Does Red Hat plan to release a ntp package including xleap.patch (Important for slew mode i.e. with -x ntp configuration)?

Environment

• Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
  • ntp-4.2.6p5-19.el7 (shipped with RHEL 7.1) or below
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6
  • ntp-4.2.6p5-1.el6 and ntp-4.2.6p5-2.el6_6
• NTP configured in slew mode

Issue

• Is there any plan to release ntp package including Content from pkgs.fedoraproject.org is not included.xleap.patch?
• In Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 and 7, particular ntp packages cause step time adjustment when leap second is inserted even though ntpd is working with '-x' (slew mode) option.

Resolution

For Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7

• The fix is included in errata RHBA-2015-1159.
• To resolve this issue please upgrade to ntp-4.2.6p5-19.el7_1.1 or later.

For Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6

• RHEL6.5.z: Update ntp to 4.2.6p5-2.el6_5.2 (released with RHBA-2016-2081) or later, which includes the fix for this issue.
• RHEL6.6.z: Update ntp to 4.2.6p5-3.el6_6 (released with RHBA-2015-0690) or later, which includes the fix for this issue. RHEL6.7GA and later already include the fix.

For Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5

• Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 is not affected with this behaviour.

For more information regarding the leap second refer to Resolve Leap Second Issues in Red Hat Enterprise Linux

Root Cause

• Previous versions of ntp (RHEL 6 ntp-4.2.6p5-1 and greater), incorrectly changed the system clock instantaneously when a leap second event occurred, despite configuring ntpd with -x.
  • In certain applications, this could lead to a variety of system clock related problems such as incorrect event sorting or triggering.
  • With this errata, ntpd will adjust for the leap second slowly, over a long interval.

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