ntp support installation

[wenzhuo at zhmail.com]

Ubuntu automatically synchronize system clock to ntp.ubuntu.com when a  
network interface is being brought up. Don't bother install NTP  
support if you don't want to keep a local time server. ntpdate  
regularly is enough for desktops and laptops with network connection  
and not so inaccurate hardware clocks.

If you choose to install NTP support, you'd better replace  
/etc/ntp.conf with the package maintainer's version because the  
initial version is empty.

To verify whether your local NTP support is working, just type  
"ntpdate -q localhost" in gnome-terminal, and verify if the stratum  
number is below 5 in the output. Initially, the stratum number is 16.  
After some time, it shall drop to 2 or 3.

You don't have to zero-out a partition using dd before re-installing,  
if you don't have any ultra-secretive information in it or if you  
don't want to make sure your partition is free of bad sectors. Just  
choose to format the partition when re-installing.

Wenzhuo

Quoting Default User <xyzzyx at sbcglobal.net>:

> Hi guys.
>
> I did a fresh Ubuntu 7.04 install.  Then I used Update Manager to
> install all updates.  Then I went to the Date/Time GUI utility to get
> the system to start synchronizing the time with online servers.
>
> The utility said that it needed to download and istall NTP support. I
> clicked OK. During the NTP install operation, it said that a
> configuration file on the system was different from what was included by
> the package maintainer, and asked if I wanted to:
>
> - keep the original file on the system (the default highlighted option)
> - replace with the package maintainer's version
>
> Not knowing which was the correct answer, I chose to keep the original
> file. The installation finished with no (apparent) error message.
>
> Then in a window with a scroll bar I clicked on a local NTP server, and
> a "semi-local" NTP server also. At the bottom of the window there was a
> choice with the check box highlighted by default, but no name next to
> it. I left that checked.
>
> Well, it seems to be working, but the question is, when I had to choose
> between the configuration file already on the system, or the package
> maintainer's version, WHICH SHOULD I HAVE CHOSEN?  If I have chosen the
> wrong option, I would like to know now, so that I can rip out this
> Ubuntu installation and re-install Ubuntu from scratch, before it is too
> late to do so.
>
> Note: This Ubuntu installation was actually a complete re-install of a
> prior fresh 7.04 installation, necessary because I found out that the
> OpenBSD install disk is like a child that does not play nice with
> others. But that's another story.
>
> The point is, should I have used dd to "zero out" the hard disk before
> re-installing Ubuntu?  Since Ubuntu's installer re-partitions the hard
> disk, I didn't think that would be necessary. But maybe the NTP
> installation was seeing a configuration file from the prior
> installation, thus asking which file to use?
>
>
>
>
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