Unable to get working ntpd on Linux 64-bit guests

[Igor Shergin]

I have running Debian and CentOS on my VirtualBox (MacBook, 32-bit, MacOS 10.5), both 32-bit and 64-bit versions, and noticed that ntpd works fine on 32-bit guests and fails to find time sources on 64-bit. Probably it happens on all Linux systems. Example of ntpd debug output (CentOS x86_64):

[root@build-centos-x86-64 ~]# ntpd -gdq ntpd 4.2.2p1@1.1570-o Tue Jun 10 00:07:14 UTC 2008 (1) addto_syslog: precision = 18.000 usec create_sockets(123) addto_syslog: ntp_io: estimated max descriptors: 1024, initial socket boundary: 16 bind() fd 16, family 2, port 123, addr 0.0.0.0, flags=9 Added addr 0.0.0.0 to list of addresses addto_syslog: Listening on interface wildcard, 0.0.0.0#123 Disabled bind() fd 17, family 10, port 123, addr ::, flags=1 Added addr :: to list of addresses addto_syslog: Listening on interface wildcard, ::#123 Disabled bind() fd 18, family 10, port 123, addr ::1, flags=1 Added addr ::1 to list of addresses addto_syslog: Listening on interface lo, ::1#123 Enabled bind() fd 19, family 10, port 123, addr fe80::a00:27ff:fe15:1ad7, flags=1 Added addr fe80::a00:27ff:fe15:1ad7 to list of addresses addto_syslog: Listening on interface eth0, fe80::a00:27ff:fe15:1ad7#123 Enabled bind() fd 20, family 2, port 123, addr 127.0.0.1, flags=5 Added addr 127.0.0.1 to list of addresses addto_syslog: Listening on interface lo, 127.0.0.1#123 Enabled bind() fd 21, family 2, port 123, addr 10.0.2.15, flags=25 Added addr 10.0.2.15 to list of addresses addto_syslog: Listening on interface eth0, 10.0.2.15#123 Enabled init_io: maxactivefd 21 local_clock: time 0 base 0.000000 offset 0.000000 freq 0.000 state 0 key_expire: at 0 peer_clear: at 0 next 1 assoc ID 56085 refid INIT newpeer: 10.0.2.15->131.107.13.100 mode 3 vers 4 poll 6 10 flags 0x201 0x1 ttl 0 key 00000000 addto_syslog: frequency initialized 0.000 PPM from /var/lib/ntp/drift local_clock: time 0 base 0.000000 offset 0.000000 freq 0.000 state 1 report_event: system event 'event_restart' (0x01) status 'sync_alarm, sync_unspec, 1 event, event_unspec' (0xc010) transmit: at 1 10.0.2.15->131.107.13.100 mode 3 auth_agekeys: at 1 keys 1 expired 0 timer: refresh ts 0 receive: at 1 10.0.2.15<-131.107.13.100 mode 4 code 1 auth 0 peer 131.107.13.100 event 'event_reach' (0x84) status 'unreach, conf, 1 event, event_reach' (0x8014) clock_filter: n 1 off -12576.390214 del 0.433238 dsp 7.937511 jit 0.000015, age 0 transmit: at 3 10.0.2.15->131.107.13.100 mode 3 receive: at 3 10.0.2.15<-131.107.13.100 mode 4 code 1 auth 0 clock_filter: n 2 off -12577.337821 del 0.342102 dsp 3.937523 jit 0.947607, age 0 transmit: at 5 10.0.2.15->131.107.13.100 mode 3 receive: at 5 10.0.2.15<-131.107.13.100 mode 4 code 1 auth 0 clock_filter: n 3 off -12577.337821 del 0.342102 dsp 1.937549 jit 1.116242, age 2 transmit: at 7 10.0.2.15->131.107.13.100 mode 3 receive: at 7 10.0.2.15<-131.107.13.100 mode 4 code 1 auth 0 clock_filter: n 4 off -12577.337821 del 0.342102 dsp 0.937575 jit 1.545261, age 4 transmit: at 9 10.0.2.15->131.107.13.100 mode 3 receive: at 9 10.0.2.15<-131.107.13.100 mode 4 code 1 auth 0 clock_filter: n 5 off -12577.337821 del 0.342102 dsp 0.437600 jit 2.026474, age 6 transmit: at 11 10.0.2.15->131.107.13.100 mode 3 transmit: at 13 10.0.2.15->131.107.13.100 mode 3 transmit: at 15 10.0.2.15->131.107.13.100 mode 3 addto_syslog: no reply; clock not set