Last updated: February 20th, 2010

CentOS 5.4 Release Notes

Contents

Translations
Introduction
Install Media and sha1sum
Known Issues
Resolved Issues
Changes
Changes done by CentOS
How to help and get help
Further Reading
Thanks

1. Translations

Translations of these release notes are available for the following languages:

Brazilian Portuguese (Português do Brasil) - Cleber Paiva de Souza
Simplified Chinese (简体中文) - Timothy Lee
Traditional Chinese (繁體中文) - Timothy Lee

French (Français) - Manuel Wolfshant , Fabian Arrotin
German (Deutsch) - Marcus Moeller
Japanese (日本語) - Akemi Yagi, Hajime Taira
Korean (한국어) - YoungHoon Park
Romanian - Manuel Wolfshant

Spanish (Español) - AlainRegueraDelgado, HardyBeltran

2. Introduction

Welcome to the CentOS 5.4 release. CentOS is an Enterprise-class Linux Distribution derived from sources freely provided to the public by our Upstream OS Provider (UOP)¹.

CentOS conforms fully with the upstream vendors redistribution policy and aims to be 100% binary compatible. (CentOS mainly changes packages to remove upstream vendor branding and artwork.) CentOS is a Free Operating System.

CentOS 5.4 is the fourth update to the CentOS 5 distribution series. It contains a lot of bugfixes, updates and new functionality. Before reading any further we advise you to read the UOP Release Notes (or Single Page Release Notes) and Technical Notes (or Single Page Technical Notes). The rest of this document is an addendum, and primarily covers CentOS-specific issues.

3. Install Media and sha1sum

--------------------------------------------
i386 media and their sha1sums are:
2c3e2d6ca38e3549d47d5f74529193ed68d838cc  CentOS-5.4-i386-bin-1of6.iso
9f8b829bd7d39dec4c25d3f7815391323ea462d4  CentOS-5.4-i386-bin-2of6.iso
aa9db29f2524894599a5d948b58593782da9adcc  CentOS-5.4-i386-bin-3of6.iso
44d72f7b9f889e0278a1718061606b48d10975bf  CentOS-5.4-i386-bin-4of6.iso
88ff6bd1abe194dc4b2d77d779dac28d914276bf  CentOS-5.4-i386-bin-5of6.iso
0dd39bd0ca1420b78be630f2a1d0fa7301e00db4  CentOS-5.4-i386-bin-6of6.iso
d2b36d3f017b2684ac920fab87aaf741bba16ca8  CentOS-5.4-i386-bin-DVD.iso
f52e34da5570fd4eec0f3688c6f03c7686e8ad08  CentOS-5.4-i386-LiveCD.iso
94ddb89f24be9330efc2595a1ba76c4ce9aea22f  CentOS-5.4-i386-netinstall.iso
--------------------------------------------
x86_64 media and their sha1sums are:
2a283f28adea32481b057bec0fcabba37b4e2d75  CentOS-5.4-x86_64-bin-1of7.iso
aa5b7a5a03746024555a8aa4c17cdb1e51798480  CentOS-5.4-x86_64-bin-2of7.iso
ab7c6e8ad67f426cfb046478f1669b3f8c925433  CentOS-5.4-x86_64-bin-3of7.iso
02e411338b6c693e483b152f72fe93fddfb9588e  CentOS-5.4-x86_64-bin-4of7.iso
a91ecff0ebb6e216ac96887e6e325f9c7b7eef32  CentOS-5.4-x86_64-bin-5of7.iso
9ab5f1d20cd81c3ebdc6a22d22e9dc7111646199  CentOS-5.4-x86_64-bin-6of7.iso
3b00f16ed097f2bd189395edde6834e33f73cdb4  CentOS-5.4-x86_64-bin-7of7.iso
9069eadfc3a8727ed7abe472effae5b9bbbda8a1  CentOS-5.4-x86_64-bin-DVD.iso
da508b248ab2d18deb42e2ec0ec7061b1fbf4568  CentOS-5.4-x86_64-LiveCD.iso
98287aff19e8e4b4d19c5d714cc189fe08f38521  CentOS-5.4-x86_64-netinstall.iso
--------------------------------------------

4. Known Issues

XFS
- There are no xfsprogs in the base distribution, although the xfs file system is available. This is an upstream decision, see Red Hat Bug 521173. xfsprogs and xfsdump can be found in the CentOS Extras repository.
- Because of this you cannot install on XFS volumes in CentOS.
- XFS is only available for x86_64, not for 32bit systems.
- XFS might be available for i686 from the CentOS Plus repository.
VMWare host on CentOS-5.4. There is an issue with the new version of glibc (2.5-42) and vmware-hostd. If you are using CentOS-5.4 as a VMWare host machine, you will need to read and take actions per this bug report (#3884).
An old issue with xorg.conf is not being configured properly during installation is still present. See the CentOS bug report #1719 for more details and possible work-arounds.
The update to 5.4 will break all previous Openswan configs which use X509 certificates, because 5.4 switched to NSS (Network Security Services) for certificate storage. This means that you need to feed all existing certificates into NSS storage. See the README.nss from the Openswan documentation for more information. This file (and others) can be found in the openswan-doc package.
The yum-priorities plugin package was in the 5.3 os directory, but was not included in 5.4. It can now be found in the [extras] repository.
Several users have reported a hang during the installer boot at "loading ata_piix driver". Adding the boot option "irqpoll" is suggested to allow the boot to continue.
Many users have experienced a blank or black screen after an upgrade to 5.4, particularly with Intel video. A workaround found on the CentOS forum is to install in text mode and afterward edit /etc/X11/xorg.conf and add the line 'Option "DDC" "false"':

Section "Device"
  Identifier "Videocard0"
  Driver "intel"
  Option "DDC" "false"
EndSection

CentOS 5.4 includes glibc and kernel updates. For yum updates the recommended procedure is:

yum clean all
yum update glibc\*
yum update yum\* rpm\* python\*
yum clean all
yum update
shutdown -r now

Upstream Known Issues

5. Resolved Issues

There was a problem with Jumbo Frames and Broadcom ethernet cards where NFS would hang with "RPC: bad TCP reclen" messages. This has been fixed in 5.4. See http://bugs.centos.org/view.php?id=3672
There was a problem with CIFS cleartext connections. This issue has been fixed in 5.4. See http://bugs.centos.org/view.php?id=3369
There was a problem with m2crypto not handling subjectAltnames correctly. This will be fixed in 5.4 updates coming out directly after release. See http://bugs.centos.org/view.php?id=3664
WLAN LEDs on Thinkpad R61 weren't working (correctly). This is fixed in 5.4. See http://bugs.centos.org/view.php?id=3544
There was a problem with restorecon breaking selinux contexts in /var/named/chroot/proc. This has been fixed. See http://bugs.centos.org/view.php?id=3449
There was a problem with wget aborting if invoked with --no-clobber and encountering an existing file. This has been fixed. See http://bugs.centos.org/view.php?id=2776
There was a problem with postfix trying to access /boot and SELinux denying it. This has been fixed in 5.4. See http://bugs.centos.org/view.php?id=3501
There was a problem with vsftpd not correctly shutting down TLS connections. This has been fixed. See http://bugs.centos.org/view.php?id=3311

6. Changes

6.1. New packages in 5.4 that were not present in 5.3

blktrace
celt051
etherboot
fcoe-utils
fuse
gcc44
gnupg2
hmaccalc
iasl
kmod-kvm
kvm
libassuan
libhbaapi
libhbalinux
libksba
libpciaccess
log4cpp
pdksh
perl-Sys-Virt
pinentry
pth
qcairo
qffmpeg
qpixman
qspice
xorg-x11-drv-qxl
xorg-x11-xdm

6.2. Packages that have been upgraded in 5.4 since the 5.3 release

NetworkManager
OpenIPMI
acpid
aide
amanda
anaconda
aspell
audit
authconfig
authd
autofs
avahi
bind
binutils
busybox
caching-nameserver
cman
cmirror
conga
coreutils
cpio
cpp
cpuspeed
crash
cryptsetup-luks
cscope
cups
cvs
cyrus-imapd
cyrus-sasl
db4
depl
device-mapper
device-mapper-multipath
dhcp
dhcpv6
dmidecode
dmraid
dos2unix
dump
dvd+rw-tools
e2fsprogs
e4fsprogs
ecryptfs-utils
efax
esc
ethtool
evince
evolution
evolution-connector
evolution-data-server
file
findutils
fipscheck
fcoe-utils
foomatic
freetype
gcc
gdb
gdm
gfs-utils
gfs2-utils
ghostscript
giflib
glibc
gnome-python2-desktop
gnome-session
grep
grub
gtk-vnc
hal
htdig
httpd
hwbrowser
hwdata
ibsim
ibutils
ibvexdmtools
infiniband-diags
initscripts
iptables
iproute
iprutils
ipsec-tools
iputils
ipvsadm
irqbalance
iscsi-initiator-utils
isdn4k-utils
jadetex
java-1.6.0-openjdk
kdebase
kdegraphics
kdelibs
kdenetwork
kdepim
kernel
kexec-tools
kmod-cmirror
kmod-gfs
krb5
ksh
lcms
less
lftp
libX11
libcxgb3
libdhcp
libgcc
libgcj
libgcrypt
libgfortran
libgfortran44
libgnat
libgomp
libibcm
libibcommon
libibmad
libibumad
libibverbs
libipathverbs
libmlx4
libmthca
libmudflap
libnes
libobjc
librdmacm
libsdp
libselinux
libsemanage
libsepol
libsoup
libspe2
libtiff
libunwind
libvirt
libvirt-cim
libvorbis
libwmf
libxml
linuxwacom
lksctp-tools
ltrace
luci
lvm2
lvm2-cluster
m2crypto
man-pages-ja
mcelog
mdadm
microcode_ctl
mkinitrd
mlocate
mod_auth_mysql
mod_authz_ldap
mod_nss
module-init-tools
mysql
mysql-connector-odbc
nash
nautilus-sendto
net-snmp
netpbm
nfs-utils
nfs-utils-lib
nfs4-acl-tools
nscd
nss_ldap
ntp
numactl
openais
openhpi
openib
openoffice.org
opensm
openssh
openssl
openswan
oprofile
pam
pango
pciutils
pdksh
perftest
perl
perl-suidperl
php-pear
piranha
policycoreutils
popt
psmisc
pykickstart
pyorbit
python
python-pyblock
python-tools
python-virtinst
rdesktop
rds-tools
readline
redhat-rpm-config
rgmanager
ricci
rmt
rpm
rsh
samba
sblim
scim-bridge
selinux-policy
setroubleshoot
setup
sg3_utils
sos
sqlite
srptools
strace
sudo
system-config-audit
system-config-cluster
system-config-date
system-config-language
system-config-network
system-config-network-tui
system-config-samba
systemtap
tcl
tcp_wrappers
tetex
tftp
tkinter
tog-pegasus
totem
totem-mozplugin
udev
unix2dos
util-linux
uuidd
vim-common
vim-enhanced
vim-minimal
vim
vino
virt-manager
virt-viewer
vsftpd
watchdog
wdaemon
wget
wireshark
xen
xisdnload
xkeyboard-config
xorg-x11-drv-ati
xorg-x11-drv-i810
xorg-x11-drv-mga
xorg-x11-drv-nv
xorg-x11-proto-devel
xorg-x11-server
xorg-x11-xdm
ypbind
yum
yum-metadata-parser
zsh
zsh-html

6.3. Packages removed by upstream in 5.4 that were present in 5.3

gcc43-4.3.2-7.el5

6.4. Packages released as 5.3 updates with older packages on the 5.4 install media

cman-2.0.115-1.el5
cman-devel-2.0.115-1.el5
ecryptfs-utils-75-5.el5
ecryptfs-utils-devel-75-5.el5
ecryptfs-utils-gui-75-5.el5
fetchmail-6.3.6-1.1.el5_3.1
firefox-3.0.14-1.el5.centos
gdm-2.16.0-56.el5.centos
gdm-docs-2.16.0-56.el5.centos
gfs2-utils-0.1.62-1.el5
kernel-2.6.18-164.el5
kernel-debug-2.6.18-164.el5
kernel-debug-devel-2.6.18-164.el5
kernel-devel-2.6.18-164.el5
kernel-doc-2.6.18-164.el5
kernel-headers-2.6.18-164.el5
kernel-PAE-2.6.18-164.el5
kernel-PAE-devel-2.6.18-164.el5
kernel-xen-2.6.18-164.el5
kernel-xen-devel-2.6.18-164.el5
lftp-3.7.11-4.el5
mysql-5.0.77-3.el5
mysql-bench-5.0.77-3.el5
mysql-devel-5.0.77-3.el5
mysql-server-5.0.77-3.el5
mysql-test-5.0.77-3.el5
nfs-utils-1.0.9-42.el5
nspr-4.7.5-1.el5_4
nspr-devel-4.7.5-1.el5_4
openssh-4.3p2-36.el5
openssh-askpass-4.3p2-36.el5
openssh-clients-4.3p2-36.el5
openssh-server-4.3p2-36.el5
openssl-0.9.8e-12.el5
openssl-0.9.8e-12.el5
openssl-devel-0.9.8e-12.el5
openssl-perl-0.9.8e-12.el5
rgmanager-2.0.52-1.el5.centos
xmlsec1-1.2.9-8.1.1
xmlsec1-devel-1.2.9-8.1.1
xmlsec1-gnutls-1.2.9-8.1.1
xmlsec1-gnutls-devel-1.2.9-8.1.1
xmlsec1-nss-1.2.9-8.1.1
xmlsec1-nss-devel-1.2.9-8.1.1
xmlsec1-openssl-1.2.9-8.1.1
xmlsec1-openssl-devel-1.2.9-8.1.1
xulrunner-1.9.0.14-1.el5_4
xulrunner-devel-1.9.0.14-1.el5_4
xulrunner-devel-unstable-1.9.0.14-1.el5_4

These packages are now in the updates repository for CentOS 5.3.

7. Changes done by CentOS

7.1. Packages modified by CentOS

anaconda
anacron
basesystem
bluez-utils
brltty
busybox
centos-release
Cluster_Administration
clustermon
comps-extras
conga
crash
Deployment_Guide
desktop-backgrounds
eclipse
filesystem
firefox
firstboot
gdm
geronimo-specs
Global_File_System
gnome-desktop
gnome-session
gzip
httpd
initscripts
kdebase
kdelibs
kudzu
nautilus-sendto
nss
ntp
pango
pirut
pm-utils
procmail
python-virtinst
redhat-artwork
redhat-logos
redhat-lsb
redhat-rpm-config
rgmanager
rhdb-utils
rhgb
setuptool
specspo
squirrelmail
system-config-bind
tftp
thunderbird
Virtualization_Guide
xorg-x11-proto-devel
yum
yum-utils

Note: Details of changes can be found in the package changelog. It's also important to keep in mind that most of these packages are only changed to remove upstream branding, as required by their terms of use.

7.2. Packages removed from CentOS that are included upstream

redhat-release-5Client
redhat-release-5Server
redhat-release-notes
redhat-release-notes
rhel-instnum
rhn-check
rhn-client-tools
rhnlib
rhnsd
rhn-setup
rhn-setup-gnome
yum-rhn-plugin

7.3. Packages added by CentOS that are not included upstream

perl.i386 in the x86_64 distro (note: as of CentOS-5.2 the package has been moved from the distro to the extras repo)

8. How to help and get help

As a CentOS user there are various ways you can help out with the CentOS community. Take a look at our Contribute page for further information on how to get involved.

8.1. Special Interest Groups

CentOS consists of different Special Interest Groups (SIGs) that bring together people with similar interests. The following SIGs already exist:

Artwork - create and improve artwork for CentOS releases and promotion
Promotion - help promoting CentOS online or at events
Virtualization - unite people around virtualization in CentOS

And we encourage people to join any of these SIGs or start up a new SIG, eg.

Alpha, S390, Sparc and PPC port - help with porting CentOS to other architectures
Hardware compatibility - provide feedback about specific hardware
RPM Packaging - contribute new useful RPM packages
Translation - help translating the documentation, website and wiki content

8.2. Mailinglists and Forums

Another way you can help out others in the community is by actively helping and resolving problems that users come up against in the mailinglists and forums.

8.3. Wiki and website

Even as an inexperienced CentOS user we can use your help. Because we like to know what problems you encountered, if you had problems finding specific information, how you would improve documentation so it becomes more accessible. This kind of feedback is as valuable to others as it would have been to you so your involvement is required to make CentOS better.

So if you want to help out and improve our documentation and wiki, register on the wiki or subscribe to the centos-docs mailinglist.

9. Further Reading

The following websites contain large amounts of information to help people with their CentOS systems :

10. Thanks

We thank everyone involved for helping us produce this product.

Visit http://www.redhat.com/rhel/ (1)