tlr-time-sync

Keeps an SDR-Trunk machine's system clock synchronised with a TLR server. Accurate timestamps mean the TLR duplicate-call detection window lines up precisely with the times SDR-Trunk embeds in its uploads.

How it works

1. Queries GET /api/time on the TLR server and records t1 (before) and t3 (after).
2. Uses NTP-style maths to compensate for network round-trip time: offset = serverTime − (t1 + t3) / 2
3. Calls the OS (settimeofday on Linux/macOS, SetSystemTime on Windows) to apply the corrected time.

Requirements

• Must run as root (Linux/macOS) or Administrator (Windows) to set the system clock.
• The TLR server must be reachable over HTTP/HTTPS.

Configuration

Edit tlr-time-sync.ini before running:

[server]
# Root URL of your TLR server (no trailing slash)
url = https://your-tlr-server.example.com

[sync]
# How often to sync, in seconds (minimum enforced: 10)
interval_seconds = 30

# Consecutive failures before exponential back-off kicks in
failure_threshold = 5

Building

# Current platform
go build -o tlr-time-sync .

# Windows (from Linux/macOS)
GOOS=windows GOARCH=amd64 go build -o tlr-time-sync.exe .

# Linux (from macOS)
GOOS=linux GOARCH=amd64 go build -o tlr-time-sync-linux .

Installing as a system service

Windows — double-click install

1. Extract the zip so tlr-time-sync.exe and tlr-time-sync.ini are in the same folder
2. Edit tlr-time-sync.ini and set your TLR server URL
3. Double-click tlr-time-sync.exe

Windows will show a UAC prompt ("Allow this app to make changes?"). Click Yes. A console window opens and shows:

--------------------------------------------------
  TLR Time Sync installed as a Windows service.
  It will start automatically at every boot.
--------------------------------------------------

  You can close this window.

Press Enter to close...

That's it. The service (TLRTimeSync) is now running and will start automatically on every boot. You never need to run the exe again.

To remove the service, open an Administrator command prompt and run:

tlr-time-sync.exe uninstall

Linux (run as root)

sudo cp tlr-time-sync /usr/local/bin/
sudo mkdir -p /etc/tlr-time-sync
sudo cp tlr-time-sync.ini /etc/tlr-time-sync/
sudo tlr-time-sync install -config /etc/tlr-time-sync/tlr-time-sync.ini

Generates and enables a systemd unit that runs as root on boot.

sudo tlr-time-sync uninstall

macOS (run as root)

sudo tlr-time-sync install -config /etc/tlr-time-sync.ini

Generates a LaunchDaemon plist and loads it — runs as root on boot.

Running in the foreground (debug / testing)

# No install needed — runs in terminal and logs to stderr, Ctrl-C to stop
sudo ./tlr-time-sync -config tlr-time-sync.ini

Rate limiting & back-off

The client enforces a 1-second minimum between requests regardless of interval_seconds. After failure_threshold consecutive failures it enters exponential back-off: 5 s, 10 s, 20 s, 40 s … capped at 10 minutes. This prevents a broken or unreachable server from being hammered.