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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.

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:

MetricDimensionsUnit
ntpd.sys_offsetoffsetmilliseconds
ntpd.sys_jittersystem, clockmilliseconds
ntpd.sys_frequencyfrequencyppm
ntpd.sys_wanderclockppm
ntpd.sys_rootdelaydelaymilliseconds
ntpd.sys_rootdispdispersionmilliseconds
ntpd.sys_stratumstratumstratum
ntpd.sys_tccurrent, minimumlog2
ntpd.sys_precisionprecisionlog2

Per peer

These metrics refer to the NTPd peer.

Labels:

LabelDescription
peer_addresspeer's source IP address

Metrics:

MetricDimensionsUnit
ntpd.peer_offsetoffsetmilliseconds
ntpd.peer_delaydelaymilliseconds
ntpd.peer_dispersiondispersionmilliseconds
ntpd.peer_jitterjittermilliseconds
ntpd.peer_xleavexleavemilliseconds
ntpd.peer_rootdelayrootdelaymilliseconds
ntpd.peer_rootdispdispersionmilliseconds
ntpd.peer_stratumstratumstratum
ntpd.peer_hmodehmodehmode
ntpd.peer_pmodepmodepmode
ntpd.peer_hpollhpolllog2
ntpd.peer_ppollppolllog2
ntpd.peer_precisionprecisionlog2

Alerts

There are no alerts configured by default for this integration.

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.

Config options
NameDescriptionDefaultRequired
update_everyData collection frequency.1no
autodetection_retryRecheck interval in seconds. Zero means no recheck will be scheduled.0no
addressServer address in IP:PORT format.127.0.0.1:123yes
timeoutConnection/read/write timeout.1no
collect_peersDetermines whether peer metrics will be collected.nono

Examples

Basic

A basic example configuration.

Config
jobs:
- name: local
address: 127.0.0.1:123

With peers metrics

Collect peers metrics.

Config
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.

Config
jobs:
- name: local
address: 127.0.0.1:123

- name: remote
address: 203.0.113.0:123

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

Do you have any feedback for this page? If so, you can open a new issue on our netdata/learn repository.