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JonMasters,TimBurke October,2007v1.5
Overview
ExperiencesfromRHEL2.1,3,4
PriortoRHEL5,therewasnoofficiallysanctioned,standardizedprocessfor adding3rdpartyLinuxKernelModulestoRedHatEnterpriseLinuxsystems. Lessfavorableexperiencescouldinclude:
Thekernelmodulebuildprocesseswerenotalwayswelldocumented. Therewasnostandardized,documented,packaginganddeliverystrategy:
Usershadtoreinstall3rdpartydriversonkernelmaintenanceerrata:
Objectives
Note:ThisprogramisanadditionalfeaturepresentinRHEL5.Itdoesnot precludetheuseofanyalternativekernelpackagingordeliveryprocess usedby3rdparties.Instead,itaddsanadditionaloptiontothoseavailable. ImprovetheendcustomerLinuxKernelModuleinstallationexperienceby providing3rdparties(IHV/OEM/etc.)withastandardizedpackagingprocess. Publishanofficial,definedsetofRHEL5kernelexternalstableinterfaces. Implementmechanismstoallow3rdpartykernelmodulestocontinuetofunction acrosskernelerrata(asynchronoussecurityerrataorRHEL5minorrelease).
Features/Capabilities
PublishedRHEL5kernelsymbolwhitelists(perarchandkernelvariant):
Functionalitysubsystemgroupings:
Whitelistconstructionrationale
RHEL5kerneliscomplex,baseduponcommunitydevelopedkernel
Whitelistsinitiallyformedfromknownthirdpartyand~3000standardsymbols.
Examplesofremovedsymbols:
Features/Capabilities
Driverdevelopmenttools:
RPMcommandenhancementstoenablerepresentingkernelinterface dependenciesasregularLinuxpackagedependencies.
Enablespackaginganddeliveryofkernelmodulestobeconsistentwiththe paradigmusedintherestofthedistribution.Noneedtoreinventthewheel.
Features/Capabilities
ModulesarebuiltasexternalRPMpackages.
Buildprocesssimpleanddocumented
RPMdependenciestrackmodulecompatibility
Features/Capabilities
Customerbenefits
Simplifiescustomerinstallationexperience:
Utilizesconventionalpackageinstallationmechanisms. InstallisasingleRPMcommand:
rpmivhkmodipw39451.04.7.el5.i686.rpm
Providesaconsistentcustomerinstallationexperience:
vsprioradhocprocedures,varyingfromonedistributortothenext..
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Hardwarecertificationimplications
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Hardwarecertificationimplications
InlimitedcircumstancesRedHatmayallowhardwarecertificationinvolving platformswhichrequireupdateddrivers.
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PackageDelivery
HowareRPMpackagescontainingdrivermodulesdistributed?
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Nextsteps...
Itisimportanttotestyourownkernelmodulescanbepackaged:
VerifyallnecessarykernelsymbolsareontheRedHatwhitelists. UsetheonlineABIcheckerathttp://www.driverupdateprogram.com/
Producetestpackages,followingthepublisheddocumentation(theofficial technicalwhitepaperandexamplesavailablefromtheprojectwebsite).
FurtherinformationisavailablefromyourRedHatPartnerManager:
Includingcontactsandupdatedinformationasitbecomesavailable. Refertothedriverupdateproject.comwebsitefordownloadablematerial.
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Whatifyouneedasymbolnotonthewhitelists?
Somesymbolsareabsentfromthewhitelistsaswewereunawareoftheirusage. ItisoccasionallypossibletoaddthesesymbolsinaRHEL5minorrelease:
Thisisaccomplishedbycreatingspecialnewsubsystemgroupings. ProposeadditionsviaaFeatureRequestintheRedHatBugzilla.
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KernelTainting
TheLinuxkernelcommunitydescribesakernelastaintedifitusesnonGPL kernelmodulesorthoseforwhichsourcecodeisnotgenerallyavailable.Thisis theflagthatissetinsystemlogfileswheneversuchmodulesareused. RedHatsupportmayalsodescribeakernelastaintedifituseskernelmodules notsuppliedaspartoftheRHEL5installation.Thismeans3rdpartymodules.Red HatsuppliedDriverUpdateProgrammoduleswillnottainttheuser'ssystemand willbefullysupportedbytheRedHatsupportorganizationwheneverrequired. Systemsusing3rdpartymodulesmaybesupportedbyRedHat,dependingupon theexistenceofCooperativeSupportAgreements(CSAs),etc.Refertothe previoussupport/certificationdiscussion.
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Futurepossibilities
Note:theseenhancementstotheDriverUpdateProgramareunderconsideration. Thisslidedoesnotconstitutecommitment.
ShortTerm(ie,inRHEL5minorrelease)
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Futurepossibilities
Note:theseenhancementstotheDriverUpdateProgramareunderconsideration. Thisslidedoesnotconstitutecommitment.
Longerterm(notRHEL5):
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References/AdditionalInformation
http://www.kerneldrivers.org/
Filetechnicalbugsusingourbugtrackingsystem
http://bugzilla.redhat.com/. Usethedriverupdateprogramcomponent.
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ProgramFeedback
Technicalfeedbackcanbesenttoanappropriateengineeringcontact.
Additionalcontacts
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