RHEL 5.4 public beta is live on RHN, announcement is attached. With NSS available in the beta, I would *love* to hear any feedback.
The beta allows customers, partners, and other interested parties to provide technical feedback on the next version of RHEL. The beta ends August 31st. Of particular interest for System z (not a complete list): - System Z (s390) - Added additional card IDs to CEX2C and CEX2A - Added Call Home data - Added FCP performance data collection - Added ioctls to SCSI generic devices - Added EMC ioctl to the dasd driver - Disabled cpu topology by default - Upgraded version of hvc_console - Added hvc_iucv: z/VM IUCV hypervisor console support - Added extra kernel parameters via VMPARM - Added NSS Support - Added processor degradation capability - Added ap z90crypt adapter interrupt capability - Updated s390utils to 1.8.1 -Shawn -- Shawn D. Wells Global System z Platform Manager Cell: (+1) 443-534-0130 (GMT -5) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For LINUX-390 subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to lists...@vm.marist.edu with the message: INFO LINUX-390 or visit http://www.marist.edu/htbin/wlvindex?LINUX-390
Red Hat is pleased to announce the availability of the *beta* release of 5.4 (kernel-2.6.18-155.el5) for the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 family of products including: - Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 Advanced Platform for x86, AMD64/Intel(r) 64, Itanium Processor Family, Power Systems and System z - Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 Server for x86, AMD64/Intel(r) 64, Itanium Processor Family, Power Systems and System z - Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 Desktop for x86 and AMD64/Intel(r) Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.4 is in development and therefore the contents of the beta media kit, the implemented features, and the supported configurations are subject to change before the release of the final product. The supplied beta packages and CD and DVD images are intended for testing purposes only. Remember that this early access software is not supported and is not intended for production environments. Benchmark and performance results cannot be published based on this beta release without explicit approval from Red Hat. While anaconda's "upgrade" option will perform an upgrade from Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4.8 or 5.3 to Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.4 beta, there is no guarantee that the upgrade will preserve all of a system's settings, services, and custom configurations. For this reason, Red Hat recommends that you perform a fresh installation rather than an upgrade. Upgrading from beta release to the GA product is not supported. The beta testing period is scheduled to continue through August 13th, 2009. Table of Contents ----------------- Features Technology Previews Accessing the Software Installation-Related Known Issues Additional Information Lifecycle Documentation Defect Reporting Mailing Lists Features -------- This beta includes the following improvements: * Hypervisor + Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.4 includes full support for the KVM (Kernel-based Virtual Machine) hypervisor. KVM is integrated into the Linux kernel, providing a virtualization platform that takes full advantage of the stability, features, and hardware enablement inherent in Red Hat Enterprise Linux. A wide variety of guest operating systems are supported, including Red Hat Enterprise Linux (versions 3-5) and Microsoft Windows (XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2008). Guest operating systems, both 32-bit and 64-bit, run without modification. Paravirtualized disk and network drivers are provided for enhanced I/O performance. All libvirt based tools such as virsh, virt-install, and virt-manager support KVM. The KVM feature is supported on x86_64 architecture hardware platforms that employ Intel VT or AMD-V virtualization technologies. Note: Xen-based virtualization is included and fully supported. However, users are strongly recommended to run only one hypervisor at a time. * Cluster Improvements + Power Systems LPAR enablement - Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.4 Advanced Platform features (Cluster Suite GFS/GFS2) are now available on Power Systems platform under LPAR configuration. LPAR based clusters cannot be mixed cluster nodes of other architectures. This feature is Technology Preview + SAP Resource agents - New SAP resources agents for SAP instance and SAP database + Virtual Machines - Virtual machine (vm.sh) resource agent now uses libvirt + Fencing improvements: - New fencing agent for Cisco MDS SAN switches - New fencing agent for IBM LPAR instances via HMC * Desktop Enhancements + Updated ALSA audio infrastructure - enablement for new HD audio chipsets + Laptop - Improvements for docking and undocking with CDROM in dock + Updated graphics drivers - Updates to i810, intel, mga, ati, and nv drivers - New rs880 enablement * System Enhancements + FUSE is fully supported - New kernel FUSE enablers and userspace tools are present and fully supported. However, Red Hat Enterprise Linux does not currently include any FUSE based file systems + Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) enablement includes new utilities to ease the configuration of FCoE on standard NICs. This feature is a Technology Preview * Tool Enhancements + SystemTap - New kernel tracepoints added + OProfile - enablement for measurements in Java runtime environments * Security Enhancements + GnuPG-2 is included to support for FIPS 140-2 Level 1 requirements + FIPS 140-2 target candidate - openssl, openssh, libgcrypt, fipscheck, openswan, hmaccalc * Kernel Improvements + General Platform Support - Added T-state notification enablement to acpi - Updated docking driver for laptop docks + Arch Specific Support - i386 - Added a synthetic TSC_RELIABLE feature bit - Added MAP_STACK mmap flag - Added nonstop_tsc flag in /proc/cpuinfo - Added asm-x86_64 in i686-devel package - Fixed memmap=X$Y does not yield new map - Added Intel cpu 0x6f4 to perfctr1 workaround - Re-enabled support on blacklisted boxes - Exported powernow-k8 module parameters via sysfs - x86_64 - Fixed int $0x80 -ENOSYS return - Fixed panic if AMD cpu_khz is wrong - PPC64 - Updated spufs' cell to the upstream for RHEL-5.4 - Enabled ibm,req#msi-x - Enabled power button on blades - Updated libspe/elfspe for Cell broadband engine management - System Z (s390) - Added additional card IDs to CEX2C and CEX2A - Added Call Home data - Added FCP performance data collection - Added ioctls to SCSI generic devices - Added EMC ioctl to the dasd driver - Disabled cpu topology by default - Upgraded version of hvc_console - Added hvc_iucv: z/VM IUCV hypervisor console support - Added extra kernel parameters via VMPARM - Added NSS Support - Added processor degradation capability - Added ap z90crypt adapter interrupt capability - Updated s390utils to 1.8.1 + New kernel features include: - Added private futexes - Added preempt-notifiers implementation - Included tracepoint/markers infrastructure - Added response oriented wake up behavior to scheduler - Fixed gettimeofday for HPET, PMTimer, TSC - Updated NMI infrastructure to latest - Enabled deep C states for idle efficiency for Intel's Tylersburg chipset - Added extend MCE banks enablement for Intel's Dunnington, Nehalem processors - Added ACPI tstate enablement (processor throttling control) - Updated AMD IOMMU driver enablement for KVM and Xen - Added Intel VT-d driver enablement for KVM and Xen - Added SR-I/OV enablement for KVM and Xen - Enhanced Partition Statistics - Enabled CIFS' DFS and update CIFS to latest - Updated Autofs4 to the latest - Increased stack size for ia32 application - Added kprobe-booster and return probe-booster - Added PCI domain - Added RAID 4/5/10 in dm-raid + Driver Support for Driver Updates - Network Driver Update - Added bonding of IPoIB interfaces to bonding driver - Added broadcom cnic driver - Added cnic enablement to bnx2 - Added igbvf new driver, enable 82576 virtual functions - Added GRO feature to cxgb3 driver - Added GRO feature to igb driver - Added GRO feature to ixgbe driver - Added GRO interfaces to vlan capability - Updated cxgb3 driver for RHEL-5.4 - Updated enic driver to version 1.0.0.933 - Updated ath5k driver to F10 version - Updated I/O AT to upstream 2.6.24 - Updated bnx2 driver to latest upstream - 1.9.3 - Updated bnx2x driver to 1.48.105 - Updated igb driver to upstream version 1.3.16-k2 - Added PF driver to igb - Added VF driver to igb - Updated bonding driver to upstream version 3.4.0 - Updated ixgbe driver to upstream version 2.0.8-k2 - Enabled 825559 (Niantic) - Updated forcedeth to upstream version 0.62 - Updated sky2 driver for RHEL-5.4 - Updated tg3 to version 3.96 - Updated e1000e to version 1.0.2-k2 and enable Hanksville - Storage Driver Updates - Added UIO framework from upstream - Added bitmap merge feature - Added ALUA scsi device handler - Added bnx2i iscsi driver - Added cxgb3i iscsi driver - Added LSI storage IDs - Added md3000 and md3000i entries to rdac_dev_list - Added mpt2sas driver - Added netlink msg to iscsi IF to enable offload - Updated aacraid driver to 1.1.5-2461 - Updated aic7xxx driver to increase max IO size - Updated cciss driver - Updated fnic fcoe driver - Updated ipr driver to enable MSI-X interrupt - Updated iscsi layer and drivers - Updated libfc/fcoe - Updated lpfc driver from version 8.2.0.38 to 8.2.0.43 - Updated MPT fusion: to version 3.04.07rh v2 - Updated megaraid driver/megasas to 4.08-RH1 - Updated mvsas to appropriate upstream changes - Updated qla2xxx with production FCoE firmware and enablement - Updated qla4xxx driver fault recovery - MISC Driver Updates - Added pci ids for new video cards - Updated HDA driver for RHEL-5.4 - Added i5400 EDAC driver capability - Added enablement for SB800 SMBus - Added enablement for the Broadcom HT1100 chipset for i2c-piix4 - Added enablement for XRC queues - Updated core code to OFED 1.4.1 - Updated cxgb3 driver to OFED 1.4.1 - Updated ehca driver - Updated ipath driver to OFED 1.4.1 - Updated IPoIB to OFED 1.4.1 - Updated iw_nes driver NES iWARP to OFED 1.4.1 - Updated mlx4 mlx4_ib and mlx4_core, add mlx4_en - Updated mthca driver to OFED 1.4.1 - Updated qlgc_vnic driver to OFED 1.4.1 - Added the RDS protocol to OFED - Updated rdma headers to OFED 1.4.1 - Updated SDP to OFED 1.4.1 - Updated SRP to OFED 1.4.1 - Added HP xw460c to bf sort pci list - Added a new function to map BAR offsets - Added pci*_selected_region/pci_enable_device_io|mem - Added remove_id sysfs entry - New SR-IOV API for Physical Function driver - New initialize and release SR-IOV capability - Added enablement for PCIe ARI capability - Updated hpilo driver for RHEL-5.4 - Updated dm9601 driver to upstream fixes for 5.4 - Added enablement for Huawei's mode switch in kernel - Updated efifb driver Technology Previews ------------------- Technology Preview features are included in Red Hat Enterprise Linux to provide them with wide exposure. It is Red Hat's goal to support these features in a future release of Red Hat Enterprise Linux. Technology Preview features are not supported under Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.4 subscription services and may not be functionally complete. Red Hat welcomes customer feedback and suggestions for Technology Previews. Advisories will be provided for high-severity security issues in Technology Preview features. The following Technology Preview features are new or enhanced in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.4 beta. See the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.4 Release Notes for more information. - Support for Emulex Tiger Shark converged network adapter + new be2net driver - support LRO in be2net driver - FCoE + FCoE on standard NICs remains a Technology Preview. New tools in the fcoe-utils component make it easier to configure FCoE on standard NICs. FCoE on converged network adapters remain fully supported. - SystemTap kernel tracepoints + add tracepoints to vm + add tracepoints to blktrace + add tracepoints to sunrpc + add tracepoints for network socket + add tracepoints for page cache + add tracepoints to scheduler + add dropmonitor protocol and network tracepoints - ext4 file system / e4fsprogs + The ext4 filesystem Technology Preview has been refreshed with the updated userspace tools. The ext4 filesystems are now tagged as "ext4" instead of "ext4dev" as in the prior release. - GCC 4.4 + new command switches for optimizer improvements + OpenMP3 conformance for C, C++, and Fortran - malloc + A secondary malloc implementation in glibc that is enabled if the MALLOC_PER_THREAD environment variable is present. This malloc implementation is a Technology Preview. The original malloc implementation is invoked when the environment variable is not present and is fully supported. - CIFS DFS support - samba3x and ctdb + samba3x and ctdb are provided as a Technology Preview. These features are currently available only on the x86_64 platform. Samba3x package provides Samba 3.3 and ctdb provides a clustered TDB backend. Running samba3x and ctdb on a set of cluster nodes with GFS file system will allow the export of a clustered CIFS filesystem. These components are provided in an alternate child channel since they conflict with files installed from the samba package in the Server groups. - SPICE X11 driver + The SPICE X11 driver (xorg-x11-drv-qxl) is considered to be Technology Preview - Clustering with KVM hypervisor + Cluster Suite tools have been upgraded to enable automatic hypervisor detection, but running cluster suite in conjunction with KVM hypervisor is a Technology Preview. - Clustering on System P (LPAR) + Cluster Suite tools have been upgraded to enable fencing via HMC. Cluster Suite and GFS/GFS2 on LPARs but is a Technology Preview. GPL Version 3 Licensed Components --------------------------------- The following packages in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.4 are licensed under GNU General Public License Version 3 (GPLv3): * gcc44-4.4.0-6.el5 * gcc44-c++-4.4.0-6.el5 * gcc44-gfortran-4.4.0-6.el5 * gdb-6.8-23.el5 * lftp-3.7.11-4.el5 The following are licensed with GPLV3 with GCC Runtime Exception noted here: http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gcc-exception.html * libgfortran44-4.4.0-6.el5 * libstdc++44-devel-4.4.0-6.el5 * libgomp-4.4.0-6.el5 Installing the Software / Installation Numbers ---------------------------------------------- The ISO images contain the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.4 core and optional components. Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.4 requires users to enter an Installation Number that guides the Installer to include the correct components. In the GA release, the Installation Number will be associated with your subscription entitlement. If you plan to install multiple systems using a kickstart file, you can embed an Installation Number in that kickstart file. If an Installation Number is not entered, a core Server or Desktop will be installed by default. Additional functionality can be added manually or via RHN at a later time. The following installation numbers should be used for the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.4 beta release: Server: * Red Hat Enterprise Linux (Server including virtualization): 2515-dd4e-2152-25dd + Red Hat Enterprise Linux Advanced Platform: 49af-8941-4d14-7589 Client: * Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop: 6602-66e2-6741-9c67 + Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop + Workstation Option: da31-22af-db7e-dd23 + Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop + Workstation + Multi OS Option (Virtualization): 7fcc-4355-7e9b-bc42 + Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop + Multi OS Option (Virtualization): fed6-7649-ff91-8c77 Known Issues ------------ The following are known issues in the beta release: 440240 - request to add chroot sftp capabilty into openssh-server 502573 - blktrace run makes the machine unresponsive 502901 - glibc: malloc() is not thread safe 503719 - %postun(rhnsd-4.6.1-1.el5.i386) scriptlet failed, exit status 6 504091 - X cannot start with installed qxl driver 504335 - GFS2: SPECsfs workload runs on BIGI test bed failing at data laydown time 504704 - dlfcn.h fails pedantic tests 506140 - GFS2: Filesystem deadlock when running SPECsfs on BIGI test bed 506511 - performance regression running Iozone with different I/O options on RHEL54 kernels 506742 - Problem reaching default gateway when IP is changed 506792 - Update lpfc to version 8.2.0.46 (fixes only) 506898 - Installer prompts for network info when running on system with 1 CPU and <=2G of storage 506973 - openswan has depsolving problems, yum update fails 507378 - update Scalar::Util to the latest cpan release 507596 - "fsck.gfs2: invalid option -- a" on boot when mounting root formated as gfs2 507891 - Installation freezes on ia64/xen/fv 507893 - /sbin/mount.gfs2: can't find /proc/mounts entry for directory / 508074 - rpm -Va --root /external_folder fails sometimes 508404 - LRO/Jumbo frame: Support the Emulex Tiger Shark adapter 508806 - GFS2 panics while shrinking the glock cache. 508840 - puplet not functioning - yum-updatesd hangs on user logout/login - KVM hypervisor cannot be selected as an option during a graphical install. Kickstart based installs can select the appropriate group "@kvm". - FUSE kernel module is not present in the beta release Please consult the Beta Release Notes for any other known issues. Additional Information ---------------------- Additional information is provided below on Documentation, Bug Reporting, Mailing Lists, and Package Version List. Thank you for participating in the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.4 beta program. Sincerely, The Red Hat Enterprise Linux Team ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Documentation ------------- Release notes for this beta are available on the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 site at: http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/enterprise/ The Release Notes are also on your Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 installed system in the redhat-release-notes package. Bug Reporting ------------- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.4 Beta testers who have assigned Technical Account Managers (TAMs) should report all bugs with this beta release using your current Issue Tracker account. All other beta users should report bugs using Red Hat's Bugzilla. To report and query for bugs in this Beta release, you need a Bugzilla account with access to the "Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5" product. To report a bug via Bugzilla: 1. Login to the Bugzilla home page at http://bugzilla.redhat.com. If you don't have an existing account, simply create one by going to this page: https://bugzilla.redhat.com/bugzilla/createaccount.cgi 2. On the Bugzilla home page, choose the "New" tab. Proceed to Step 3, "Choosing Your Product" by clicking that button at the bottom of the page. 3. Choose Product "Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5". 4. Choose Version "5.4". 5. Choose the component against which you wish to report a problem, such as kernel, glibc, etc. If you do not know the component or want to file a bug against the general product, choose "distribution" as the component. 6. Choose the platform, such as: "All", "x86_64", etc. 7. Provide the information about the problem you're reporting by entering information in the appropriate fields. In the Summary field, provide a clear and descriptive abstract of the issue. In the Description field, state clearly that you are using a *Beta* package and provide the full package versions of any components you are experiencing problems with (as packages may be updated). 8. Check to make sure that all information is accurate and click the "Commit" button to submit your problem report. Mailing Lists ------------- Red Hat has a public mailing list for communication during this and all future Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 beta programs. * rhelv5-announce redhat com A low-volume, moderated, announcement-only mailing list. Red Hat will use this list to communicate one-way information about Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 beta programs, such as notifications when releases are available or solicitations for beta feedback. Subscribe at: https://www.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/rhelv5-announce * rhelv5-beta-list redhat com A public general discussion mailing list for beta testers of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 releases. Subscribe at: https://www.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/rhelv5-beta-list Package Version List -------------------- New packages added in this release include: blktrace blktrace is a block layer IO tracing mechanism. etherboot A network bootloader used for support Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization platforms fcoe-utils Utilities for fibre channel over ethernet libhbaapi SNIA HBAAPI library, used by fcoe-utils libhbalinux SNIA HBAAPI vendor library, used by fcoe-utils libpciaccess Abstraction layer for PCI access, used by libhbalinux fuse FUSE userspace space utilities gcc44 GCC 4.4 compiler gnupg2 gnupg2 for pgp support and FIPS 140-2 target pth GNU portable threads used by gnupg2 libassuan IPC library used by gnupg2 pinentry A collection of dialog programs to read passphrases and PINs in a secure manner, used by gnupg2 libksba Libksba is a CMS and X.509 access library, used by gnupg2 hmaccalc Tools to compute and verify HMAC values using SHA algorithms kvm KVM hypervisor iasl Provide ACPI Source Language (ASL) to ACPI Machine Language (AML) complier and disassembler, used by KVM celt051 A codec for low-latency communications. Used in SPICE qcairo A version of the Cairo 2D graphics library with support for the SPICE protocol, used by KVM qffmpeg Unencumbered codecs for SPICE protocol support, used by KVM qpixman Pixel manipulation library for X and Cairo, used by KVM qspice SPICE server and libraries for KVM xorg-x11-drv-qxl Add Tech Preview xorg-x11-drv-qxl package to support SPICE log4cpp A library of C++ classes for flexible logging, used by KVM virtio-win Windows network and storage drivers for KVM guests pdksh Support for older ksh88 syntax applications. perl-Sys-Virt perl-Sys-Virt provides a perl language binding for libvirt rds-tools Support Oracle's RDS sockets API, part of the OFED stack samba3x Samba 3.3 ctdb Clustered tdb (ctdb) provides support for clustered Samba implementations xorg-x11-xdm Added xdm as a standalone package For a full list of packages changed or removed in this release, please consult the release notes. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For LINUX-390 subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to lists...@vm.marist.edu with the message: INFO LINUX-390 or visit http://www.marist.edu/htbin/wlvindex?LINUX-390