1. Release Notes for Oracle Linux 8.7
  2. Known Issues

5 Known Issues

This chapter lists known issues in the current Oracle Linux 8 release. The list covers issues that might affect both x86 and aarch64 platforms. In the list, additional issues that are specific only to aarch64 platforms are labeled aarch64 only:.

The following guides provide additional information about known issues that related to specific Oracle Linux components:

Installation and Upgrade Issues

The following are known installation and upgrade issues for Oracle Linux 8.6.

UEK R7 ULN Channel Not Enabled After ULN Registration

After Oracle Linux 8.7 is newly installed, UEK R7 is installed as the default kernel. However, if the system is registered on ULN, the UEK R6 ULN channel is enabled by default. To obtain security updates for the default kernel on an Oracle Linux 8.7, the ULN subscriptions must be manually updated to disable the UEK R6 channel and to enable the UEK R7 channel. See Installation and Update Changes for more information on this change.

Log into https://linux.oracle.com with your ULN user name and password and click on the Systems tab to select the system that you have registered to ULN. Go to the Manage Subscriptions page and update the channel subscriptions for the system. For example, disable access to the ol8_x86_64_UEKR6, and enable access to the ol8_x86_64_UEKR7 channel. Click on Save Subscriptions to save your changes.

(Bug ID 34711928)

Messages referring to tmpfiles.d/ files appear during upgrade

During an upgrade from Oracle Linux 8.5 to Oracle Linux 8.6, and with the appropriate Oracle Linux 8 repositories enabled, the dnf upgrade command displays messages similar to the following: 

Running scriptlet: systemd-239-44.0.1.el8.x86_64                    
4550/4550
[/usr/lib/tmpfiles.d/dnssec-trigger.conf:1] Line references path below legacy
directory /var/run/, updating /var/run/dnssec-trigger → /run/dnssec-trigger;
please update the tmpfiles.d/ drop-in file accordingly.
[/usr/lib/tmpfiles.d/krb5-krb5kdc.conf:1] Line references path below legacy
directory /var/run/, updating /var/run/krb5kdc → /run/krb5kdc; please update
the tmpfiles.d/ drop-in file accordingly.
[/usr/lib/tmpfiles.d/nss-pam-ldapd.conf:2] Line references path below legacy
directory /var/run/, updating /var/run/nslcd → /run/nslcd; please update the
tmpfiles.d/ drop-in file accordingly.
[/usr/lib/tmpfiles.d/pesign.conf:1] Line references path below legacy
directory /var/run/, updating /var/run/pesign → /run/pesign; please update
the tmpfiles.d/ drop-in file accordingly.
[/usr/lib/tmpfiles.d/portreserve.conf:1] Line references path below legacy
directory /var/run/, updating /var/run/portreserve → /run/portreserve; please
update the tmpfiles.d/ drop-in file accordingly.
.
.
.

These messages can be safely ignored, as the upgrade or package installation completes successfully.

As an alternative workaround, update the configuration by following the instructions in the message. Change the legacy var/run/<...> directory path to /run/<...>.

(Bug ID 32852433)

Installer automatically enables Ethernet over USB network interface during a PXE installation

During a Preboot Execution Environment (PXE) installation of Oracle Linux 8, the installer automatically enables the Ethernet over USB network interface with the bootproto=dhcp and ONBOOT=yes parameters. These default settings causes the NetworkManager service to fail to start.

To prevent this issue from occurring, or to resolve the issue if you have already encountered it, use one of the following workarounds:

  • Prior to installation, disable the ONBOOT parameter for the Ethernet over USB network interface in the kickstart file, as follows: 

    network --bootproto=dhcp --device=enp0s20f0u8u3c2 --onboot=off --ipv6=auto

  • During installation, on the Network & Host Name screen, do not select the Connect automatically with priority check box to connect automatically on every reboot for the Ethernet over USB network interface.

  • If you have already encountered this issue, then after the installation, change the network configuration setting for the Ethernet over USB network interface to ONBOOT=no. Then reboot the system.

(Bug ID 31888490)

Interactive text-based installation wizard unable to complete when an alternate language is selected

If you selected an alternate language while using the text-based installer to install the OS, you cannot proceed with the installation. The installation is blocked with [!] flags for Software Selection and Installation Destination regardless of what you have set for these two options.

However, this issue does not occur if you are performing an installation by using the default English language selection or by using the graphical installation program.

(Bug IDs 30535416, 29648703)

Graphical installation program fails to produce error when an unacceptable Kdump value is entered

A minor upstream usability error affects the graphical installation program during the configuration of Kdump.

If you specify an unacceptable value when manually configuring the Kdump memory reservation, you can click Done to return to the Installation Summary screen. The installer does not generate a warning or error message. Instead, the installer automatically resets the value either to the last known acceptable value or the default value of 512 MB, which enables the installation to succeed. However, because this corrected setting is not displayed on the screen, you might not become aware that your specified value was ignored.

This issue does not occur with the text-based installer, which correctly returns an error if you enter an unacceptable value and prevents you from continuing.

(Bug IDs 31133351, 31182708)

Graphical installation program does not display the reserved memory that is manually set for Kdump

A minor usability error affects the graphical installation program during the configuration of Kdump. If you manually change the default memory size that is reserved for Kdump, the new setting is not displayed when the screen is refreshed. Instead, only the values for the total system memory and usable system memory are displayed. Consequently, the limits for the parameter "Memory to be reserved (Mb)" become unknown for future Kdump configuration.

Note:

The default setting auto for Kdump memory reservation is adequate as the kernel determines what size to use when it boots

(Bug IDs 31133287 and 31182699)

Scriptlet-related error for microcode_ctl might be displayed during upgrade

A scriplet-related error message might be displayed during an upgrade of an Oracle Linux 8 release to its next version. When you run the dnf update command, an output similar to the following might appear: 

  Running scriptlet: tuned-2.13.0-6.0.2.el8.noarch                            
             1089/1089
  Running scriptlet: microcode_ctl-4:20191115-4.el8.x86_64                    
             1089/1089
realpath: weak-updates/kmod-kvdo/vdo/kvdo.ko: No such file or directory
realpath: weak-updates/kmod-kvdo/uds/uds.ko: No such file or directory
dracut: installkernel failed in module kernel-modules-extra
warning: %posttrans(microcode_ctl-4:20191115-4.el8.x86_64) scriptlet failed,
exit status 1

Error in POSTTRANS scriptlet in rpm package microcode_ctl
  Running scriptlet: libgcc-8.3.1-4.5.0.7.el8.x86_64                          
             1089/1089
  Running scriptlet: glibc-common-2.28-101.0.1.el8.x86_64                    
             1089/1089
  Running scriptlet: info-6.5-6.el8.x86_64                                    
             1089/1089

This error message is displayed if you use the Server with GUI environment to install Oracle Linux 8 and then you reboot the server by using RHCK. This installation method installs the kernel dependent, kmod-kvdo package or module, which is a different version in the previous Oracle Linux 8 release.

However, you can safely ignore the message because the kmod-kvdo package is successfully installed during the upgrade process.

Note:

This error does not occur if you install the Minimal Install base environment or if you boot the server with UEK R6 or UEK R7.

(Bug ID 31292199)

rhnreg_ks register command might fail if python3-rhn-virtualization-host package is installed

Beginning with Oracle Linux 8.1, using the rhnreg_ks command to register a system with the Unbreakable Linux Network (ULN)might fail if the python3-rhn-virtualization-hosts package is installed on the system. This issue has been observed when the libvirtd service is not running.

To work around this issue, ensure that the libvirtd packages are installed on your system and that the service is enabled and running prior to issuing the rhnreg_ks command.

(Bug ID 30366521)

Package conflict between usbguard-1.0.0-2.el8.i686 and usbguard-1.0.0-8.el8.x86_64 on Oracle Linux 8 upgrades

Beginning with Oracle Linux 8.5, when you upgrade Oracle Linux 8 with both the ol8_baseos_latest and ol8_appstream yum repositories enabled, a conflict between the usbguard-1.0.0-2.el8.i686 and usbguard-1.0.0-8.el8.x86_64 packages occurs.

The following error is produced: 

Problem: package usbguard-1.0.0-8.el8.x86_64 conflicts with usbguard
provided by usbguard-1.0.0-2.el8.i686
  - cannot install the best candidate for the job
  - problem with installed package usbguard-1.0.0-2.el8.i686
(try to add '--allowerasing' to command line to replace conflicting packages
or '--skip-broken' to skip uninstallable packages or '--nobest' to use not
only best candidate packages)

This conflict occurs because in Oracle Linux 8.6 and later releases, the usbguard-1.0.0-2.el8.i686 and the usbguard-1.0.0-8.el8.x86_64 packages conflict with each other and could no longer be installed together, unlike in previous Oracle Linux 8 releases.

To work around this issue, remove the usbguard-1.0.0-2.el8.i686 package from your Oracle Linux 8 system prior to upgrading to the current release.

(Bug ID 34097708)

Presence of beignet package could result in dependency issue during an upgrade

While upgrading a system to the current Oracle Linux 8 release, you might encounter a dependency issue if the beignet package exists on the system to be upgraded.

This issue exists specifically in cases where you upgrade systems running Oracle Linux 8.2 or earlier releases to the current Oracle Linux version. In these earlier releases, the beginet package requires earlier versions of the clang-libs package.

However, the beignet package is currently not available for Oracle Linux 8.4 and later Oracle Linux 8 releases. Therefore, the issue does not exist for these cases.

To work around this issue, remove the beignet package from the system prior to upgrading to the current Oracle Linux 8 release.

(Bug ID 31213935)

ULN registration wizard not displayed on first boot after an installation

On new installations of Oracle Linux 8, the ULN registration wizard that presents the options to register with ULN and to use Oracle Ksplice is not displayed on first boot.

As an alternative, you can register with ULN after the installation completes. For instructions, see https://linux.oracle.com/.

(Bug ID 29933974)

Graphics controller requirements for an installation on an Oracle VM VirtualBox guest

To successfully install Oracle Linux 8 on an Oracle VM VirtualBox guest, where the graphical installation program is used and the default Server with GUI environment is selected, you must set the guest to use the VMSVGA graphics controller and configure the guest with at least 64MB of memory. Otherwise, the graphical display is unable to start correctly.

Beginning with Oracle VM VirtualBox 6.0, the VMSVGA graphics controller is the default controller for guests running Linux operating systems. This issue is more likely to appear if install Oracle Linux 8 on an existing guest that was created on an earlier Oracle VM VirtualBox release. To configure Oracle Linux 8 guests, Oracle recommends that you use Oracle VM VirtualBox 6.0 or later.

(Bug ID 30004543)

aarch64 only: Installer displays error: 'Failed to set new efi boot target' on systems with a multipath-enabled NVMe controller"

The Oracle Linux 8.7 installer displays the following error on aarch64 systems that have a multipath-enabled NVMe controller: 

Failed to set new efi boot target . This is most likely a kernel or firmware bug.

To work around this issue, disable native multipath support for the installation at boot time by adding the nvme_core.multipath=N command-line argument on the target system.

(Bug IDs 34233800, 34215333, 31758304)

Removing container-selinux package might also remove the selinux-policy-targeted package

If you remove the container-selinux package from the system after installing the current Oracle Linux 8 release, the selinux-policy-targeted package might also be removed.

When this problem occurs, you might also see an error message about being unable to load SELinux policy.

To avoid this issue, use the following syntax with the dnf remove command: 

sudo dnf remove container-selinux --setopt=exclude=selinux-policy-targeted

(Bug ID 32860334)

Running dnf update glusterfs-* command fails to upgrade previously installed packages

If glusterfs-*.i686 packages exist on an Oracle Linux 8 system which you then upgrade to the next update version, running the dnf update glusterfs* command later fails to upgrade GlusterFS packages.

As a workaround, first remove the glusterfs-*.i686 packages from the system, and then run the dnf update glusterfs* command.

(Bug ID 30279840)

Updating libss package might fail if libss-devel package is installed

The libss package might fail to update if the libss-devel package is installed on the system.

This issue persists if UEK R6 is enabled. However, after updating the kernel and enabling UEK R7, the issue is no longer encountered.

However, this issue is fixed in UEK R7. Therefore, to work around this issue, enable the UEK R7 yum repository or ULN channel, and then install UEK R7. Reboot the system after the installation.

(Bug ID 32005190)

ACPI error messages displayed on Dell EMC PowerEdge Server during boot

During a system boot of an Intel-based Dell EMC PowerEdge Server, error messages similar to the following might be displayed if the Dell Active Power Controller (DAPC) setting is enabled in the BIOS: 

kernel: ACPI Error: No handler for Region [SYSI] (0000000061df8ef3) [IPMI] (20190816/evregion-132)
kernel: ACPI Error: Region IPMI (ID=7) has no handler (20190816/exfldio-265)
kernel: ACPI Error: Aborting method \_SB.PMI0._GHL due to previous error (AE_NOT_EXIST) (20190816/psparse-531)
kernel: ACPI Error: Aborting method \_SB.PMI0._PMC due to previous error (AE_NOT_EXIST) (20190816/psparse-531)
kernel: ACPI Error: AE_NOT_EXIST, Evaluating _PMC (20190816/power_meter-743)

To work around this issue, disable the apci_power_meter kernel module as follows: 

echo "blacklist acpi_power_meter" >> /etc/modprobe.d/hwmon.conf

After disabling the apci_power_meter kernel module, reboot the system for the change to take effect.

For environments that do not require the DAPC feature, as an alternative workaround, you can disable the DAPC BIOS setting.

(Bug ID 32105233)

Oracle Linux 8 does not recognize SAS controllers on older Oracle Sun hardware

The Oracle Linux 8 installer does not recognize some Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) controllers that are found in older Oracle Sun server models. If you attempt to install Oracle Linux 8 on these server models, the installer does not recognize the local disk and the installation fails. Examples of these server models include, but are not limited to, the following: Oracle Sun Fire X4170 M2 Server, Oracle Sun Fire X4170 M3 Server, Oracle Sun OVCA X3-2 Server, and the Oracle Sun X4-2 Server.

The following SAS controllers are removed from the mpt2sas driver in RHCK:

  • SAS2004, PCI ID 0x1000:0x0070

  • SAS2008, PCI ID 0x1000:0x0072

  • SAS2108_1, PCI ID 0x1000:0x0074

  • SAS2108_2, PCI ID 0x1000:0x0076

  • SAS2108_3, PCI ID 0x1000:0x0077

  • SAS2116_1, PCI ID 0x1000:0x0064

  • SAS2116_2, PCI ID 0x1000:0x0065

  • SSS6200, PCI ID 0x1000:0x007E

The following SAS controllers are removed from the megaraid_sas driver in RHCK:

  • Dell PERC5, PCI ID 0x1028:0x15

  • SAS1078R, PCI ID 0x1000:0x60

  • SAS1078DE, PCI ID 0x1000:0x7C

  • SAS1064R, PCI ID 0x1000:0x411

  • VERDE_ZCR, PCI ID 0x1000:0x413

  • SAS1078GEN2, PCI ID 0x1000:0x78

  • SAS0079GEN2, PCI ID 0x1000:0x79

  • SAS0073SKINNY, PCI ID 0x1000:0x73

  • SAS0071SKINNY, PCI ID 0x1000:0x71

The workaround for this issue to use the Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel Release 6 (UEK R6) boot ISO, and then run UEK R6 with Oracle Linux 8, as these controllers are supported in the Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel release.

(Bug ID 29120478)

File System Issues

The following are known file systems issues that have been encountered in this release of Oracle Linux 8.

Btrfs file system not supported on RHCK

The Btrfs file system is removed from RHCK in Oracle Linux 8, which means you cannot create or mount this file system when using this kernel. Also, any Btrfs user space packages that are provided are not supported with RHCK.

Support for the Btrfs file system is enabled in UEK R7 and UEK R6. Starting with Oracle Linux 8.3, during an installation, you have the option to create a Btrfs root file system, as well as select Btrfs as the file system type when formatting devices.

For further details about these changes, see the following documentation:

OCFS2 file system not supported on RHCK

The OCFS2 file system is removed from RHCK in Oracle Linux 8, which means you cannot create or mount this file system when using this kernel. Also, OCFS2 user space packages that are provided are not supported with RHCK.

Note that support for OCFS2 file systems is enabled in UEK R7 and UEK R6. For the latest information and other enhancements that have been made to OCFS2 in UEK R6, see Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel: Release Notes for Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel Release 6 Update 3 (5.4.17-2136). See also Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel: Release Notes for Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel Release 7 (5.15.0-0.30).

ext4: Frequent or repeated system shutdowns can cause file system corruption

If a system that is using the ext4 file system is repeatedly or frequently shut down, the file system might become corrupted. This issue is difficult to replicate and is therefore considered to be a corner-case issue. The issue exists in the upstream code and proposed patches are currently under review.

(Bug ID 27547113)

Kernel Issues

The following are known kernel issues that have been encountered in this release of Oracle Linux 8.

KVM guests boot with "amd64_edac_mod: Unknown symbol" errors on AMD 64-bit platforms

The following errors might be displayed repeatedly when KVM guests are booting on 64-bit AMD hosts: 

[   12.474069] amd64_edac_mod: Unknown symbol amd_register_ecc_decoder (err [ 120)
[   12.474083] amd64_edac_mod: Unknown symbol amd_report_gart_errors (err 0)
[   12.852250] amd64_edac_mod: Unknown symbol amd_unregister_ecc_decoder (err 0)
[   12.852297] amd64_edac_mod: Unknown symbol amd_register_ecc_decoder (err 0)
.
.
.

These errors occur because the module code for the kernel erroneously returns -EEXIST for modules that failed to load and are in the process of being removed from the module list. The amd64_edac_mod module will not be loaded in a VM. These errors can be ignored, as they do not impact functionality in any way.

This issue occurs on Oracle Linux 8 hosts that are running RHCK only and is not encountered on UEK R6 hosts.

(Bug ID 29853602)

Output of modinfo command does not show Retpoline support

A bug in the Oracle Linux 8 code causes Retropline support to not be displayed in the output of the modinfo -F retpoline command, even though the CONFIG_RETPOLINE flag is set to Y, for example: 

sudo modinfo -F retpoline
/usr/lib/modules/4.18.0-80.el8.x86_64/kernel/sound/usb/usx2y/snd-usb-us122l.ko
.xz

The CONFIG_RETPOLINE=Y flag is still required to add and display Retpoline support. If the parameter is enabled, the kernel builds with a retpoline capable compiler.

To confirm that the CONFIG_RETPOLINE flag is enabled, search for the parameter in the kernel's config-kernel configuration file, for example: 

cat /boot/config-5.4.17-2011.7.4.el8uek.x86_64 | grep RETPOLINE.
CONFIG_RETPOLINE=y

(Bug ID 29894295)

Kdump might fail on some AMD hardware

Kdump might fail on some AMD hardware that is running the current Oracle Linux release. Impacted hardware includes the AMD EPYC CPU servers.

To work around this issue, modify the /etc/sysconfig/kdump configuration file and remove the iommu=off command-line option from the KDUMP_COMMANDLINE_APPEND variable. Restart the kdump service for the changes to take effect.

(Bug ID 31274238, 34211826, 34312626)

Limitations of the LVM dm-writecache caching method

The new LVM dm-writecache caching method has certain limitations that do not exist with the dm-cache method, including the following:

  • Cannot attach or detach dm-writecache when a logical volume is active.

  • Cannot take a snapshot of a logical volume when the logical volume is using dm-writecache.

  • Must use a dm-writecache block size that matches the existing file system block size when attaching dm-writecache to an inactive logical volume.

  • Cannot resize a logical volume when dm-writecache is attached to the volume.

  • Cannot use pvmove commands on devices that are used with dm-writecache.

  • Cannot use logical volumes with dm-writecache when using thin pools or the virtual data optimizer (VDO).

For more information about the dm-writecache caching method, see the File Systems and Storage features section of Oracle Linux 8: Release Notes for Oracle Linux 8.2. See also the lvmcache(7) manual page.

Error: "mcelog service does not support this processor"

An error indicating that the mcelog service does not support the processor can appear in the system log on systems with AMD processors, such as some Oracle Server hardware. The message might be displayed as follows: 

mcelog: ERROR: AMD Processor family
23: mcelog does not support this processor.  Please use the edac_mce_amd
module instead.

The mcelog daemon is a service that is used on x86_64 platforms to log and handle hardware error messaging. On AMD systems, the edac_mce_amd kernel module handles machine exception logging. Therefore, AMD systems do not require the mcelog daemon. This error should be downgraded to a warning.

(Bug ID 29501190)

Power button defaults to ACPI Suspend mode

By default, the Oracle Linux 8 graphical user interface (GUI) console mode treats the hardware power button as the equivalent of the ACPI "Sleep" button, which puts the system into low-power sleep mode. This behavior is specific to the GNOME desktop environment.

In previous Oracle Linux releases, the hardware power button initiated a system shutdown. To ensure that Oracle Linux 8 behaves the same way, do the following:

  1. Create a file named /etc/dconf/db/local.d/01-shutdown-button-action with following content: 

    [org/gnome/settings-daemon/plugins/power]
power-button-action='interactive'

  2. Create a file named /etc/dconf/db/local.d/locks/01-power with the following content: 

    /org/gnome/settings-daemon/plugins/power/power-button-action

  3. Run the following command: 

    sudo dconf update

  4. Log out of the desktop environment and then log back in for the new settings to take effect.

(Bug ID 25597898)

Certain SEV guest configurations might cause hypervisor CPU soft-lockup warnings

On older generation AMD systems that are based on the AMD Rome processors, such as E2 and E3 systems, a guest with more than 350GB memory that is configured to use Secure Encrypted Virtualization (SEV) memory encryption can trigger a CPU soft-lockup warning on the hypervisor host during guest boot or shutdown operations.

The time that is needed to flush the pinned memory that is being encrypted is proportional to the amount of guest memory. However, with larger amounts of memory in excess of 350GB, the time on the CPU to flush the memory becomes excessive, which consequently triggers a warning. After the memory is flushed, the hypervisor resumes normal operations.

Newer systems that are based on the AMD Milan processor, such as E4 systems, have hardware support that can minimize the time required for flushing the memory. Therefore, the CPU soft-hang issue is not encountered.

As a workaround, if a SEV enabled guest with more then 350GB of memory is required, create the guest on a system that is based on the AMD Milan processor. If you are using systems with the AMD Rome processor, limit the guest memory to less than 350GB if the guest is configured with SEV memory encryption.

(Bug ID 34050377)