Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5

5.5 Release Notes

Release Notes

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5.5 Release Notes

Abstract
Red Hat Enterprise Linux minor releases are an aggregation of individual enhancement, security and
bug fix errata. The Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.5 Release Notes documents the major changes made
to the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 operating system and its accompanying applications for this minor
release. Detailed notes on all changes in this minor release are available in the Technical Notes.

Highlights of the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.5 release include hardware enablement for the Intel
Boxboro-EX platform, AMD Magny-Cours processor and IBM Power 7 processor. Virtualization is
improved, with support for multiple 10 GigE SR-IOV cards, and automatic usage of hugepages for
virtual guest memory when enabled on the system. Interoperability improvements include updates to
OpenOffice for Microsoft Office 2007 filters, Samba for Windows 7 compatibility and boot support for
virtual machines using Microsoft based PXE services.

1. Installation .............................................................................................................................. 2
2. Virtualization ........................................................................................................................... 3
3. Kernel .................................................................................................................................... 5
3.1. Kernel Platform Enablement ......................................................................................... 5
3.2. Kernel Generic Features ............................................................................................... 5
4. Device Drivers ........................................................................................................................ 5
4.1. Network Device Drivers ................................................................................................ 6
4.2. Storage Device Drivers ................................................................................................. 7
5. Filesystem/Storage Management ............................................................................................. 9
6. Tools ...................................................................................................................................... 9
6.1. GNU Project debugger (GDB) ....................................................................................... 9
6.2. SystemTap ................................................................................................................. 10
6.3. Valgrind ..................................................................................................................... 10
7. Desktop Updates .................................................................................................................. 11
8. New Packages ...................................................................................................................... 11

A. Revision History 13

1. Installation
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.5 introduces many bugfixes and enhancements to the system installer
(anaconda).

The interactive installer has been enhanced, adding the abilty to specify additional Network File
1
System (NFS) mount options when installing from an NFS source (BZ#493052 ). Additionally, install
sources (e.g. kickstart files) located on password protected File Transport Protocol (FTP) servers can
2
now be retrieved during installation (BZ#505424 ).

Kickstart
Kickstart provides a way for users to automate a Red Hat Enterprise Linux installation. Using kickstart,
a system administrator can create a single file containing the answers to all the questions that would
normally be asked during a typical installation.

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https://bugzilla.redhat.com/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=493052
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 Virtualization

Kickstart debugging and error reporting has been improved. The installer now retains kickstart
scriptlets during debugging, logs standard output (stdout) and standard error (stderr) streams, and
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logs error messages to anaconda.log (BZ#510636 ).

Package groups can now be excluded in a kickstart installation in the same manner that individual
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packages are excluded (BZ#558516 ). Additionally, the bootloader command now supports the --
hvargs parameter, allowing Xen hypervisor arguments to be specified during a kickstart installation
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(BZ#501438 ).

Previously, the kickstart installation method offered two options to select all packages @Everything
and * (wildcard). As of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.5, both of these options have been deprecated.
Attempting to use a select all packages option will fail, unless the kickstart file also includes package
negation for conflicting packages. Therefore, to install all packages but conflicting packages, the
kickstart file must contain:

%packages
@Everything
-@Conflicts

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.5 includes the new package sets samba3x, freeradius2, postgres84.
These package sets are only available via kickstart during system installation or through yum for
existing systems.

Hardware Support
The following device drivers are now supported during installation:
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• the pmcraid driver for PMC Sierra MaxRAID Controller Adapters (BZ#532777 )
7
• the ibmvfs driver for Power6 Virtual FC devices (BZ#512237 ).
8
• the bfa driver for Brocade Fibre Channel to PCIe Host Bus Adapters (BZ#475707 )
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• the be2iscsi driver for ServerEngines BladeEngine 2 Open iSCSI devices (BZ#529442 ).

Note
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For detailed information on installation, the Installation Guide documents how to install Red Hat
Enterprise Linux 5.

2. Virtualization
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.5 delivers many updates to virtualization. Detailed notes on all the
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changes to virtualization components are available in the Technical Notes .

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https://bugzilla.redhat.com/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=558516
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https://bugzilla.redhat.com/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=501438
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http://www.redhat.com/docs/en-US/Red_Hat_Enterprise_Linux/5.4/html/Installation_Guide/index.html
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5.5 Release Notes

Note

Management of KVM based virtual guests using Cluster Suite is now fully supported.

SPICE

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.5 includes components providing functionality for the Simple
Protocol for Independent Computing Environments (SPICE) remote display protocol. These
components, are for use in conjunction with Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization products and
are not guaranteed to have a stable ABI. The components will be updated to synchronize with
functional requirements of Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization products. Migration to future releases
may require manual operations on a per-system basis.

PCI passthrough improvements

PCI passthrough allows PCI devices to appear and behave as if they were physically attached to the
guest operating system. KVM and Xen hypervisors both support attaching PCI devices on the host
system to virtualized guests.

The AMD input/output memory management unit (IOMMU) kernel driver, which assists in PCI
passthrough, has been updated. This update fixes an issue where system management requests were
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handled incorrectly. (BZ#531469 )

Support for PCI passthrough using Intel VT-d extensions on the KVM hypervisor has been improved.
Devices (either physical or virtual) can now be shutdown and unassigned from a guest during runtime,
allowing the device to be reassigned to another guest. This reassignment can also be carried out live
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(BZ#516811 ). Additionally, 1:1 mapping performance has been improved (BZ#518103 ).

Note
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For detailed information on virtualization, the Virtualization Guide is the definitive guide for
virtualization on Red Hat Enterprise Linux.

HugePages Support
New rules are available in libvirt to enable hugetlbfs (HugePages). When a system is configured
with Hugepages, libvirt automatically allocates memory from hugetlbfs to back the virtual guest
memory. When combined with extended page tables and nested page tables in hardware, significant
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performance improvements can be achieved by the guest. (BZ#518099 )

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https://bugzilla.redhat.com/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=518103
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 Kernel

3. Kernel

3.1. Kernel Platform Enablement

This release introduces support for Intel's new platforms, code-named Boxboro-EX and Boxboro-
MC, AMD's new processor family, code-named Magny-Cours and IBM's Power7 processor.

3.2. Kernel Generic Features

The recommended minimal memory requirement on x86 and x86_64 for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.5
is now 1GB per logical CPU.

Note

A logical CPU is defined as any entity that can be scheduled (i.e. every core or thread in a multi-
core or multi-thread processor is defined as a logical CPU).

Detecting kernel tasks stuck in the uninterruptible sleep state

In some circumstances, tasks in the kernel may permanently enter the uninterruptible sleep state (D-
State), making the system impossible to shut down. With this update, the Detect Hung Task kernel
thread has been added, providing the ability to detect tasks permanently stuck in the D-State.

This new feature is controlled by the CONFIG_DETECT_HUNG_TASK kernel flag. When set
to "y" tasks stuck in the D-State are detected; when set to n it is off. The default value for the
CONFIG_DETECT_HUNG_TASK flag is y.

Additionally, the CONFIG_BOOTPARAM_HUNG_TASK_PANIC flag has been added. When set to y,

a kernel panic is triggered when a task stuck in the D-State is detected. The default value for the
CONFIG_BOOTPARAM_HUNG_TASK_PANIC flag is n.
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BZ#506059

Signed s390 Kernel Modules

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Starting at Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.5, all s390 kernel modules are now signed. BZ#483665
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BZ#456181 , BZ#448130 , BZ#427709

4. Device Drivers
the hpilo driver for HP iLO/iLO2 management processors has been updated.

The Advanced Linux Sound Architecture (ALSA) has been updated — providing enhanced support for
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High Definition Audio (HDA). (BZ#525390 ).

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https://bugzilla.redhat.com/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=448130
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https://bugzilla.redhat.com/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=427709
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5.5 Release Notes

the i2c device driver for the iic-bus interface has been updated with support for the SB900 SMBus
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controller. (BZ#516623 )

the mlx4 driver for Mellanox ConnectX HCA InfiniBand devices has been updated to version 1.4.1
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(BZ#514147 BZ#500346 )

4.1. Network Device Drivers

Wireless Rebase
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.5 contains a major updates to wireless drivers and subsystems in the
kernel.

The iwlwifi drivers for Intel wireless network adapters have been updated. Devices in this hardware
line support 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, and 802.11n wireless protocols. This update provides new
support for iwl6000 and iwl1000 devices, and enhanced support for iwl5000, iwl4965 and
iwl3945 devices.

The rt2x00 drivers for wireless devices has been updated. This update refreshes the drivers for the
Ralink rt2400pci, rt2500pci, rt2500usb, rt61pciand rt73usb chipsets, and the drivers for
the rtl8180 and rtl8187 Realtek chipsets.

The ath9k driver for Atheros 802.11n wireless LAN adapters has been enabled.

To support the features of these drivers, the mac80211 and cfg80211 kernel subsystems have been
updated.

Solarflare driver
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In Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.5, the Solarflare driver (sfc) has been added (BZ#448856 )

Neterion's X3100 Series 10GbE PCIe driver

The vxge driver for Neterion's X3100 Series 10GbE PCIe devices has been updated
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(BZ#453683 ).

ServerEngines BladeEngine2 10Gbps driver

the be2net driver for ServerEngines BladeEngine2 10Gbps network devices has been updated
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(BZ#549460 )

Cisco 10G Ethernet Driver

the enic driver for Cisco 10G Ethernet devices has been updated to version 1.1.0.100.
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(BZ#519086 BZ#550148 )

QLogic 10 Gigabit PCI-E Ethernet Driver

the qlge driver for QLogic 10 Gigabit PCI-E ethernet devices has been updated to version
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1.00.00.23. (BZ#519453 )

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https://bugzilla.redhat.com/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=448856
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 Storage Device Drivers

Broadcom Tigon3 ethernet devices

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the tg3 driver for Broadcom Tigon3 ethernet devices has been updated. (BZ#515312 )

Intel Gigabit Ethernet Network Devices

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the igb driver for Intel Gigabit Ethernet Network devices has been updated. (BZ#513710)

Intel 10 Gigabit PCI Express Network Devices

the ixgbe driver for Intel 10 Gigabit PCI Express Network devices has been updated.
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(BZ#513707, BZ#514306, BZ#516699)

Intel PRO/1000 Network Devices

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The e1000 driver for Intel PRO/1000 network devices has been updated (BZ#515524 )

NetXen Multi port (1/10) Gigabit Network Devices

The netxen driver for NetXen Multi port (1/10) Gigabit Network devices has been updated.
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(BZ#542746 )

Broadcom Everest network devices

The bnx2x driver for Broadcom Everest network devices has been updated to version
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1.52.1-5.(BZ#515716 , BZ#522600)

Broadcom NetXtreme II network devices

The bnx2 driver for Broadcom NetXtreme II network devices has been updated to version
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2.0.2(BZ#517377)

Broadcom NetXtreme II iSCSI

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The bnx2i driver for Broadcom NetXtreme II iSCSI has been updated. (BZ#516233)

RealTek 8169 ethernet driver

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the r8169 driver for RealTek 8169 ethernet devices has been updated. (BZ#514589 )

4.2. Storage Device Drivers

QLogic Fibre Channel Host Bus Adapter Driver

the qla2xxx driver for QLogic Fibre Channel HBAs has been updated to version 8.03.01.04.05.05-k
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(BZ#519447 BZ#542834 BZ#543057 )

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https://bugzilla.redhat.com/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=513707
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https://bugzilla.redhat.com/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=515524
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https://bugzilla.redhat.com/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=542746
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https://bugzilla.redhat.com/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=515716
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https://bugzilla.redhat.com/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=522600
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https://bugzilla.redhat.com/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=517377
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https://bugzilla.redhat.com/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=516233
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https://bugzilla.redhat.com/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=514589
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https://bugzilla.redhat.com/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=519447
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https://bugzilla.redhat.com/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=542834
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5.5 Release Notes

HighPoint RocketRAID 3xxx/4xxx

The hptiop driver for HighPoint RocketRAID 3xxx/4xxx controllers has been updated, adding support
47
for RR44xx adapters. (BZ#519076)

Emulex Fibre Channel Host Bus Adapter Driver

The lpfc driver for Emulex Fibre Channel HBAs has been updated to version 8.2.0.63.3p.
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(BZ#515272) BZ#549763

LSI SAS-2 family of adapters

The mpt2sas driver that supports the SAS-2 family of adapters from LSI has been updated to version
02.101.00.00. This update fixes many issues, most notably:
• Sanity checks have been added when volumes are added and removed, ignoring events for foreign
volumes.

• driver is now legacy I/O port free

• An issue that may have resulted in a kernel oops at hibernation or resume has been fixed.
50
(BZ#516702)

LSI Fusion MPT

The mptque base driver for devices using LSI Fusion MPT firmware has been updated to version
3.4.13rh. This update fixes many issues, most notably:
• The serial attached SCSI (SAS) topology scan has been restructured, adding expander, link status
and host bus adapter (HBA) events.

• Intermittent issues caused by SAS cable removal and reinsertion have been fixed.

• An issue where SATA devices received different SAS addresses has been fixed.

• The device firmware now reports the queue full event to the driver and the driver handles the queue
full event using the SCSI mid-layer.
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(BZ#516710)

LSI MegaRAID SAS controllers

The megaraid_sas driver for LSI MegaRAID SAS controllers has been updated to version 4.17-RH1.
This update fixes many issues, most notably:
• An issue during firmware boot and initialization has been fixed.

• An issue that resulted in devices hanging during hibernation has been fixed.

• The driver now auto updates the device when added or deleted.

• MegaRAID SAS driver is now legacy I/O port free

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 Filesystem/Storage Management

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BZ#518243

5. Filesystem/Storage Management

Improved CFQ I/O scheduler performance

Some applications (e.g. dump and nfsd) try to improve disk I/O performance by distributing I/O
requests to multiple processes or threads. However, when using the Completely Fair Queuing (CFQ) I/
O scheduler, this application design negatively affected I/O performance. In Red Hat Enterprise Linux
5.5, the kernel can now detect and merge cooperating queues. Additionally, the kernel can also detect
if the queues stop cooperating, and split them apart again.

New GFS2 mount option

This update introduces GFS2 support for the errors= mount command line option, which may
assist in troubleshooting. The default option, errors=withdraw results in the filesystem attempting
to withdraw from the cluster if an I/O error or metadata error is encountered. The alternative,
53
errors=panic results in a panic in the same situation. (BZ#518106 )

CIFS Update
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The Common Internet File System (CIFS) has been updated in the kernel. (BZ#500838 )

6. Tools

6.1. GNU Project debugger (GDB)

The GNU Project debugger (normally referred to as GDB) debugs programs written in C, C++, and
other languages by executing them in a controlled fashion, and then printing out their data.

In Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.5, GDB has been updated to version 7.0.1. For a detailed listing of
changes refer to the GDB section of the Technical Notes.

Enhanced C++ support

Support for the C++ programming language in GDB has been improved. Notable improvements
include:
• Many improvements to expression parsing.

• Better handling of type names.

• The need for extraneous quoting has nearly been eliminated

• "next" and other stepping commands work properly even when the inferior throws an exception.

• GDB has a new "catch syscall" command. This can be used to stop the inferior whenever it makes a
system call.

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5.5 Release Notes

Wide and multi-byte character support

GDB now has support for wide and multi-byte characters on the target.

Independent thread debugging

Thread execution now permits debugging threads individually and independently of each other;
enabled by new settings "set target-async" and "set non-stop".

6.2. SystemTap
SystemTap is a tracing and probing tool that allows users to study and monitor the activities of the
operating system (particularly, the kernel) in fine detail. It provides information similar to the output of
tools like netstat, ps, top, and iostat; however, SystemTap is designed to provide more filtering and
analysis options for collected information.

New Kernel Tracepoints

Tracepoints are placed in important sections of the kernel, allowing system administrators to analyze
the performance of, and debug portions of code. In Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.5, a wide range
55
of tracepoints have been added to the kernel (BZ#475710) , including tracepoints for networking
56 57 58
(BZ#475457) , coredump (BZ#517115) and signal (BZ#517121) .

Note

A list of tracepoints available in the kernel can be obtained with:

stap -L 'kernel.trace("*")'|sort

Unprivileged mode
Previously, only users with root privileges were able to use SystemTap. This update introduces
SystemTap's unprivileged mode, allowing non-root users to still use SystemTap. Detailed information
on unprivileged man stap-client manpage.

Important

Unprivileged mode is considered a Technology Preview in the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.5. The
stap-server facility on which it relies is undergoing work for security improvements and should be
deployed with care on a trustworthy network.

C++ Probing
The C++ program probing improvements also allows better probing of user-space programs.

6.3. Valgrind
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 Desktop Updates

Valgrind is used to monitor memory read, write, and allocation operations. The valgrind tool is
frequently used by developers to diagnose and debug memory management problems.

Valgrind has been updated to version 3.5.0, providing enhanced support for a wide range of system
architectures. This update introduces many improvements to performance, scalability and usability
of the Valgrind. Notably, the usability and scalability of the Helgrind tool — which is used to detect
race contiditions — has been improved. The leak checking capabilities of the Memcheck tool are also
improved. Additionally, support for DWARF debugging information has been enhanced.

7. Desktop Updates

OpenOffice.org
OpenOffice.org is an Open Source, multi-platform office productivity suite. It includes key desktop
applications, such as a word processor, spreadsheet, and presentation manager. OpenOffice.org has
been updated, providing many bugfixes and enhancements, including support for Microsoft Office
2007 OOXML formats.

Metacity
Metacity, the default window manager for the GNOME desktop has been updated, providing
enhancements, additional GConf keys to control the the behavior of metacity and bug fixes.

8. New Packages

FreeRADIUS
FreeRADIUS is a high-performance, highly configurable, free Remote Authentication Dial In User
Service (RADIUS) server. It is designed to allow centralized authentication and authorization for a
network.

FreeRADIUS 2.0 is available as a new package (freeradius2) in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.5.
FreeRADIUS 1 is still available in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 in the original freeradius package.
Version 2.0 of FreeRADIUS introduces many new features including the programming language
unlang, virtual server support., additional directories for improved RFC coverage and full IPv6
support for both attributes & network packets.

Important

The freeradius and freeradius2 packages share common files, and cannot be installed
together on the same system.

PostgreSQL 8.4
PostgreSQL 8.4 (postgresql84) is now included as a fully supported option in Red Hat Enterprise
Linux 5. New features in PostgreSQL 8.4 include: parallel database restore, per-column permissions
and new monitoring tools.

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5.5 Release Notes

Important

A data dump and restore using pg_dump is required for migration from the existing
PostgreSQL 8.1 (supplied by the postgres package). Due to this requirement, postgres and
postgresql84 contain package level conflicts and only a single version can be installed on a
system.

Samba
Samba is a suite of programs used by machines to share files, printers, and other information.

The Samba3x package set was originally introduced in the x86_64 Supplementary for the 5.4
release. In Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.5, Samba3x has been updated and is now supported on all
architectures. Samba3x includes support for Microsoft® Windows™ 7 interoperability.

Important

Clustered Samba support is still a Technology Preview and only available on the x86_64
architecture.

Samba3x is based on the upstream Samba 3.3 release and includes the following changes in the
configuration file options:

Parameter Description Default

cups connection timeout New 30
idmap config DOM:range Removed
idmap domains Removed
init logon delayed hosts New ""
init logon delay New 100
ldap ssl Changed Default start tls
share modes Deprecated
winbind reconnect delay New 30

The samba source component has been refactored to generate a libsmbclient package. The
libsmbclient is included into both samba and samba3x packages to provide client interfaces to other
components in the environment.

Important

All previous samba3x Technology Preview packages must be removed before installing the
supported version of Samba3x.

gPXE
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.5 introduces the new gPXE package, an open source Preboot eXecution
Environment (PXE) implementation. gPXE provides the ability to boot installation images via a network
connection.
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 Revision History

A. Revision History
Revision 0 Tue Nov 24 2009 Ryan Lerch [email protected]
Initial creation of book by publican

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