RHEL NTP syncing issue

[senturon]

I'm having difficulty with NTP syncing correctly across multiple machines. They are all configured identically (as far as NTP goes) to use one local NTP server (attached to a GPS receiver) as their server and use their local clock as a backup.

My issue is that some choose the NTP server as their primary sync, and some choose to latch on to their local clock. The NTP server is of stratum 6 where the local clock is fudged to 10.


Example using ntpq -p (Sorry about the formatting, apparently white space isn't allowed):

remote refid st t when poll reach delay offset jitter
==================================================
*hostname LOCAL(0) 6 u 59 64 377 0.094 -0.079 0.270
LOCAL(0) .LOCL. 10 l 64 64 377 0.000 0.000 0.001

vs.

hostname LOCAL(0) 6 u 88 128 377 0.105 -0.223 0.296
*LOCAL(0) .LOCL. 10 l 46 64 377 0.000 0.000 0.001

Over time the one synced up to the local clock will drift.

Using the 'prefer' switch (in /etc/ntp.conf) as below doesn't seem to make any difference:
server hostname prefer

Is there any way to force a primary NTP server? I want them all to sync to the hostname machine.

Thanks in advance for any ideas.

[Lazydog]

What does your ntp.conf file look like? White spaces are allowed when you use the proper tags, in this case the tasgs would be code not quote.

[senturon]

Thanks for the reply, sorry about the lax response...I posted this right before going on vacation.

Here is the NTP servers ntp.conf file. It is the default file with a couple modifications:
-Removed the pool.ntp.org server lines
-Commented out the fudge line for the local clock

# Permit time synchronization with our time source, but do not
# permit the source to query or modify the service on this system.
restrict default kod nomodify notrap nopeer noquery
restrict -6 default kod nomodify notrap nopeer noquery

# Permit all access over the loopback interface.  This could
# be tightened as well, but to do so would effect some of
# the administrative functions.
restrict 127.0.0.1
restrict -6 ::1

# Hosts on local network are less restricted.
#restrict 192.168.1.0 mask 255.255.255.0 nomodify notrap

# Use public servers from the pool.ntp.org project.
# Please consider joining the pool (WEBSITE REMOVED).




#broadcast 192.168.1.255 key 42         # broadcast server
#broadcastclient                        # broadcast client
#broadcast 224.0.1.1 key 42             # multicast server
#multicastclient 224.0.1.1              # multicast client
#manycastserver 239.255.254.254         # manycast server
#manycastclient 239.255.254.254 key 42  # manycast client

# Undisciplined Local Clock. This is a fake driver intended for backup
# and when no outside source of synchronized time is available.
server  127.127.1.0     # local clock
#fudge  127.127.1.0 stratum 10

# Drift file.  Put this in a directory which the daemon can write to.
# No symbolic links allowed, either, since the daemon updates the file
# by creating a temporary in the same directory and then rename()'ing
# it to the file.
driftfile /var/lib/ntp/drift

# Key file containing the keys and key identifiers used when operating
# with symmetric key cryptography.
keys /etc/ntp/keys

# Specify the key identifiers which are trusted.
#trustedkey 4 8 42

# Specify the key identifier to use with the ntpdc utility.
#requestkey 8

# Specify the key identifier to use with the ntpq utility.
#controlkey 8

The only difference between the server file and the client files are:
-There is an additional server line to the hostname that owns the ntp.conf file above (with or without 'prefer' made no difference):
server hostname prefer
-The fudge line for the local clock is not commented out

Thanks for the tip on the code block.