ntpd -x steps clock on leap second (upstream bug: 2745)

[Fumihito YOSHIDA]

in http://bugs.ntp.org/show_bug.cgi?id=2745
 | With older versions it was possible to use the -x option to avoid upsetting
 | applications running on the system when the clock is stepped due to a leap
 | second.
 |
 | It seems in 4.2.6 was added support for inserting/deleting leap seconds on
 | systems without kernel discipline. However, the clock is now stepped even when
 | the -x option or tinker step is used to disable stepping.

I'm not sure this bug could affect Ubuntu's ntp packages, but I believe that this information is IMPORTANT for some ubuntu users.

Note: This bug is copied from https://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHBA-2015-0690.html, thanks Red Hat.

[Christian Ehrhardt  (paelzer)]

thanks for the report!

This was brought upstream to ntp via:

(4.2.8p3-RC1) 2015/05/12 Released by Harlan Stenn <email address hidden>
* [Bug 2745] ntpd -x steps clock on leap second
   Fixed an initial-value problem that caused misbehaviour in absence of
   any leapsecond information.
   Do leap second stepping only of the step adjustment is beyond the
   proper jump distance limit and step correction is allowed at all.

That is in Xenial and Yakkety - setting to fix released.

[Christian Ehrhardt  (paelzer)]

Xenial and Yakkety are fine, it is right to consider this for trusty, yet I can't accept the nomination.

[Christian Ehrhardt  (paelzer)]

I've backported the fix (actually adapted the backport that existed).
But given that this is a very rare case and we are targeting an SRU eventually I'd want somebody else to test and confirm the fix.

To ease to do so I've made a ppa available at: https://launchpad.net/~paelzer/+archive/ubuntu/bug-1432935-leap-x

Please report if this fixes the issue for you so that we can go on processing that as an SRU.

[Paride Legovini (paride)]

Trusty is now in Extended Security Maintenance [1], and this bug doesn't qualify for it, so it won't be fixed in that release.

[1] https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Releases