
-4, --ipv4
Force IPv4 name resolution. This option must not appear in
combination with any of the following options: ipv6.
Force resolution of following host names on the command line to
the IPv4 namespace.
-6, --ipv6
Force IPv6 name resolution. This option must not appear in
combination with any of the following options: ipv4.
Force resolution of following host names on the command line to
the IPv6 namespace.
-c cmd, --command=cmd
run a command and exit. This option may appear an unlimited
number of times.
The following argument is interpreted as an interactive format
command and is added to the list of commands to be executed on
the specified host(s).
-d, --debug-level
Increase debug verbosity level. This option may appear an
unlimited number of times.
-D number, --set-debug-level=number
Set the debug verbosity level. This option may appear an
unlimited number of times. This option takes an integer number
as its argument.
-i, --interactive
Force ntpq to operate in interactive mode. This option must not
appear in combination with any of the following options: command,
peers.
Force ntpq to operate in interactive mode. Prompts will be
written to the standard output and commands read from the
standard input.
-n, --numeric
numeric host addresses.
Output all host addresses in dotted-quad numeric format rather
than converting to the canonical host names.
--old-rv
Always output status line with readvar.
By default, ntpq now suppresses the associd=... line that
precedes the output of readvar (alias rv) when a single variable
is requested, such as ntpq -c "rv 0 offset". This option causes
ntpq to include both lines of output for a single-variable
readvar. Using an environment variable to preset this option in
a script will enable both older and newer ntpq to behave
identically in this regard.
-p, --peers
Print a list of the peers. This option must not appear in
combination with any of the following options: interactive.
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.
-r keyword, --refid=keyword
Set default display type for S2+ refids. This option takes a
keyword as its argument. The argument sets an enumeration value
that can be tested by comparing them against the option value
macro. The available keywords are:
hash ipv4
or their numeric equivalent.
The default keyword for this option is:
ipv4
Set the default display format for S2+ refids.
-w, --wide
Display the full 'remote' value.
Display the full value of the 'remote' value. If this requires
more than 15 characters, display the full value, emit a newline,
and continue the data display properly indented on the next line.
-?, --help
Display usage information and exit.
-!, --more-help
Pass the extended usage information through a pager.
-> [cfgfile], --save-opts [=cfgfile]
Save the option state to cfgfile. The default is the last
configuration file listed in the OPTION PRESETS section, below.
The command will exit after updating the config file.
-< cfgfile, --load-opts=cfgfile, --no-load-opts
Load options from cfgfile. The no-load-opts form will disable
the loading of earlier config/rc/ini files. --no-load-opts is
handled early, out of order.
--version [{v|c|n}]
Output version of program and exit. The default mode is `v', a
simple version. The `c' mode will print copyright information
and `n' will print the full copyright notice.
OPTION PRESETS
Any option that is not marked as not presettable may be preset by loading
values from configuration ("RC" or ".INI") file(s) and values from
environment variables named:
NTPQ_<option-name> or NTPQ
The environmental presets take precedence (are processed later than) the
configuration files. The homerc files are "$HOME", and ".". If any of
these are directories, then the file .ntprc is searched for within those
directories.
ENVIRONMENT
See OPTION PRESETS for configuration environment variables.
FILES
See OPTION PRESETS for configuration files.
EXIT STATUS
One of the following exit values will be returned:
0 (EXIT_SUCCESS)
Successful program execution.
1 (EXIT_FAILURE)
The operation failed or the command syntax was not valid.
66 (EX_NOINPUT)
A specified configuration file could not be loaded.
70 (EX_SOFTWARE)
libopts had an internal operational error. Please report it to
autogen-users@lists.sourceforge.net. Thank you.
AUTHORS
The University of Delaware and Network Time Foundation
COPYRIGHT
Copyright (C) 1992-2020 The University of Delaware and Network Time
Foundation all rights reserved. This program is released under the terms
of the NTP license, <http://ntp.org/license>.
BUGS
Please send bug reports to: http://bugs.ntp.org, bugs@ntp.org
NOTES
This manual page was AutoGen-erated from the ntpq option definitions.
NetBSD 10.99 June 23 2020 NetBSD 10.99