Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3 Update 9 Release Notes


Introduction

The following topics are covered in this document:

  • Maintenance Phase Announcement

  • Installation-Related Notes

  • General Information

Some updates on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3 Update 9 may not appear in this version of the Release Notes. An updated version of the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3 Update 9 Release Notes may also be available at the following URL:

http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/enterprise/

Maintenance Phase Announcement

This is the final scheduled update for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3. With this release, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3 now enters its maintenance phase. Note that while Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3 is now in its maintenance phase, Red Hat will continue to provide fixes for critical functional and security issues until the end of the product lifecycle.

Installation-Related Notes

The following section includes information specific to the Red Hat Enterprise Linux installation program, Anaconda.

Note

In order to upgrade an existing Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3 installation to Update 9, you must use Red Hat Network to update those packages that have changed. The use of Anaconda to upgrade to Update 9 is not supported.

Use Anaconda only to perform a fresh install of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3 Update 9.

  • If you are copying the contents of the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3 Update 9 CD-ROMs (in preparation for a network-based installation, for example) be sure you copy the CD-ROMs for the operating system only. Do not copy the Extras CD-ROM, or any of the layered product CD-ROMs, as this will overwrite files necessary for Anaconda's proper operation.

    These CD-ROMs must be installed after Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3 Update 9 has been installed.

  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3 Update 9 for the 64-bit Intel® Itanium 2® architecture includes runtime support for 32-bit applications through the use of Intel's IA-32 Execution Layer.

    The IA-32 Execution Layer is provided on the Extras disc for the Intel Itanium 2 architecture. In addition, a set of 32-bit libraries and applications are provided on the main discs of the installation. The IA-32 Execution Layer and 32-bit compatibility packages together provide a runtime environment for 32-bit applications on the 64-bit native distribution.

    To install the IA-32 Execution Layer and required 32-bit compatibility packages, follow these steps:

    NOTE: If you are sure that your Itanium processors have hardware emulation of IA-32, only steps 2-3 are required. If you are unsure, follow all the steps.

    1. During the installation of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3 for the Intel Itanium 2 Architecture, be sure to exclude the compatibility packages. Choose "Customize the set of packages to be installed" and then make these changes to the default packages before continuing. You should not add or remove any other packages at this time.

      • Deselect the Graphical Internet checkbox under the Applications category.

      • Deselect the Compatibility Arch Support checkbox under the System category.

      • Select the MySQL Database checkbox under the Servers category.

      Click Next and complete the installation up to the reboot.

    2. Next, install the ia32el package using either procedure 2a or 2b:

      1. After the first reboot during installation, the graphical FirstBoot wizard is displayed for final configuration and customization. On the last screen of the wizard (the screen with the Extras... button), insert the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3 Update 9 Extras CD, which contains the ia32el package. Click the Extras... button and follow the pop-up wizard to install the ia32el package from the Misc category.

      2. Alternately, after completing the installation, mount the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3 Update 9 Extras CD and manually install the ia32el package. For example:

        
        cd /mnt/cdrom/RedHat/RPMS/
        rpm -ivh ia32el-<version>.ia64.rpm
        
        

        where <version> is the version of the ia32el package to be installed.

    3. Start the ia32el service with this command (you must be logged in as root):

      
      service ia32el start
      
      
    4. Verify that ia32el is running with this command:

      
      service ia32el status
      
      
    5. Uninstall the aspell and aspell-config packages, which will otherwise conflict with the compatibility version of aspell:

      
       rpm -e aspell aspell-config
      
      
    6. Next, install the compatibility packages manually. Copy all the .i386.rpm and .i686.rpm packages from the base installation CDs to a local directory. Also copy over the following three ia64 RPMs (which some i386 RPMs depend on) to the same local directory and install them all together.

      aspell-<version>.ia64.rpm
      aspell-config-<version>.ia64.rpm
      umb-scheme-<version>.ia64.rpm
      

      At the time these notes were written, the aspell and aspell-config RPMs were located on disc 2, umb-scheme was on disc 3, and all of the i386 and i686 RPMs were on discs 2 and 3. So, in order to copy the files to the local drive and install them, perform the following steps:

      1. Create a directory to copy the packages:

        
        mkdir ~/rpms
        eject
        
        
      2. Insert Disc 2 of the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3 Update 9 disc (mount if necessary) and copy the packages to the newly-created directory:

        
        cp -v /mnt/cdrom/RedHat/RPMS/aspell*ia64.rpm ~/rpms
        cp /mnt/cdrom/RedHat/RPMS/*.i?86.rpm ~/rpms
        eject
        
        
      3. Insert Disc 3 of the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3 Update 9 disc (mount if necessary) and copy the packages to the newly-created directory:

        
        cp -v /mnt/cdrom/RedHat/RPMS/umb-scheme* ~/rpms
        cp /mnt/cdrom/RedHat/RPMS/*.i?86.rpm ~/rpms
        eject
        
        
      4. Install the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3 Update 9 packages:

        
        cd ~/rpms
        rpm -ivh *
        
        
    7. To verify the installation of the 32-bit compatibility layer and libraries after installation, check that the /emul directory has been created and contains files.

    8. Install any additional ia64 packages needed, either using the redhat-config-packages graphical tool or manually using the rpm command.

General Information

HS20 Reboot Freeze

IBM HS20 blades may freeze during reboot with an error stating:

NET4: Frame Diverter 0.46

To prevent further reboot freezes, add the parameters usb-handoff and noapic to the kernel command line.

Rollbacks Using up2date

The up2date options --undo and list-rollbacks are now deprecated. Currently, the recommended method in performing a rollback is to use the Multi-state Rollback feature provided by the Provisioning entitlement on Red Hat Network. For more information about this, refer to http://www.redhat.com/rhn/rhndetails/provisioning/.

Alternatively, you can also downgrade an RPM manually. To do this, obtain the old RPM and run the following command:

rpm -Uvh --oldpackage --nosignature --nodigest <filename of old RPM>

noacl Security Issue

A bug in the noacl NFS mount option can potentially grant a process unauthorized read access to cached data. This is because noacl prevents a process from consulting the server by disabling ACCESS calls on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3. As a result, the kernel has to rely on the file mode bits, which in turn can allow an open call to succeed inappropriately. This can ultimately result in unauthorized read access to cached data.

This issue will not be fixed since some customers use noacl to boost NFS performance. Testing has shown that all fixes proposed to this bug negatively affect systems that use noacl. Users concerned with this potential security issue are advised not to use the noacl NFS mount option.

nfsstat man Page Error

The man page for the nfsstat utility incorrectly references the -z option, which is not supported in this release.

gaim Rename

gaim has been renamed to pidgin.

ConnectTech WhiteHeat USB Serial Ports

A kernel panic may occur when a ConnectTech WhiteHeat USB Serial Port adapter is connected at boot time. As such, to use this device, you should disconnect it during boot up and reconnect it once the boot process has completed.

kernel.shmall

When configuring shared memory, kernel.shmall needs to be 1 higher than the amount of shared memory you want to use. This can be set in /etc/sysctl.conf.

( ia64 )