NTP client, can't set a dynamic server

RouterOS General
1

I just upgraded to 6.4.x 6.42.x. I’ve never enabled the ntp client or server. When I enabled the client I gave an IP to get started:

/system ntp client print 
          enabled: yes
             mode: unicast
      primary-ntp: 64.113.44.54
    secondary-ntp: 0.0.0.0
  dynamic-servers: 
           status: reached

And then I tried to give a dynamic, using this thread and the wiki:

/system ntp client set server-dns-names=pool.ntp.org   
expected end of command (line 1 column 24)
/system ntp client set dynamic-servers=pool.ntp.org 
expected end of command (line 1 column 24)

How do I do this?

2

Are you sure you don’t have “ntp” package installed and active?

/system package print

Because it’s either that or you really upgraded to 6.4, in which case upgrade to 6.40.8 or 6.42.3.

3

I have it installed. By the way you’ve worded this I assume I’m trying to configure the system (S)NTP and I should be configuring the package NTP? And reading the wiki on the two, it looks like I should remove package NTP and use the (system) SNTP client. Right?

/system package print

>
> Because it's either that or you really upgraded to 6.4, in which case upgrade to 6.40.8 or 6.42.3.

Aha, I upgraded to 6.42.3. Edited my original post (and left 6.4 with a strikethrough).
4

You want to disable ntp package. By default, SNTP from system package is used, but it’s replaced by NTP client from ntp package, when enabled. Both have their config in /system ntp client.

5

Thanks. Nice to know that’s the direction to go. I’ll uninstall it and reconfigure.

6

It is, unless you also want to have NTP server. Then you have to choose between server and hostnames in client, you can’t have both. Well, you can, but only with script to update client config.

7

Yeah, I was setting it up so I could have a local ntp server, but it’s not worth it (to me)- I mean, I’ll choose easy DNS in NTP over more configuration work.