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Network Time Protocol Query Input Plugin

plugins/inputs/ntpq/README.md

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Network Time Protocol Query Input Plugin

This plugin gathers metrics about Network Time Protocol queries.

[!IMPORTANT] This plugin requires the ntpq executable to be installed on the system.

⭐ Telegraf v0.11.0 🏷️ network 💻 all

Global configuration options <!-- @/docs/includes/plugin_config.md -->

Plugins support additional global and plugin configuration settings for tasks such as modifying metrics, tags, and fields, creating aliases, and configuring plugin ordering. See CONFIGURATION.md for more details.

Configuration

toml
# Get standard NTP query metrics, requires ntpq executable.
[[inputs.ntpq]]
  ## Servers to query with ntpq.
  ## If no server is given, the local machine is queried.
  # servers = []

  ## Options to pass to the ntpq command.
  # options = "-p"

  ## Output format for the 'reach' field.
  ## Available values are
  ##   octal   --  output as is in octal representation e.g. 377 (default)
  ##   decimal --  convert value to decimal representation e.g. 371 -> 249
  ##   count   --  count the number of bits in the value. This represents
  ##               the number of successful reaches, e.g. 37 -> 5
  ##   ratio   --  output the ratio of successful attempts e.g. 37 -> 5/8 = 0.625
  # reach_format = "octal"

You can pass arbitrary options accepted by the ntpq command using the options setting. In case you want to skip DNS lookups use

toml
  options = "-p -n"

for example.

Below is the documentation of the various headers returned from the NTP query command when running ntpq -p.

  • remote – The remote peer or server being synced to. “LOCAL” is this local host (included in case there are no remote peers or servers available);
  • refid – Where or what the remote peer or server is itself synchronised to;
  • st (stratum) – The remote peer or server Stratum
  • t (type) – Type (u: unicast or manycast client, b: broadcast or multicast client, l: local reference clock, s: symmetric peer, A: manycast server, B: broadcast server, M: multicast server, see “Automatic Server Discovery“);
  • when – When last polled (seconds ago, “h” hours ago, or “d” days ago);
  • poll – Polling frequency: rfc5905 suggests this ranges in NTPv4 from 4 (16s) to 17 (36h) (log2 seconds), however observation suggests the actual displayed value is seconds for a much smaller range of 64 (26) to 1024 (210) seconds;
  • reach – An 8-bit left-shift shift register value recording polls (bit set = successful, bit reset = fail) displayed in octal;
  • delay – Round trip communication delay to the remote peer or server (milliseconds);
  • offset – Mean offset (phase) in the times reported between this local host and the remote peer or server (RMS, milliseconds);
  • jitter – Mean deviation (jitter) in the time reported for that remote peer or server (RMS of difference of multiple time samples, milliseconds);

Metrics

  • ntpq
    • delay (float, milliseconds)
    • jitter (float, milliseconds)
    • offset (float, milliseconds)
    • poll (int, seconds)
    • reach (int)
    • when (int, seconds)

Tags

All measurements have the following tags:

  • refid
  • remote
  • type
  • stratum

In case you are specifying servers, the measurement has an additional source tag.

Example Output

text
ntpq,refid=.GPSs.,remote=*time.apple.com,stratum=1,type=u delay=91.797,jitter=3.735,offset=12.841,poll=64i,reach=377i,when=35i 1457960478909556134