Kernel update on RHEL 6.9+ generates the error "emcpmgr create_db command failed for mkinitrd failed", leading to kernel panic on reboot

Issue

• During the kernel update, when yum is installing the kernel, generating the initramfs fails with the following message:

      Usage: emcpmgr  [options]
  
      cmd: create_db [pseudo_name] [bfs_db_directory_name]
      config [-p] [-e dpm]
      help
      list [-p] [-e dpm|mp|mpc]
      map [-p] [-e dpm|mp|mpc]
      startup_cfg_done
      unmap [-e dpm|mp|mpc]
      unconfig [-e dpm]
      version
  
      Warning: this is an internal EMC PowerPath command!
      emcpmgr create_db command failed for 
      mkinitrd failed
      warning: %posttrans(kernel-2.6.32-696.23.1.el6.x86_64) scriptlet failed, exit status 1
      Non-fatal POSTTRANS scriptlet failure in rpm package kernel-2.6.32-696.23.1.el6.x86_64
  

• This message can be easily missed as yum reports no errors at the end and marks the kernel as installed:

      Verifying : kernel-2.6.32-696.23.1.el6.x86_64           1/1 
      Installed:
      kernel.x86_64 0:2.6.32-696.23.1.el6            
  

• This can lead to kernel panic if the system is rebooted after the kernel update, as the initramfs image for the kernel is missing.