Why does the Red Hat Certificate System 7.1 subsystems fail during JVM initialization on an EM64T system?

Solution Verified - Updated 7 Aug 2024

Environment

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4
Red Hat Certificate System 7.1

Issue

On an EM64T architecture, such as a 64-bit Dell PowerEdge SC1425 system, the Red Hat Certificate System 7.1 subsytems can fail during JVM initialization.
There are no error messages posted to the system log files for the adminstrator to see.
The system will appear as if the server has started up normally, however, the JRE would have silently crashed.

Resolution

Update the JRE to

java-1.4.2-ibm-1.4.2.7-1jpp.4.el4.i386.rpm

Or use this workaround: disable Exec-Shield using the noexec=off in the GRUB configuration to boot the system so the kernel parameter will get the JVM initialization to happen correctly. An example kernel parameter using the GRUB bootloader:
```
title Red Hat Enterprise Linux AS (2.6.9-5.0.5.ELsmp)
        root (hd0,0)
        kernel /vmlinuz-2.6.9-5.0.5.ELsmp ro root=LABEL=/1 noexec=off
        initrd /initrd-2.6.9-5.0.5.ELsmp.img
```

Root Cause

Red Hat Certificate System 7.1 on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 ships with IBM JRE 1.4.2 (32-bit). The JVM initialization happens using Java Native Interface (JNI) calls. The subsystem fail because Exec-Shield has been enabled by default.
This has been determined to be a conflict between JRE and Exec-Shield. Red Hat and IBM worked to resolve this issue through Bugzilla number This content is not included.172417 located at: This content is not included.This content is not included.https://bugzilla.redhat.com/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=172417.

Comments

Execshield and support for NX technology: This content is not included.This content is not included.http://people.redhat.com/mingo/exec-shield/docs/WHP0006US_Execshield.pdf

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