Issued:
2012-04-13
Updated:
2012-04-13

RHBA-2012:0479 - kexec-tools bug fix update

Synopsis

kexec-tools bug fix update

Type/Severity

Bug Fix Advisory

Topic

Updated kexec-tools packages that fix one bug and add one enhancement are now available for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.

Description

The kexec-tools package contains 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 bug:

  • When running kdump after a kernel crash on the system using the ext4 file systems, the kdump initrd could have been created with the zero byte size. This happened because the system waits for several seconds before writing the changes to the disk when using the ext4 file system. Consequently, the kdump initial root file system (rootfs) could not have been mounted and kdump failed. This update modifies kexec-tools to perform the sync operations after creating the initrd. This ensures that initrd is properly written to the disk before trying to mount rootfs so that kdump now successfully proceeds and captures a core dump. (BZ#773358)

In addition, this update adds the following enhancement:

  • The kdump utility does not support Xen para-virtualized (PV) drivers on Hardware Virtualized Machine (HVM) guests in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6. Therefore, kdump failed to start if the guest had loaded PV drivers. This update modifies underlying code to allow kdump to start without PV drivers on HVM guests configured with PV drivers. (BZ#808466)

All users of kexec-tools are advised to upgrade to these updated packages, which fix this bug add this enhancement.

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/knowledge/articles/11258

Affected Products

ProductVersionArch
Red Hat Storage2.0x86_64
Red Hat Storage for Public Cloud (via RHUI)2.0x86_64
Red Hat Gluster Storage Server for On-premise2.0x86_64
Red Hat Enterprise Linux for x86_64 - Extended Update Support6.2x86_64
Red Hat Enterprise Linux for x86_64 - Extended Update Support6.2i386
Red Hat Enterprise Linux for Scientific Computing6x86_64
Red Hat Enterprise Linux for Power, big endian6ppc64
Red Hat Enterprise Linux for Power, big endian - Extended Update Support6.2ppc64
Red Hat Enterprise Linux for IBM z Systems6s390x
Red Hat Enterprise Linux for IBM z Systems - Extended Update Support6.2s390x
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation6x86_64
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation6i386
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server6x86_64
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server6i386
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server from RHUI6x86_64
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server from RHUI6i386
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server - Extended Update Support from RHUI6.2x86_64
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server - Extended Update Support from RHUI6.2i386
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server - Extended Life Cycle Support6x86_64
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server - Extended Life Cycle Support6i386
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server - Extended Life Cycle Support Extension6x86_64
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server - Extended Life Cycle Support Extension6i386
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server - Extended Life Cycle Support Extension (for IBM z Systems)6s390x
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server - Extended Life Cycle Support (for IBM z Systems)6s390x
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server - AUS6.2x86_64
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop6x86_64
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop6i386

Updated Packages

  • kexec-tools-debuginfo-2.0.0-209.el6_2.5.ppc64.rpm
  • kexec-tools-debuginfo-2.0.0-209.el6_2.5.s390x.rpm
  • kexec-tools-2.0.0-209.el6_2.5.ppc64.rpm
  • kexec-tools-2.0.0-209.el6_2.5.s390x.rpm
  • kexec-tools-2.0.0-209.el6_2.5.x86_64.rpm
  • kexec-tools-2.0.0-209.el6_2.5.src.rpm
  • kexec-tools-debuginfo-2.0.0-209.el6_2.5.x86_64.rpm
  • kexec-tools-debuginfo-2.0.0-209.el6_2.5.i686.rpm
  • kexec-tools-2.0.0-209.el6_2.5.i686.rpm

Fixes

(none)

CVEs

(none)

References

(none)

Additional information