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ntpMerlin NTP Server in Admin>System with chronyd?

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JT Strickland

Very Senior Member
In the Asus-wrt Merlin GUI, Should the time server be set to something besides pool.ntp.org under Administration > System > Basic Config if using chronyd, or does it matter? And should the secondary be something besides time.nist.gov?

I was hesitant to start a new thread just for this, but didn't find the ntpMerlin thread on the first 5 pages. I could have missed it.
tia,
jts
 
I've used ntpMerlin on the router... but only chronyd on my Linux machines. Are you asking what timeserver(s) to use with chronyd if you're running ntpMerlin?
 
I'm using chronyd with ntpMerlin which is fairly new to me. I just wondered if I needed to specify anything different for the default time server in the Basic Config or if it matters.
 
I'm using chronyd with ntpMerlin which is fairly new to me. I just wondered if I needed to specify anything different for the default time server in the Basic Config or if it matters.
I tried ntpmerlin (tried both chrony and ntp) but for some odd reason throughout the day it would randomly drop my internet connection for a few minutes. At the time i wasnt using spdmerlin script so i could not determine the drops so I uninstalled it. I wonder if i had to make any minor changes to the basic config now. For now im using the built-in NTP without issues.
 
I tried ntpmerlin (tried both chrony and ntp) but for some odd reason throughout the day it would randomly drop my internet connection for a few minutes. At the time i wasnt using spdmerlin script so i could not determine the drops so I uninstalled it. I wonder if i had to make any minor changes to the basic config now. For now im using the built-in NTP without issues.
I've been doing pretty good with chrony except for an occasional hiccup. My offset, jitter, and drift with chronyd is probably 1/5 of what it was with ntpd.

If I remember correctly, I changed the "Use Local NTP server" to NO, and it seems like there was something else, I will look back and see if I can find out, or maybe someone will pitch in here.

I was looking at my settings and wondered it the default ntp should be different or if it even matters. I hope someone will pitch in here also.
 
In my chrony.conf (CentOS8 box) I have:

server time.nist.gov minpoll 3
pool 2.centos.pool.ntp.org iburst


YMMV
 
I am running ntpmerlin, using chrony and spdmerlin without any issues. As noted above, your choice of time servers should be guided by where your are. For my location, I have
server ntp0.uos.ac.uk
server ntp.time.nl
server ntp0.nl.uu.net
in chrony.conf

Offset is usually (with occasional spikes) under 800ms, Jitter sub 600ms and drift sub 0.8 ppm (average 0.2 ppm).
 
What's with the server lines?
Did I miss something?
following the lead of others, I have in config file:

pool 0.us.pool.ntp.org iburst
pool time.cloudfare.com iburst
pool 1.us.pool.ntp.org iburst
pool time1.facebook.com iburst
pool 0.amazon.pool.ntp.org iburst
 
server is just that - one device vs. a pool of devices working together. Choose what works best for you. :)
 
What's with the server lines?
Did I miss something?
following the lead of others, I have in config file:

pool 0.us.pool.ntp.org iburst
pool time.cloudfare.com iburst
pool 1.us.pool.ntp.org iburst
pool time1.facebook.com iburst
pool 0.amazon.pool.ntp.org iburst

That's quite a few! Looks fine, chrony will have lots of servers (from the pool) to choose from.
I'm curious, can you post the output of "chronyc sources"?

As a side, I know that time.facebook and amazon.pool use chrony ;-)
 
These are what Chrony ‘self selected’ here:

^* time.cloudflare.com 3 6 17 11 -113us[ -176us] +/- 4125us
^- v118-27-37-52.0jtl.stati> 2 6 17 10 -182us[ -182us] +/- 62ms
^- time.cloudflare.com 3 6 17 11 -249us[ -249us] +/- 3802us
^- ntp2.ds.network 4 6 17 11 -201us[ -263us] +/- 18ms
 
That's quite a few! Looks fine, chrony will have lots of servers (from the pool) to choose from.
I'm curious, can you post the output of "chronyc sources"?

As a side, I know that time.facebook and amazon.pool use chrony ;-)

I believe I was following your lead on facebook and amazon pools.
Should I take some out? I don't know which individual servers to choose.

MS Name/IP address Stratum Poll Reach LastRx Last sample
===============================================================================
^- time.walb.tech 3 10 377 1008 -5057us[-4965us] +/- 97ms
^- propjet.latt.net 3 10 377 1012 +535us[ +626us] +/- 76ms
^- time.richiemcintosh.com 2 10 377 739 -149us[ -57us] +/- 56ms
^- 44.190.6.254 3 10 377 24m +2860us[+2999us] +/- 95ms
^? 104.16.55.76 0 10 0 - +0ns[ +0ns] +/- 0ns
^? 104.16.54.76 0 10 0 - +0ns[ +0ns] +/- 0ns
^? 2606:4700::6810:374c 0 6 0 - +0ns[ +0ns] +/- 0ns
^? 2606:4700::6810:364c 0 6 0 - +0ns[ +0ns] +/- 0ns
^+ darwin.kenyonralph.com 3 10 377 295 -332us[ -239us] +/- 34ms
^- clock.team-cymru.org 2 10 377 514 -218us[ -125us] +/- 63ms
^- static-72-87-88-203.prvd> 2 10 376 46m +347us[ +570us] +/- 84ms
^- 199.247.50.12 2 10 377 484 -297us[ -205us] +/- 59ms
^* time1.facebook.com 1 10 377 53 -758us[ -665us] +/- 13ms
^? time1.facebook.com 0 6 0 - +0ns[ +0ns] +/- 0ns
^- ntp2.radio-sunshine.org 2 10 377 862 +3334us[+3425us] +/- 57ms
^- time.nullroutenetworks.c> 2 10 377 651 -4752us[-4661us] +/- 59ms
^+ 50-205-57-38-static.hfc.> 1 10 377 55 -849us[ -755us] +/- 25ms
^- 104.194.8.227 2 10 377 49 -2131us[-2131us] +/- 58ms

After toggling btw ntp and chrony as per Jack's instructions, this is what I've got:


MS Name/IP address Stratum Poll Reach LastRx Last sample
===============================================================================
^- caspak.cerias.purdue.edu 1 6 76 180 +103ms[ +103ms] +/- 124ms
^- test.diarizer.com 2 6 177 51 +584us[ +584us] +/- 65ms
^- srcf-ntp.stanford.edu 2 6 177 51 -2787us[-2787us] +/- 60ms
^- eterna.binary.net 2 6 177 53 -2844us[-2844us] +/- 53ms
^? 104.16.54.76 0 8 0 - +0ns[ +0ns] +/- 0ns
^? 104.16.55.76 0 8 0 - +0ns[ +0ns] +/- 0ns
^- 198.255.68.106 2 6 177 53 +581us[ +581us] +/- 74ms
^- 12.167.151.1 3 6 177 56 +5271us[+5271us] +/- 92ms
^- 44.190.40.123 2 6 177 52 -180us[ -180us] +/- 75ms
^- x.ns.gin.ntt.net 2 6 177 54 -3597us[-3597us] +/- 27ms
^* time1.facebook.com 1 6 377 240 -1225us[-1347us] +/- 14ms
^- ns1.pulsation.fr 3 6 177 29 +3102us[+3102us] +/- 127ms
^- t1.time.bf1.yahoo.com 2 6 177 56 +6487us[+6487us] +/- 62ms
^- ntp.speculation.org 2 6 177 54 -2348us[-2348us] +/- 65ms
^- li432-123.members.linode> 2 6 177 53 -1326us[-1326us] +/- 61ms
 
Last edited:
Thanks, looks fine. 15 servers helping you out!
 
if you run chronyc sources -v it will give you more information about the output. For instance the ? in ^? indicates that the server is currently unusable.

Lots of useful information about using the command line at chrony – chronyc(1)
 
Thanks, guys, yes, there is a lot of info on that page. Most of it is over my head so I won't be experimenting with much, but it is good to know and see what it means.

I'm not an IT person, just trying to keep a good stable home network for my family, and very small business network, and I am doing things that are above my pay grade. I get stuck a lot but I am slowly learning a little at the time, with some help from my friends.

I appreciate all of you guys. I've said it before and I mean it, the people here are the best in the world at what they / you do.
thanks,
jts
 

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