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We're using nagios check_ntp_time for monitoring time on our servers. Unfortunately the service is flapping. And reporting a lot of false-positives. It happens everytime for random server in random day time and lasts for ~10-30 minutes. When the problem occurs we get:

watch01:~ # /usr/lib/nagios/plugins/check_ntp_time -H lb01 -w 1 -c 2 -v
sending request to peer 0
response from peer 0: offset 0.07509887218
sending request to peer 0
response from peer 0: offset 0.07508444786
sending request to peer 0
response from peer 0: offset 0.07499825954
sending request to peer 0
response from peer 0: offset 0.07510817051
discarding peer 0: stratum=0
overall average offset: 0
NTP CRITICAL: Offset unknown|

When everything is ok, we get (I used different server to not have to wait):

watch01:~ # /usr/lib/nagios/plugins/check_ntp_time -H web02 -w 1 -c 2 -v
sending request to peer 0
response from peer 0: offset 0.0002282857895
sending request to peer 0
response from peer 0: offset 0.0002194643021
sending request to peer 0
response from peer 0: offset 0.0002347230911
sending request to peer 0
response from peer 0: offset 0.0002293586731
overall average offset: 0.0002282857895
NTP OK: Offset 0.0002282857895 secs|offset=0.000228s;1.000000;2.000000;

We are using:

  • check_ntp_time v1.4.15 (nagios-plugins 1.4.15) on Debian squeeze.

Remote ntp daemon is:

  • ntpd - NTP daemon program - Ver. 4.2.4p4

I already found some forums where the problem is described: 1, 2, 3. Every time they edvise to upgrade nagios-plugins, because in version prior to 1.4.13 there was a bug with inserted leap second. But we have already newer version of nagios-plugins.

Michal Bryxí
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    Check if the peer is actually reporting a stratum of zero. If so, it's NTP on the machine. If not, it's Nagios. – David Schwartz Sep 05 '12 at 21:56
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    I recall having to modify the check_ntp script to remove that check. It has been a long time. Do some grepping for that error in the check_script and see if you can't work around your problem. – dmourati Jan 22 '14 at 05:46
  • This issue still exists after upgrading to 1.4.16 –  Jan 22 '14 at 05:42
  • http://serverfault.com/questions/625027/nagios-check-ntp-time-offset-unknown/626286#626286 – Keith Sep 04 '14 at 15:44

1 Answers1

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Maybe still exists in 1.4.15: http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?func=detail&atid=397597&aid=3314686&group_id=29880

quanta
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