Time/Date Synchronization

The 825gen2 provides time/date synchronization to automatically set the time and date from a server on the internet.

The "Setup" menu screen "Set Date/Time" has the input prompt "Automatic:".

If this is set as "Yes" the automatic time synchronization is enabled. This is the same as the terminal command:

sudo timedatectl set-ntp true

If "Automatic" is changed to "No" this is the same as:

sudo timedatectl set-ntp false

From a terminal the timedatectl command can be used with no arguments to check whether synchronization is enabled (NTP service active).

card825gen2:~$ timedatectl
               Local time: Wed 2024-02-21 14:29:45 CST
           Universal time: Wed 2024-02-21 20:29:45 UTC
                 RTC time: n/a
                Time zone: America/Chicago (CST, -0600)
System clock synchronized: yes
              NTP service: active
          RTC in local TZ: no

The following command will show information about time synchronization.

card825gen2:~$ timedatectl show-timesync --all
LinkNTPServers=
SystemNTPServers=
FallbackNTPServers=time1.google.com time2.google.com time3.google.com time4.google.com
ServerName=time3.google.com
ServerAddress=216.239.35.8
RootDistanceMaxUSec=5s
PollIntervalMinUSec=32s
PollIntervalMaxUSec=34min 8s
PollIntervalUSec=17min 4s
NTPMessage={ Leap=0, Version=4, Mode=4, Stratum=1, Precision=-20, RootDelay=0, RootDispersion=106us, Reference=GOOG, OriginateTimestamp=Wed 2024-02-21 14:13:48 CST, ReceiveTimestamp=Wed 2024-02-21 14:13:48 CST, TransmitTimestamp=Wed 2024-02-21 14:13:48 CST, DestinationTimestamp=Wed 2024-02-21 14:13:48 CST, Ignored=no, PacketCount=6, Jitter=10.205ms }
Frequency=1093238

The systemctl command can also be used to view status of the systemd-timesyncd service. This will be active when time synchronization is enabled.

card825gen2:~$ sudo systemctl status systemd-timesyncd
● systemd-timesyncd.service - Network Time Synchronization
     Loaded: loaded (/lib/systemd/system/systemd-timesyncd.service; enabled; vendor preset: enabled)
     Active: active (running) since Wed 2024-02-21 13:55:24 CST; 26min ago
       Docs: man:systemd-timesyncd.service(8)
   Main PID: 223 (systemd-timesyn)
     Status: "Initial synchronization to time server 216.239.35.8:123 (time3.google.com)."
      Tasks: 2 (limit: 3533)
     Memory: 1.1M
     CGroup: /system.slice/systemd-timesyncd.service
             └─ 223 /lib/systemd/systemd-timesyncd

The "Setup Network Services" menu has a service selection "Network Time Protocol (NTP)". This refers to the ntpdate service and should not be needed (Set to "Off"). The systemd-timesyncd service used by timedatectl is the preferred method of time synchronization for the 825gen2.