[Git][NTPsec/ntpsec][master] Documentation polishing.

Fri Sep 22 08:28:38 UTC 2017

Eric S. Raymond pushed to branch master at NTPsec / ntpsec


Commits:
302a330e by Eric S. Raymond at 2017-09-22T08:05:21Z
Documentation polishing.

- - - - -


1 changed file:

- docs/quick.txt


Changes:

=====================================
docs/quick.txt
=====================================

--- a/docs/quick.txt
+++ b/docs/quick.txt
@@ -49,6 +49,12 @@ performs DHCP to your ISP's servers and receives a dynamic address,
 your +ntp.conf+ may be altered or generated by DHCP at
 address-allocation time to use the NTP servers provided by DHCP.
 
+NTPsec, unlike legacy versions, can also be configured using an
+Apache-style directory /etc/ntp.d of configuration-file segments.
+This is intended to make like easier for software configurators, which
+can write independent segments rather than having to do the kind of
+edit-in-place on a flat ntp.conf that comes naturally to a human.
+
 [[basics]]
 == Configuration basics ==
 
@@ -57,6 +63,10 @@ controls, security/access controls, and server/refclock declarations.  In
 most configurations the first two sections will be a boilerplate set
 of defaults.
 
+Under /etc/ntp.d, the text in these segments can be split up into file
+parts (with names ending in .conf) in any way that is convenient.
+Parts are evaluated in the text sort order of their names.
+
 The simplest, minimal logging configuration consists of a line like this:
 
 ------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -117,6 +127,14 @@ server 2.ubuntu.pool.ntp.org
 server 3.ubuntu.pool.ntp.org
 ------------------------------------------------------------------
 
+Multiple declarations of individual pool servers are not the best you can
+do; they're a workaround for a historical bug in NTP Classic.  It's
+better to say 
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------
+pool ubuntu.pool.ntp.org
+------------------------------------------------------------------
+
 The next section will explain what pool servers are and why you might
 want to change them.
 
@@ -124,14 +142,15 @@ want to change them.
 == Configuring Pool Servers ==
 
 The NTP pool is a dynamic collection of networked computers that
-provide highly accurate time via the Network Time
-Protocol to clients worldwide. The machines that are "in the pool"
-are part of the pool.ntp.org domain as well as of several
-subdomains divided by geographical zone and are distributed
-to NTP clients via round robin DNS.
+provide highly accurate time via the Network Time Protocol to clients
+worldwide. The machines that are "in the pool" are part of the
+pool.ntp.org domain as well as of many subdomains divided by
+geographical or organizational zone, and are distributed to NTP
+clients via round robin DNS.
 
-The +server+ declarations in your +ntp.conf+ normally point at
-several of these DNS names.  These are resolved via DNS to Pool servers.
+The +server+ declarations in your +ntp.conf+ normally point at one or
+several of these DNS names.  These are resolved via DNS to Pool
+servers.
 
 Note: while you could in theory request time service from any specific
 time server in the world, it is considered bad form to use a non-pool
@@ -158,22 +177,12 @@ If you are in Great Britain, for example, you might want to use the UK
 section of the pool:
 
 ------------------------------------------------------------------
-server 0.uk.pool.ntp.org
-server 1.uk.pool.ntp.org
-server 2.uk.pool.ntp.org
-server 3.uk.pool.ntp.org
+pool uk.pool.ntp.org
 ------------------------------------------------------------------
 
 If you know your ISO country code, it is often possible to find an
 analogous group of servers by pinging them.
 
-Recent versions of NTP, (and NTPsec is recent enough), know of the
-pool concept, so you can replace the above with:
-
-------------------------------------------------------------------
-pool uk.pool.ntp.org
-------------------------------------------------------------------
-
 Ideally, one would like one's servers to use multiple different kinds
 of timesources (as opposed to, say, all being GPS-based) and be split
 across different autonomous networks as a hedge against outages and
@@ -207,6 +216,8 @@ down and 3 can outvote 2 falsetickers.  That may be appropriate if you
 need high reliability, say because you are serving hundreds of
 clients.
 
+One pool declaratin will normally get you four or more servers.
+
 [[gps]]
 == Configuring A Local GPS ==
 
@@ -323,11 +334,12 @@ Next, you want to look at the line for "preferred" server (marked with
 NTP's algorithms have computed from its inputs. What you want to see here
 is low jitter. The PPS feed in the second example is pretty good. The
 figures from +b1-66er.matrix.+ in the first display are not great, but
-they're not out of line for operation over a WAN.  Large offsets
-are most likely due to asymmetric packet delays; large jitter
-is more likely due to bufferbloat and other sources of variable
+they're not out of line for operation over a WAN.
+
+Large offsets are most likely due to asymmetric packet delays; large
+jitter is more likely due to bufferbloat and other sources of variable
 latency under load.  Note that the units for delay, offset, and jitter
-are milli-seconds.
+are milliseconds.
 
 '''''
 



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