Hi! After a change in configuration ,updates and a reboot, I saw thgis probel in SLES12 SP5 (systemd-228-157.30.1.x86_64): ntpd.service failed during boot. For some reason /etc/ntp.conf was missing (my fault). After restoring /etc/ntp.conf and trying a start, start never seems to finish and I see no logs that something is even attempted.
Some logs: Oct 22 12:55:46 v07 start-ntpd[1431]: Time server configuration file, /etc/ntp.conf does not exist. Oct 22 12:55:46 v07 systemd[1]: ntpd.service: Control process exited, code=exited status=6 Oct 22 12:55:46 v07 systemd[1]: Failed to start NTP Server Daemon. Oct 22 12:55:46 v07 systemd[1]: Dependency failed for Wait for ntpd to synchronize system clock. Oct 22 12:55:46 v07 systemd[1]: ntp-wait.service: Job ntp-wait.service/start failed with result 'dependency'. Oct 22 12:55:46 v07 systemd[1]: ntpd.service: Unit entered failed state. Oct 22 12:55:46 v07 systemd[1]: ntpd.service: Failed with result 'exit-code'. Oct 22 12:55:46 v07 systemd[1]: Reached target System Time Synchronized. Interestingly I wouldn't expect "Reached target System Time Synchronized.". Status when "systemctl start ntpd" was running for some time already: v07:~ # systemctl status ntpd.service ● ntpd.service - NTP Server Daemon Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/ntpd.service; enabled; vendor preset: disabled) Drop-In: /run/systemd/generator/ntpd.service.d └─50-insserv.conf-$time.conf Active: activating (auto-restart) (Result: exit-code) since Fri 2021-10-22 12:55:46 CEST; 7min ago Docs: man:ntpd(1) Tasks: 0 (limit: 512) Oct 22 12:55:46 v07 systemd[1]: ntpd.service: Control process exited, ...=6 Oct 22 12:55:46 v07 systemd[1]: Failed to start NTP Server Daemon. Oct 22 12:55:46 v07 systemd[1]: ntpd.service: Unit entered failed state. Oct 22 12:55:46 v07 systemd[1]: ntpd.service: Failed with result 'exit...'. Hint: Some lines were ellipsized, use -l to show in full. After significant time: Oct 22 13:06:47 v07 systemd[1]: ntpd.service: Service RestartSec=11min expired, scheduling restart. Oct 22 13:06:47 v07 systemd[1]: Stopped NTP Server Daemon. Oct 22 13:06:47 v07 systemd[1]: Starting NTP Server Daemon... Oct 22 13:06:47 v07 ntpd[3998]: ntpd 4.2.8p15@1.3728-o Mon Jun 21 18:17:38 UTC 2021 (1): Starting Oct 22 13:06:47 v07 ntpd[3998]: Command line: /usr/sbin/ntpd -p /var/run/ntp/ntpd.pid -g -u ntp:ntp -c /etc/ntp.conf Oct 22 13:06:47 v07 ntpd[3998]: ---------------------------------------------------- Oct 22 13:06:47 v07 ntpd[3998]: ntp-4 is maintained by Network Time Foundation, Oct 22 13:06:47 v07 ntpd[3998]: Inc. (NTF), a non-profit 501(c)(3) public-benefit ... Oct 22 13:06:47 v07 systemd[1]: Started NTP Server Daemon. I don't understand: Was the missing ntp.conf file blocking the service for 11 minutes? v07:~ # systemctl status ntp-wait.service ● ntp-wait.service - Wait for ntpd to synchronize system clock Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/ntp-wait.service; enabled; vendor preset: disabled) Active: inactive (dead) Oct 22 12:55:46 v07 systemd[1]: Dependency failed for Wait for ntpd to synchronize system clock. Oct 22 12:55:46 v07 systemd[1]: ntp-wait.service: Job ntp-wait.service/start failed with result 'dependency'. Regards, Ulrich