Each and every configuration file option (see below) may also appear as a “long” style command line argument. For example, the use_syslog option may be set using either of these two forms.
Option values given on the command line override values in the global section of the configuration file.
The configuration file is divided into sections. Each section starts with a line containing its name enclosed in brackets and it follows with settings. Each setting is placed on a separate line, it contains the name of the option and the value separated by whitespace characters. Empty lines and lines starting with # are ignored.
There are two different section types.
active_key_idUsed in conjunction with spp and sa_file directives to specify which key from the spp defined Security Association should be used for outbound icv calculations. All Security Assocations are read from the file specified by sa_file. Requires spp and sa_file directives. Must be in the range of 1 to 2^32-1, inclusive. The default is 0 (disabled).
clock_servoThe servo which is used to synchronize the local clock. Valid values are pi for a PI controller, linreg for an adaptive controller using linear regression, ntpshm and refclock_sock for the NTP SHM and chrony SOCK reference clocks respectively to allow another process to synchronize the local clock, and nullf for a servo that always dials frequency offset zero (for use in SyncE nodes). The default is pi.
first_step_thresholdThe maximum offset, specified in seconds, that the servo will correct by changing the clock frequency (phase when using nullf servo) instead of stepping the clock. This is only applied on the first update. When set to 0.0, the servo will not step the clock on start. The default is 0.00002 (20 microseconds).
free_runningWhen set to 1, no PHC will be adjusted. This option can be useful in test scenarios, for example to determine how well synchronized a group of local clocks are to each other. The default is 0 (adjust the clocks).
leapfileThe path to the current leap seconds definition file. In a Debian system this file is provided by the tzdata package and can be found at /usr/share/zoneinfo/leap-seconds.list. If a leapfile is configured it will be reloaded if modified. The default is an empty string, which causes the program to use a hard coded table that reflects the known leap seconds on the date of the software’s release.
logging_levelThe maximum logging level of messages which should be printed. The default is 6 (LOG_INFO).
max_frequencyThe maximum allowed frequency adjustment of the clock in parts per billion. This is an additional limit to the maximum allowed by the hardware. When set to 0, the hardware limit will be used. The default is 900000000 (90%).
message_tagThe tag which is added to all messages printed to the standard output or system log. If the tag contains the string "{level}", it will be replaced with the log level of the message as a number. The default is an empty string (which cannot be set in the configuration file as the option requires an argument).
ntpshm_segmentThe number of the SHM segment used by ntpshm servo. The default is 0.
pi_integral_constThe integral constant of the PI controller. When set to 0.0, the integral constant will be set by the following formula from the current
sync interval. The default is 0.0.
ki = min(ki_scale * sync^ki_exponent, ki_norm_max / sync)
pi_integral_exponentThe ki_exponent constant in the formula used to set the integral constant of the PI controller from the sync interval. The default is 0.4.
pi_integral_norm_maxThe ki_norm_max constant in the formula used to set the integral constant of the PI controller from the sync interval. The default is 0.3.
pi_integral_scaleThe ki_scale constant in the formula used to set the integral constant of the PI controller from the sync interval. The default is 0.3.
pi_proportional_constThe proportional constant of the PI controller. When set to 0.0, the proportional constant will be set by the following formula from the current
sync interval. The default is 0.0.
kp = min(kp_scale * sync^kp_exponent, kp_norm_max / sync)
pi_proportional_exponentThe kp_exponent constant in the formula used to set the proportional constant of the PI controller from the sync interval. The default is -0.3.
pi_proportional_norm_maxThe kp_norm_max constant in the formula used to set the proportional constant of the PI controller from the sync interval. The default is 0.7.
pi_proportional_scaleThe kp_scale constant in the formula used to set the proportional constant of the PI controller from the sync interval. The default is 0.7.
sa_fileSpecifies the location of the file containing Security Associations used for immediate security processing of the Authentication TLV in
support of the optional security mechanism defined in ieee1588-2019 ch 14.16. See SECURITY ASSOCIATION OPTIONS for information on how this file should be formatted. spp and active_key_id should be specifed for each port to indicate which Security Association from the sa_file should be used. The default is an empty string.
servo_num_offset_valuesThe number of offset values considered in order to transition from the SERVO_LOCKED to the SERVO_LOCKED_STABLE state. The transition occurs once the last servo_num_offset_values offsets are all below the servo_offset_threshold value. The default value is 10.
servo_offset_thresholdThe offset threshold used in order to transition from the SERVO_LOCKED to the SERVO_LOCKED_STABLE state. The transition occurs once the last servo_num_offset_values offsets are all below the threshold value. The default value of offset_threshold is 0 (disabled).
step_thresholdThe maximum offset, specified in seconds, that the servo will correct by changing the clock frequency instead of stepping the clock. When set to 0.0, the servo will never step the clock except on start. The default is 0.0.
sppSpecifies the Security Parameters Pointer of the desired Security Association to be used for Authentication TLV support for a given port. Any port with an assigned spp will attach Authentication TLVs to all outbound messages and check for Authentication TLVs on all inbound messages in accordance to the corresponding security association sourced via the sa_file directive. Outbound Authentication TLVs are generated using the key specified by active_key_id. Not compatible with one step ports or advertised versions less then PTPv2.1. Requires sa_file and active_key_id directives. Must be in the range of 0 to 255, inclusive. The default is -1 (disabled).
ts2phc.holdoverThe holdover interval, specified in seconds. When the ToD information stops working (e.g. GNSS receiver lost its fix), ts2phc is allowed for the specified interval to continue synchronizing the target clock as long as the servo is in the SERVO_LOCKED_STABLE state. The servo state needs be enabled by the servo_offset_threshold option. The holdover is not supported with the -a option and when ts2phc.extts_polarity is set to both. The default is 0 (disabled).
ts2phc.nmea_delaySpecifies the minimum expected delay of NMEA RMC messages in nanoseconds. If the maximum delay is longer than 1 second, or ts2phc.pulsewidth if ts2phc.extts_polarity is set to both, this option needs to be set accordingly to allow the timestamps from NMEA messages to be correctly assigned to pulses from the PPS signal and wrong PPS edges to be rejected if the edge rejection is enabled. The default is 0 nanoseconds.
ts2phc.nmea_remote_host, ts2phc.nmea_remote_portSpecifies the remote host providing ToD information when using the nmea PPS signal source. Note that if these two options are both specified, then the given remote connection will be used in preference to the configured serial port. These options default to the empty string, that is, not specified.
ts2phc.nmea_serialport, ts2phc.nmea_baudrateSpecifies the serial port and baudrate in bps for character device providing ToD information when using the nmea PPS signal source. Note that if the options, ts2phc.nmea_remote_host and ts2phc.nmea_remote_port, are both specified, then the given remote connection will be used in preference to the configured serial port. The default serial port is /dev/ttyS0. The default baudrate is 9600 bps.
ts2phc.perout_phaseConfigures the offset between the beginning of the second and the PPS source’s rising edge. Available only for the PHC kind of PPS source. The supported range is 0 to 999999999 nanoseconds. The default is 0 nanoseconds, but leaving this option unspecified will not transmit the phase to the kernel, instead PPS will be requested to start at an absolute time equal to the nearest 2nd full second since the start of the program. This should yield the same effect, but may not work with drivers that do not support starting periodic output at an absolute time.
ts2phc.pulsewidthThe pulse width of the external PPS signal in nanoseconds. When ts2phc.extts_polarity is both, the given pulse width is used to detect and discard the time stamp of the unwanted edge. In case the PPS source is of the PHC kind, an attempt is made to request the kernel to actually
emit using this pulse width. If this fails, it is assumed that the specified pulse width is correct, and the value is used in the edge rejection algorithm. The supported range is 1000000 to 990000000 nanoseconds. The default is 500000000 nanoseconds.
ts2phc.tod_sourceSpecifies the source of Time of Day (ToD) data. Use the key word generic for an external 1-PPS without ToD information. When using a PHC as the time source, the clock may be identified by its character device (like /dev/ptp0) or its associated network interface (like eth0). Use the key word nmea for an external 1-PPS from a GPS providing ToD information via the RMC NMEA sentence. The default is generic.
use_syslogPrint messages to the system log if enabled. The default is 1 (enabled).
verbosePrint messages to the standard output if enabled. The default is 0 (disabled).