RHBA-2011:0566 - Bug Fix Advisory

Topic

An updated oprofile package that fixes one bug and adds two enhancements is now
available for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.

Description

OProfile is a system-wide profiler for Linux systems. The profiling runs
transparently in the background and profile data can be collected at any time.
OProfile uses the hardware performance counters provided on many processors, and
can use the Real Time Clock (RTC) for profiling on processors without counters.

This update fixes the following bug:

• Previously, non-numeric arguments for the opcontrol options which needed

numerical arguments (--buffer-size, --buffer-watershed,--cpu-buffer-size, and

• -callgraph) were written to /dev/oprofile files without any check. Due to this

issue, the OProfile profiler accepted negative and non-numeric values. This
update adds numeric argument checks for all arguments to opcontrol. Now,
OProfile reports illegal non-numeric arguments. (BZ#589638)

This update also adds the following enhancements:

• Previously, the OProfile profiler did not provide the performance monitoring

events for the Intel Westmere processor. This update provides the files for the
Intel Westmere processor specific performance events and adds code to identify
Intel Westmere processors. Now, OProfile provides Intel Westmere specific
events. (BZ#643478)

• Previously, the OProfile profiler did not have events mapping and unit_mask

files to describe processor performance events for the new AMD Family 12h, 14h,
15h processors. This update identifies these new processors and provides lists
of the available events. Now, OProfile provides support for AMD Family 12h, 14h,
15h processors. (BZ#650126)

All OProfile users are advised to upgrade to this updated package which fixes
this bug and adds these enhancements.

Solution

Before applying this update, make sure all previously-released errata
relevant to your system have been applied.

This update is available via the Red Hat Network. Details on how to
use the Red Hat Network to apply this update are available at
http://kbase.redhat.com/faq/docs/DOC-11259

Affected Products

• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server 6 x86_64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server 6 i386
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server from RHUI 6 x86_64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server from RHUI 6 i386
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server - Extended Life Cycle Support 6 x86_64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server - Extended Life Cycle Support 6 i386
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation 6 x86_64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation 6 i386
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop 6 x86_64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop 6 i386
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux for IBM z Systems 6 s390x
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux for Power, big endian 6 ppc64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux for Scientific Computing 6 x86_64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server - Extended Life Cycle Support (for IBM z Systems) 6 s390x
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server - Extended Life Cycle Support Extension 6 x86_64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server - Extended Life Cycle Support Extension 6 i386
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server - Extended Life Cycle Support Extension (for IBM z Systems) 6 s390x

Fixes

• BZ - 589638 - opcontrol accepting bogus values for --cpu-buffer-size argument
• BZ - 643478 - [RFE] OProfile support for Intel Westmere processors

CVEs

(none)

References

(none)