NFS Clock11: Complete Guide to Installation and Setup
Overview
NFS Clock11 is a networked time synchronization and logging tool designed for distributed systems requiring precise timestamps. This guide walks through prerequisites, installation, configuration, verification, and common troubleshooting steps for a standard Linux environment.
Prerequisites
- OS: Debian/Ubuntu or RHEL/CentOS (tested on recent LTS releases).
- Privileges: Root or sudo access on each node.
- Network: TCP/UDP allowed between nodes on configured ports.
- Dependencies: build-essential, libssl-dev, pkg-config, git (if compiling from source).
- Time source: Access to a reliable NTP/PTS/GPS source (optional but recommended).
1. Obtain NFS Clock11
Choose one method:
- Package repository (preferred if available):
- Add vendor repository and install via apt/yum/dnf.
- Prebuilt binary:
- Download the tarball or binary for your architecture.
- Build from source:
- Clone the repo and compile.
Example (build from source):
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sudo apt update sudo apt install -y build-essential libssl-dev pkg-config git git clone https://example.com/nfs-clock11.git cd nfs-clock11 make sudo make install
2. Basic Configuration Files
NFS Clock11 uses a main config file, typically at /etc/nfs-clock11.conf. Minimal example:
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# /etc/nfs-clock11.conf mode = server# server | client | hybrid listen_address = 0.0.0.0 port = 11111 time_source = ntp://pool.ntp.org log_level = info peers = [“10.0.0.2”,“10.0.0.3”] # for cluster mode
Key options:
- mode: role of the node.
- listen_address / port: network binding.
- time_source: upstream time provider (NTP, PTP, GPS URL or device).
- peers: other Clock11 nodes for consensus.
- loglevel: debug/info/warn/error.
- auth: (optional) enable mutual TLS or token-based auth.
If using TLS, create or obtain certificates and reference them:
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tls_enabled = true tls_cert = /etc/nfs-clock11/cert.pem tls_key = /etc/nfs-clock11/key.pem tlsca = /etc/nfs-clock11/ca.pem
3. Systemd Service Setup
Create a systemd unit at /etc/systemd/system/nfs-clock11.service:
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[Unit] Description=NFS Clock11 daemon After=network.target[Service] Type=simple ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/nfs-clock11 –config /etc/nfs-clock11.conf Restart=on-failure User=nfsclock Group=nfsclock
[Install] WantedBy=multi-user.target
Enable and start:
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sudo useradd -r -s /sbin/nologin nfsclock sudo systemctl daemon-reload sudo systemctl enable –now nfs-clock11
4. Client Setup
On client machines, set mode = client and point to one or more server endpoints:
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mode = client servers = [“10.0.0.1:11111”]
Start the client service similarly with systemd. Configure local NTP/chrony to accept/local reference if required.
5. Verification and Testing
- Service status:
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sudo systemctl status nfs-clock11 sudo journalctl -u nfs-clock11 -f - Check listening port:
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ss -tunlp | grep 11111 - Query time:
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nfs-clock11ctl status nfs-clock11ctl peers nfs-clock11ctl source - Compare