Hi, sorry to gravedig but I also observed this issue on a fresh copy of Ubuntu Mate 16.04 LTS with the latest updates (on RPi3). The package ntp (1:4.2.8p4+dfsg-3ubuntu5.9)
was already installed, so I just enabled and started it using systemd. It failed to start and produced no meaningful error messages:
lar@rv-server:~/rv-utility-server$ sudo systemctl enable ntp
ntp.service is not a native service, redirecting to systemd-sysv-install
Executing /lib/systemd/systemd-sysv-install enable ntp
insserv: warning: current start runlevel(s) (empty) of script `ntp' overrides LSB defaults (2 3 4 5).
insserv: warning: current stop runlevel(s) (1 2 3 4 5) of script `ntp' overrides LSB defaults (1).
lar@rv-server:~/rv-utility-server$ sudo systemctl start ntp
Job for ntp.service failed because the control process exited with error code. See "systemctl status ntp.service" and "journalctl -x
e" for details.
lar@rv-server:~/rv-utility-server$ sudo systemctl status ntp
● ntp.service - LSB: Start NTP daemon
Loaded: loaded (/etc/init.d/ntp; bad; vendor preset: enabled)
Active: failed (Result: exit-code) since Fri 2018-11-09 12:15:21 PST; 5s ago
Docs: man:systemd-sysv-generator(8)
Process: 23486 ExecStart=/etc/init.d/ntp start (code=exited, status=5)
Nov 09 12:15:21 rv-server systemd[1]: Starting LSB: Start NTP daemon...
Nov 09 12:15:21 rv-server systemd[1]: ntp.service: Control process exited, code=exited status=5
Nov 09 12:15:21 rv-server systemd[1]: Failed to start LSB: Start NTP daemon.
Nov 09 12:15:21 rv-server systemd[1]: ntp.service: Unit entered failed state.
Nov 09 12:15:21 rv-server systemd[1]: ntp.service: Failed with result 'exit-code'.
lar@rv-server:~/rv-utility-server$ sudo timedatectl
Failed to query server: No such device
lar@rv-server:~$ sudo service ntp start
Job for ntp.service failed because the control process exited with error code. See "systemctl status ntp.service" and "journalctl -xe" for details.
I found a relatively recent blog post that seems to describe this problem, but the provided solution (changing the pool
directives to server
directives) did not work for me.
There is also a seemingly relevant issue filed with the package maintainers, but, again, the provided solution (uinstall ntpdate
) is not relevant: ntpdate
was/is not installed.
lar@rv-server:~$ apt-cache policy ntpdate
ntpdate:
Installed: (none)
Candidate: 1:4.2.8p4+dfsg-3ubuntu5.9
Version table:
1:4.2.8p4+dfsg-3ubuntu5.9 500
500 http://ports.ubuntu.com xenial-updates/main armhf Packages
500 http://ports.ubuntu.com xenial-security/main armhf Packages
1:4.2.8p4+dfsg-3ubuntu5 500
500 http://ports.ubuntu.com xenial/main armhf Packages
lar@rv-server:~$ ls /etc/network -R
/etc/network:
if-down.d if-post-down.d if-pre-up.d if-up.d interfaces interfaces.d
/etc/network/if-down.d:
avahi-autoipd postfix resolvconf upstart wpasupplicant
/etc/network/if-post-down.d:
avahi-daemon wireless-tools wpasupplicant
/etc/network/if-pre-up.d:
ethtool wireless-tools wpasupplicant
/etc/network/if-up.d:
000resolvconf avahi-autoipd avahi-daemon ethtool openssh-server postfix upstart wpasupplicant
/etc/network/interfaces.d:
I tried purging and re-installing ntp and it worked immediately:
lar@rv-server:~/rv-utility-server$ sudo apt purge ntp
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
The following packages will be REMOVED:
ntp*
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 1 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
After this operation, 1,288 kB disk space will be freed.
Do you want to continue? [Y/n] y
(Reading database ... 165633 files and directories currently installed.)
Removing ntp (1:4.2.8p4+dfsg-3ubuntu5.9) ...
Purging configuration files for ntp (1:4.2.8p4+dfsg-3ubuntu5.9) ...
Processing triggers for man-db (2.7.5-1) ...
lar@rv-server:~/rv-utility-server$ which ntp
lar@rv-server:~/rv-utility-server$ sudo apt install ntp
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
Suggested packages:
ntp-doc
The following NEW packages will be installed:
ntp
0 upgraded, 1 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
Need to get 0 B/465 kB of archives.
After this operation, 1,288 kB of additional disk space will be used.
Selecting previously unselected package ntp.
(Reading database ... 165578 files and directories currently installed.)
Preparing to unpack .../ntp_1%3a4.2.8p4+dfsg-3ubuntu5.9_armhf.deb ...
Unpacking ntp (1:4.2.8p4+dfsg-3ubuntu5.9) ...
Processing triggers for systemd (229-4ubuntu21.6) ...
Processing triggers for man-db (2.7.5-1) ...
Setting up ntp (1:4.2.8p4+dfsg-3ubuntu5.9) ...
Processing triggers for systemd (229-4ubuntu21.6) ...
lar@rv-server:~/rv-utility-server$ sudo systemctl status ntp
● ntp.service - LSB: Start NTP daemon
Loaded: loaded (/etc/init.d/ntp; bad; vendor preset: enabled)
Active: active (running) since Fri 2018-11-09 13:04:32 PST; 21s ago
Docs: man:systemd-sysv-generator(8)
CGroup: /system.slice/ntp.service
└─516 /usr/sbin/ntpd -p /var/run/ntpd.pid -g -u 109:118
Nov 09 13:04:36 rv-server ntpd[516]: Soliciting pool server 131.188.3.221
Nov 09 13:04:37 rv-server ntpd[516]: Soliciting pool server 198.60.22.240
Nov 09 13:04:37 rv-server ntpd[516]: Soliciting pool server 45.33.84.208
Nov 09 13:04:37 rv-server ntpd[516]: Soliciting pool server 209.177.145.40
Nov 09 13:04:37 rv-server ntpd[516]: Soliciting pool server 91.189.89.199
Nov 09 13:04:38 rv-server ntpd[516]: Soliciting pool server 91.189.94.4
Nov 09 13:04:38 rv-server ntpd[516]: Soliciting pool server 193.141.27.1
Nov 09 13:04:38 rv-server ntpd[516]: Soliciting pool server 2001:19f0:5:5626:5400:1ff:feb3:9e6e
Nov 09 13:04:39 rv-server ntpd[516]: Soliciting pool server 91.189.91.157
Nov 09 13:04:39 rv-server ntpd[516]: Soliciting pool server 67.219.95.113
lar@rv-server:~/rv-utility-server$ ntpq -p
remote refid st t when poll reach delay offset jitter
==============================================================================
0.ubuntu.pool.n .POOL. 16 p - 64 0 0.000 0.000 0.001
1.ubuntu.pool.n .POOL. 16 p - 64 0 0.000 0.000 0.001
2.ubuntu.pool.n .POOL. 16 p - 64 0 0.000 0.000 0.001
3.ubuntu.pool.n .POOL. 16 p - 64 0 0.000 0.000 0.001
ntp.ubuntu.com .POOL. 16 p - 64 0 0.000 0.000 0.001
#ec2-34-225-6-20 209.51.161.238 2 u 58 64 3 73.421 -12.170 2.411
+44.190.6.254 127.67.113.92 2 u 60 64 3 37.864 -4.289 4.042
-ns1.backplanedn 173.162.192.156 2 u 60 64 3 96.147 -0.202 3.156
+clock.team-cymr 204.9.54.119 2 u 55 64 3 71.323 -3.550 9.824
-minime.fdf.net 25.151.162.158 3 u 57 64 3 82.699 2.072 2.157
-199.102.46.80 ( .GPS. 1 u 58 64 3 67.468 -5.252 22.754
-ntp4.doctor.com 50.205.244.27 2 u 55 64 3 80.902 -6.538 1.851
-ntp1.rrze.uni-e .DCFp. 1 u 58 64 3 162.755 -9.824 2.180
*clock.xmission. .XMIS. 1 u 54 64 3 36.088 -3.004 1.852
+christensenplac 200.98.196.212 2 u 60 64 3 89.291 -2.067 1.858
-lga1.m-d.net 204.9.54.119 2 u 57 64 3 87.873 -1.894 2.375
golem.canonical 193.79.237.14 2 u 60 64 3 153.516 -3.108 3.130
pugot.canonical 17.253.34.125 2 u 56 64 3 153.901 -3.206 3.281
#ts1.sct.de 192.53.103.108 2 u 55 64 3 175.184 -9.056 1.266
alphyn.canonica 192.36.143.150 2 u 57 64 3 86.479 -3.094 3.095
#67.219.95.113 ( 129.6.15.28 2 u 54 64 3 89.767 1.901 21.035
lar@rv-server:~/rv-utility-server$
But after a reboot, the service is in error status:
lar@rv-server:~$ sudo systemctl status ntp
● ntp.service - LSB: Start NTP daemon
Loaded: loaded (/etc/init.d/ntp; bad; vendor preset: enabled)
Active: failed (Result: exit-code) since Fri 2018-11-09 13:07:42 PST; 4min 17s ago
Docs: man:systemd-sysv-generator(8)
Process: 1202 ExecStart=/etc/init.d/ntp start (code=exited, status=5)
Nov 09 13:07:42 rv-server systemd[1]: Starting LSB: Start NTP daemon...
Nov 09 13:07:42 rv-server systemd[1]: ntp.service: Control process exited, code=exited status=5
Nov 09 13:07:42 rv-server systemd[1]: Failed to start LSB: Start NTP daemon.
Nov 09 13:07:42 rv-server systemd[1]: ntp.service: Unit entered failed state.
Nov 09 13:07:42 rv-server systemd[1]: ntp.service: Failed with result 'exit-code'.
Turns out, of course, I was doing it wrong → new in Ubuntu 16.04, time is handled by the systemd service systemd-timesyncd (named prefer-timesyncd in MATE). This service is a client-only implementation [ref] that can be paired with chrony for ntp service [more reading].
Instead of enabling the ntp service and querying like ntpq -p
, I installed chrony and query with chronyc sourcestats
:
sudo systemctl disable ntp
sudo apt install chrony -y
chronyc sourcestats
210 Number of sources = 4
Name/IP Address NP NR Span Frequency Freq Skew Offset Std Dev
==============================================================================
festalo.com 7 5 201 +8.066 52.060 -410us 1658us
clock.team-cymru.org 7 5 201 +0.096 2.122 +473us 59us
x.ns.gin.ntt.net 7 3 201 -0.966 5.294 +22us 140us
hadb1.smatwebdesign.com 6 5 136 -0.061 1.916 +7501ns 28us