Linux uses David L. Mills clock adjustment algorithm (see RFC 1305).
The system call
adjtimex() reads and optionally sets adjustment parameters for this algorithm.
It takes a pointer to a
timex structure, updates kernel parameters from field values,
and returns the same structure with current kernel values.
This structure is declared as follows:
struct timex {
int modes; /* mode selector */
long offset; /* time offset (usec) */
long freq; /* frequency offset (scaled ppm) */
long maxerror; /* maximum error (usec) */
long esterror; /* estimated error (usec) */
int status; /* clock command/status */
long constant; /* pll time constant */
long precision; /* clock precision (usec) (read only) */
long tolerance; /* clock frequency tolerance (ppm)
(read only) */
struct timeval time; /* current time (read only) */
long tick; /* usecs between clock ticks */
};
The
modes field determines which parameters, if any, to set.
It may contain a
bitwise-or combination of zero or more of the following bits:
#define ADJ_OFFSET 0x0001 /* time offset */
#define ADJ_FREQUENCY 0x0002 /* frequency offset */
#define ADJ_MAXERROR 0x0004 /* maximum time error */
#define ADJ_ESTERROR 0x0008 /* estimated time error */
#define ADJ_STATUS 0x0010 /* clock status */
#define ADJ_TIMECONST 0x0020 /* pll time constant */
#define ADJ_TICK 0x4000 /* tick value */
#define ADJ_OFFSET_SINGLESHOT 0x8001 /* old-fashioned adjtime() */
Ordinary users are restricted to a zero value for
mode. Only the superuser may set any parameters.
An attempt is made to set
buf.offset to a value outside the range -131071 to +131071,
or to set
buf.status to a value other than those listed above,
or to set
buf.tick to a value outside the range
900000/HZ to
1100000/HZ, where
HZ is the system timer interrupt frequency.
EPERM
buf.mode is non-zero and the caller does not have sufficient privilege.
Under Linux the
CAP_SYS_TIME capability is required.
adjtimex() is Linux specific and should not be used in programs
intended to be portable.
See
adjtime(3)
for a more portable, but less flexible,
method of adjusting the system clock.