RHBA-2012:0138 - Bug Fix Advisory

Topic

Updated xen packages that fix one bug are now available for Red Hat Enterprise
Linux 5 Extended Update Support.

Description

Xen is a high-performance and secure open-source virtualization framework. The
xen packages contain administration tools and the xend service for managing the
kernel-xen kernel for virtualization on Red Hat Enterprise Linux.

This update fixes the following bug:

• Microsoft's Server Virtualization Validation Platform (SVVP) tests detected

unreliability of the emulated High Performance Event Timer (HPET) on some hosts.
To fix this problem, this update introduces the new "hpet" option that allows to
configure HPET support per domain. If HPET support is disabled, the guest will
choose a more reliable timer source. Disabling the HPET is suggested for Windows
guests, as well as fully-virtualized Linux guests that show occasional "time
went backwards" errors in the console. However, the HPET table remains present
in guest's ACPI Differentiated System Description Table (DSDT) even if HPET
support is disabled, and HPET support can be enabled again when required.

Additionally, this update also allows Xen to dynamically indicate presence of
the COM1 and COM2 ports on quests. (BZ#773361)

All users of xen are advised to upgrade to these updated packages, which fix
this bug. Note that after installation, xend must be restarted for this update
to take effect.

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 for x86_64 - Extended Update Support 5.6 x86_64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux for x86_64 - Extended Update Support 5.6 ia64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux for x86_64 - Extended Update Support 5.6 i386
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server - AUS 5.6 x86_64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server - AUS 5.6 ia64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server - AUS 5.6 i386
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server - Extended Update Support from RHUI 5.6 x86_64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server - Extended Update Support from RHUI 5.6 i386

Fixes

CVEs

(none)

References

(none)