How to set time automatically at power up?

I run a headless BBB on my boat. I need it to have the right time so
that information it sends is correctly time stamped.

How can I get it to power up with the right time and date? I have
installed ntp/ntpd to keep the time correct once up and running but it
doesn't initialise the time and date. What's the way to do this?

Debian Wheezy or Jessie?

In wheezy, setup a job to run at startup, check for connection and
just run "ntpdate pool.ntp.org"

In Jessie, there's a systemd

sudo systemctl enable systemd-timesyncd.service || true

both cases rely on a active internet connection...

Regards,

> I run a headless BBB on my boat. I need it to have the right time so
> that information it sends is correctly time stamped.
>
> How can I get it to power up with the right time and date? I have
> installed ntp/ntpd to keep the time correct once up and running but it
> doesn't initialise the time and date. What's the way to do this?

Debian Wheezy or Jessie?

It's Wheezy.

In wheezy, setup a job to run at startup, check for connection and
just run "ntpdate pool.ntp.org"

OK, thanks, that seems straightforward.

In Jessie, there's a systemd

sudo systemctl enable systemd-timesyncd.service || true

both cases rely on a active internet connection...

Of course, yes. If the internet isn't reliable is it worth running
'ntpdate' at intervals using cron so that if there isn't a connection
at startup it will get set when the internet does appear?

In that case, something like this would just work better:

https://www.sparkfun.com/products/12708

You can find them cheaper elsewhere..

Regards,

There’s also a software package known as fake hwclock. It’s not a real time clock, and perhaps it’ll even lose time over long periods. But it seems to do a reasonable job of keeping time on a system close.

We actually use DS3232 on those devices that need to keep accurate time.

OK, thanks again, that might be my next add-on for the BBB.