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

[Add your license information here]

Changelog

See CHANGELOG.md for a detailed history of changes.