5.186. matahari
Updated matahari packages that fix multiple bugs and add two enhancements are now available for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.
The matahari packages provide a set of APIs for operating system management that are exposed to remote access over the Qpid Management Framework (QMF).
Note
The Matahari agent framework (matahari-*) packages are deprecated starting with the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.3 release. Focus for remote systems management has shifted towards the use of the CIM infrastructure. This infrastructure relies on an already existing standard, which provides a greater degree of interoperability for all users. It is strongly recommended that users discontinue the use of the matahari packages and other packages which depend on the Matahari infrastructure (specifically, libvirt-qmf and fence-virtd-libvirt-qpid). It is recommended that users uninstall Matahari from their systems to remove any possibility of security issues being exposed.
Users who choose to continue to use the Matahari agents should note the following:
- The matahari packages are not installed by default starting with Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.3 and are not enabled by default to start on boot when they are installed. Manual action is needed to both install and enable the matahari services.
- The default configuration for qpid (the transport agent used by Matahari) does not enable access control lists (ACLs) or SSL. Without ACLs/SSL, the Matahari infrastructure is not secure. Configuring Matahari without ACLs/SSL is not recommended and may reduce your system's security.
- The matahari-services agent is specifically designed to allow remote manipulation of services (start, stop). Granting a user access to Matahari services is equivalent to providing a remote user with root access. Using Matahari agents should be treated as equivalent to providing remote root SSH access to a host.
- By default in Red Hat Enterprise Linux, the Matahari broker (qpidd running on port 49000) does not require authentication. However, the Matahari broker is not remotely accessible unless the firewall is disabled, or a rule is added to make it accessible. Given the capabilities exposed by Matahari agents, if Matahari is enabled, system administrators should be extremely cautious with the options that affect remote access to Matahari.
Note that Matahari will not be shipped in future releases of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (including Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7), and may be considered for formal removal in a future release of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.
Bub Fix
- BZ#752325
- Prior to this update, matahari agents were being unnecessarily restarted during upgrades. As a consequence, unexpected output could appear during the upgrade process. This update modifies the underlying code so that agents are not restarted more than once and no more unexpected reporting occurs.
Enhancements
- BZ#723078
- Prior to this update, no shell tool for using matahari agents was available. This update adds a Python API and command-line shell to matahari.
- BZ#759243
- Prior to this update, the matahari interface could not identify Python scripts written by users. This update adds the RPC agent to provide an API to execute user-written Python scripts installed on the target machine.
All users of matahari are advised to upgrade to these updated packages, which fix these bugs and add this enhancement.
