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22<h1 class="settitle">Sntp User's Manual</h1>
23<div class="node">
24<p><hr>
25<a name="Top"></a>Next:&nbsp;<a rel="next" accesskey="n" href="#sntp-Description">sntp Description</a>,
26Previous:&nbsp;<a rel="previous" accesskey="p" href="#dir">(dir)</a>,
27Up:&nbsp;<a rel="up" accesskey="u" href="#dir">(dir)</a>
28<br>
29</div>
30
31<h2 class="unnumbered">Simple Network Time Protocol User Manual</h2>
32
33<p>This document describes the use of the NTP Project's <code>sntp</code> program,
34that can be used to query a Network Time Protocol (NTP) server and
35display the time offset of the system clock relative to the server
36clock.  Run as root, it can correct the system clock to this offset as
37well.  It can be run as an interactive command or from a cron job.
38
39  <p>This document applies to version 4.2.8p11 of <code>sntp</code>.
40
41  <p>The program implements the SNTP protocol as defined by RFC 5905, the NTPv4
42IETF specification.
43
44  <div class="shortcontents">
45<h2>Short Contents</h2>
46<ul>
47<a href="#Top">Simple Network Time Protocol User Manual</a>
48</ul>
49</div>
50
51<ul class="menu">
52<li><a accesskey="1" href="#sntp-Description">sntp Description</a>:             Description
53<li><a accesskey="2" href="#sntp-Invocation">sntp Invocation</a>: 		Invoking sntp
54<li><a accesskey="3" href="#Usage">Usage</a>:                        Usage
55</ul>
56
57<div class="node">
58<p><hr>
59<a name="sntp-Description"></a>
60<br>
61</div>
62
63<!-- node-name,  next,  previous,  up -->
64<h3 class="section">Description</h3>
65
66<p>By default, <code>sntp</code> writes the local data and time (i.e., not UTC) to the
67standard output in the format:
68
69<pre class="example">     1996-10-15 20:17:25.123 (+0800) +4.567 +/- 0.089 secs
70</pre>
71  <p>where
72YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS.SUBSEC is the local date and time,
73(+0800) is the local timezone adjustment (so we would add 8 hours and 0 minutes to convert the reported local time to UTC),
74and
75the +4.567 +/- 0.089 secs indicates the time offset and
76error bound of the system clock relative to the server clock.
77
78<div class="node">
79<p><hr>
80<a name="sntp-Invocation"></a>
81<br>
82</div>
83
84<h3 class="section">Invoking sntp</h3>
85
86<p><a name="index-sntp-1"></a><a name="index-standard-Simple-Network-Time-Protocol-client-program-2"></a>
87
88  <p><code>sntp</code>
89can be used as an SNTP client to query a NTP or SNTP server and either display
90the time or set the local system's time (given suitable privilege).  It can be
91run as an interactive command or from a
92<code>cron</code>
93job.
94
95  <p>NTP (the Network Time Protocol) and SNTP (the Simple Network Time Protocol)
96are defined and described by RFC 5905.
97
98  <p>The default is to write the estimated correct local date and time (i.e. not
99UTC) to the standard output in a format like:
100
101  <p><code>'1996-10-15 20:17:25.123 (+0800) +4.567 +/- 0.089 [host] IP sN'</code>
102
103  <p>where the
104<code>'(+0800)'</code>
105means that to get to UTC from the reported local time one must
106add 8 hours and 0 minutes,
107the
108<code>'+4.567'</code>
109indicates the local clock is 4.567 seconds behind the correct time
110(so 4.567 seconds must be added to the local clock to get it to be correct). 
111Note that the number of decimals printed for this value will change
112based on the reported precision of the server. 
113<code>'+/- 0.089'</code>
114is the reported
115<em>synchronization</em> <em>distance</em>
116(in seconds), which represents the maximum error due to all causes. 
117If the server does not report valid data needed to calculate the
118synchronization distance, this will be reported as
119<code>'+/- ?'</code>. 
120If the
121<em>host</em>
122is different from the
123<em>IP</em>,
124both will be displayed. 
125Otherwise, only the
126<em>IP</em>
127is displayed. 
128Finally, the
129<em>stratum</em>
130of the host is reported
131and the leap indicator is decoded and displayed.
132
133  <p>This section was generated by <strong>AutoGen</strong>,
134using the <code>agtexi-cmd</code> template and the option descriptions for the <code>sntp</code> program. 
135This software is released under the NTP license, &lt;http://ntp.org/license>;.
136
137<ul class="menu">
138<li><a accesskey="1" href="#sntp-usage">sntp usage</a>:                   sntp help/usage (<span class="option">--help</span>)
139<li><a accesskey="2" href="#sntp-ipv4">sntp ipv4</a>:                    ipv4 option (-4)
140<li><a accesskey="3" href="#sntp-ipv6">sntp ipv6</a>:                    ipv6 option (-6)
141<li><a accesskey="4" href="#sntp-authentication">sntp authentication</a>:          authentication option (-a)
142<li><a accesskey="5" href="#sntp-broadcast">sntp broadcast</a>:               broadcast option (-b)
143<li><a accesskey="6" href="#sntp-concurrent">sntp concurrent</a>:              concurrent option (-c)
144<li><a accesskey="7" href="#sntp-gap">sntp gap</a>:                     gap option (-g)
145<li><a accesskey="8" href="#sntp-kod">sntp kod</a>:                     kod option (-K)
146<li><a accesskey="9" href="#sntp-keyfile">sntp keyfile</a>:                 keyfile option (-k)
147<li><a href="#sntp-logfile">sntp logfile</a>:                 logfile option (-l)
148<li><a href="#sntp-steplimit">sntp steplimit</a>:               steplimit option (-M)
149<li><a href="#sntp-ntpversion">sntp ntpversion</a>:              ntpversion option (-o)
150<li><a href="#sntp-usereservedport">sntp usereservedport</a>:         usereservedport option (-r)
151<li><a href="#sntp-timeout">sntp timeout</a>:                 timeout option (-t)
152<li><a href="#sntp-wait">sntp wait</a>:                    wait option
153<li><a href="#sntp-config">sntp config</a>:                  presetting/configuring sntp
154<li><a href="#sntp-exit-status">sntp exit status</a>:             exit status
155<li><a href="#sntp-Usage">sntp Usage</a>:                   Usage
156<li><a href="#sntp-Authors">sntp Authors</a>:                 Authors
157</ul>
158
159<div class="node">
160<p><hr>
161<a name="sntp-usage"></a>Next:&nbsp;<a rel="next" accesskey="n" href="#sntp-ipv4">sntp ipv4</a>,
162Up:&nbsp;<a rel="up" accesskey="u" href="#sntp-Invocation">sntp Invocation</a>
163<br>
164</div>
165
166<h4 class="subsection">sntp help/usage (<span class="option">--help</span>)</h4>
167
168<p><a name="index-sntp-help-3"></a>
169This is the automatically generated usage text for sntp.
170
171  <p>The text printed is the same whether selected with the <code>help</code> option
172(<span class="option">--help</span>) or the <code>more-help</code> option (<span class="option">--more-help</span>).  <code>more-help</code> will print
173the usage text by passing it through a pager program. 
174<code>more-help</code> is disabled on platforms without a working
175<code>fork(2)</code> function.  The <code>PAGER</code> environment variable is
176used to select the program, defaulting to <span class="file">more</span>.  Both will exit
177with a status code of 0.
178
179<pre class="example">sntp - standard Simple Network Time Protocol client program - Ver. 4.2.7p245
180USAGE:  sntp [ -&lt;flag&gt; [&lt;val&gt;] | --&lt;name&gt;[{=| }&lt;val&gt;] ]... \
181                [ hostname-or-IP ...]
182  Flg Arg Option-Name    Description
183   -4 no  ipv4           Force IPv4 DNS name resolution
184                                - prohibits these options:
185                                ipv6
186   -6 no  ipv6           Force IPv6 DNS name resolution
187                                - prohibits these options:
188                                ipv4
189   -a Num authentication Enable authentication with the key @var{auth-keynumber}
190   -B Num bctimeout      The number of seconds to wait for broadcasts
191   -b Str broadcast      Listen to the address specified for broadcast time sync
192                                - may appear multiple times
193   -c Str concurrent     Concurrently query all IPs returned for host-name
194                                - may appear multiple times
195   -d no  debug-level    Increase debug verbosity level
196                                - may appear multiple times
197   -D Str set-debug-level Set the debug verbosity level
198                                - may appear multiple times
199   -g Num gap            The gap (in milliseconds) between time requests
200   -K Fil kod            KoD history filename
201   -k Fil keyfile        Look in this file for the key specified with @option{-a}
202   -l Fil logfile        Log to specified logfile
203   -M Num steplimit      Adjustments less than @var{steplimit} msec will be slewed
204                                - It must be in the range:
205                                  greater than or equal to 0
206   -o Num ntpversion     Send @var{int} as our NTP version
207                                - It must be in the range:
208                                  0 to 7
209   -r no  usereservedport Use the NTP Reserved Port (port 123)
210   -S no  step           OK to 'step' the time with @command{settimeofday(2)}
211   -s no  slew           OK to 'slew' the time with @command{adjtime(2)}
212   -u Num uctimeout      The number of seconds to wait for unicast responses
213      no  wait           Wait for pending replies (if not setting the time)
214                                - disabled as --no-wait
215                                - enabled by default
216      opt version        Output version information and exit
217   -? no  help           Display extended usage information and exit
218   -! no  more-help      Extended usage information passed thru pager
219   -&gt; opt save-opts      Save the option state to a config file
220   -&lt; Str load-opts      Load options from a config file
221                                - disabled as --no-load-opts
222                                - may appear multiple times
223
224Options are specified by doubled hyphens and their name or by a single
225hyphen and the flag character.
226
227
228
229The following option preset mechanisms are supported:
230 - reading file $HOME/.ntprc
231 - reading file ./.ntprc
232 - examining environment variables named SNTP_*
233
234please send bug reports to:  http://bugs.ntp.org, bugs@ntp.org
235</pre>
236  <div class="node">
237<p><hr>
238<a name="sntp-ipv4"></a>Next:&nbsp;<a rel="next" accesskey="n" href="#sntp-ipv6">sntp ipv6</a>,
239Previous:&nbsp;<a rel="previous" accesskey="p" href="#sntp-usage">sntp usage</a>,
240Up:&nbsp;<a rel="up" accesskey="u" href="#sntp-Invocation">sntp Invocation</a>
241<br>
242</div>
243
244<h4 class="subsection">ipv4 option (-4)</h4>
245
246<p><a name="index-sntp_002dipv4-4"></a>
247This is the &ldquo;force ipv4 dns name resolution&rdquo; option.
248
249<p class="noindent">This option has some usage constraints.  It:
250     <ul>
251<li>must not appear in combination with any of the following options:
252ipv6. 
253</ul>
254
255  <p>Force DNS resolution of the following host names on the command line
256to the IPv4 namespace. 
257<div class="node">
258<p><hr>
259<a name="sntp-ipv6"></a>Next:&nbsp;<a rel="next" accesskey="n" href="#sntp-authentication">sntp authentication</a>,
260Previous:&nbsp;<a rel="previous" accesskey="p" href="#sntp-ipv4">sntp ipv4</a>,
261Up:&nbsp;<a rel="up" accesskey="u" href="#sntp-Invocation">sntp Invocation</a>
262<br>
263</div>
264
265<h4 class="subsection">ipv6 option (-6)</h4>
266
267<p><a name="index-sntp_002dipv6-5"></a>
268This is the &ldquo;force ipv6 dns name resolution&rdquo; option.
269
270<p class="noindent">This option has some usage constraints.  It:
271     <ul>
272<li>must not appear in combination with any of the following options:
273ipv4. 
274</ul>
275
276  <p>Force DNS resolution of the following host names on the command line
277to the IPv6 namespace. 
278<div class="node">
279<p><hr>
280<a name="sntp-authentication"></a>Next:&nbsp;<a rel="next" accesskey="n" href="#sntp-broadcast">sntp broadcast</a>,
281Previous:&nbsp;<a rel="previous" accesskey="p" href="#sntp-ipv6">sntp ipv6</a>,
282Up:&nbsp;<a rel="up" accesskey="u" href="#sntp-Invocation">sntp Invocation</a>
283<br>
284</div>
285
286<h4 class="subsection">authentication option (-a)</h4>
287
288<p><a name="index-sntp_002dauthentication-6"></a>
289This is the &ldquo;enable authentication with the key <var>auth-keynumber</var>&rdquo; option. 
290This option takes a number argument <span class="file">auth-keynumber</span>. 
291Enable authentication using the key specified in this option's
292argument.  The argument of this option is the <span class="option">keyid</span>, a
293number specified in the <span class="option">keyfile</span> as this key's identifier. 
294See the <span class="option">keyfile</span> option (<span class="option">-k</span>) for more details. 
295<div class="node">
296<p><hr>
297<a name="sntp-broadcast"></a>Next:&nbsp;<a rel="next" accesskey="n" href="#sntp-concurrent">sntp concurrent</a>,
298Previous:&nbsp;<a rel="previous" accesskey="p" href="#sntp-authentication">sntp authentication</a>,
299Up:&nbsp;<a rel="up" accesskey="u" href="#sntp-Invocation">sntp Invocation</a>
300<br>
301</div>
302
303<h4 class="subsection">broadcast option (-b)</h4>
304
305<p><a name="index-sntp_002dbroadcast-7"></a>
306This is the &ldquo;listen to the address specified for broadcast time sync&rdquo; option. 
307This option takes a string argument <span class="file">broadcast-address</span>.
308
309<p class="noindent">This option has some usage constraints.  It:
310     <ul>
311<li>may appear an unlimited number of times. 
312</ul>
313
314  <p>If specified <code>sntp</code> will listen to the specified address
315for NTP broadcasts.  The default maximum wait time
316can (and probably should) be modified with <span class="option">-t</span>. 
317<div class="node">
318<p><hr>
319<a name="sntp-concurrent"></a>Next:&nbsp;<a rel="next" accesskey="n" href="#sntp-gap">sntp gap</a>,
320Previous:&nbsp;<a rel="previous" accesskey="p" href="#sntp-broadcast">sntp broadcast</a>,
321Up:&nbsp;<a rel="up" accesskey="u" href="#sntp-Invocation">sntp Invocation</a>
322<br>
323</div>
324
325<h4 class="subsection">concurrent option (-c)</h4>
326
327<p><a name="index-sntp_002dconcurrent-8"></a>
328This is the &ldquo;concurrently query all ips returned for host-name&rdquo; option. 
329This option takes a string argument <span class="file">host-name</span>.
330
331<p class="noindent">This option has some usage constraints.  It:
332     <ul>
333<li>may appear an unlimited number of times. 
334</ul>
335
336  <p>Requests from an NTP "client" to a "server" should never be sent
337more rapidly than one every 2 seconds.  By default, any IPs returned
338as part of a DNS lookup are assumed to be for a single instance of
339<code>ntpd</code>, and therefore <code>sntp</code> will send queries to these IPs
340one after another, with a 2-second gap in between each query.
341
342  <p>The <span class="option">-c</span> or <span class="option">--concurrent</span> flag says that any IPs
343returned for the DNS lookup of the supplied host-name are on
344different machines, so we can send concurrent queries. 
345<div class="node">
346<p><hr>
347<a name="sntp-gap"></a>Next:&nbsp;<a rel="next" accesskey="n" href="#sntp-kod">sntp kod</a>,
348Previous:&nbsp;<a rel="previous" accesskey="p" href="#sntp-concurrent">sntp concurrent</a>,
349Up:&nbsp;<a rel="up" accesskey="u" href="#sntp-Invocation">sntp Invocation</a>
350<br>
351</div>
352
353<h4 class="subsection">gap option (-g)</h4>
354
355<p><a name="index-sntp_002dgap-9"></a>
356This is the &ldquo;the gap (in milliseconds) between time requests&rdquo; option. 
357This option takes a number argument <span class="file">milliseconds</span>. 
358Since we're only going to use the first valid response we get and
359there is benefit to specifying a good number of servers to query,
360separate the queries we send out by the specified number of
361milliseconds. 
362<div class="node">
363<p><hr>
364<a name="sntp-kod"></a>Next:&nbsp;<a rel="next" accesskey="n" href="#sntp-keyfile">sntp keyfile</a>,
365Previous:&nbsp;<a rel="previous" accesskey="p" href="#sntp-gap">sntp gap</a>,
366Up:&nbsp;<a rel="up" accesskey="u" href="#sntp-Invocation">sntp Invocation</a>
367<br>
368</div>
369
370<h4 class="subsection">kod option (-K)</h4>
371
372<p><a name="index-sntp_002dkod-10"></a>
373This is the &ldquo;kod history filename&rdquo; option. 
374This option takes a file argument <span class="file">file-name</span>. 
375Specifies the filename to be used for the persistent history of KoD
376responses received from servers.  If the file does not exist, a
377warning message will be displayed.  The file will not be created. 
378<div class="node">
379<p><hr>
380<a name="sntp-keyfile"></a>Next:&nbsp;<a rel="next" accesskey="n" href="#sntp-logfile">sntp logfile</a>,
381Previous:&nbsp;<a rel="previous" accesskey="p" href="#sntp-kod">sntp kod</a>,
382Up:&nbsp;<a rel="up" accesskey="u" href="#sntp-Invocation">sntp Invocation</a>
383<br>
384</div>
385
386<h4 class="subsection">keyfile option (-k)</h4>
387
388<p><a name="index-sntp_002dkeyfile-11"></a>
389This is the &ldquo;look in this file for the key specified with <span class="option">-a</span>&rdquo; option. 
390This option takes a file argument <span class="file">file-name</span>. 
391This option specifies the keyfile. 
392<code>sntp</code> will search for the key specified with <span class="option">-a</span>
393<span class="file">keyno</span> in this file.  See <span class="command">ntp.keys(5)</span> for more
394information. 
395<div class="node">
396<p><hr>
397<a name="sntp-logfile"></a>Next:&nbsp;<a rel="next" accesskey="n" href="#sntp-steplimit">sntp steplimit</a>,
398Previous:&nbsp;<a rel="previous" accesskey="p" href="#sntp-keyfile">sntp keyfile</a>,
399Up:&nbsp;<a rel="up" accesskey="u" href="#sntp-Invocation">sntp Invocation</a>
400<br>
401</div>
402
403<h4 class="subsection">logfile option (-l)</h4>
404
405<p><a name="index-sntp_002dlogfile-12"></a>
406This is the &ldquo;log to specified logfile&rdquo; option. 
407This option takes a file argument <span class="file">file-name</span>. 
408This option causes the client to write log messages to the specified
409<span class="file">logfile</span>. 
410<div class="node">
411<p><hr>
412<a name="sntp-steplimit"></a>Next:&nbsp;<a rel="next" accesskey="n" href="#sntp-ntpversion">sntp ntpversion</a>,
413Previous:&nbsp;<a rel="previous" accesskey="p" href="#sntp-logfile">sntp logfile</a>,
414Up:&nbsp;<a rel="up" accesskey="u" href="#sntp-Invocation">sntp Invocation</a>
415<br>
416</div>
417
418<h4 class="subsection">steplimit option (-M)</h4>
419
420<p><a name="index-sntp_002dsteplimit-13"></a>
421This is the &ldquo;adjustments less than <var>steplimit</var> msec will be slewed&rdquo; option. 
422This option takes a number argument. 
423If the time adjustment is less than <span class="file">steplimit</span> milliseconds,
424slew the amount using <span class="command">adjtime(2)</span>.  Otherwise, step the
425correction using <span class="command">settimeofday(2)</span>.  The default value is 0,
426which means all adjustments will be stepped.  This is a feature, as
427different situations demand different values. 
428<div class="node">
429<p><hr>
430<a name="sntp-ntpversion"></a>Next:&nbsp;<a rel="next" accesskey="n" href="#sntp-usereservedport">sntp usereservedport</a>,
431Previous:&nbsp;<a rel="previous" accesskey="p" href="#sntp-steplimit">sntp steplimit</a>,
432Up:&nbsp;<a rel="up" accesskey="u" href="#sntp-Invocation">sntp Invocation</a>
433<br>
434</div>
435
436<h4 class="subsection">ntpversion option (-o)</h4>
437
438<p><a name="index-sntp_002dntpversion-14"></a>
439This is the &ldquo;send <var>int</var> as our ntp protocol version&rdquo; option. 
440This option takes a number argument. 
441When sending requests to a remote server, tell them we are running
442NTP protocol version <span class="file">ntpversion</span> . 
443<div class="node">
444<p><hr>
445<a name="sntp-usereservedport"></a>Next:&nbsp;<a rel="next" accesskey="n" href="#sntp-timeout">sntp timeout</a>,
446Previous:&nbsp;<a rel="previous" accesskey="p" href="#sntp-ntpversion">sntp ntpversion</a>,
447Up:&nbsp;<a rel="up" accesskey="u" href="#sntp-Invocation">sntp Invocation</a>
448<br>
449</div>
450
451<h4 class="subsection">usereservedport option (-r)</h4>
452
453<p><a name="index-sntp_002dusereservedport-15"></a>
454This is the &ldquo;use the ntp reserved port (port 123)&rdquo; option. 
455Use port 123, which is reserved for NTP, for our network
456communications. 
457<div class="node">
458<p><hr>
459<a name="sntp-timeout"></a>Next:&nbsp;<a rel="next" accesskey="n" href="#sntp-wait">sntp wait</a>,
460Previous:&nbsp;<a rel="previous" accesskey="p" href="#sntp-usereservedport">sntp usereservedport</a>,
461Up:&nbsp;<a rel="up" accesskey="u" href="#sntp-Invocation">sntp Invocation</a>
462<br>
463</div>
464
465<h4 class="subsection">timeout option (-t)</h4>
466
467<p><a name="index-sntp_002dtimeout-16"></a>
468This is the &ldquo;the number of seconds to wait for responses&rdquo; option. 
469This option takes a number argument <span class="file">seconds</span>. 
470When waiting for a reply, <code>sntp</code> will wait the number
471of seconds specified before giving up.  The default should be
472more than enough for a unicast response.  If <code>sntp</code> is
473only waiting for a broadcast response a longer timeout is
474likely needed. 
475<div class="node">
476<p><hr>
477<a name="sntp-wait"></a>Next:&nbsp;<a rel="next" accesskey="n" href="#sntp-config">sntp config</a>,
478Previous:&nbsp;<a rel="previous" accesskey="p" href="#sntp-timeout">sntp timeout</a>,
479Up:&nbsp;<a rel="up" accesskey="u" href="#sntp-Invocation">sntp Invocation</a>
480<br>
481</div>
482
483<h4 class="subsection">wait option</h4>
484
485<p><a name="index-sntp_002dwait-17"></a>
486This is the &ldquo;wait for pending replies (if not setting the time)&rdquo; option.
487
488<p class="noindent">This option has some usage constraints.  It:
489     <ul>
490<li>can be disabled with &ndash;no-wait. 
491<li>It is enabled by default. 
492</ul>
493
494  <p>If we are not setting the time, wait for all pending responses.
495
496<div class="node">
497<p><hr>
498<a name="sntp-config"></a>Next:&nbsp;<a rel="next" accesskey="n" href="#sntp-exit-status">sntp exit status</a>,
499Previous:&nbsp;<a rel="previous" accesskey="p" href="#sntp-wait">sntp wait</a>,
500Up:&nbsp;<a rel="up" accesskey="u" href="#sntp-Invocation">sntp Invocation</a>
501<br>
502</div>
503
504<h4 class="subsection">presetting/configuring sntp</h4>
505
506<p>Any option that is not marked as <i>not presettable</i> may be preset by
507loading values from configuration ("rc" or "ini") files, and values from environment variables named <code>SNTP</code> and <code>SNTP_&lt;OPTION_NAME&gt;</code>.  <code>&lt;OPTION_NAME&gt;</code> must be one of
508the options listed above in upper case and segmented with underscores. 
509The <code>SNTP</code> variable will be tokenized and parsed like
510the command line.  The remaining variables are tested for existence and their
511values are treated like option arguments.
512
513<p class="noindent"><code>libopts</code> will search in 2 places for configuration files:
514     <ul>
515<li>$HOME
516<li>$PWD
517</ul>
518  The environment variables <code>HOME</code>, and <code>PWD</code>
519are expanded and replaced when <span class="file">sntp</span> runs. 
520For any of these that are plain files, they are simply processed. 
521For any that are directories, then a file named <span class="file">.ntprc</span> is searched for
522within that directory and processed.
523
524  <p>Configuration files may be in a wide variety of formats. 
525The basic format is an option name followed by a value (argument) on the
526same line.  Values may be separated from the option name with a colon,
527equal sign or simply white space.  Values may be continued across multiple
528lines by escaping the newline with a backslash.
529
530  <p>Multiple programs may also share the same initialization file. 
531Common options are collected at the top, followed by program specific
532segments.  The segments are separated by lines like:
533<pre class="example">    [SNTP]
534</pre>
535  <p class="noindent">or by
536<pre class="example">    &lt;?program sntp&gt;
537</pre>
538  <p class="noindent">Do not mix these styles within one configuration file.
539
540  <p>Compound values and carefully constructed string values may also be
541specified using XML syntax:
542<pre class="example">    &lt;option-name&gt;
543       &lt;sub-opt&gt;...&amp;lt;...&amp;gt;...&lt;/sub-opt&gt;
544    &lt;/option-name&gt;
545</pre>
546  <p class="noindent">yielding an <code>option-name.sub-opt</code> string value of
547<pre class="example">    "...&lt;...&gt;..."
548</pre>
549  <p><code>AutoOpts</code> does not track suboptions.  You simply note that it is a
550hierarchicly valued option.  <code>AutoOpts</code> does provide a means for searching
551the associated name/value pair list (see: optionFindValue).
552
553  <p>The command line options relating to configuration and/or usage help are:
554
555<h5 class="subsubheading">version (-)</h5>
556
557<p>Print the program version to standard out, optionally with licensing
558information, then exit 0.  The optional argument specifies how much licensing
559detail to provide.  The default is to print just the version.  The licensing infomation may be selected with an option argument. 
560Only the first letter of the argument is examined:
561
562     <dl>
563<dt><span class="samp">version</span><dd>Only print the version.  This is the default. 
564<br><dt><span class="samp">copyright</span><dd>Name the copyright usage licensing terms. 
565<br><dt><span class="samp">verbose</span><dd>Print the full copyright usage licensing terms. 
566</dl>
567
568<div class="node">
569<p><hr>
570<a name="sntp-exit-status"></a>Next:&nbsp;<a rel="next" accesskey="n" href="#sntp-Usage">sntp Usage</a>,
571Previous:&nbsp;<a rel="previous" accesskey="p" href="#sntp-config">sntp config</a>,
572Up:&nbsp;<a rel="up" accesskey="u" href="#sntp-Invocation">sntp Invocation</a>
573<br>
574</div>
575
576<h4 class="subsection">sntp exit status</h4>
577
578<p>One of the following exit values will be returned:
579     <dl>
580<dt><span class="samp">0 (EXIT_SUCCESS)</span><dd>Successful program execution. 
581<br><dt><span class="samp">1 (EXIT_FAILURE)</span><dd>The operation failed or the command syntax was not valid. 
582<br><dt><span class="samp">66 (EX_NOINPUT)</span><dd>A specified configuration file could not be loaded. 
583<br><dt><span class="samp">70 (EX_SOFTWARE)</span><dd>libopts had an internal operational error.  Please report
584it to autogen-users@lists.sourceforge.net.  Thank you. 
585</dl>
586  <div class="node">
587<p><hr>
588<a name="sntp-Usage"></a>Next:&nbsp;<a rel="next" accesskey="n" href="#sntp-Authors">sntp Authors</a>,
589Previous:&nbsp;<a rel="previous" accesskey="p" href="#sntp-exit-status">sntp exit status</a>,
590Up:&nbsp;<a rel="up" accesskey="u" href="#sntp-Invocation">sntp Invocation</a>
591<br>
592</div>
593
594<h4 class="subsection">sntp Usage</h4>
595
596<div class="node">
597<p><hr>
598<a name="sntp-Authors"></a>Previous:&nbsp;<a rel="previous" accesskey="p" href="#sntp-Usage">sntp Usage</a>,
599Up:&nbsp;<a rel="up" accesskey="u" href="#sntp-Invocation">sntp Invocation</a>
600<br>
601</div>
602
603<h4 class="subsection">sntp Authors</h4>
604
605<div class="node">
606<p><hr>
607<a name="Usage"></a>
608<br>
609</div>
610
611<!-- node-name,  next,  previous,  up -->
612<h3 class="section">Usage</h3>
613
614<p>The simplest use of this program is as an unprivileged command to
615check the current time, offset, and error in the local clock. 
616For example:
617
618<pre class="example">    sntp ntpserver.somewhere
619</pre>
620  <p>With suitable privilege, it can be run as a command or in a
621<code>crom</code> job to reset the local clock from a reliable server, like
622the <code>ntpdate</code> and <code>rdate</code> commands. 
623For example:
624
625<pre class="example">    sntp -a ntpserver.somewhere
626</pre>
627  </body></html>
628
629