RHBA-2015:1341 - Bug Fix Advisory

Topic

Updated s390utils packages that fix several bugs and add various enhancements
are now available for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.

Description

The s390utils packages contain a set of user space utilities that should be used
together with the zSeries (s390) Linux kernel and device drivers.

This update fixes the following bugs:

• Previously, CPUs could be set online and offline too frequently or not often

enough, and, depending on the workload, the default rules in the sysconfig file
could lead to an adverse behavior. The default sysconfig file has been updated,
and the default rules from the cpluplugd config file now prevent the unwanted
behavior from occurring. (BZ#1142415)

• Prior to this update, the state of zFCP devices was not checked when bringing

them online. Consequently, an error occurred for devices that were already
online. This update adds an appropriate check, and errors no longer occur in the
described situation. (BZ#1161726)

• Previously, the dasdstat data file with statistics was not seekable.

Consequently, the dasdstat tool exited with an error message or reported
inconsistent data. With this update, the data file is read without using seeks
over the file, and the dasdstat tool prints the correct statistics as expected.
(BZ#1186407)

• Prior to this update, the ziorep tools could not handle device BusIDs

"a.b.xxxx" with "a" and "b" being non-zero. As a consequence, the ziorep tools
could not parse the ziomon configuration file. All occurrences of device BusIDs
in the ziorep tools have been fixed to support a full range of possible values.
Now, the ziorep tools can process configuration files that use any valid device
BusID. (BZ#1223722)

• Previously, the Bash syntax for comparison was used by the s390.script, which

could lead to errors when a different shell was used. With this update, the
correct syntax for value comparison is used, and the s390.sh file is processed
correctly by all shells. (BZ#1203680)

In addition, this update adds the following enhancements:

• With this update, the zipl boot loader has been rebased to a later version,

which enhances maintainability for Linux initial program load (IPL) code and
enables easier inclusion of bug fixes and new features in the boot loader.
(BZ#1053824)

• This update improves the performance of the dasdfmt tool and increases the

speed of the Direct Access Storage Device (DASD) formatting process. The kernel
internal handling of format requests has been reorganized, and the usage of the
Parallel Access Volumes (PAV) feature has been enabled to accelerate format
requests. (BZ#1053828)

• With this update, the verified path mask is shown when listing I/O devices by

the lscss tool. (BZ#1053829)

• This update adds support for Control Unit Initiated Reconfiguration (CUIR),

which enables detailed path information for DASD devices to be shown in the
lsdasd tool. (BZ#1148118)

• This update includes switch port attributes in the output of the lsqeth

command. (BZ#1148126)

• This update adds the General Parallel File System (GPFS) as a supported

partition type into the fdasd tool. This partition type identifies partitions
containing GPFS Network Shared Disks (NSD) used to store GPFS file system
information. (BZ#1148128)

• The dbinfo.sh tool has been enhanced to allow specifying the directory in

which data collection takes place and where the final tar archive is stored.
This update also extends the range of information that is collected by including
guest networking settings, libvirt, and multipath configurations and logs.
(BZ#1148744, BZ#1211281, BZ#1211282)

Users of s390utils 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.

For details on how to apply this update, refer to:

https://access.redhat.com/articles/11258

Affected Products

• Red Hat Enterprise Linux for IBM z Systems 6 s390x
• 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 (for IBM z Systems) 6 s390x

Fixes

• BZ - 1203680 - [Regression] s390.sh - incorrect syntax of equation

CVEs

(none)

References

(none)