Diagnostics — time#
The Time tab shows which time servers the router uses and how closely it follows them, and edits the list of servers. It refreshes every 30 seconds.
Time servers#
The Time servers panel lists the servers in the router's settings, with their number in the title. With none, it reads "No time servers. Without one the router’s clock is not corrected."
To change the list:
- Press Edit. The Time servers side panel opens.
- Type a server's name or address and press Add, or Enter. Remove a server with the × beside it.
- Press Save changes, then Apply changes in the bar at the bottom of the page.
Each server added or removed is one pending change: "Add time server time.example.net", "Remove time server time.example.net". Editing needs the operator role and a licence.
A server's own options, such as whether it is a pool of servers or the preferred server, are set on System → Settings. Removing a server here removes its options too. Serving time to the devices on the network is also set on System → Settings.
Clock#
| Row | Value |
|---|---|
| Router uptime | How long the router has been running. |
| Your browser’s time | The date and time on the computer showing the page. |
| Your browser’s time zone | That computer's time zone. |
Synchronisation#
The table is read from the router's time service, one row per server:
| Column | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Server | The server as the time service names it, which can be the name its address resolves to rather than the name in the list; a pool has a row for each of its servers. A long name is cut short and ends in >. |
| Offset | How far the router's clock is from the server's, as estimated from the samples. |
| Std dev | The spread of those samples. |
| Samples | How many samples the estimate uses. |
| Span | The time the samples cover. |
| Frequency (ppm) | The estimated remaining rate difference between the router's clock and the server's, in parts per million. |
| Skew (ppm) | The uncertainty of that estimate, in parts per million. |
On a router whose time service reports a different table, the columns are the router's own.
With no rows, the panel reads "The router is not synchronising with any server yet." In Advanced mode, the router's own output is shown under it. Time servers answer on UDP port 123; a server the router cannot reach on that port gets no new samples.
What a wrong clock breaks#
- Two-factor sign-in. Codes change every 30 seconds, and the agent accepts the current code and the one either side of it. A clock a minute or more out rejects correct codes.
- Certificates. Anything checked by date, such as the licence server's certificate, an ACME certificate order or an IPsec peer's certificate, fails when the clock reads before the certificate's start or after its end.
- Timestamps. The system log, the audit log and the history of applied changes are stamped with this clock.
What this tab does not do#
- It does not set the clock directly. There is no manual time entry and no synchronise-now control; the time servers set the clock.
- It does not show the router's date and time, as above.
- It does not warn about drift. Nothing compares the router's clock with yours; the Offset column is the router's own measure.
For automation#
GET /api/ntp (any role) returns the time server settings, the synchronisation rows and
the router's own output. Changes to the list go through the pending changes, like any
other.
See also#
- Time synchronisation — the guide.
- System — settings — server options, the time zone, and serving time to the network.
- Licence — the clock-unverified state.
- System — audit — the timestamps this clock produces.