My server is losing about a minute every week. Rebooting corrects it, but I don't want to have to reboot the server every week. It's almost like the server has delinked from the host clock, but I don't see how that could be.

[root@atom1 ~]# uname -a
Linux atom1.barkerjr.net 2.6.18.8-linode22 #1 SMP Tue Nov 10 16:12:12 UTC 2009 i686 i686 i386 GNU/Linux
[root@atom1 ~]# cat /proc/sys/xen/independent_wallclock
0
[root@atom1 ~]# grep xen /etc/sysctl.conf
[root@atom1 ~]#

Paravirtualized kernels tend to do that. Install ntp.

He isn't running a paravirt kernel -- /proc/sys/xen/independent_wallclock only exists on non-paravirt kernels.

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/ Peter

The solution is the same

apt-get install ntp-simple

I think the point of the original post was that a non-paravirt kernel with /proc/sys/xen/independent_wallclock = 0 should be locked to the host clock. Since the op's Linode clock is clearly not locked to the host clock, something is wrong.

One of my Linodes runs 2.6.18.8-linode22 and keeps perfect time without needing to run ntp.

_________________
/ Peter

It's possible the host's ntpd is simply malfunctioning. Try an "ntpq -p $yourhost.linode.com". Some of them allow such queries; some do not.

File a ticket, too.

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Matt Nordhoff (aka Peng on IRC)

If that were true, I wouldn't expect things to be corrected on a reboot, since it would still be getting the incorrect host clock. (Unless there's something in reboot processing that is doing a one-time sync like an ntpdate call from a network location).

Definitely sounds odd though, so once it gets resolved I'd be curious as to what it turns out to have been.

-- David

Erk, you're right, db3l! I'm operating on way less sleep than usual right now.

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Matt Nordhoff (aka Peng on IRC)

I opened a ticket and it seems ok now. They didn't say what the fix was, but that's ok with me. Time will tell if the fix takes.

Ha