# Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 Update 5 Release Notes

Copyright © 2007 Red Hat, Inc. and others. This material may be distributed only subject to the terms and conditions set forth in the Open Publication License, v1.0, available at http://www.opencontent.org/openpub/.

## Introduction

The following topics are covered in this document:

- Installation-Related Notes

- General Information

- Technology Previews

- Kernel Notes

- Changes to Drivers and Hardware Support

Some updates on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 Update 5 may not appear in this version of the Release Notes. An updated version of the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 Update 5 Release Notes may also be available at the following URL:

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

## Installation-Related Notes

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

### Note

In order to upgrade an existing Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 installation to Update 5, you must use Red Hat Network to update those packages that have changed.

You may use Anaconda to perform a fresh installation of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 Update 5 or to perform an upgrade from the latest updated version of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4.

- If you are copying the contents of the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 Update 5 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 Supplementary 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 has been installed.

- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 Update 5 for the 64-bit Intel Itanium2 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 Itanium2 architecture. In addition, a set of 32-bit libraries and applications are provided on a separate 32-bit Compatibility Layer disc. 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:

  1. Install Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 for the Intel Itanium2 Architecture.

  2. Insert the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 Extras CD, which contains the ia32el package.

  3. After the system has mounted the CD, change to the directory containing the Extras packages. For example:

     cd /media/cdrom/RedHat/RPMS/

  4. Install the ia32el and ksh packages:

     rpm -Uvh ia32el-<`version`>.ia64.rpm ksh-<`version`>.ia64.rpm

     where <version> is the respective versions of the ia32el and ksh packages to be installed.

  5. Eject the Extras CD:

     eject /media/cdrom

  6. 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.

  7. To verify that the 32-bit compatibility mode is in effect, type the following in a shell prompt:

     service ia32el status

  8. At this point you can install compatibility libraries by inserting the 32-bit Compatibility Layer disc. You may choose to install all of the packages available on the disc or choose the particular packages required in order to provide runtime support for your 32-bit applications.

- If you installed Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 Update 5 through a serial console, the login prompt may not appear. To work around this, open `/etc/yaboot.conf` and locate the following line:

              append="console=tty0 console=ttyS4 rhgb quiet"

  Edit this line by switching the order of console=tty0 and console=ttyS4 such that the line now reads as follows:

      	append="console=ttyS4 console=tty0 rhgb quiet"

## General Information

ql2xfailover Support and Multipath

  Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 does not include support for ql2xfailover, as it has not been accepted upstream.

  To implement multipathing, use mdadm instead. For more information about dm-multipath, consult its man page using the command man multipath.

MCFG on AMD-based Systems

  During PCI probing, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 Update 5 attempts to use information obtained from MCFG (memory-mapped PCI configuration space). On AMD-systems, this type of access does not work on some buses, as the kernel cannot parse the MCFG table.

  To work around this, add the parameter pci=conf1 or pci=nommconf on the kernel boot line in `/etc/grub.conf`. For example:

      title Red Hat Enterprise Linux AS (2.6.9-42.0.2.EL)
              root (hd0,0)
              kernel /vmlinuz-2.6.9-42.0.2.EL ro root=/dev/VolGroup00/LogVol00 rhgb quiet pci=conf1
              initrd /initrd-2.6.9-42.0.2.EL.img

  Doing this instructs the kernel to use PCI Conf1 access instead of MCFG-based access.

Rollbacks Using up2date

  The up2date options --undo and list-rollbacks are now deprecated. Currently, the recommended method for 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>`

Slow Disk Dump

  Slow disk dump may be improved using the block_order parameter. This parameter specifies the I/O block size to be used when writing the dump. Testing has shown that the default value 2 works well for most adapters and system configurations.

  Note that disk dumps on Megaraid hardware (in certain system platforms and under certain configurations) may be prohibitively slow. To address this, increase the value of the block_order parameter.

  Larger block_order values consume more module memory. For more information about the block_order parameter, refer to `/usr/share/doc/diskdumputils-`<version>`/README` (replace ``<version>`` with the corresponding version of the `diskdumputils` package installed).

iSeries Access for Linux

  The iSeries ODBC Driver for Linux has been replaced by a new product -- the iSeries Access for Linux. This new product can be downloaded at the following link:

  http://www.ibm.com/eserver/iseries/access/linux/

  iSeries Access for Linux is the latest offering in the iSeries Access product line. It offers Linux-based access to iSeries servers. iSeries Access for Linux allows you to :

  - Access the DB2 UDB (Universal Database) for iSeries using its ODBC Driver

  - Establish a 5250 session to an iSeries server from a Linux client

  - Access the DB2 UDB via the EDRS (Extended Dynamic Remote SQL) driver

  - Support 32-bit (i386 and PowerPC) and 64-bit (x86-64 and PowerPC) platforms

ibmasm

  The `ibmasm` package is used to facilitate communication with the IBM Advance System Management PCI Adapter, also known as RSA I. If you are using the RSA II, you need to manually uninstall the `ibmasm` package after downloading the corresponding package for RSA II.

## Technology Previews

Technology Preview features are currently not supported under Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 Update 5 subscription services, may not be functionally complete, and are generally not suitable for production use. However, these features are included as a customer convenience and to provide the feature with wider exposure.

Customers may find these features useful in a non-production environment. Customers are also free to provide feedback and functionality suggestions for a technology preview feature before it becomes fully supported. Erratas will be provided for high-severity security issues.

During the development of a technology preview feature, additional components may become available to the public for testing. It is the intention of Red Hat to fully support technology preview features in a future release.

Systemtap

  Systemtap provides free software (GPL) infrastructure to simplify the gathering of information about the running Linux system. This assists diagnosis of a performance or functional problem. With the help of systemtap, developers no longer need to go through the tedious and disruptive instrument, recompile, install, and reboot sequence that may be otherwise required to collect data.

Frysk GUI

  The goal of the frysk project is to create an intelligent, distributed, always-on system monitoring and debugging tool that allows developers and system administrators to:

  - monitor running processes and threads (including creation and destruction events)

  - monitor the use of locking primitives

  - expose deadlocks

  - gather data

  - debug any given process by choosing it from a list or allowing frysk to open a source code (or other) window on a process that is crashing or misbehaving

  In Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 Update 5 the frysk graphical user interface is a technology preview, whereas the frysk command line interface is fully supported.

## Kernel Notes

This section lists updates related to the kernel.

Generic Kernel Notes

  - CONFIG_SERIAL_8250_MANY_PORTS has been increased to 64.

  - `sata_nv` module now supports diskdump.

  - `acpiphp` driver now supports ACPI-based hotplugs for bridged adapters.

  - CIFS (Common Internet file system) has been upgraded to version 1.45

Platform-Specific Updates

  - SHUB2 is now supported

## Changes to Drivers and Hardware Support

- Sealevel 8-port serial cards are now supported

- Added a new PWC (Philips Web Cam) driver that supports a wider range of webcam models

- IBM Advanced Management Module 2 has been added to the USB storage whitelist for USB devices with multiple LUNs (Logical Unit Numbers)

- EDAC (Error Detection and Correction) is now supported on the AMD Opteron

- Updated `Alsa` driver to version 1.0.9

- Added Alsa support for Broadwater platforms

- Updated LMSensors `smsc47b397` driver

- Updated `ixgb` driver to version 1.0.109-k2

- Updated `r8169` network driver to version 2.2LK

- Pathscale IB adapter is now supported

- Added `qla4xxx` driver to support Qlogic iSCSI hardware initiator. Also added `qla3xxx` driver to provide LAN connections on the same hardware.

- Updated Infiniband support to OFED 1.1

- Updated `e1000` driver to version 7.2.7-k2 to support Intel Pro/1000 PT adapter, ICH8 LAN, and Intel Dual Port 1Gb Ethernet PCI-Express adapter

- Updated `BNX2` driver to version 1.4.43-rh

- Updated Broadcom TG3 driver to version 3.64-rh to support Broadcom BCM5787M, the Broadcom 5715 PCIExpress adapter and the Broadcom 5704S chip

- Updated `ipr` driver to support SAS/SATA

- LSI Logic SAS ZCR is now supported

- `sata` driver now supports ULi M5289 SATA controller

- Updated `cciss` driver

- Updated `qla2xx` driver to support SLIM expansion card on JS21

- Updated `MPTSAS` driver to version 3.02.73rh

- Updated the `LSI MegaRAID` driver

- `8139cp` networking driver now supports netdump; this enables fully virtualized Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 guests to run netdump

( ia64 )