ntpq(1M)

Interactive format command. The command is added to the list of commands to be executed on the specified host(s). Multiple -c options may be given.

Print debugging information.

Force ntpq to operate in interactive mode. Prompts are written to the standard output and commands read from the standard input.

Output all host addresses in dotted-quad numeric format rather than converting to the canonical host names.

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.

A ? or help by itself prints a list of all the command keywords known to this version of ntpq. A ? or help followed by a command keyword prints function and usage information about the command.

The data carried by NTP mode 6 messages consists of a list of items of the form variable_name = value, where the = value is ignored, and can be omitted in requests to the server to read variables. ntpq maintains an internal list in which data to be included in control messages can be assembled, and sent using the readlist and writelist commands described below.

This 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.

This command can be used to remove individual variables from the list.

This command removes all variables from the list.

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, and can occasionally melt the CPU in fuzzballs if you turn authentication on before doing a peer display.

Causes output from query commands to be cooked. Variables which are recognized by the server have their values reformatted for human usage.

Turns internal query program debugging on and off.

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.

Set the host to which future queries will be sent. Hostname may be either a host name or a numeric address.

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 option.

This command allows the specification of a key number to be used to authenticate configuration requests. This must correspond to a key number the server has been configured to use for this purpose.

Sets the NTP version number which ntpq claims in packets. Defaults to 3. Note that mode 6 control messages (and modes) did not exist in NTP version 1. There appears to be no servers left which demand version 1.

Exit ntpq.

This command prompts you to type in a password (which is not 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.

Causes all output from query commands to be printed as received from the remote server. The only formatting/interpretation done on the data is to transform nonascii data into a printable form.

Specify a timeout period for responses to server queries. The default is about 5000 milliseconds. Note that since ntpq retries each query once after a timeout, the total waiting time for a timeout is twice the timeout value set.

Obtains and prints a list of association identifiers and peer status for in-spec peers of the server being queried. The list is printed in columns. The first of these columns is an index numbering the associations from 1 for internal use, the second column is the actual association identifier returned by the server and the third column is the status word for the peer. This is followed by a number of columns containing data decoded from the status word. Note that the data returned by the associations command is cached internally in ntpq. The index is then of use when dealing with stupid servers which use association identifiers which are hard for humans to type, in that for any subsequent commands which require an association identifier as an argument, the form and index may be used as an alternative.

Requests that a list of the server's clock variables be sent. Servers which have a radio clock or other external synchronization respond positively to this. If the association identifier is omitted or zero, the request is for the variables of the system clock and generally gets a positive response from all servers with a clock. If the server treats the clocks as pseudo-peers, then more than one clock connected at once, referencing the appropriate peer association ID will show the variables of a particular clock. Omitting the variable list causes the server to return a default variable display.

Obtains and prints a list of association identifiers and peer status for all associations for which the server is maintaining state. This command differs from the associations command only for servers which retain state for out-of-spec client associations (i.e., fuzzballs). Such associations are normally omitted from the display when the associations command is used, but are included in the output of lassociations.

Print data for all associations, including out-of-spec client associations, from the internally cached list of associations. This command differs from passociations command only when dealing with fuzzballs.

Similar to peers command, except a summary of all associations for which the server is maintaining state is printed. This can produce a much longer list of peers from fuzzball servers.

Similar to the readlist command, except the query is done for each range of (nonzero) association IDs. This range is determined from the association list cached by the most recent associations command.

Similar to the readvar command, except the query is done for each range of (nonzero) association IDs. This range is determined from the association list cached by the most recent associations command.

An old form of the peers command with the reference ID replaced by the local interface address.

Prints association data concerning in-spec peers from the internally cached list of associations. This command performs identically to the associations except that it displays the internally stored data rather than making a new query.

Obtains a list of in-spec peers of the server, along with a summary of each peer's state. Summary information includes the address of the remote peer, the reference ID (0.0.0.0 if the refID is unknown), the stratum of the remote peer, the type of the peer (local, unicast, multicast or broadcast), when the last packet was received, the polling interval, in seconds, the reachability register, in octal, and the current estimated delay, offset and dispersion of the peer, all in milliseconds.

The character in the left margin indicates the fate of this peer in the clock selection process. The codes have the following meaning:

Note that since the peers command depends on the ability to parse the values in the responses it gets, it may fail to work from time to time with servers which poorly control the data formats. The contents of the host field may be one of four forms. It may be a host name, an IP address, a reference clock implementation name with its parameter or REFCLK( <implementation number>, <parameter>). On hostnames no only IP-addresses will be displayed.

Sends a read status request to the server for the given association. The names and values of the peer variables returned will be printed. Note that the status word from the header is displayed preceding the variables, both in hexadecimal and in English.

Requests that the values of the variables in the internal variable list be returned by the server. If the association ID is omitted or is 0, the variables are assumed to be system variables. Otherwise they are treated as peer variables. If the internal variable list is empty, a request is sent without data, which should induce the remote server to return a default display.

Requests that the values of the specified variables be returned by the server by sending a read variables request. If the association ID is omitted or is given as zero, the variables are system variables. Otherwise they are peer variables and the values returned will be those of the corresponding peer. Omitting the variable list will send a request with no data which should induce the server to return a default display.

Similar to the readvar command, except the specified variables are written instead of read.

Similar to the readlist command, except the internal list variables are written instead of read.