Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3 Update 3 *Beta* Availability Announcement

[taroon-list redhat com]

Red Hat is pleased to announce the availability of the *beta*
release of Update 3 for the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3 family 
of products, including:

 - Red Hat Enterprise Linux AS (v. 3 for x86)
 - Red Hat Enterprise Linux AS (v. 3 for Itanium)
 - Red Hat Enterprise Linux AS (v. 3 for AMD64 and Intel(r) EM64T)
 - Red Hat Enterprise Linux AS (v. 3 for iSeries and pSeries)
 - Red Hat Enterprise Linux AS (v. 3 for S/390)
 - Red Hat Enterprise Linux AS (v. 3 for zSeries)
 - Red Hat Enterprise Linux ES (v. 3 for x86)
 - Red Hat Enterprise Linux WS (v. 3 for x86)
 - Red Hat Enterprise Linux WS (v. 3 for Itanium)
 - Red Hat Enterprise Linux WS (v. 3 for AMD64 and Intel(r) EM64T)
 - Red Hat Desktop (v. 3 for x86, AMD64 and Intel(r) EM64T)
 - Red Hat Developer Suite (for x86)
 - Red Hat Developer Suite (for Itanium)
 - Red Hat Developer Suite (for AMD64 and Intel(r) EM64T)
 - Red Hat Developer Suite (for iSeries and pSeries)

This update beta includes the following enhancements:
  
 - Availability of a full set of updated installable CD ISO 
    images via Red Hat Network, with OS package updates and 
    install-time support for new hardware.

 - Availability of updated Extras and Developer Suite
    ISO images via Red Hat Network, with package updates.

 - Addition of the exec-shield and PIE (Position Independent 
    Executable) features, which provide protection against stack, 
    buffer or function pointer overflows, and against other types 
    of security exploits that rely on overwriting data structures in 
    memory.

 - Addition of NX support for 32-bit x86 architectures in addition to 
    AMD64 and Intel(r) EM64T.  NX technology restricts execution of 
    program code in specific areas of memory such as the stack or 
    the heap, preventing many common buffer overflow security 
    vulnerabilities.

 - Upgrade of autofs to version 4, which improves NFS automount 
    robustness and adds features including browsable mounts, 
    replicated servers, executable maps, and multi-mounts.
    Refer to the Update 3 Beta release notes for more details.

 - Addition of support for local disk kernel crash dump targets in 
    addition to network targets, via the new diskdumputils package.  
    Currently, only x86 and Itanium2 platforms with SCSI subsystems 
    that use either the aic7xxx, aic79xx, or mptfusion drivers are 
    supported.

 - Preliminary support for additional IBM POWER platforms.

 - Addition of installer support for device driver update CDs.

 - Addition of the Exchange Connector for Evolution, which enables
    the use of the Evolution groupware client with Microsoft 
    Exchange mail servers.

 - Update of the IA-32 Execution Layer, which allows emulation 
    of 32-bit x86 binaries on 64-bit Itanium2 systems.

 - Additional 32-bit runtime library support for 64-bit platforms.

 - Driver updates including Adaptec RAID (aacraid), LSI Logic 
    RAID (megaraid), IBM ServeRAID (ips), LSI Logic MPT Fusion (mpt*),
    Compaq SA53xx Controllers (cciss), QLogic Fibre Channel (qla2xxx),
    Intel PRO/1000 (e1000), Intel PRO/100 (e100), Broadcom 
    Tigon3 (tg3), and Serial ATA (libata).  Refer to the Update 3 
    Beta release notes for more details on driver updates.

 - Driver additions including Emulex Fibre Channel (lpfc) and 
    Promise SATA SX8 (carmel).

 - Support for many additional Serial ATA (SATA) adapters.

 - Security updates, bug fixes, and feature enhancements to
    numerous system packages.

The beta update packages and CD images are intended for testing 
purposes only, and will be followed up with official, supported 
update packages delivered as official product errata when testing 
is complete.  Red Hat may, at any time, change the contents of 
any or all of these beta updates.  The beta testing period is 
scheduled to continue through August 17, 2004.

Please remember that this beta software is not supported and 
is not intended for production environments!  Please do not publish
any benchmark or performance results based on this beta release.  
Upgrades will *not* be supported from the beta update to the 
subsequent official update; a fresh base install will be 
required.

This message includes details on obtaining the early access software, 
reporting bugs, and communicating with Red Hat and other testers via 
mailing lists during the early access period.

A draft of the beta release notes for this update is attached.

For specific package change logs and version levels, consult the
architecture-specific channel package lists on Red Hat Network.

Accessing the Software
----------------------

The beta update packages are available via Red Hat Network
(https://rhn.redhat.com) to all current Red Hat Enterprise Linux
subscribers.  The updates are available via two methods:
 
(a) Install from new ISO images

Once you have logged in to RHN, click on the "Software" tab and choose
the appropriate child channel entitled "<product name> Beta".  
Click on the 'Downloads' sub-tab, and follow the directions 
provided to download installable ISO images for your platform and
release.  

For Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3 Update 3 Beta, a completely
new installable ISO image set is provided.

(b) Update existing test installation using RHN beta channel

Once you have logged in to RHN, click on the "Software" tab and choose
the appropriate child channel entitled "<product name> Beta".  
Click on the "Target Systems" subtab, and select all of the 
non-production, test systems you wish to run in the beta errata 
program.  Click on the "subscribe" button to apply the 
selection(s).

Once the beta channel has been subscribed, run the following command 
from a shell prompt on each target system to update any packages for
which new versions exist:

  up2date

You will see a list of packages that are available to be installed.
Select all packages and step through the instructions.  Note: you will
optionally be able to skip installation of the kernel.  Do not skip the
kernel!  Be sure to select it as well for installation.

For more information, Red Hat Network user guides and FAQs are 
available on the RHN website at https://rhn.redhat.com.

* Note: Systems that are updated with the beta update will not be 
upgradeable to the official update.  A fresh install will be 
required to ensure support! *

Bug Reporting
-------------

To ensure accurate tracking and follow-up, all bugs should be reported
using Bugzilla at:

  http://bugzilla.redhat.com

If you do not have a bugzilla account, please visit this URL and 
create one.
 
If you already have a bugzilla account:
 
1.  On bugzilla's home page at http://bugzilla.redhat.com, choose the
"New" tab at the top of the web page.  Proceed to Step 3, Choosing 
Your Product by clicking that button at the bottom of the web page.
 
2.  Choose "Red Hat Enterprise Linux Public Beta".  Proceed to Step 4, 
Choosing Component by clicking that button at the bottom of the 
web page.
 
3.  Choose the component against which you want to report a problem,
such as kernel, glibc, etc.

4.  Scroll the page to Step 5, Choosing Version and Architecture.  In
the Version field, choose 'rhel3-update'.  Choose the appropriate
architecture.  Proceed to Step 6, Additional Info, by clicking that 
button at the bottom of the web page.
 
5.  Provide the information about the problem you're reporting by
entering information in the appropriate fields. Then click the "Open
Bugzilla Entry Form" button. In the summary of the bug, and in the
text describing your problem, please state clearly that you are using 
a *BETA* package and provide the full package versions of any components 
you are experiencing problems with (as beta packages may be updated 
during the beta period).  Check to make sure that all information is 
accurate and click the Commit button to submit your problem report.

Mailing List
------------

Red Hat has created a public mailing list for communication during 
this and all future Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3 beta programs. 

* taroon-beta-list redhat com

  A public general discussion mailing list for beta testers of 
  Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3 updates.  Subscribe at:
    https://www.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/taroon-beta-list

Thank you for participating in the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3
Update 3 beta program. 

Sincerely,

The Red Hat Enterprise Linux Team

          Red Hat Enterprise Linux AS 3 Update 3 *Beta* Release Notes

   Copyright (c) 2004 Red Hat, Inc.

     ----------------------------------------------------------------------

Introduction

   The following topics are covered in this document:

     o Changes to the Red Hat Enterprise Linux installation program
       (Anaconda)

     o Kernel-related information

     o Changes to drivers and hardware support

     o Changes to packages

Changes to the Red Hat Enterprise Linux Installation Program (Anaconda)

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

  Note

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

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

     o If you are copying the contents of the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3
       Update 3 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 has
       been installed.

Kernel-Related Information

   This section contains information related to the Red Hat Enterprise Linux
   3 Update 3 kernel.

     o Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3 Update 3 includes two complementary kernel
       security features -- Execshield and NX.

       Execshield uses the segmentation feature of the x86 architecture to
       render the stack and certain other regions of memory non-executable.

       The NX feature, which was announced earlier this year by several
       vendors of x86 processors, enables the kernel to make a more
       fine-grained distinction as to which regions of an application's
       memory need to be executable. While Execshield provides basic
       no-execute protection for the stack, the NX feature provides an
       enhanced safety net against buffer overflow attacks in complex
       applications, such as the X server.

Changes to Drivers and Hardware Support

   This update includes bug fixes for a number of drivers. The more
   significant driver updates are listed below. In some cases, the original
   driver has been preserved under a different name, and is available as a
   non-default alternative for organizations that wish to migrate their
   driver configuration to the latest versions at a later time.

  Note

   The migration to the latest drivers should be completed before the next
   Red Hat Enterprise Linux update is applied, because in most cases only one
   older-revision driver will be preserved for each update.

   These release notes also indicate which older-revision drivers have been
   removed from this kernel update. These drivers have the base driver name
   with the revision digits appended; for example, megaraid_2002.o. You must
   remove these drivers from /etc/modules.conf before installing this kernel
   update.

   Keep in mind that the only definitive way to determine what drivers are
   being used is to review the contents of /etc/modules.conf. Use of the
   lsmod command is not a substitute for examining this file.

   Adaptec RAID (aacraid driver)

     o The aacraid driver has been updated from 1.1.2 to 1.1.5-2339

     o The new driver is scsi/aacraid/aacraid.o

     o The older driver has been preserved as
       addon/aacraid_10102/aacraid_10102.o

   LSI Logic RAID (megaraid driver)

     o The megaraid2 driver has been updated from v2.10.1.1 to v2.10.6

     o The new driver is scsi/megaraid2.o

     o The older driver has been preserved as
       addon/megaraid_2101/megaraid2101.o

     o The v2.00.9 driver has been removed

     o The default driver remains the v1.18k driver (megaraid.o)

   IBM ServeRAID (ips driver)

     o The ips driver has been updated from 6.11.07 to 7.00.15

     o The new driver is scsi/ips.o

     o The older driver has been preserved as addon/ips_61107/ips_61107.o

     o The ips 6.10.52 driver (ips_61052.o) has been removed

   LSI Logic MPT Fusion (mpt* drivers)

     o These drivers have been updated from 2.05.11.03 to 2.05.16

     o The new drivers are located in message/fusion/

     o The older drivers have been preserved in addon/fusion_20511

     o The 2.05.05+ drivers (mpt*_20505.o) have been removed

   Compaq SA53xx Controllers (cciss driver)

     o The cciss driver has been updated from 2.4.50.RH1 to v2.4.52.RH1

   QLogic Fibre Channel (qla2xxx driver)

     o These drivers have been updated from 6.07.02-RH2 to 7.00.03-RH1

     o The new drivers are located in addon/qla2200

     o The older driver has been preserved in addon/qla2200_60702RH2

     o The 6.06.00b11 drivers (qla2*00_60600b11.o) have been removed

  Note

   The QLA2100 adapter has been retired by QLogic. This adapter is no longer
   supported by QLogic or Red Hat. Therefore, the driver is located in the
   kernel-unsupported package.

   Emulex Fibre Channel (lpfc driver)

     o This driver has been added to the distribution. The version is 7.0.3

     o The driver is located in addon/lpfc

   Intel PRO/1000 (e1000 driver)

     o This driver has been updated from 5.2.30.1-k1 to 5.2.52-k1

   Intel PRO/100 (e100 driver)

     o This driver has been updated from version 2.3.30-k1 to 2.3.43-k1

   Broadcom Tigon3 (tg3 driver)

     o This driver has been updated from v3.1 to v3.6RH

Changes to Packages

   This section contains listings of packages that have been updated or added
   from Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3 as part of Update 3.

  Note

   These package lists include packages from all variants of Red Hat
   Enterprise Linux 3. Your system may not include every one of the packages
   listed here.

   The following packages have been updated from the original release of Red
   Hat Enterprise Linux 3:

     o The autofs package, which controls the operation of the automount
       daemons running on Red Hat Enterprise Linux, has been updated to
       version 4. This update provides full backward compatibility with
       version 3. Additionally, it adds the following features:

          o Browsable mounts (ghosting) -- Ghosting of map directories allows
            you to see the directories in the autofs map without mounting
            them. When they are accessed (such as when a directory listing is
            requested) the map entry is mounted so that it is seen.

          o Replicated Server support -- Replicated server functionality
            allows the administrator to specify map entries that point to
            multiple, replicated servers. The automount daemon attempts to
            determine the best server to use for mounts by testing the
            latency of an rpc_ping to each available server. Weights may also
            be assigned to the servers, allowing for more administrator
            control. Refer to the
            /usr/share/doc/autofs-4.1.3/README.replicated-server file for
            additional map format information.

          o Executable maps -- A map can now be marked as executable. The
            initscript that parses the auto.master map passes this as a
            program map to the auto-mounter. A program map is called as a
            script with the key as an argument. It may return no lines of
            output if there is an error, or one or more lines containing a
            map (with \ quoting line breaks). This feature is useful for
            implementing /net functionality.

          o Multi-mounts -- This feature allows the automount daemon to seek
            multiple lookup methods in succession. For example, a lookup
            could query NIS and file maps.

   ( x86 )