How to know if htpdate has synchronized system clock?

Question

On my linux system, I use ntp to synchronize the system clock. I also installed htpdate to synchronize it when ntp is not available.

To know if ntp has synchronized the clock, I call timedatectl that outputs :

System clock synchronized: yes

But this "variable" is not changed when its htpdate that changes the system clock.

Is there a similar way to know if htpdate has set the system clock ?

Because sometimes ntp is not available due to the router (ntp port blocked) — Alex, Apr 15 '21 at 12:04
Yes but htpdate will get a date and synchronize the system clock. How can I know that it synchronized it ? (I can see it in the logs but there is maybe a better way) — Alex, Apr 15 '21 at 13:37
All I want to know is : Is it possible to get the same info that timedatectl gives "System clock synchronized: yes" when its [htpdate](https://linux.die.net/man/8/htpdate) that synchronized the system clock — Alex, Apr 15 '21 at 14:06

Eddy · Answer 1 · 2022-04-30T12:54:33.620

htpdate doesn't set the kernel flag used by ntp and timedatectl (yet).

simple way of checking can be done like,

# htpdate example.com
Offset 0.125 seconds

or if your system is in sync, it will return

# htpdate example.com
No time correction needed

Update: in latest master (will be included in version htpdate 1.3.5) the "System clock synchronized: yes" will be set when used with "-x'

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