How to confirm/deny ntp is working?

[Ed Flecko]

Hi folks,
I've read several different sources on setting up ntp on FreeBSD (I'm
using 8.1), and they seem to vary a little, so I'm confused about how
DO you set this up, and how do you confirm/deny that it's working?

I've modified my /etc/ntp.conf file by commenting out:

#server 0.freebsd.pool.ntp.org iburst maxpoll 9
#server 1.freebsd.pool.ntp.org iburst maxpoll 9
#server 2.freebsd.pool.ntp.org iburst maxpoll 9
#server 3.freebsd.pool.ntp.org iburst maxpoll 9

and changing them to read (I'm in the U.S.):

 server 0.US.pool.ntp.org iburst maxpoll 9
 server 1.US.pool.ntp.org iburst maxpoll 9
 server 2.US.pool.ntp.org iburst maxpoll 9

I have confirmed that I can ping these servers.

I've added ntpd_enable="YES" and ntpd_sync_on_start="YES" to
/etc/rc.conf and rebooted the server.

1.) Do I need to manually create the "driftfile" (/var/db/ntpd.drift)?

2.) Do I need to manually create the logfile (/var/log/ntp.log)?

3.) How do you confirm that FreeeBSD is, in fact, keeping time?

Thank you,
Ed