> Source: [sk105237](https://support.checkpoint.com/results/sk/sk105237)

# sk105237 - "Unable to talk to NTP daemon. Is it running?" when running 'ntpstat' command on VSX

| Property | Value |
|----------|-------|
| Solution ID | sk105237 |
| Date Created | 2015-03-16 |
| Last Modified | 2021-05-29 |
| Technical Level | Advanced |
| Products | Security Gateway |
| Versions | R82.10, R82, R81.20 |
| OS | Gaia |

## Symptoms

- * Output of the "*ntpstat*" command in the context of any Virtual System (except VS0) returns:

  `Unable to talk to NTP daemon. Is it running?`
* Output of the "*ntpstat*" command in the context of VSX Gateway itself (VS0) returns:

  ```
  
  synchronized to NTP server (IP_ADDRESS) at stratum X
    time correct to within Y ms
     polling server every X s
  ```

* Output of the "*service ntpd status* " command shows that the *ntpd* process is running.

* Output of the "*netstat -anp \| grep ':123'* " command in the context of any Virtual System shows that the *ntpd* process is listening on UDP port 123.

* Restarting the *ntpd* process with the "*service ntpd restart*" command does not help.

* Running the "*ntpstat* " command immediately followed by the "*echo $?*" command in the context of any Virtual System returns "0", which means that the clock is synchronised.

* Output of the "*clock*" command is identical in the context of all Virtual Systems (including VS0), which means that the clock is synchronised for all Virtual Systems.

## Cause

The NTP Daemon is assigned to the VSX Gateway itself (context of VS0) by default, and the VS0 is responsible for updating all other Virtual Systems.

There is *only* one NTP Daemon, which is used by VSX Gateway itself (context of VS0).

Running the *ntpstat* command in the context of any Virtual System (other than VS0) recalls the NTP Daemon to get the information, and because the NTP Daemon is already assigned to the VS0, it returns the output "`Unable to talk to NTP daemon. Is it running?`".

## Solution

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