RHBA-2014:1502 - Bug Fix Advisory

Topic

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

Description

The kexec-tools packages contain the /sbin/kexec binary and utilities that
together form the user-space component of the kernel's kexec feature. The
/sbin/kexec binary facilitates a new kernel to boot using the kernel's kexec
feature either on a normal or a panic reboot. The kexec fastboot mechanism
allows booting a Linux kernel from the context of an already running kernel.

This update fixes the following bugs:

• Previously, if the system had configured two or more network interfaces, where

one of the devices was configured with a default gateway, and another with a
static route to a private network, kdump ignored the non-default static route.
As a consequence, kdump failed to dump a core file over NFS or SSH because it
did not configure the route to the private network. This bug has been fixed and
now kdump successfully dumps the kernel over NFS or SSH as expected. (BZ#806992)

• Previously, booting the crash kernel with more than one CPUs occasionally

caused some systems to become unresponsive when the crash happened on an
Application Processor (AP) and not on the Boot Strap Processor (BSP). To fix
this bug, the initialization scripts were modified to include the
disable_cpu_apicid kernel option automatically which acts as the BSP ID.
Additionally, the user has to modify the value of the nr_cpus option to specify
the number of CPUs used on the system. With this fix, the user can now
successfully use the crash kernel with more than one CPUs on the system.
(BZ#1061480)

• Due to a bug in the wait_for_multipath routine in the mkdumprd utility, kdump

could fail to dump a core file on certain configurations with many multipath
devices. This problem has been addressed with this update, and kdump now works
as expected on systems with a large number of multipath devices. (BZ#1128248)

• Previously, kdump was unable to capture a core file on IBM System z machines

with a DASD FBA device specified as a kdump target. This problem has been fixed
by adding the necessary support for the DASD FBA type device to kdump, and a
core file can now be captured as expected on the above configuration.
(BZ#1022871)

• Due to an incorrect SELinux test condition in the mkdumprd utility, the kdump

kernel could fail to load a SELinux policy and produce an unknown operand error.
This update corrects the affected condition, and kdump now behaves as intended.
(BZ#1122880)

• The mkdumprd utility could previously emit spurious warning messages about

non-existent ifcfg files under certain circumstances. This problem has been
fixed and kdump no longer emits these warning messages. (BZ#1122883)

In addition, this update adds the following enhancements:

• The makedumpfile tool has been upgraded to version 1.5.6, which provides a

number of bug fixes and enhancements over the previous version, including
enhanced filtering and support for custom EPPIC macros in order to eliminate
complex data structures, cryptographic keys, and any other specified sensitive
data from dump files. (BZ#929312, BZ#823561, BZ#1035156)

• As a part of support for the kdump_fence agent in cluster environment, the new

options, fence_kdump_nodes and fence_kdump_args, have been introduced to the
kdump.conf file. The fence_kdump_nodes option is used to list the hosts to send
notifications from the kdump_fence agent to. The fence_kdump_args is used for
passing command-line arguments to the kdump_fence agent. (BZ#1083938)

Users of kexec-tools 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/articles/11258

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 - 874529 - kdump doesn't work properly with nic that has "-" in it's name
• BZ - 1083938 - [RFE] Support fence_kdump configuration for generic clusters
• BZ - 1123061 - kexec-tools: Issue a sync after saving vmcore-dmesg.txt

CVEs

(none)

References

(none)