Fixes

Fix

Certificate not yet valid or expired on one machine

When one machine sees a good certificate as not yet valid or expired, its clock is wrong. Fix the time with NTP, not the certificate.

Likely causes

  1. The machine's clock is off by months or years: no NTP, or NTP following a wrong server.
  2. The certificate really has expired: then every machine fails, not just one.

Diagnose

Run these in order. The output is what each printed on a lab's real Linux machines.

laptop:~# curl -sS https://bank.lab/
With the right time the certificate is fine.
hello from bank
laptop:~# faketime -f -730d curl -sS https://bank.lab/
Two years slow: certificate is not yet valid.
curl: (60) SSL certificate problem: certificate is not yet valid
…
laptop:~# faketime -f +730d curl -sS https://bank.lab/
Two years fast: certificate has expired.
curl: (60) SSL certificate problem: certificate has expired
…
laptop:~# chronyc sources
Two time servers disagree by 17520h and neither is trusted (x): the clock has nobody to follow.
MS Name/IP address         Stratum Poll Reach LastRx Last sample               
===============================================================================
^x timeServer                    2   0   377     0   +750ns[ +750ns] +/-   83us
^x brokenClock                   2   0     7     0  +17520h[+17520h] +/-  104us

Fix

laptop:~# chronyc add server 10.0.2.10 iburst
Add another time server, so the good ones outvote the wrong one.
200 OK
laptop:~# chronyc sources
^* marks the server the clock now follows; the wrong one stays x.
MS Name/IP address         Stratum Poll Reach LastRx Last sample               
===============================================================================
^+ timeServer                    2   1   377     1  -7122ns[-7122ns] +/-   87us
^x brokenClock                   2   0   377     0  +17520h[+17520h] +/-   83us
^* referenceClock                1   6     7     1  +5515ns[+7861ns] +/-   53us

Break it and fix it yourself

Each lab is a small network of real Linux machines in your browser, where this fault happens.

Open NTP: keeping clocks right, and what a wrong one breaks

Learn it on real machines.

Every lab is a small network of real Linux machines in your browser. Start with a free account: Google or email, no card.

Open this lab