There is several ways to do time synchronization with Debian :

• ntpdate : for one time synchronization
• ntp : provide a daemon for permanent synchronization

ntpdate is simplier, this page describe how to use it.

Installer the package :

• ntpdate

ntpdate can be used directly on the command line :

# ntpdate pool.ntp.org
 6 Mar 22:24:06 ntpdate[7114]: step time server 88.191.75.243 offset -4.566845 sec
#

To make the time synchronization permanent, we will use cron, for example by adding the file /etc/cron.d/ntp with the following content :

59 * * * * root /usr/sbin/ntpdate pool.ntp.org >> /var/log/cron.log

• /etc/cron.d/ntp