OpenNTPD: December 2009 Archives

The NTP service that uses network-time servers to keep your computer's clock from drifting is another thing that Ubuntu includes by default but must be added to Debian if you want to use it.

I initially thought that adding the ntpdate package alone would set up the ntpd daemon and allow you to switch from manual clock setting to keeping the clock synchronized with Internet-based time servers. But you also have to add the ntp package to make it work.

You can do this in Synaptic, but as is usually the case, I find that Aptitude in a terminal does a better job, and is just as easy. I have sudo set up, just like in Ubuntu and OpenBSD, so this is how I do it (entering my password when prompted):

$ sudo aptitude install ntp ntpdate

Then I go in the GNOME menu to System -- Administration -- Time and Date and, under the Configuration toggle, switched to Keep synchronized with Internet servers, after that choosing a nearby server from the Time servers menu below.

Note: If for some reason you like the OpenNTPD program that ships by default with OpenBSD, that is also available as a package in Debian. I don't know the ins and outs of either ntpdate or OpenNTPD, but I've found that ntpdate is more "aggressive" about resetting the PC's clock, and OpenNTPD makes the changes more slowly. However they both work, it's nice to have a choice, and it's nice for Linux users to see yet another application coded by the OpenBSD team (much like OpenSSH) that can benefit the whole Unix-like universe.