RHBA-2014:1529 - Bug Fix Advisory

Topic

An updated system-config-kdump package that fixes several bugs is now available
for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.

Description

The system-config-kdump tool is a graphical utility used to configure kernel
crash dumping via the kdump and kexec utilities.

This update fixes the following bugs:

• On the IBM System z architecture, the system-config-kdump utility updated

bootloader settings only when the kdump service was already running. However,
since system-config-kdump does not run when kdump is disabled, it was impossible
to enable kdump on the IBM System z architecture. With this update, the
bootloader configuration updates regardless of the status of the kdump service,
and the kdump feature can now be enabled on this architecture using the
system-config-kdump interface. (BZ#962724)

• Prior to this update, the drop-down list of raw devices in the

system-config-kdump interface incorrectly included partitions that were already
in use. As a consequence, users could choose these partitions as the targets for
copying the kdump file, which in turn corrupted the file system. With this
update, the system-config-kdump interface only lists unused partitions in the
list of raw devices, and it is therefore no longer possible for kdump to cause
files system corruption in the described scenario. (BZ#1017611)

• Previously, the kdump parser of kernel parameters did not properly handle

entries that contain quoted strings. As a consequence, modifying boot options
via system-config-kdump on a system that used quoted strings in the kernel
parameters could lead to the system failing to boot. With this update, the
parser correctly accounts for quoted strings and kernel parameters with quoted
strings are now handled properly. (BZ#987681)

• Prior to this update, the automatic kdump memory thresholds in

system-config-kdump did not match their respective values in the kernel.
Consequently, selecting the "Automated kdump memory setting" option in the
system-config-kdump interface on some systems disabled kdump. The memory
thresholds in system-config-kdump have been updated to reflect those in the
kernel, and on systems with sufficient memory, "Automated kdump memory settings"
no longer disables kdump. However, on systems with not enough memory, this
option is disabled and the memory for kdump has to be configured manually.
(BZ#1030533)

• Previously, system-config-kdump used an incorrect path to bootloader

configuration on EFI systems using the GRUB bootloader on AMD64 and Intel 64
architectures. Consequently, it was not possible to configure kdump memory on
these systems. This update adds the correct path to the list of known bootloader
configuration paths, and it is now possible to configure kdump memory in the
described circumstances. (BZ#977981)

Users of system-config-kdump are advised to upgrade to this updated package,
which fixes 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/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 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
• 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 - 877004 - Inputbox "New Kdump Memory" can't accept new value without 'Enter' key

CVEs

(none)

References

(none)