Time Protocol Server (RFC 868)

This is an RFC 868 Time Protocol Server implemented with openSUSE/xinetd running on Alpine Linux.

The image is lightweight and suitable for production use.

Important

Maintained by Panubo — Cloud Native & SRE Consultants in Sydney. Work with us →

Building the image

You can build the image using the provided Makefile:

make build

This will build the Docker image with the name panubo/alpine-xinetd.

Running the server

To run the time server, you can use the run target in the Makefile:

make run

This will start the container and map the necessary ports (37/tcp and 37/udp).

Testing

Client Example

You can test the server using tools like socat or rdate.

# Test UDP
socat -x - UDP4-DATAGRAM:127.0.0.1:37

# Test TCP
socat -x - TCP-CONNECT:127.0.0.1:37

# Using rdate (part of busybox)
rdate -p 127.0.0.1

JMeter Load Tests

The project includes a JMeter test plan to verify the server's functionality. To run the tests, you need to have Docker installed.

First, build the JMeter test image:

cd tests/jmeter
make build

Then, run the tests:

make run-test

This will execute the test plan Test Plan.jmx and connect to a local instance of time-server running on localhost / UDP port 37.

Status

Stable and production ready.

Important

About Panubo

This project is maintained by Panubo, a technology consultancy based in Sydney, Australia. We build reliable, scalable systems and help teams master the cloud-native ecosystem.

We are available for hire to help with:

• SRE & Operations: Improving system reliability and incident response.
• Platform Engineering: Building internal developer platforms that scale.
• Kubernetes: Cluster design, security auditing, and migrations.
• DevOps: Streamlining CI/CD pipelines and developer experience.
• See our other services

Need a hand with your infrastructure? Let’s have a chat or email us at [email protected].