// This is the body of the manual page for ntptrace.
// It's included in two places: once for the docs/ HTML
// tree, and once to make an individual man page.

== SYNOPSIS

[verse]
+ntptrace+ [+-V+ | +--version+] [+-n+ |+--numeric+]
    [+-m+ 'number' | +--max-hosts=+'number']
    [+-r+ 'host' | +--host=+'remote']
    'hostname'

== DESCRIPTION

+ntptrace+ is a python script that uses the ntpq utility program to
follow the chain of NTP servers from a given host back to the primary
time source.

For +ntptrace+ to work properly, each of these servers must
implement the NTP Control and Monitoring Protocol specified in RFC 1305
and enable NTP Mode 6 control packets.  Nowadays it is usual for
public timeservers to disable Mode 6 queries, so this script is
unlikely to be very useful unless you have a collection of
specially-configured timeservers on your LAN.

If given no arguments, ntptrace starts with localhost. Here is an
example of the output from ntptrace:

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
% ntptrace
localhost: stratum 4, offset 0.0019529, synch distance 0.144135
server2ozo.com: stratum 2, offset 0.0124263, synch distance 0.115784
usndh.edu: stratum 1, offset 0.0019298, synch distance 0.011993, refid 'GPS'
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

On each line, the fields are (left to right): the host name, the host
stratum, the time offset between that host and the local host (as
measured by +ntptrace+; this is why it is not always zero for
"localhost"), the host synchronization distance, and (only for stratum-1
servers) the reference clock ID. All times are given in seconds. Note
that the stratum is the server hop count to the primary source, while
the synchronization distance is the estimated error relative to the
primary source. These terms are precisely defined in RFC 1305.

== OPTIONS

+-n+, +--numeric+::
  Print IP addresses instead of hostnames.
+
Output hosts as dotted-quad numeric format rather than converting to
the canonical host names.

+-m+ number, +--max-hosts+=_number_::
  Maximum number of peers to trace. This option takes an integer number
  as its argument. The default _number_ for this option is 99.

+-r+ string, +--host+=_string_::
  Trace a single remote host.

+-V+, +--version+::
  Print the version string and exit.

// end
