perfSONAR User Q&A and Other Discussion

[Jason Zurawski <>]

Greetings;

See below for a note from the CentOS project (upstream provider of the 
operating system that the pS Performance Toolkit uses) related to new 
versions of the base software.  This has two implications for the pSPT 
community:

1) It has come to our attention via some testing of this upgrade that there 
are conflicts with some of the perl libraries that will require manual action 
on the part of Toolkit deployers.  The pSPT team is working to address these 
with our own software release, but in the meantime we suggest that 
administrators do the following when upgrading:

> yum --exclude=perl* update

This will allow an upgrade of all packages on the host, with the exception of 
the perl libraries that we have identified conflicts.  Upgrading the perl 
packages will result in some of the base perfSONAR software being unable to 
operate.  We apologize for any trouble this will cause, and will advise the 
community of a  proper fix when one is available.  

2) There will be a new kernel available for CentOS 6 / pSPT 3.3.x.  If you 
are a NetInstall user running any version of the Toolkit, a 'yum update' may 
give you a new non-web100 kernel and therefore break access to NDT/NPAD. 
Consult our FAQ for more 
info:http://psps.perfsonar.net/toolkit/FAQs.html#Q30.  The curious can find 
the CVE here:

http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2013-1645.html

Our read of the CVE indicates that if you are using UDP offload (a rare 
setting that is not enabled by default) there is a risk of exploit via remote 
DDoS to gain entry to the system.  If you haven't enabled this, you should 
not be vulnerable.  We are in the process of building and testing a new 
kernel, and will alert you when we have our web100 patched version available. 
We'll try to have it ready as soon as possible.

Thanks, and let us know if there are any questions or concerns.  

-jason  

Begin forwarded message:

> From: Karanbir Singh 
> <>
> Subject: [CentOS-announce] Release for CentOS-6.5 i386 and x86_64
> Date: December 1, 2013 11:03:27 AM EST
> To: CentOS Announcements List 
> <>
> Reply-To: 
> 
> 
> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
> Hash: SHA1
> 
> We are pleased to announce the immediate availability of CentOS-6.5
> install media for i386 and x86_64 Architectures. Release Notes for 6.5
> are available at http://wiki.centos.org/Manuals/ReleaseNotes/CentOS6.5 -
> we recommend everyone looks through those once.
> 
> CentOS-6.5 is based on the upstream release EL 6.5 and includes packages
> from all variants. All upstream repositories have been combined into
> one, to make it easier for end users to work with.
> 
> There are many fundamental changes in this release, compared with the
> past CentOS-6 releases, and we highly recommend everyone stufy the
> Release Notes as well as the upstream Techical Notes about the changes
> and how they might impact your installation.
> 
> All updates released since upstream 6.5 release are also released to the
> CentOS-6.5 mirrors.
> 
> Everyone who has centos-cr repositories enabled and in use, would
> already be running CentOs-6.5 as of one week ago and will notice only
> the centos-release rpm update today.
> 
> +++++++++++++++++++++++
> Upgrading from CentOS-4 or CentOS-5:
> 
> We recommend everyone run through a reinstall rather than attempt an
> inplace upgrade from CentOS-4 or CentOS-5.
> 
> +++++++++++++++++++++++
> Upgrading from CentOS-6.0 / 6.1 / 6.2 / 6.3 or 6.4
> 
> Unless you have edited your yum configs, a 'yum update' should move your
> machine seamlessly from any previous CentOS-6.x release to CentOS-6.5
> 
> +++++++++++++++++++++++
> Downloading CentOS-6.5 for new installs:
> 
> When possible, consider using torrents to run the downloads. Usually its
> also the fastest means to download the distro.
> 
> Torrent files for the DVD's are available at :
> http://mirror.centos.org/centos/6.5/isos/i386/CentOS-6.5-i386-bin-DVD1to2.torrent
> http://mirror.centos.org/centos/6.5/isos/x86_64/CentOS-6.5-x86_64-bin-DVD1to2.torrent
> 
> You can also use a mirror close to you :
> http://www.centos.org/modules/tinycontent/index.php?id=30
> 
> Most mirrors will allow direct DVD downloads over http, ftp and rsync.
> 
> Please keep in mind that not all mirrors are currently updated, some
> might take upto another 24 hours before they have all the content.
> 
> We have also made efforts to try and ensure that most install types and
> roles can be run from DVD-1 itself.
> 
> +++++++++++++++++++++++
> sha1sum for the CentOS-6.5 ISOS:
> 
> i386:
> 67ea68068ae53d1f23431072ec0288b3e1abfe4d  CentOS-6.5-i386-bin-DVD1.iso
> 70fe3b01ce8133fa7e6e7dbfcb9f1acdb1e9981f  CentOS-6.5-i386-bin-DVD2.iso
> 3cf41ef12362ad363ff0650c703d3d045bcbfa7a  CentOS-6.5-i386-LiveCD.iso
> 73d6444e2576e1169035d2444f872ff622ed85b6  CentOS-6.5-i386-LiveDVD.iso
> 4f900bba81d0e3c5cc5354a94984ed2fa03d4061  CentOS-6.5-i386-minimal.iso
> e2e637dfbb08c04a478362733ee906ba9485771d  CentOS-6.5-i386-netinstall.iso
> 
> 
> x86_64:
> 32c7695b97f7dcd1f59a77a71f64f2957dddf738  CentOS-6.5-x86_64-bin-DVD1.iso
> 25e5de362ba6c75d793dbeb060b27ba1865cb5df  CentOS-6.5-x86_64-bin-DVD2.iso
> 690ccc84926a46152543a3cad57d983c9004638d  CentOS-6.5-x86_64-LiveCD.iso
> 3ac5eb9a6dcbf5f2b4cfd2432cccd84cd722840d  CentOS-6.5-x86_64-LiveDVD.iso
> f21a71e8e31df73297bdd1ccd4a64a36831284bd  CentOS-6.5-x86_64-minimal.iso
> 3a9662cb65f9d59677d76acfdb73289da43b4599  CentOS-6.5-x86_64-netinstall.iso
> 
> 
> +++++++++++++++++++++++
> LiveCD and LiveDVD
> 
> LiveCD and LiveDVD media is also released into the ISOS/ directory.
> You can download these from either a mirror close to you or the
> torrents listed here :
> 
> http://mirror.centos.org/centos/6.5/isos/i386/CentOS-6.5-i386-LiveCD.torrent
> http://mirror.centos.org/centos/6.5/isos/i386/CentOS-6.5-i386-LiveDVD.torrent
> 
> http://mirror.centos.org/centos/6.5/isos/x86_64/CentOS-6.5-x86_64-LiveCD.torrent
> http://mirror.centos.org/centos/6.5/isos/x86_64/CentOS-6.5-x86_64-LiveDVD.torrent
> 
> 
> +++++++++++++++++++++++
> Cloud Images
> 
> Images for various on-preimse and off-premise Cloud environments are
> currently under development for CentOS-6.5 and will be released in the
> coming days. Everyone looking to join and help with the CentOS Cloud
> efforts is encouraged to join the CentOS-Virt list where such issues
> are discussed ( http://lists.centos.org/mailman/listinfo/centos-virt ).
> 
> +++++++++++++++++++++++
> Getting Help:
> 
> The best place to start when looking for help with CentOS is at the wiki
> ( http://wiki.centos.org/GettingHelp ) which lists various options and
> communities who might be able to help. If you think there is a bug in
> the system, do report it at http://bugs.centos.org/ - but keep in mind
> that the bugs system is *not* a support mechanism.
> 
> +++++++++++++++++++++++
> Metups and training sessions
> 
> The next CentOS Dojo is going to take place at Austin, TX, USA on the
> 6th December 2013. Details on the day, venue and registration are
> available at http://wiki.centos.org/Events/Dojo/Austin2013
> 
> As 2014 comes up, we've started planning for the Dojo Schedules for
> the next year. If you would like to get involved in helping
> organising, running, presenting or sponsoring a Dojo or even just want
> more detail do get in touch with us at the CentOS Promo list
> (http://lists.centos.org/mailman/listinfo/centos-promo)
> 
> 
> +++++++++++++++++++++++
> Contributing and joining the project:
> 
> We are always looking for people to join and help with various things in
> the project. If you are keen to help out a good place to start is the
> wiki page at http://wiki.centos.org/Contribute . If you have questions
> or a specific area you would like to contribute towards that is not
> covered on that page, feel free to drop in on
> #
>  for a chat or email the centos-devel list
> (http://lists.centos.org).
> 
> +++++++++++++++++++++++
> Thanks to everyone who contributed towards making CentOS 6.5, specially
> the effort put in, as always, by the QA and Build team.
> 
> A special shout out to all the donors who have contributed hardware,
> network connectivity, hosting and resources over the years. The CentOS
> project now has a fairly well setup resource pool, purely thanks to the
> donors.
> 
> Enjoy!
> 
> - --
> Karanbir Singh 
> <>
> The CentOS Project {http://www.centos.org}
> irc: 
> 
>  ( #centos, #centos-devel )
> 
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