package ntpdate 1:4.2.6.p5+dfsg-3ubuntu2.14.04.2 failed to install/upgrade: package ntpdate is already installed and configured

[sbela]

simple apt-get upgrade

ProblemType: Package
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 14.04
Package: ntpdate 1:4.2.6.p5+dfsg-3ubuntu2.14.04.2
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.13.0-43.72-generic 3.13.11.11
Uname: Linux 3.13.0-43-generic x86_64
NonfreeKernelModules: nvidia
ApportVersion: 2.14.1-0ubuntu3.6
AptdaemonVersion: 1.1.1-1ubuntu5.1
Architecture: amd64
Date: Tue Feb 10 10:26:09 2015
DuplicateSignature: package:ntpdate:1:4.2.6.p5+dfsg-3ubuntu2.14.04.2:package ntpdate is already installed and configured
ErrorMessage: package ntpdate is already installed and configured
InstallationDate: Installed on 2014-12-20 (51 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 14.04.1 LTS "Trusty Tahr" - Release amd64 (20140722.2)
ProcCmdline: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-3.13.0-43-generic root=UUID=a9797117-3c2c-459f-b1d6-e67ac3e7f34a ro quiet splash
SourcePackage: ntp
Title: package ntpdate 1:4.2.6.p5+dfsg-3ubuntu2.14.04.2 failed to install/upgrade: package ntpdate is already installed and configured
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)
modified.conffile..etc.ntp.conf: [modified]
mtime.conffile..etc.ntp.conf: 2015-02-06T17:31:46.510805

[sbela (gsbela)]

simple apt-get upgrade

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

Status changed to 'Confirmed' because the bug affects multiple users.

[Christian Ehrhardt  (paelzer)]

Thank you for taking the time to report this bug and helping to make Ubuntu better. Please execute the following command only once, as it will automatically gather debugging information, in a terminal:
apport-collect BUGNUMBER

When reporting bugs in the future please use apport by using 'ubuntu-bug' and the name of the package affected. You can learn more about this functionality at https://wiki.ubuntu.com/ReportingBugs.

The reason to consider this was that there was a custom /etc/ntp.conf but the user chose to take the Maintainers version, so all should be safe.
Yet it complains that dpkg --configure failed

But there is also an associated 600:0:116:110797:2015-02-10 10:26:08.381689786 +0100:2015-02-10 10:26:09.381689786 +0100:/var/crash/ntpdate.0.crash reported.

At the best case the issue doesn't trouble you anymore, but if it does share the info and also more of your setup details related to NTP to help recreating it.