Install NTP package and select NTP servers

To synchronize your workstation's time, the NTP daemon on your workstation contacts one or more NTP servers specified in the configuration file /etc/ntp.conf.

If you have not done so already, install the NTP package for your Linux™ distribution.

If an NTP server is not available on the local network, do one of the following steps:

1. Select a public NTP server (visit http://www.ntp.org/ and click Public Time Server Lists). If you select a public NTP server, read the Rules of Engagement (click Rules of Engagement on the main page of the NTP site).
2. Use the NTP time server pool (visit http://www.pool.ntp.org/ and click How do I use pool.ntp.org).

As user root on the workstation, verify that the machine can contact the selected NTP servers. Use the ntpdate command with the query -q option. For example, to query an NTP server whose IP address is 1.2.3.4, use the following command:

ntpdate -q 1.2.3.4

The output must look like the following, which displays the contacted server and the time difference between the local workstation and the server.

server 1.2.3.4, stratum 2, offset 150.695779, delay 0.03366
17 Nov 10:27:09 ntpdate[21597]: step time server 1.2.3.4 offset 150.695779 sec

If the query fails, following output is likely to come:

server 1.2.3.4, stratum 0, offset 0.000000, delay 0.00000
17 Nov 10:29:04 ntpdate[21599]: no server suitable for synchronization found