Time Server Sync settings won't save. Corrupt? Path to remove?

Submitted by neilticktin on Sun, 08/14/2016 - 10:23 Pro Licensee

I'm familiar with the settings and features at: webmin > hardware > system time > time server sync

on our Ubuntu 14.04 LTS server running webmin/virtualmin.

At one point, I put the wrong hostname for an ntp server -- and no matter how I try, I cannot change any settings on the "Time Server Sync" tab on the "System Time" page and have them save. They appear to save, but when I go back and look at them -- they haven't change. I've tried rebooting the server (out of futility).

Where are these settings stored? Can I delete or edit them directly?

Thanks!

Neil

Status: 
Active

Comments

Submitted by andreychek on Sun, 08/14/2016 - 11:45

Howdy -- are you seeing any errors in /var/webmin/miniserv.error when that occurs?

Also, is this a VPS, or a dedicated server?

While Jamie would know for sure where that setting is stored, you could always use this command here to find it:

find /etc/webmin -type f | xargs grep NTP_SERVER_NAME

That will search all files in /etc/webmin for the name of your NTP server.

Submitted by JamieCameron on Sun, 08/14/2016 - 12:25

The NTP server is stored in /etc/webmin/time/config . Is that being updated?

Submitted by neilticktin on Sun, 08/14/2016 - 12:57 Pro Licensee

Andrey: Just so that someone else sees this if they read the post, when I do the

find /etc/webmin -type f | xargs grep NTP_SERVER_NAME

command (obviously, replacing NTP_SERVER_NAME with the server name currently set), Ubuntu 14.04 tells me:

grep: unrecognized option '--id'
Usage: grep [OPTION]... PATTERN [FILE]...
Try 'grep --help' for more information.

which I didn't pursue further because Jamie answered on the location. But, I thought you'd want to know.

Submitted by neilticktin on Sun, 08/14/2016 - 12:57 Pro Licensee

Jamie: Found the config file and when I check the date/time stamp ... it is NOT being updated.

root@vms:/etc/webmin/time# ls -la
total 12
drwx--x--x   2 root bin  4096 May 22 18:10 .
drwxr-xr-x 136 root root 4096 Aug 14 11:04 ..
-rw-------   1 root bin    92 Aug 10 08:40 config

Before I just edit that directly -- is there anything else you want me to try? (in the interest of finding out why this is happening).

Thanks!

Neil

Submitted by JamieCameron on Sun, 08/14/2016 - 13:53

That's odd, because the time server to sync with should be saved in that file.

Which specific button are you clicking in the System Time module?

Submitted by neilticktin on Sun, 08/14/2016 - 19:40 Pro Licensee

I agree -- very odd. This isn't a newbie UI question -- I understand using virtualmin well enough that I've given several sessions in several cities at MacTech Pro events in using virtualmin. (I say that only for credibility).

Specifically, I've changed:

Timeserver hostnames or addresses, but the hostname changes won't keep Also changed the "Synchronize when Webmin starts?" and "Synchronize on schedule?" radio buttons -- but they won't "take" either.

After I make the change, I press "Sync and Apply" ... which I've done many times. But, this server no longer will "keep" the changes and show no error.

Should I try editing the file at /etc/webmin/time/config manually?

Submitted by JamieCameron on Sun, 08/14/2016 - 22:53

Sure, you could edit that file manually.

I did some more testing on other systems, but was unable to re-produce this.

One question - which language do you have selected in Webmin?

Submitted by neilticktin on Tue, 08/16/2016 - 11:50 Pro Licensee

I thought I answered this before, just realized that I forgot to!

I'm using English US (EN.UTF-8) for the language in Webmin Config. Is that what you are asking?

Also, while I've edited that file manually with the new ntp server -- I still cannot make changes through the interface.

Submitted by JamieCameron on Tue, 08/16/2016 - 23:46

Does any feature of that module work, like changing the current time?

Submitted by neilticktin on Wed, 08/17/2016 - 10:06 Pro Licensee

Great question ...

Change Timezone works (can change it, then go back to the page and it's kept the changes)

Nothing in System Time will save.

Nothing in Time Server will save.

Is there a way to "reset" that module and it's preferences? Thanks!

Neil

Submitted by JamieCameron on Thu, 08/18/2016 - 01:58

When you manually edit /etc/webmin/time/config to change the NTP server, does it show up in the System Time module?

Submitted by neilticktin on Thu, 08/18/2016 - 09:53 Pro Licensee

Yep! To double check, what permissions, owner and group do you want for that file/directory?

Submitted by JamieCameron on Thu, 08/18/2016 - 23:36

It shouldn't matter, because the file is written by the root user.

Any chance that we could access the system that's having this problem, to debug what's going wrong inside Webmin?

Submitted by neilticktin on Fri, 08/19/2016 - 11:00 Pro Licensee

I was thinking to offer that. Let's move this conversation to email please -- I'd feel more comfortable that way.

I'm dropping you an email now -- let me know if you don't see it.

Submitted by andreychek on Fri, 08/19/2016 - 11:39

We'd like to keep the conversation here, but email is a good way to share login credentials.

This is our official support tracker though, and all three of us monitor it. You'll get much better support here. We don't always notice or respond to all emails.

If you like though, we can mark this request as private, so that only the Virtualmin staff can see it?

Submitted by andreychek on Fri, 08/19/2016 - 11:41

Also, if you aren't receiving email notifications, you can set those up by going into Account -> Project Notifications.

Submitted by JamieCameron on Sat, 08/20/2016 - 00:27

Thanks for the email - I'll take a look