[tor-relays] Which clock is out of sync on VPS non-exit relay?

[Steve Snyder]

On 09/01/2013 10:57 PM, I wrote:
> Hej,
>
> On trying to get a non-exit relay going on a cheap VPS Vidalia says
> Sep 02 03:48:32.146 [Warning] Received NETINFO cell with skewed time
> from server at 128.31.0.34:9101.  It seems that our clock is ahead by 9
> hours, 0 minutes, or that theirs is behind. Tor requires an accurate
> clock to work: please check your time and date settings.
>
> I've tried the virtual server clock but with no luck.
> Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Let me guess: running Tor in an OpenVZ container?

The timezone is an *offset* applied to the UTC time.  It doesn't matter 
what offset is applied if the actual (UTC) time is wrong.  Try this:

   ntpdate -q pool.ntp.org

to get a 2nd opinion on how far you are from the actual time.  It won't 
vary depending on the configured timezone.

OpenVZ containers inherit their system time from the host.  (That '-q' 
is for query because that is all you can do - you can't set the time.) 
Your only recourse is to open a ticket with the VPS vendor and tell them 
to fix the system time on the node that is hosting your VPS.