RHBA-2013:1554 - Bug Fix Advisory

Topic

Updated scl-utils packages that fix several bugs are now available for Red Hat
Enterprise Linux 6.

Description

The scl-utils packages provide a runtime utility and RPM packaging macros for
packaging Software Collections. Software Collections allow users to concurrently
install multiple versions of the same RPM packages on the system. Using the scl
utility, users may enable specific versions of RPMs, which are installed into
the /opt directory.

This update fixes the following bugs:

• Previously, detection of collections that were specified to be enabled was

done in the incorrect place in the code. Thus, if users wanted to enable
multiple collections with a single command, only the first one was enabled,
while the rest were ignored. With this update, the package scans all the
arguments now, as opposed to the original approach where only the first one was
taken, and all specified collections are now enabled.(BZ#949995)

• When starting an inspection of what collections had already been enabled, an

incorrect variable was taken as a source of this information. In a specific
case, when users ran a shell in an scl-enabled environment, and tried to enable
an already-enabled collection, then the collection was enabled twice. This could
have led to errors in a newly created environment, and, consequently, could have
caused problems with applications running in this environment. This update
accepts the correct variable as a source of information about the
already-enabled collections, and the collections are no longer enabled multiple
times. (BZ#955669)

• Previously, python27 required a specific byte compiler, thus, the build of

python27 collection failed, because it used the incorrect byte compiler. With
this update, python27 utilizes a new function to override various RPM macros
and, thus, can be compiled. (BZ#957185)

• If the PATH variable was not set as scl-utils expected it, executing the "scl

enable" command produced a "command not found" error. This was caused by the scl
utility calling the scl_enabled command without an absolute path, and relying on
the PATH that the user has set. This update uses an absolute path when calling
the scl_enabled helper script, thus it does not rely on PATH any more, and the
aforementioned errors no longer occur. (BZ#957754)

• Previously, when enabling collections, a check whether a collection was

enabled was performed. However, independently of the result the collection was
always enabled. Consequently, if a single collection had been stated multiple
times on the command line, it was enabled multiple times. In the case of some
destructive enable scriptlets, this might have led to unexpected behavior. This
update runs the enable scriptlet only if the collection has not been enabled
before, and attempts to enable a collection multiple times in one environment
will be ignored. (BZ#964058)

Users of scl-utils are advised to upgrade to these updated packages, which fix
these bugs.

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/site/articles/11258

Affected Products

• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server 6 x86_64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server 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 6 x86_64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server - Extended Life Cycle Support 6 i386
• 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 - 955669 - A collection can get twice-enabled
• BZ - 964058 - No check for already enabled collections in scl enable <collection>+ <command>

CVEs

(none)

References

(none)