Simple NTP Daemon

A lightweight, high-performance NTP (Network Time Protocol) daemon written in C++.

Features

• High Performance: Optimized for low-latency time synchronization
• Cross-Platform: Supports macOS, Linux, and Windows
• Multi-Format Configuration: INI, JSON, and YAML configuration support
• Structured Logging: JSON structured logging with configurable output
• Enhanced Validation: Comprehensive NTP packet validation and error reporting
• Comprehensive Testing: Unit tests with automated test framework
• Secure: Built with security best practices
• Containerized: Full Docker support for development and deployment

Quick Start

Using Docker (Recommended)

# Build for all platforms
./scripts/build-docker.sh -d all

# Run the NTP daemon
docker-compose --profile runtime up simple-ntpd

# Development environment
docker-compose --profile dev up dev

Local Development

# Install dependencies
make deps

# Build the project
make build

# Run tests
make test

# Run specific tests
make test-ntp-packet    # NTP packet functionality tests
make test-ntp-config    # Configuration system tests

# Install
make install

Configuration Formats

The daemon supports multiple configuration formats:

# INI format
./simple-ntpd --config config.ini

# JSON format  
./simple-ntpd --config config.json

# YAML format
./simple-ntpd --config config.yaml

Example configurations are available in config/examples/:

• simple-ntpd.json - JSON configuration example
• simple-ntpd.yaml - YAML configuration example
• simple-ntpd.conf - INI configuration example

Help System

The project includes a comprehensive modular help system:

# Quick reference
make help

# Complete reference
make help-all

# Category-specific help
make help-build       # Build and development targets
make help-package     # Package creation targets
make help-deps        # Dependency management targets
make help-service     # Service management targets
make help-docker      # Docker targets
make help-config      # Configuration management targets
make help-platform    # Platform-specific targets

Testing

The project includes comprehensive unit tests:

# Run all tests
make test

# Run specific test suites
cd build && ./test_ntp_packet    # NTP packet functionality
cd build && ./test_ntp_config    # Configuration system

# Run tests with verbose output
make test-verbose

# Run tests in debug mode
make dev-test

Static Binary Support

Create self-contained static binaries:

# Build static binary
make static-build

# Test static binary
make static-test

# Create static binary packages
make static-package   # Platform-specific package
make static-zip       # Cross-platform ZIP package
make static-all       # All static binary formats

Docker Infrastructure

Multi-Platform Support

The Docker setup supports multiple Linux distributions and architectures:

• Distributions: Ubuntu, CentOS, Alpine Linux
• Architectures: x86_64, arm64, armv7

Build Profiles

# Development environment
docker-compose --profile dev up dev

# Runtime container
docker-compose --profile runtime up simple-ntpd

# Build for specific distribution
docker-compose --profile build build build-ubuntu
docker-compose --profile build build build-centos
docker-compose --profile build build build-alpine

Automated Building

Use the build script for automated cross-platform building:

# Build for all distributions
./scripts/build-docker.sh -d all

# Build for specific distribution
./scripts/build-docker.sh -d ubuntu

# Clean build cache
./scripts/build-docker.sh --clean

Configuration

Multi-Format Support

The daemon supports three configuration formats with automatic detection:

INI Format

[ntp]
listen_address = 0.0.0.0
listen_port = 123
log_level = info
log_json = false
reference_id = LOCL

JSON Format

{
  "ntp": {
    "listen_address": "0.0.0.0",
    "listen_port": 123,
    "log_level": "info",
    "log_json": true,
    "reference_id": "LOCL"
  }
}

YAML Format

ntp:
  listen_address: "0.0.0.0"
  listen_port: 123
  log_level: "info"
  log_json: true
  reference_id: "LOCL"

Configuration Features

• Automatic Format Detection: Based on file extension (.ini, .json, .yaml)
• Structured Logging: JSON output with log_json = true
• Validation: Comprehensive configuration validation
• Error Reporting: Detailed error messages for invalid configurations

Development

Prerequisites

• CMake 3.15+
• C++17 compatible compiler
• OpenSSL
• JsonCPP

Development Tools

# Install development tools (macOS)
make dev-deps

# Install development tools (Homebrew alternative)
make dev-deps-brew

# Run code quality checks
make format
make lint
make security-scan

Testing

# Run all tests
make test

# Run specific test suites
cd build && ./test_ntp_packet    # NTP packet functionality
cd build && ./test_ntp_config    # Configuration system

# Run tests with verbose output
make test-verbose

# Run tests in debug mode
make dev-test

Building

Local Build

# Standard build
make build

# Debug build
make debug

# Release build
make release

# Development build
make dev-build

Package Creation

# Create platform-specific packages
make package

# Create source package
make package-source

# Create all package formats
make package-all

Static Binary Support

Create self-contained static binaries:

# Build static binary
make static-build

# Test static binary
make static-test

# Create static binary packages
make static-package   # Platform-specific package
make static-zip       # Cross-platform ZIP package
make static-all       # All static binary formats

Service Management

Installation

# Install system service
make service-install

# Check service status
make service-status

# Start service
make service-start

# Stop service
make service-stop

Platform Support

• macOS: launchd service
• Linux: systemd service
• Windows: Windows Service

Configuration

Installation

# Install configuration files
make config-install

# Backup configuration
make config-backup

# Install log rotation
make log-rotate

Security

The project includes comprehensive security scanning:

# Run security scan
make security-scan

# Run static analysis
make analyze

# Check code style
make check-style

Log Aggregation Support

Aggregate logs via syslog, stdout JSON, or rotated files:

• Enable syslog for system collectors
• Enable console logging with JSON for container scraping
• Use rotated files with agents (Fluent Bit/Filebeat)

Configuration examples:

# INI
enable_syslog = true
enable_console_logging = true
log_json = true
log_file = /var/log/simple-ntpd/simple-ntpd.log
log_max_size_bytes = 10485760
log_max_files = 5

# YAML
enable_syslog: true
enable_console_logging: true
log_json: true
log_file: /var/log/simple-ntpd/simple-ntpd.log
log_max_size_bytes: 10485760
log_max_files: 5

{
  "enable_syslog": true,
  "enable_console_logging": true,
  "log_json": true,
  "log_file": "/var/log/simple-ntpd/simple-ntpd.log",
  "log_max_size_bytes": 10485760,
  "log_max_files": 5
}

Contributing

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch
3. Make your changes
4. Run tests and quality checks
5. Submit a pull request

Code Quality

# Format code
make format

# Run linting
make lint

# Run security scan
make security-scan

License

This project is licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 - see the LICENSE file for details.

Copyright 2024 SimpleDaemons

Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance with the License. You may obtain a copy of the License at

http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0

Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See the License for the specific language governing permissions and limitations under the License.

Changelog

See CHANGELOG.md for a detailed history of changes.