kernel-ml and Nvidia driver

As you know, ELRepo provides the Nvidia driver for EL kernels but not for kernel-ml or kernel-lt. People running kernel-ml/lt can install the driver by downloading it directly from the Nvidia site. However, kernel version 3.13, as currently offered by kernel-ml, is known to have a problem with the latest Nvidia drivers. Fortunately, there is a fix for this issue. The detailed instructions are posted by CentOS developer Johnny Hughes on his blog.

Thanks, Johnny!

Kernel-lt Package Sets -- What to Expect for EL5 and EL6

We have recently released [1] the latest update to the kernel-lt
package sets, for both EL5 and EL6.

Those of you who regularly monitor the front page of the Linux Kernel
Archives website [2] will have observed that the linux-3.0.X branch
has now been transitioned to EOL status following the release of the
linux-3.0.101 sources [3]. This action is in full accord with the
information contained within the 'Longterm release kernels' table, as
shown on the 'Active kernel releases' page [4].

As a preparation for this event, the ELRepo Project previously asked
for comments [5] as to which Linux source branch should then be used
for the basis of the kernel-lt package sets. The final decision [6]
was that kernel-lt for EL5 will be built using the linux-3.2.X branch
and kernel-lt for EL6 will be built using the linux-3.10.X branch.

All users who make regular use the kernel-lt packages should be
prepared for the transition that will thus occur with the next update
to the kernel-lt package sets.

[1] http://lists.elrepo.org/pipermail/elrepo/2013-October/002014.html 

[2] https://www.kernel.org/

[3] https://lkml.org/lkml/2013/10/22/125

[4] https://www.kernel.org/category/releases.html

[5] http://lists.elrepo.org/pipermail/elrepo/2013-August/001863.html

[6] http://lists.elrepo.org/pipermail/elrepo/2013-August/001890.html

ELRepo Statistics (beginning to July 2013)

Kernel-lt and the Future.

The ELRepo Project has regularly released a kernel-lt (long term supported)
package set for both enterprise Linux 5 & 6. These kernels have been based
on the linux-3.0.X stable branch.

The linux-3.0.X stable branch will be reaching end of life this coming
October [1][2] and a decision will have to be made with regards to the
future of the kernel-lt package sets that we provide.

There are a number of options available, the most radical being to stop
building and providing such kernel-lt package sets. However no decision
has yet been made.

A thread has been started on the ELRepo users' mailing list [3] where
subscribers have been asked to assist the Project's administrators in
making a decision.

If you would like to be part of the decision making process, please
contribute to that mailing list thread.

[1] https://www.kernel.org/category/releases.html 
[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linux_kernel#Maintenance 
[3] http://lists.elrepo.org/pipermail/elrepo/2013-August/001863.html

RHEL 5.10 Beta released

Red Hat has just announced the Beta release of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.10.  At ELRepo, we should get busy testing our packages against this release.

Where Are The Kernel-lt-3.0.73-1.el6.elrepo Packages?

A week ago, we reported that the kernel-lt-3.0.72-1.elX.elrepo package sets (both el5 & el6) could not be built due to a bug introduced into the then just released linux-3.0.72 source tarball.

A week on and the linux-3.0.73 source tarball has been released. The appropriate files were submitted to the build systems and the expected kernel-lt-3.0.73-1.el5.elrepo packages were created. They have been signed, uploaded to the main mirror and their availability announced.

But what about the kernel-lt-3.0.73-1.el6.elrepo packages, you ask? Unfortunately the inability to test the patches so submitted has resulted in the presence of a different bug in the linux-3.0.73 source tarball. That bug only affects the 32-bit build of the kernel with the el6 configuration.

arch/x86/mm/numa_32.c:107: error: redefinition of 'alloc_remap'
include/linux/bootmem.h:144: note: previous definition of 'alloc_remap' was here
make[2]: *** [arch/x86/mm/numa_32.o] Error 1
make[1]: *** [arch/x86/mm] Error 2
make: *** [arch/x86] Error 2

Two successive buggy tarballs have now been released . . . We wonder what the next tarball (linux-3.0.74) will bring? A kick up the rear for the creators, applied by Linus Torvalds, perhaps?

Update (2013-04-15). By making a change to the configuration for the el6 kernel (namely CONFIG_NUMA disabled for 32-bit), we have been able to build and release the package set. If you are inconvenienced by this configuration change, please let us know and -- most importantly -- refer to this bug at bugzilla.kernel.org  Hopefully you will not be ignored.

Where Are The Kernel-lt-3.0.72-1.elX.elrepo Packages?

Question: The long-term support linux-3.0.72 source tarball was released on 2013-04-05. When will the kernel-lt-3.0.72-1.elX.elrepo packages, built for both EL5 and EL6, be available please?

Answer (short): Never.

Answer (longer): Never, because the source tarball is defective. A freshly introduced bug brings the 32-bit build to an abrupt halt during the module building phase.

ERROR: "__udivdi3" [fs/ext4/ext4.ko] undefined!
make[1]: *** [__modpost] Error 1
make: *** [modules] Error 2

RHEL 6.4 and ELRepo

RHEL 6.4 was released on February 21th, 2013. We have tested our packages against this release and identified a couple of issues. Below is a digest of our note sent to the ELRepo mailing list.  

1. The current OpenAFS kmod package in elrepo (kmod-openafs-1.6.1-2.el6.elrepo) does not weak-link against the new 6.4 kernel. Jack Neely rebuilt the kmod against the new 6.4 kernel (kmod-openafs-1.6.1-5.el6.elrepo) but that package does not in turn weak-link against earlier kernels. So users of 6.3 should continue to use the package in the main repository (kmod-openafs-1.6.1-2.el6.elrepo). When you are ready to update to 6.4, also update kmod-openafs (kmod-openafs-1.6.1-5.el6.elrepo) from the elrepo testing repository at the same time.   

2. Red Hat updated the wireless stack in RHEL 6.4. As a result, there now exists a file level conflict between the kernel-firmware package and the rt2860-firmware and rt2870-firmware packages from elrepo, both providing the same file(s). Users of these devices are advised to uninstall the elrepo drivers and firmware for these devices and revert to the kernel drivers now these devices are supported by the distro.

Kernel-ml-3.8.0-1.el6.elrepo

Having received a system-generated message that the mainline linux-3.8 tarball was available at the Linux Kernel Archives, it was downloaded and fed into the ELRepo Project's build system.

After the dispatch of one e-mail in-box full of messages and an evening meal, the build status was checked. The expected message was duly seen --

All packages have been built.

 So just three steps remained -- package signing, uploading to the elrepo-kernel repository and announcing the release of this package set to our mailing-list.

By now our mirror-sites will be synchronising with this latest kernel-ml release and so it is all over -- until the next tarball is released.

ELRepo statistics - Year 2012

Here's the number of yum users for the year 2012.

kernel-lt and kernel-ml

And Nux! said "Let there be light" and there was kernel-l(igh)t.

Actually the 'lt' in kernel-lt stands for long term. That is, the kernel-lt package set is based on the long-term, stable branch from the Linux Kernel Archives as opposed to the mainline branch, upon which the  kernel-ml package set is based.

All this started with an innocent-looking request on the ELRepo mailing list:

"Guys, is there a possibility to have the TLS kernels in their own repo 
or would it be just spreading too thin? Maybe some hardlinks as to not 
waste space.. I'm not using the lts kernel but I'm thinking many do and 
they don't want to have the lts kernel updated by the "latest" one."

After a long discussion (of nearly 40 posts) it was decided that the ELRepo Project would provide a long-term kernel, as 'kernel-lt', from the elrepo-kernel repository. Currently the following kernel versions are available:

EL6
kernel-ml 3.6.x
kernel-lt 3.0.x

EL5
kernel-lt 3.0.x

In conclusion we must state our usual disclaimer:

We provide these kernels for hardware testing in an effort to identify
new/updated drivers which can then be targeted for backporting as kmod packages. Meanwhile, these kernels may provide interim relief to people with non-functional hardware. We stress that we consider such kernels as a last resort for those who are unable to get their
hardware working using the RHEL-{5|6} kernel with supplementary kmod packages.

These packages are provided "As-Is" with no implied warranty or
support. Using the kernel-lt may expose your system to security,
performance and/or data corruption issues. Since timely updates may
not be available from the ELRepo Project, the end user has the
ultimate responsibility for deciding whether to continue using the
kernel-lt packages in regular service.

The packages are intentionally named kernel-lt so as not to conflict
with the RHEL-{5|6} kernels and, as such, they may be installed and
updated alongside the regular kernel. The kernel configuration is
based upon a default RHEL-{5|6} configuration with added functionality enabled as appropriate.

If a bug is found when using these kernels, the end user is encouraged
to report it upstream to the Linux Kernel bug tracker [1] and, for our
reference, to the ELRepo bug tracker [2]. By taking such action, the
reporter will be assisting the kernel developers, Red Hat and the Open
Source Community as a whole.

[1] http://bugzilla.kernel.org/
[2] http://elrepo.org/bugs/

ELRepo statistics - August 2012

Here's the entire history of ELRepo as of August 2012:

ELRepo archives

At ELRepo, we prune older packages to save disk space and keep the repo size from growing forever. Then, from time to time we receive requests for the ones that have been removed.

In response to those requests, we have created a new repository "archive". Any packages  in the elrepo and extras repositories that are older than 21 day old are duplicated there. Not all mirrors carry the archive repo. Currently there are 4 mirrors and they are marked on the mirror list found on our Download page.

RHEL 6.3 beta announced

Red Hat announced the release of RHEL 6.3 beta today. We, at ELRepo, must now get busy testing out our kmod and other packages.

Nvidia driver that fixes a security vulnerability released

Nvidia announced today a release of an updated version (295.40) of the Nvidia Unix driver that fixes a security vulnerability (see http://www.nvnews.net/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=178006 and Nvidia knowledgebase for details). Here is a brief description:

"The vulnerability makes it possible for attackers with read/write access to the GPU device nodes to access arbitrary system memory, NVIDIA recommends that users of the NVIDIA Linux, Solaris, and FreeBSD drivers with Geforce 8 or newer, G80 Quadro or newer, or any Tesla GPU update their drivers to version 295.40 or later."

We (Phil Perry, maintainer of the nvidia driver packages) released the ELRepo packages with this driver version 295.40 for both EL5 and EL6.

*EL5*
kmod-nvidia-295.40-1.el5.elrepo.i686.rpm

kmod-nvidia-PAE-295.40-1.el5.elrepo.i686.rpm
kmod-nvidia-295.40-1.el5.elrepo.x86_64.rpm
nvidia-x11-drv-295.40-1.el5.elrepo.i386.rpm
nvidia-x11-drv-295.40-1.el5.elrepo.x86_64.rpm
nvidia-x11-drv-32bit-295.40-1.el5.elrepo.x86_64.rpm

*EL6*
kmod-nvidia-295.40-1.el6.elrepo.i686.rpm
kmod-nvidia-295.40-1.el6.elrepo.x86_64.rpm
nvidia-x11-drv-295.40-1.el6.elrepo.i686.rpm
nvidia-x11-drv-295.40-1.el6.elrepo.x86_64.rpm
nvidia-x11-drv-32bit-295.40-1.el6.elrepo.x86_64.rpm

All Nvidia driver users are advised to update to this version as soon as possible.