7.5. anaconda

Bug fixes

BZ#803883

Due to a bug in the multipath output parsing code, when installing Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 on an IBM Power system with JBOD (Joined Body Of Disks — more than one hard drive attached to the same SAS controller), Anaconda could detect these multiple hard drives as a multipath device. This in turn caused the partitioning of the hard drive to fail, causing the installation of the system to fail as well. This update fixes the parsing code and the system is installed correctly.

BZ#848741

The Anaconda installer did not wait for BIOS storage devices to initialize when booted with the ks:bd:<bios disk>:/ks.cfg command-line option. As a consequence, BIOS storage devices could not be found and the installation could fail. To fix this bug, a delay algorithm for BIOS devices has been added to the code path used when booting with ks:bd:<bios disk>:/ks.cfg. As a result, Anaconda tries to wait for BIOS devices to initialize.

BZ#828650

The file system migration from ext2 to ext3 did not work because Anaconda did not modify the /etc/fstab file with the new ext3 file system type. Consequently, after the installation, the file system was mounted as an ext2 file system. With this update, Anaconda properly sets the migrated file system type in /etc/fstab. Thus, the file system is mounted as expected after installation.

BZ#886150

When installing Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.4 Beta using the kickstart file, which included the partition scheme, LVM incorrectly removed the dashes from Logical Volume and Volume Group names. This caused the names to be malformed. This update fixes the aforementioned function to correctly format Logical Volume and Volume Group names during the installation process.

BZ#819486

Using IPv6 to install Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.3 (both Alpha and Beta) on a z/VM guest enabled the user to SSH to the system and proceed with the language selection screen. However, after this step, the installation stopped and the SSH session was closed. With this update, the IPv6 installation on a z/VM guest is successful on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.4.

BZ#824963

A kickstart installation on unsupported hardware resulted in a dialog box asking for confirmation before proceeding with the installation process. As a consequence, it was not possible to perform a kickstart installation on unsupported hardware without any user input. To fix this bug, a new unsupported_hardware kickstart command has been added, which skips the interactive dialog warning when installing a system on unsupported hardware without user input.

BZ#811197

When a /boot partition was on a RAID device, inconsistent messages were returned because it was not supported to have this partition on such a device. These varied messages were confusing. To fix this bug, the error messages have been corrected to make sense and to not duplicate each other.

BZ#834689

Kernel modules containing Microsoft paravirtualized drivers were missing in the installation environment. To fix this bug, kernel modules with Microsoft PV have been added to the installation environment. As a result, better support for Microsoft virtualization is provided.

BZ#837835

Modules with VMware PV drivers were not included in the installation environment. This update adds the modules with VMware PV drivers to provide better virtualization support.

BZ#809641

The udev device manager was not used to resolve kickstart raid --onpart disk references. As a consequence, the /dev/disk/by-id/ path could not be used properly. With this update, the udev_resolve_devspec() function is used to resolve the --onpart command option. As a result, the raid --onpart command can now use the /dev/disk/by-id/ paths as expected.

BZ#809640

The Anaconda installer did not use the udev device manager to resolve /dev/disk/by-id/ names. This meant the kickstart installation method did not work with /dev/disk/by-id/ names. To fix this bug, Anaconda is now using udev to resolve /dev/disk/by-id/ names. As a result, kickstart installations using /dev/disk/by-id/ names work as expected.

BZ#804557

When installing a system using the text mode on a machine which already had Red Hat Enterprise Linux installed on it, a traceback error occurred when the Back button was used to go back from any dialog after the time zone dialog. With this update, disks are rescanned when moving back through the upgrade dialog, thus preventing this bug.

BZ#840723

The Anaconda installer called the modprobe tool without the -b argument that enabled blacklists. Consequently, modules were not blacklisted. To fix this bug, the required argument has been added to modprobe call. As a result, modules are blacklisted as expected.

BZ#851249

The Anaconda installer appended the boot= parameter on the command line whenever the fips=1 parameter was used. With this update, Anaconda appends the boot= parameter only when the fips=1 parameter is used and /boot is on a separate partition.

BZ#828029

This update fixes a typographical error in Korean version of a warning message used to alert users of a root password that is too simple.

BZ#681224

The Anaconda installer did not verify package checksums against the checksum in the repository metadata. A package which did not match the repo metadata checksum could be installed by the Yum utility. As a consequence, an incorrect package could be installed with no errors returned. This update adds verification of the package checksum against the checksum in the repository metadata.

BZ#656315

IPv6 configuration options of the installer's text UI (user interface) were using descriptions suggesting misleading meaning. Consequently, the description could mislead the users with DHCPv6 configured to use Dynamic IPv6 configuration (DHCPv6) which used DHCPv6 exclusively without using SLAAC automatic configuration. To fix this bug, the first option (Automatic neighbor discovery) has been renamed to Automatic; it is the (SLAAC) automatic configuration with the option of using a DHCPv6 server based on RA server configuration. The second option (Dynamic IP configuration (DHCPv6)) was renamed to Automatic, DHCP only, which describes the actual configuration to be used more accurately. These descriptions are now the same as those used by Network Manager. As a result, it is now clearer that the third option (Automatic, DHCP only) is using the DHCPv6 server exclusively.

BZ#836321

The command-line interface of the fcoe-utils package in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.3 was changed but the installer did not adapt to this change correctly. As a consequence, FCoE initiators were not able to log in to remote storages, which could then not be used for installation. To fix this bug, the fipvlan command arguments have been fixed to use the new -f option correctly. As a result, the installer now logs in to a FCoE remote storage correctly, and can be used for installation purposes.

BZ#823690

Repositories without size data caused a divide-by-zero error. Consequently, the installation failed. With this update, repositories without size data do not cause a divide-by-zero error and the installation succeeds.

BZ#848818

Support for the --hibernation option was only added to the part command. Consequently, --hibernation did not work with the logvol command. To fix this bug, support for --hibernation has been added to the logvol command. As a result, --hibernation now works with the logvol command.

BZ#784001

The linksleep option used to be applied only for the ksdevice= boot parameter using the value link. Consequently, when the ksdevice boot parameter was supplied a value containing a device name or a MAC address, the linksleep boot parameter did not take effect. Without waiting for the link, as required by the linksleep boot parameter, the installer could fail. To fix this bug, the linksleep boot parameter has been added to code paths where the to-be-activated device is specified. As a result, the linksleep boot parameter is honored also for installation where the ksdevice boot parameter is supplied a value containing a device name or a MAC address.

BZ#747278

The Anaconda installer did not check lengths of Logical Volume Manager (LVM) Volume Group names or Logical Volume names. As a consequence, an error occurred when creating disk partitions. To fix this bug, the length of LVM Volume Group names has been truncated to 32 characters and Logical Volume names to 16 characters. As a result, the installation completes successfully.

BZ#746925

Previously, Anaconda failed to enable add-on repositories when upgrading the system. Consequently, packages from the add-on repositories were not upgraded. This update allows Anaconda to enable add-on repositories when the system is upgrading and packages from the add-on repositories are upgraded as expected.