Ntp

NTP is the network time protocol. It allows you to fetch the current date/time from an internet time server. You can also use it to provide a network time service.

Show time offset from time server

# sntp timeserver.mycompany.com
2011 Aug 16 13:59:55.000224 + 0.000137 +/- 0.002426 secs

Query status

# /etc/init.d/ntp status
     remote           refid      st t when poll reach   delay   offset  jitter
==============================================================================
*timehost1.local .PPS.            1 u  356 1024  377    1.404    0.049   0.154

Checking for network time protocol daemon (NTPD):                    running

Query time

To query the time from an ntp server, use ntpdate:

# ntpdate pool.ntp.org
3 Jun 17:11:29 ntpdate[22682]: step time server 212.45.144.59 offset -28908.834558 sec

This will show you date and time in your current time zone defined in /etc/localtime

Configure it

Edit /etc/ntp.conf, add your time server like this:

server myserver.domain