Hello!
I have a FreeBSD 15 system. I was able to use ntpd, but after I
installed the latest updates 15.0-RELEASE-p6, it does not start. I dunno
if that is the root cause, but after the restart I noticed the issue.
[~]$ grep -v ^# /etc/ntp.conf
tos minclock 3 maxclock 6
pool -6 2.freebsd.pool.ntp.org iburst
restrict default limited kod nomodify notrap noquery nopeer
restrict source limited kod nomodify notrap noquery
restrict 127.0.0.1
restrict ::1
leapfile "/var/db/ntpd.leap-seconds.list"
How can I diagnose the issue?
Where did you see the "got EOF" message?
What is the output of 'ntpq -p' on your machine, preferably waiting a
minute or few after ntpd starts?
On 21.04.2026 19:58 Uhr Harlan Stenn via questions Mailing List wrote:
Where did you see the "got EOF" message?
When I try to start the daemon via the service command. This executes
the startup script in FreeBSD.
[~]$ sudo service ntpd start
Starting ntpd.
daemon control: got EOF
/etc/rc.d/ntpd: WARNING: failed to start ntpd
[~]$
What is the output of 'ntpq -p' on your machine, preferably waiting a
minute or few after ntpd starts?
[ ~]$ ntpq -p
remote refid st t when poll reach delay offset jitter
==============================================================================
2.freebsd.pool. .POOL. 16 p - 64 0 0.000 +0.000 0.001
+basilisk.mybb.d 171.237.1.87 2 u 198 512 377 15.853 -1.130 1.459
-x1.ncomputers.o 2.34.109.103 3 u 752 1024 377 15.232 -0.881 0.319
+2003:a:47f:abe4 237.17.204.95 2 u 58 512 377 23.608 +1.292 2.623
*vps-fra1.orlean 195.145.119.188 2 u 24 512 377 9.119 +0.777 5.283
-2a01:4f8:c0c:c4 130.149.17.21 2 u 633 1024 377 18.587 -1.842 1.062
[~]$
On 4/21/2026 1:08 PM, Marco Moock wrote:
On 21.04.2026 19:58 Uhr Harlan Stenn via questions Mailing List wrote:
Where did you see the "got EOF" message?
When I try to start the daemon via the service command. This executes
the startup script in FreeBSD.
[~]$ sudo service ntpd start
Starting ntpd.
daemon control: got EOF
/etc/rc.d/ntpd: WARNING: failed to start ntpd
[~]$
That looks like an issue with FreeBSD's startup script, as the output
below from ntpq shows ntpd is running.
have a pending fix for this - that fix does not count the "pool"
directive as a "clock", right?
On Tue, Apr 21, 2026 at 20:37 UTC Harlan Stenn <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote:
On 4/21/2026 1:08 PM, Marco Moock wrote:
> On 21.04.2026 19:58 Uhr Harlan Stenn via questions Mailing List
wrote:
>
>> Where did you see the "got EOF" message?
>
> When I try to start the daemon via the service command. This executes
> the startup script in FreeBSD.
>
> [~]$ sudo service ntpd start
> Starting ntpd.
> daemon control: got EOF
> /etc/rc.d/ntpd: WARNING: failed to start ntpd
> [~]$
That looks like an issue with FreeBSD's startup script, as the output
below from ntpq shows ntpd is running.
It's hard to imagine FreeBSD suddenly got it wrong after years of
bundling ntpd, but my first step would be to investigate the command
line used to launch ntpd. It's logged at startup to syslog, or to a
file given after "logfile" in ntp.conf. EOF might indicate the script expects it to not daemonize itself, and it is. If -n/--nofork isn't on
the command line, modify the rc.d script to use it and try again.
Dave, Marco's ntp.conf file uses "minclock 3 maxclock 6". I know we
have a pending fix for this - that fix does not count the "pool"
directive as a "clock", right?
I have no such pending change. Pool lines count towards maxclock, as
they always have. NTPsec recently changed to exclude them. I'd argue a change like that belongs in ntp-dev and eventually the next major stable release, similar to the off-by-one fix that will cause noncontributing
pool & manycast associations to spin down and spur replacement.
Cheers,--
Dave Hart
On 4/21/2026 1:08 PM, Marco Moock wrote:I now ran the script using sh -x /etc/rc.d/ntpd:
On 21.04.2026 19:58 Uhr Harlan Stenn via questions Mailing List wrote:
Where did you see the "got EOF" message?
When I try to start the daemon via the service command. This executes
the startup script in FreeBSD.
[~]$ sudo service ntpd start
Starting ntpd.
daemon control: got EOF
/etc/rc.d/ntpd: WARNING: failed to start ntpd
[~]$
That looks like an issue with FreeBSD's startup script, as the output
below from ntpq shows ntpd is running.
On 4/21/2026 1:51 PM, Dave Hart wrote:Maybe append -x to the first line of /etc/rc.d/ntpd so we can see where it's going wrong?
On Tue, Apr 21, 2026 at 20:37 UTC Harlan Stenn <[email protected] > <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote:
On 4/21/2026 1:08 PM, Marco Moock wrote:> On 21.04.2026 19:58 Uhr Harlan Stenn via questions Mailing List
wrote:
>
>> Where did you see the "got EOF" message?
>
> When I try to start the daemon via the service command. This executes >> > the startup script in FreeBSD.
>
> [~]$ sudo service ntpd start
> Starting ntpd.
> daemon control: got EOF
> /etc/rc.d/ntpd: WARNING: failed to start ntpd
> [~]$
That looks like an issue with FreeBSD's startup script, as the output >> below from ntpq shows ntpd is running.
Maybe append -x to the first line of /etc/rc.d/ntpd so we can see where it's going wrong?
Am 22.04.26 um 12:03 schrieb Alexander Ziaee:
Maybe append -x to the first line of /etc/rc.d/ntpd so we can see where it's going wrong?
See my post from this morning:
Message-ID: <10s9f3n$3frad$[email protected]>
Subject: Re: ntpd does not start daemon control: got EOF
Date: Wed, 22 Apr 2026 05:25:43 +0200
--
Gruß
Marco
Junk-Mail bitte an [email protected]
--- Synchronet 3.21f-Linux NewsLink 1.2
Good morning, I looped in my senior colleague and am investigating now, but=
I'm not the best at debugging.
Best,
Alex
On 2026-04-22 06:37 -04:00 EDT, "Marco Moock" <[email protected]> wrote:
Am 22.04.26 um 12:03 schrieb Alexander Ziaee:
Maybe append -x to the first line of /etc/rc.d/ntpd so we can see where = it's going wrong?=20
See my post from this morning:
Message-ID: <10s9f3n$3frad$[email protected]>
=20
Subject: Re: ntpd does not start daemon control: got EOF
Date: Wed, 22 Apr 2026 05:25:43 +0200
=20
--=20
Gru=C3=9F
Marco
=20
Junk-Mail bitte an [email protected]
=20
=20=
Just to let everyone know, I'm virtually AFK for most of the day today. I will be back in my office tonight (west coast Canada time). I will be back full time tomorrow.
When I try to start the daemon via the service command. This executes
the startup script in FreeBSD.
Am 21.04.26 um 22:08 schrieb Marco Moock:
When I try to start the daemon via the service command. This executes
the startup script in FreeBSD.
Another thing I would like to let you know is that I have monit running
that is configured to start ntpd if it is currently not running.
Depending on which will be started first and how race conditions are
handled, this might be part of the problem.
On Wed, Apr 22, 2026 at 17:47 UTC Marco Moock <[email protected]> wrote:
Am 21.04.26 um 22:08 schrieb Marco Moock:
When I try to start the daemon via the service command. This executes
the startup script in FreeBSD.
Another thing I would like to let you know is that I have monit running
that is configured to start ntpd if it is currently not running.
Depending on which will be started first and how race conditions are
handled, this might be part of the problem.
That could easily be the problem. Is monit configured to use "service ntpd start"?
Am 21.04.26 um 22:08 schrieb Marco Moock:
When I try to start the daemon via the service command. This executes
the startup script in FreeBSD.
Another thing I would like to let you know is that I have monit running
that is configured to start ntpd if it is currently not running.
Depending on which will be started first and how race conditions are handled, this might be part of the problem.
Am 22.04.26 um 20:33 schrieb Dave Hart:
On Wed, Apr 22, 2026 at 17:47 UTC Marco Moock <[email protected]> wrote:
Am 21.04.26 um 22:08 schrieb Marco Moock:
When I try to start the daemon via the service command. This executes
the startup script in FreeBSD.
Another thing I would like to let you know is that I have monit running
that is configured to start ntpd if it is currently not running.
Depending on which will be started first and how race conditions are
handled, this might be part of the problem.
That could easily be the problem. Is monit configured to use "service
ntpd
start"?
Yes, as in case the service fails, it should start it again. Is there anything wrong with that?
Does the BSD init system use any parallel mechanisms like systemd?
On 4/22/2026 11:54 AM, Marco Moock wrote:
Am 22.04.26 um 20:33 schrieb Dave Hart:
On Wed, Apr 22, 2026 at 17:47 UTC Marco Moock <[email protected]> wrote:
Am 21.04.26 um 22:08 schrieb Marco Moock:
When I try to start the daemon via the service command. This executes >>>> the startup script in FreeBSD.
Another thing I would like to let you know is that I have monit running >>> that is configured to start ntpd if it is currently not running.
Depending on which will be started first and how race conditions are
handled, this might be part of the problem.
That could easily be the problem. Is monit configured to use "service >> ntpd
start"?
Yes, as in case the service fails, it should start it again. Is there anything wrong with that?
There is a potential issue of the restart process assumes a cold-start
of ntpd, as opposed to a simpler warm restart.
Does the BSD init system use any parallel mechanisms like systemd?
----
Harlan Stenn <[email protected]>
NTP Project Lead. The NTP Project is part of:
https://www.nwtime.org/ - be a member!
On 4/22/2026 10:43 AM, Marco Moock wrote:
Am 21.04.26 um 22:08 schrieb Marco Moock:
When I try to start the daemon via the service command. This executes
the startup script in FreeBSD.
Another thing I would like to let you know is that I have monit
running that is configured to start ntpd if it is currently not
running. Depending on which will be started first and how race
conditions are handled, this might be part of the problem.
Have you looked at the 'ntp-wait' script as a means to make sure ntpd is running and the clock is stable before starting a time-dependent subsystem?
Am 23.04.26 um 00:03 schrieb Harlan Stenn via questions Mailing List:
On 4/22/2026 10:43 AM, Marco Moock wrote:
Am 21.04.26 um 22:08 schrieb Marco Moock:
When I try to start the daemon via the service command. This executes
the startup script in FreeBSD.
Another thing I would like to let you know is that I have monit
running that is configured to start ntpd if it is currently not
running. Depending on which will be started first and how race
conditions are handled, this might be part of the problem.
Have you looked at the 'ntp-wait' script as a means to make sure ntpd is running and the clock is stable before starting a time-dependent subsystem?
Not yet, but for my understanding such tests belong to the start/restart operations of the service scripts. Maybe the FreeBSD people can give
more information about this.
----
Gruß
Marco
Junk-Mail bitte an [email protected]
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