RHBA-2011:1643 - Bug Fix Advisory

Topic

An updated python-virtinst package that fixes several bugs and adds various
enhancements is now available for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.

Description

The python-virtinst package provides a Python module that helps build and
install libvirt-based virtual machines.

The python-virtinst package has been upgraded to upstream version 0.600.0, which
provides a number of bug fixes and enhancements over the previous version. In
particular, this update fixes the following bugs:

• Prior to this update, optimal cache and asynchronous I/O defaults were applied

when a virtual machine was created, but not when a new device was added to an
existing guest. This negatively affected the performance of such devices. With
this update, the underlying source code has been corrected to apply the
optimized defaults to new disks for existing guests as well. (BZ#684786)

• The virtinst module for Python often called the ifconfig program unnecessarily

when parsing a domain XML file. Consequent to this, if a domain contained many
"direct" network interfaces, the virt-manager application responded so slowly
that it could not be used properly. This update removes the redundant ifconfig
calls from the code, and virt-manager now works well even with a large number of
"direct" network interfaces. (BZ#696969)

• When using the virt-install utility, an attempt to use the "--location" (or

"-l") command line option to specify an ISO image file rendered the guest unable
to find this image during installation. This update corrects the underlying
source code to make sure such guests can now find the ISO image as expected.
(BZ#697798)

• When the user attempted to use the virt-install utility to specify a static

SELinux label, the utility failed to create correct guest configuration and the
static SELinux label did not take effect for this guest. This update ensures
that virt-install now generates correct configuration so that the static labels
can be set as expected. (BZ#698085)

• When the user attempted to run the virt-install command with a mixed-case

value of the "--cpu" option, the previous version of the virt-install utility
failed with an error, because it automatically converted values passed on the
command line to lower case. This update corrects the utility to preserve the
case of command line arguments, and the "virt-install --cpu" command can now be
run with a mixed-case value as expected. (BZ#727986)

• Due to the virt-install utility not specifying any clock policy for Windows

guests, the time on the guest could skew from the time on the host. To prevent
this, this update adapts the virt-install utility to specify the tickpolicy
"catchup". (BZ#742736)

As well, this update adds the following enhancements:

• A new "--disk device=cdrom" command line option is now supported by the

virt-install utility. This option allows the user to specify a CD-ROM or
diskette drive without inserted media. (BZ#691304)

• A new "--numatune" command line option is now supported by the virt-install

utility. This option allows the user to specify the Non-Uniform Memory Access
(NUMA) nodes for memory pinning. (BZ#691331)

• The virt-install utility can now be used to create Linux container guests.

This includes application containers and full OS containers. Note that no tool
is provided for creating an OS directory tree and users must build this tree
manually. (BZ#693876)

All users of python-virtinst are advised to upgrade to this updated package,
which fixes these bugs 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
https://access.redhat.com/kb/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 - 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 from RHUI 6 x86_64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server from RHUI 6 i386
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server - Extended Life Cycle Support (for IBM z Systems) 6 s390x

Fixes

• BZ - 612093 - virt-convert: Find incorrect vmdk file via reading vmx
• BZ - 684786 - cache, aio defaults not applied to disks added via 'add hardware'
• BZ - 687526 - virt-install puts non-error output on stderr
• BZ - 689721 - virt-install: default HOST value is blank in guest XML desc when set HOST value with none
• BZ - 689747 - virt-install: --serial udp docs mention nonexistent option 'bind_port'
• BZ - 690150 - virt-install: DOC: wrong description on MODE value
• BZ - 690382 - virt-convert:Output_dir value is incorrect in debug info.
• BZ - 690750 - virt-install: 'io=native' should not be automatically attached to cdrom device
• BZ - 691304 - RFE: Need virtual CD-ROM device with no media attached after install complete
• BZ - 693876 - LXC: virtinst support for Linux Containers
• BZ - 694399 - virt-image: cannot attach graphic console to guest from default xml desc
• BZ - 694427 - doc:virt-image:format attribute error in man help
• BZ - 694713 - doc:virt-image:The graphics description not clearly in man help
• BZ - 696491 - virt-convert:Error message shown up in debug info when convert to paravirt
• BZ - 696498 - virt-image:--prompt not take effect when create guest from xml file.
• BZ - 697798 - virt-install:can't install guest by using --location with iso file
• BZ - 698085 - virt-install:set static security label not take effect for guest
• BZ - 700716 - Cannot create storage volume if volume name including 50 characters
• BZ - 722938 - Incorrectly hardcode io=threads (which is the qemu default). should use io=native for block based disks
• BZ - 727295 - re-based package doesn't install any translations
• BZ - 728423 - [virt-manager]Error dialog pop-up when change Disk bus on Customize configuration window
• BZ - 729608 - virt-install no longer prompts for image location even when --file-size option is given
• BZ - 729643 - virt-install fails with TypeError when initrd-inject is used
• BZ - 738211 - [regression]usermode can not load the installation files from HTTP
• BZ - 738216 - [Regression][virt-install] install failed when using --nonetworks
• BZ - 739487 - RFE: support qed format on volume creation
• BZ - 742736 - Use rtc tickpolicy catchup by default for windows guests
• BZ - 746355 - virt-manager detaches PCI devices from host, but fails to reattach if hotplug fails

CVEs

(none)

References

(none)