NTPd icon

NTPd

NTPd

Plugin: go.d.plugin Module: ntpd

Overview

This collector monitors the system variables of the local ntpd daemon (optional incl. variables of the polled peers) using the NTP Control Message Protocol via UDP socket, similar to ntpq, the standard NTP query program.

This collector is supported on all platforms.

This collector supports collecting metrics from multiple instances of this integration, including remote instances.

Default Behavior

Auto-Detection

This integration doesn’t support auto-detection.

Limits

The default configuration for this integration does not impose any limits on data collection.

Performance Impact

The default configuration for this integration is not expected to impose a significant performance impact on the system.

Setup

Prerequisites

No action required.

Configuration

File

The configuration file name for this integration is go.d/ntpd.conf.

You can edit the configuration file using the edit-config script from the Netdata config directory.

cd /etc/netdata 2>/dev/null || cd /opt/netdata/etc/netdata
sudo ./edit-config go.d/ntpd.conf

Options

The following options can be defined globally: update_every, autodetection_retry.

Name Description Default Required
update_every Data collection frequency. 1 no
autodetection_retry Recheck interval in seconds. Zero means no recheck will be scheduled. 0 no
address Server address in IP:PORT format. 127.0.0.1:123 yes
timeout Connection/read/write timeout. 1 no
collect_peers Determines whether peer metrics will be collected. no no

Examples

Basic

A basic example configuration.

jobs:
  - name: local
    address: 127.0.0.1:123

With peers metrics

Collect peers metrics.

jobs:
  - name: local
    address: 127.0.0.1:123
    collect_peers: yes

Multi-instance

Note: When you define multiple jobs, their names must be unique.

Collecting metrics from local and remote instances.

jobs:
  - name: local
    address: 127.0.0.1:123

  - name: remote
    address: 203.0.113.0:123

Metrics

Metrics grouped by scope.

The scope defines the instance that the metric belongs to. An instance is uniquely identified by a set of labels.

Per NTPd instance

These metrics refer to the entire monitored application.

This scope has no labels.

Metrics:

Metric Dimensions Unit
ntpd.sys_offset offset milliseconds
ntpd.sys_jitter system, clock milliseconds
ntpd.sys_frequency frequency ppm
ntpd.sys_wander clock ppm
ntpd.sys_rootdelay delay milliseconds
ntpd.sys_rootdisp dispersion milliseconds
ntpd.sys_stratum stratum stratum
ntpd.sys_tc current, minimum log2
ntpd.sys_precision precision log2

Per peer

These metrics refer to the NTPd peer.

Labels:

Label Description
peer_address peer’s source IP address

Metrics:

Metric Dimensions Unit
ntpd.peer_offset offset milliseconds
ntpd.peer_delay delay milliseconds
ntpd.peer_dispersion dispersion milliseconds
ntpd.peer_jitter jitter milliseconds
ntpd.peer_xleave xleave milliseconds
ntpd.peer_rootdelay rootdelay milliseconds
ntpd.peer_rootdisp dispersion milliseconds
ntpd.peer_stratum stratum stratum
ntpd.peer_hmode hmode hmode
ntpd.peer_pmode pmode pmode
ntpd.peer_hpoll hpoll log2
ntpd.peer_ppoll ppoll log2
ntpd.peer_precision precision log2

Alerts

There are no alerts configured by default for this integration.

Troubleshooting

Debug Mode

Important: Debug mode is not supported for data collection jobs created via the UI using the Dyncfg feature.

To troubleshoot issues with the ntpd collector, run the go.d.plugin with the debug option enabled. The output should give you clues as to why the collector isn’t working.

  • Navigate to the plugins.d directory, usually at /usr/libexec/netdata/plugins.d/. If that’s not the case on your system, open netdata.conf and look for the plugins setting under [directories].

    cd /usr/libexec/netdata/plugins.d/
    
  • Switch to the netdata user.

    sudo -u netdata -s
    
  • Run the go.d.plugin to debug the collector:

    ./go.d.plugin -d -m ntpd
    

Getting Logs

If you’re encountering problems with the ntpd collector, follow these steps to retrieve logs and identify potential issues:

  • Run the command specific to your system (systemd, non-systemd, or Docker container).
  • Examine the output for any warnings or error messages that might indicate issues. These messages should provide clues about the root cause of the problem.

System with systemd

Use the following command to view logs generated since the last Netdata service restart:

journalctl _SYSTEMD_INVOCATION_ID="$(systemctl show --value --property=InvocationID netdata)" --namespace=netdata --grep ntpd

System without systemd

Locate the collector log file, typically at /var/log/netdata/collector.log, and use grep to filter for collector’s name:

grep ntpd /var/log/netdata/collector.log

Note: This method shows logs from all restarts. Focus on the latest entries for troubleshooting current issues.

Docker Container

If your Netdata runs in a Docker container named “netdata” (replace if different), use this command:

docker logs netdata 2>&1 | grep ntpd

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