|
 |
Development stream - Recommended
|
 |
|
|
|
The developerWorks "Development stream" describes Linux on System z contributions and functionality against recent upstream kernel and other upstream Linux components which can be used to build Linux on System z distributions.
Currently, the "Development stream" consists of and has been tested with:
- kernel 2.6.31
- Toolchain:
- utilities:
- debug tools:
- GDB 6.8, see http://sources.redhat.com/gdb/download/
- strace 4.5.18, see: http://sourceforge.net/projects/strace/
- lkcdutils (LKCD) SVN HEAD, see: http://sourceforge.net/projects/lkcd/
- crash, latest available, see: http://people.redhat.com/anderson/
For other System z relevant Linux components refer to Other packages.
|
|
Starting with kernel 2.6.31, Linux on System z will document upstream contributions on these "Development stream" pages triggered by the release of new kernel-levels.
Documentation updates matching kernel 2.6.31 are available here for the following Linux on System z manuals:
- Device Drivers, Features, and Commands
- Kernel Messages
The "Development stream" pages for Technical details and Restrictions have been updated, too.
The 2009-09-23 developerWorks update for the "Development stream" documents new functionality provided for recent upstream Linux components which have been tested with:
- kernel 2.6.31 (upgraded)
- Toolchain:
- utilities:
- debug tools:
- GDB 6.8, see http://sources.redhat.com/gdb/download/
- strace 4.5.18, see: http://sourceforge.net/projects/strace/
- lkcdutils (LKCD) SVN HEAD, see: http://sourceforge.net/projects/lkcd/
- crash, latest available, see: http://people.redhat.com/anderson/
For other System z relevant Linux components refer to Other packages.
Note that snIPL 2.1.6 with enhancements is available, too.
The main feature of kernel-2.6.31 from the Linux on System z perspective is the new support to suspend and resume Linux instances running in LPAR or as a z/VM-guest:
- When Linux is suspended, data is written to a swap partition.
- The resume process uses this data to make Linux continue from where it left off when it was suspended.
- A suspended Linux instance does not require memory or processor cycles; it 'hibernates'.
The Linux on System z "Development stream" provides the kernel 2.6.31 optional patches for
Starting with the kernel 2.6.31 base "Development stream" there is no longer an optional feature patch for cmm2 delivering the "full" cmm2-functionality.
(As the "basic" cmm2-functionality is available in recent kernels, the cmma IPL-option is still there.)
|
|
The 2009-09-18 developerWorks update delivers:
- s390-tools 1.8.2 which replaces s390-tools 1.8.1 - providing the following new tools:
- cio_ignore allows querying and modifying the contents of the CIO device driver blacklist
- znetconf lists and configures network devices for System z network adapters
- as well as bugfixes and other enhancements
|
|
The 2009-05-08 developerWorks update enhances the "Development stream" significantly with major new functionality provided for recent upstream Linux components.
Currently, the "Development stream" consists of and has been tested with:
- kernel 2.6.29
- Toolchain:
- utilities:
- debug tools:
- GDB 6.8, see http://sources.redhat.com/gdb/download/
- strace 4.5.18, see: http://sourceforge.net/projects/strace/
- lkcdutils (LKCD) SVN HEAD, see: http://sourceforge.net/projects/lkcd/
- crash, latest available, see: http://people.redhat.com/anderson/
For other System z relevant Linux components refer to Other packages.
The kernel 2.6.29 based "Development stream" has all features of the kernel 2.6.27 based "Development stream", except for Enhanced Device Driver Packing (EDDP) - EDDP support has been removed as there are no performance benefits.
New features in the "Development stream"
- Exploitation of IBM System Storage DS8000 features:
- Other enhancements
- New report utilities in s390-tools 1.8.1 to summarize the data gathered via zfcp performance data collection (incl. z9 or later FCP adapter statistics) via zfcp, ziomon-tool (s390-tools 1.8.1), and blktrace-1.0.0 with recent patches (http://brick.kernel.dk/snaps/).
- Completion of the kernel message catalog for Linux on System z relevant device drivers (optional kernel 2.6.29 - message-catalog) with documentation in the new 'Kernel Messages' manual.
- Exploitation of Virtual Dynamic Shared Object (VDSO) in kernel 2.6.29 - upstream.
- Exploitation of secondary unicast address for qeth running in layer 2 mode in kernel 2.6.29 - upstream.
- New shutdown action "dump_reipl" for automatic IPL after dump in kernel 2.6.29 patch 01 and s390-tools 1.8.1.
- New TTY terminal server enables out-of-band terminal access for Linux systems running as z/VM guests in kernel 2.6.29 - upstream and s390-tools 1.8.1 - without depending on an active TCP/IP network connection, using IUCV instead.
- Various usability enhancements in s390-tools 1.8.1.
- Rework and minor enhancements in libica 2.0.1, (part of openCryptoki - http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=128009). Libica 2 is a library for accessing IBM System z crypto hardware functions in clear key mode.
|
|
The 2008-11-25 developerWorks update enhances the "Development stream" significantly with major new functionality provided for recent upstream Linux components.
Currently, the "Development stream" consists of and has been tested with:
- kernel 2.6.27
- Toolchain:
- utilities:
- debug tools:
- GDB 6.8, see http://sources.redhat.com/gdb/download/
- strace 4.5.18, see: http://sourceforge.net/projects/strace/
- lkcdutils (LKCD) SVN HEAD, see: http://sourceforge.net/projects/lkcd/
- crash, latest available, see: http://people.redhat.com/anderson/
For other System z relevant Linux components refer to Other packages.
The deprecation statements for "October 2005 stream" regarding CLAW, CTC, and IUCV network devices are not documented for the "Development stream"; however IBM does not recommend these deprecated functions for Linux on System z distributions based on the "Development stream".
With the introduction of "FCP automatic remote storage port discovery" (kernel 2.6.27 - upstream) and the new lsluns-tool (s390-tools 1.8.0), there is now no need for a SAN Discovery Tool as available for the "October 2005 stream" (and previously not available for the "Development stream").
Note that the FCP adapter statistics (on IBM System z9 or later) and the zfcp statistics have been reworked and are now available using recent zfcp (kernel 2.6.27 - patch 01), the new ziomon-tool (s390-tools 1.8.0), and can be retrieved using blktrace-1.0.0 (http://brick.kernel.dk/snaps/).
New features in the "Development stream"
- Exploitation of features introduced with IBM System z10:
- Exploitation of features introduced with IBM System z9:
- Toolchain support for z9 instructions with:
- Toolchain support for decimal floating point (DFP) with:
- GCC 4.3.2
- binutils 2.18.50.0.7
- Use GDB 6.8 to be able to debug binaries using decimal floating point numbers.
- Note that there is currently no glibc-support for decimal floating point.
- Server time protocol (STP) support for clock synchronization (kernel 2.6.27 - upstream)
- HiperSockets IPv6 support for Layer 3 - formerly, IPv6 support was only available when using HiperSockets Layer 2 (kernel 2.6.27 - patch 01)
- Exploitation of other IBM System z features:
- Enable to attach and use standby memory that is configured for a logical partition or z/VM guest (requires z/VM 5.4 plus the PTF for APAR VM64524) (kernel 2.6.27 - upstream)
- Dynamic memory attach/detach (requires z/VM 5.4 plus the PTF for APAR VM64524) (kernel 2.6.27 - upstream)
- Exploitation of z/VM 5.4 features:
- Expanded shared memory addressability: Linux on System z can now use Discontiguous Saved Segments (DCSS) above 2047 MB (2G) of virtual storage (kernel 2.6.27 - patch 01)
- Capability to dump Linux guests to SCSI disks: Requires zfcpdump-support for memory holes because z/VM allows to have discontiguous memory (s390-tools 1.8.0)
- Other enhancements:
- Optional kernel patches which (although unlikely to be accepted in upstream kernel) are recommended for all distributions which are built based on the "Development stream":
- Kernel types (kerntypes) enabling dump analysis via lcrash (kernel 2.6.27 - kerntypes)
- Collaborative Memory Management Stage II (cmm2) useful when running as a guest of z/VM 5.2 or later (kernel 2.6.27 - cmm2)
- Kernel message catalog enabling to build man pages with explanatory text to help understand the messages issued by the device drivers (s390) specific to Linux on System z (kernel 2.6.27 - message catalog)
|
|
|
The 2008-05-16 developerWorks update delivers:
|
|
The 2008-05-07 developerWorks update introduces the "Development stream", which is based on recent upstream Linux packages - as opposed to the former streams that were based on backlevel components.
Currently, the "Development stream" consists of and has been tested with:
- kernel 2.6.25
- Toolchain:
- GCC 4.1.3
(Note that tests with gcc 4.2 were also successful.)
- GNU Binutils - binutils 2.17.50.0.12
- GNU C Library - glibc 2.5.0
- utilities:
- debug tools:
- GDB 6.6
- strace 4.5.15
- lkcdutils (LKCD) SVN HEAD, see: http://sourceforge.net/projects/lkcd/
- crash, latest available, see: http://people.redhat.com/anderson/
For other System z relevant Linux components refer to Other packages.
The "Development stream" has all features of the "October 2005 stream" with the following exception:
- SAN Discovery Tool (based on HBA API) is not supported on the "Development stream" (The Linux on System z team is working on providing equivalent functionality)
The Linux on System z functionality in the "Development stream" has changed in some cases compared to the "October 2005 stream", most noticably for the:
- FCP adapter statistics (available on IBM System z9 and z10) formerly in debugfs, now in sysfs
- zfcp statistics formerly in debugfs, can now be retrieved from BLKTRACE. The relevant code was checked-in (http://git.kernel.org/?p=linux/kernel/git/axboe/blktrace.git;a=summary) on top of blktrace-0.99.3 (http://brick.kernel.dk/snaps/).
The deprecation statements for "October 2005 stream" regarding CLAW, CTC, and IUCV network devices are not documented for the "Development stream"; however IBM does not recommend these deprecated functions for Linux on System z distributions based on the "Development stream".
New features in the "Development stream"
These downloads deliver the following new features:
|
|
|
|
|
|
