Re: {bb} Problem with ntp external

[Philip Clark <bblist@cannae.uklinux.net>]

On Tue, 2007-03-13 at 09:04 -0400, PAUL WILLIAMSON wrote:
> I'm using the bb-ntp 1.5 script from deadcat with a problem. 
> I'm testing multiple hosts from a single box to validate they 
> are all responding to ntptrace requests.  5 of the devices, 
> all dedicated, hardware-based ntp devices provide a 
> consistently correct response.  The other 5 devices are 
> Novell Netware servers that are responding just fine from 
> the command line, but from within the external BB script 
> are responding with a "down condition" for alternating 
> time periods, ironically enough this is very consistent 
> as well.  When I do the exact same command from the 
> command line of the box where the external ntp test is 
> run, I get very quick responses and they always respond.
> 
> I need some ideas for where to look.  I've done a set -x at 
> the top of the script and nothing seems to be wrong, I've 
> increased the timeout and retires, making sure that the 
> combination of those parameters doesn't go beyond the 5 
> minute test interval.  I'm quite frustrated...
> 

Would it be possible for you to post the page contents for
one of the Netware boxes in both success and failure mode?
It's only the information that I am guessing might be helpful.
Extraneous HTML can be stripped and sensitive information can
be obfuscated.

The reason that I ask is that, from a quick scan of the script,
it appears that the "down" condition is only triggered where the
response from ntptrace does not contain the word "stratum". The
output also looks as if it should contain the contents of the
response, which might help identify why it is failing.

In the meantime, you might try to stick a "sleep" into the script
in case something within ntptrace does not like being repeatedly
run in quick succession. It could also be that Netware contains
some type of security option to prevent numerous queries. It might
be useful to try running the script less frequently than the
standard five minutes interval.

Cheers, Phil.



--
Topologists are just plane folks.


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