FITS.NetUtils

Network utility functions for PowerShell — starting with a full RFC 5905 NTP client that returns rich diagnostic output including stratum, delay, dispersion, and clock offset.

Netzwerk-Hilfsfunktionen für PowerShell — beginnend mit einem vollständigen RFC-5905-NTP-Client, der umfangreiche Diagnoseinformationen zurückgibt: Stratum, Delay, Dispersion und Uhr-Offset.

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Installation

Install-Module -Name FITS.NetUtils

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Functions / Funktionen

Get-NtpTime

Queries one or more NTP servers and returns a rich diagnostic object per server — or a plain DateTime value when used with -AsDateTime.
Fragt einen oder mehrere NTP-Server ab und gibt ein umfangreiches Diagnoseobjekt pro Server zurück — oder einen einfachen DateTime-Wert mit -AsDateTime.

# Full diagnostic output
Get-NtpTime -Server 'ptbtime1.ptb.de'

# Multiple servers via pipeline
'ptbtime1.ptb.de', 'pool.ntp.org', 'time.windows.com' | Get-NtpTime

# Plain DateTime
Get-NtpTime -Server 'ptbtime1.ptb.de' -AsDateTime

# Force IPv6
Get-NtpTime -Server '2.de.pool.ntp.org' -PreferIPv6

# Use NTPv3
Get-NtpTime -Server 'ptbtime1.ptb.de' -NtpVersion 3

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Output Object / Ausgabeobjekt

Property	Description
LeapIndicator	Leap second warning (0 = no warning)
Version	NTP version reported by server
Mode	NTP mode (4 = server)
Stratum	Stratum level (1 = primary, 2+ = secondary)
Poll	Maximum poll interval
Precision	Clock precision of the server
RootDelay	Round-trip delay to primary reference (seconds)
RootDispersion	Maximum error relative to primary reference (seconds)
ReferenceIdentifier	Stratum 1: clock source (e.g. GPS, PTB); Stratum 2+ IPv4: reference server IP; Stratum 2+ IPv6: MD5 hash fragment
ReferenceTimestamp	Last time the server clock was set
OriginateTimestamp	Time request left the client
ReceiveTimestamp	Time request arrived at server
TransmitTimestamp	Time response left the server
UsedNTPServer	Server name as queried
UsedNTPServerIP	Resolved IP address used
LocalReceiveTime	Local time when response arrived
RoundtripDelay	Network round-trip delay (seconds)
Offset	Clock offset between local and server clock (seconds)

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Parameters / Parameter

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
-Server	String[]	—	NTP server hostname or IP (pipeline-capable)
-NtpVersion	Byte	4	NTP version to send (3 or 4)
-AsDateTime	Switch	—	Return TransmitTimestamp as plain DateTime
-PreferIPv6	Switch	—	Prefer IPv6 if available, fall back to IPv4 with warning

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Notes / Hinweise

• IPv6: Fully supported. If -PreferIPv6 is specified but no IPv6 address is available, a warning is issued and IPv4 is used.
• Extension Fields: The receive buffer accommodates NTPv4 extension fields (1024 bytes). Extension field parsing and NTS (RFC 8915) are not implemented in this version.
• Stratum 2+ over IPv6: The ReferenceIdentifier contains the first 4 bytes of the MD5 hash of the upstream server's IPv6 address (per RFC 5905), displayed as a hex string (e.g. 49-F2-83-B4).

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Requirements / Voraussetzungen

• PowerShell 5.1 or later / PowerShell 5.1 oder höher
• Windows, Linux, macOS (PowerShell Core)
• UDP port 123 outbound must be open

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Help / Hilfe

Get-Help Get-NtpTime -Full

Bilingual MAML help included (en-US, de-DE).
Zweisprachige MAML-Hilfe enthalten (en-US, de-DE).

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Roadmap

• Get-PublicIpAddress — query external IP via public API
• Resolve-HostName — cross-platform DNS resolver with structured output
• Test-HttpEndpoint — lightweight HTTP availability check
• NTPv4 Extension Field parsing (future version)
• NTS support — RFC 8915 (future version)

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License / Lizenz

MIT — © Daniel Feiler

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Links

• PSGallery
• FITS Module Portfolio
• Blog