NTP Client

If a system is going to act as an NTP client, creating the configuration file is much simpler. Instead of copying the template /etc/inet/ntp.server file to /etc/inet/ntp.conf, the template /etc/inet/ntp.client file is copied to /etc/inet/ntp.conf. By default, this file contains a list that listens for multicast broadcasts on the local subnet:

multicastclient 224.0.1.1

NTP clients send and receive NTP message data in a specific format. The main fields transmitted include the following:

Leap Indicator Flag that indicates a leap year at the end of the day.
Version Number NTP v3.
Mode Determines whether the message is symmetric active, symmetric passive, client, server, broadcast, or an NTP control message.
Stratum Level of accuracy for the message, with 1 being a primary server and 2–255 indicating secondary servers of decreasing accuracy.
Poll Interval Maximum time separating messages.
Precision Local clock precision.
Root Delay Delay anticipated between the primary and other sources.
Root Dispersion Error estimate from the primary source.
Reference Clock Identifier Allows the primary source clock to be identified.
Reference Timestamp The last time the local clock was updated.
Originate Timestamp The time at which the message was transmitted from a client.
Receive Timestamp The time at which the message was received.
Transmit Timestamp The time at which the message was transmitted from a server.
Authenticator Specifies the authentication method used.