Synopsis

linuxptp bug fix and enhancement update

Type/Severity

Bug Fix Advisory

Topic

Updated linuxptp packages that fix several bugs and add various enhancements are
now available for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.

Description

The Linux PTP project is a software implementation of the Precision Time
Protocol (PTP) according to IEEE standard 1588 for Linux. These packages provide
a robust implementation of the standard and use the most relevant and modern
Application Programming Interfaces (API) offered by the Linux kernel. Supporting
legacy APIs and other platforms is not a goal.

The linuxptp package has been upgraded to upstream version 1.3, which provides a
number of bug fixes and enhancements over the previous version. (BZ#916787)

This update also fixes the following bugs:

• Previously, the ptp4l application did not limit the frequency correction of
  the clock. As a consequence, with some PTP clocks, when ptp4l was correcting a
  large offset, it could set the frequency correction to -100%, which effectively
  stopped the clock. This update adds a new option to configure the maximum
  allowed correction of the clock, which, by default is 90%. As a result, the
  synchronized clock never stops unless ptp4l is allowed to adjust the clock by
  100%. (BZ#910966)
  
• Previously, the phc2sys utility was not able to read information about the
  current Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) offset and pending leap seconds from
  the ptp4l application. As a consequence, the user had to specify the UTC offset
  manually and the leap seconds were not handled. This update adds a new option to
  phc2sys to wait for ptp4l to synchronize the PTP clock and to periodically read
  the current UTC offset and information about pending leap seconds. As a result,
  the phc2sys utility uses the correct UTC offset and leap seconds are handled
  properly. (BZ#910974)
  
• Previously, the ptp4l application did not correctly check if a cached
  follow-up or a synchronized message could be associated with a newly received
  synchronization or a follow-up message. As a consequence, the messages could be
  associated incorrectly, which could result in a large offset and disturbed
  synchronization of the clock. The code which associates the synchronization and
  follow-up messages has been fixed. As a result, there are no longer disturbances
  in the synchronization. (BZ#991332, BZ#985531)
  
• Previously, the ptp4l application did not reset the announce receipt timer for
  ports in the PASSIVE state when an announce message was received. As a
  consequence, the port in the PASSIVE state was repeatedly switching between
  PASSIVE and MASTER states. This bug has been fixed and the timer is now
  correctly reset with every announce message. As a result, the port stays in the
  PASSIVE state until it stops receiving announce messages. (BZ#991337)
  
• Previously, the ptp4l and phc2sys utilities did not check if the command line
  arguments and the values specified in the configuration file were valid. As a
  consequence, the utilities could terminate unexpectedly. The utilities now check
  if the values are valid and if an invalid value is specified, the utilities no
  longer terminate unexpectedly and print an error message instead. (BZ#966787)
  

In addition, this update adds the following enhancement:

• Occasionally, it is important that the system clock is not stepped, that is,
  not to interfere with other programs running on the system. Restarting the
  phc2sys application caused stepping of the clock. A new option has been added to
  phc2sys, and it is now possible to prevent phc2sys from stepping the clock.
  (BZ#977258)
  

Users of linuxptp are advised to upgrade to these updated packages, which fix
these bugs and add 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/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 Scientific Computing 6 x86_64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server from RHUI 6 x86_64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server from RHUI 6 i386

Fixes

(none)

CVEs

(none)

References

(none)

Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server 6

SRPM
linuxptp-1.3-1.el6.src.rpm	SHA-256: 5f1ca42eb3a054412098071873143b47e6f19e1a63b70504cf2f6c94107f8b0d
x86_64
linuxptp-1.3-1.el6.x86_64.rpm	SHA-256: 0ecf60c07098399438fe03c1b27d5c5a8d93adc479589dd4f9ee0265c9dac10e
linuxptp-debuginfo-1.3-1.el6.x86_64.rpm	SHA-256: 7c719e5f645af8f4fad74a4bea5e6e100d2feb237ce96f49ef33b84b5fffc214
i386
linuxptp-1.3-1.el6.i686.rpm	SHA-256: ed066c06832c9921b9acc316e622ed65570ab647439cd79b6f00bf321398ded4
linuxptp-debuginfo-1.3-1.el6.i686.rpm	SHA-256: 9b721b47475303f1b0807dc24e8f70e1414cd009f4419f9b611118441aa88eab

Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation 6

SRPM
linuxptp-1.3-1.el6.src.rpm	SHA-256: 5f1ca42eb3a054412098071873143b47e6f19e1a63b70504cf2f6c94107f8b0d
x86_64
linuxptp-1.3-1.el6.x86_64.rpm	SHA-256: 0ecf60c07098399438fe03c1b27d5c5a8d93adc479589dd4f9ee0265c9dac10e
linuxptp-debuginfo-1.3-1.el6.x86_64.rpm	SHA-256: 7c719e5f645af8f4fad74a4bea5e6e100d2feb237ce96f49ef33b84b5fffc214
i386
linuxptp-1.3-1.el6.i686.rpm	SHA-256: ed066c06832c9921b9acc316e622ed65570ab647439cd79b6f00bf321398ded4
linuxptp-debuginfo-1.3-1.el6.i686.rpm	SHA-256: 9b721b47475303f1b0807dc24e8f70e1414cd009f4419f9b611118441aa88eab

Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop 6

SRPM
linuxptp-1.3-1.el6.src.rpm	SHA-256: 5f1ca42eb3a054412098071873143b47e6f19e1a63b70504cf2f6c94107f8b0d
x86_64
linuxptp-1.3-1.el6.x86_64.rpm	SHA-256: 0ecf60c07098399438fe03c1b27d5c5a8d93adc479589dd4f9ee0265c9dac10e
linuxptp-debuginfo-1.3-1.el6.x86_64.rpm	SHA-256: 7c719e5f645af8f4fad74a4bea5e6e100d2feb237ce96f49ef33b84b5fffc214
i386
linuxptp-1.3-1.el6.i686.rpm	SHA-256: ed066c06832c9921b9acc316e622ed65570ab647439cd79b6f00bf321398ded4
linuxptp-debuginfo-1.3-1.el6.i686.rpm	SHA-256: 9b721b47475303f1b0807dc24e8f70e1414cd009f4419f9b611118441aa88eab

Red Hat Enterprise Linux for Scientific Computing 6

SRPM
linuxptp-1.3-1.el6.src.rpm	SHA-256: 5f1ca42eb3a054412098071873143b47e6f19e1a63b70504cf2f6c94107f8b0d
x86_64
linuxptp-1.3-1.el6.x86_64.rpm	SHA-256: 0ecf60c07098399438fe03c1b27d5c5a8d93adc479589dd4f9ee0265c9dac10e
linuxptp-debuginfo-1.3-1.el6.x86_64.rpm	SHA-256: 7c719e5f645af8f4fad74a4bea5e6e100d2feb237ce96f49ef33b84b5fffc214

Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server from RHUI 6

SRPM
linuxptp-1.3-1.el6.src.rpm	SHA-256: 5f1ca42eb3a054412098071873143b47e6f19e1a63b70504cf2f6c94107f8b0d
x86_64
linuxptp-1.3-1.el6.x86_64.rpm	SHA-256: 0ecf60c07098399438fe03c1b27d5c5a8d93adc479589dd4f9ee0265c9dac10e
linuxptp-debuginfo-1.3-1.el6.x86_64.rpm	SHA-256: 7c719e5f645af8f4fad74a4bea5e6e100d2feb237ce96f49ef33b84b5fffc214
i386
linuxptp-1.3-1.el6.i686.rpm	SHA-256: ed066c06832c9921b9acc316e622ed65570ab647439cd79b6f00bf321398ded4
linuxptp-debuginfo-1.3-1.el6.i686.rpm	SHA-256: 9b721b47475303f1b0807dc24e8f70e1414cd009f4419f9b611118441aa88eab