3

When doing an "Erratum Search" on the RHN site, and provide a specific package name, I get a result. The result is returned, and I have a single RHBA number, and I click on the link. The next page is a list of bugs and issues under "Description". What I would like to know is what package this affects? Are the packages under "Packages" the affected packages, or are the packages under "Packages" the "fixed" packages and need to be installed?

Thanks.

drewrockshard
  • 1,753
  • 4
  • 20
  • 27

3 Answers3

6

To expand my comment on Ignacio Vazquez-Abrams's answer into an answer in its own right:

The errata give the full names of the updated, correct packages.

The package names (as is the general convention for RPMs in the Red Hat / Fedora universe) follow the pattern:

{name}-{version}-{release}.{arch}.rpm

Where name is the package name, version is the upstream package version, and release is the version of the package itself.

Whenever a package is changed (for an errata or even just for internal testing), the release is always increased. (This isn't enforced by rpm itself, but is enforced by policy at Red Hat, Fedora, and any respectable rpm-using distribution.)

So, if you have the name-version-release covered by the latest errata notice on your system already, you know that the system is up to date. (Although in some cases you may need to restart services or the whole system to make sure the fix is in effect -- that's a place where reading the notices is helpful.)

mattdm
  • 6,550
  • 1
  • 25
  • 48
0

They are the fixed packages that need to be "freshened", i.e. if you have older versions then you need to install them.

Ignacio Vazquez-Abrams
  • 45,019
  • 5
  • 78
  • 84
  • can you explain further by "freshened"? Is it almost like, if you already have the package, but "newer, updated" packages are in the errata, so you have to re-apply the package to get the newer stuff? – drewrockshard Feb 08 '11 at 00:08
  • 1
    @drewrockshard: uh, what? If you already have an older version of the same package, this is what you need. If you have that version already, you know you're covered (unless there's a newer update). If you don't have that package at all, you don't need to be worried. – mattdm Feb 08 '11 at 00:13
  • @mattdm: This is what I'm asking, but you didn't actually answer my question. "If you already have an older version of the same package, this is what you need." - What do you mean? I'm trying to understand the "Errata" for RHEL. Does this actually means that I could have a package, for example `openssh-4.3p2-41.el5.x86_64.rpm` and have an updated package named the same thing? I need to know how Errata works and what it means to "update". I'm used to yum doing the work and I feel like this Errata thing is a bit different. – drewrockshard Feb 08 '11 at 00:19
  • Okay, I see what you are asking. The packages are named like this: name-version-packagerelease. The package release will *always* (by policy) increment when the contents change. – mattdm Feb 08 '11 at 03:29
0

Red Hat Errata help users determine what updates are available and how important they are based on analysis by Red Hat engineering. These updates can address security issues, fix bugs, or provide new features for individual packages and entire container images. Errata are published for low level, operating system packages like the kernel and glibc, as well as layered products which are delivered as packages.

https://access.redhat.com/articles/2130961

fatherlinux
  • 146
  • 1
  • 6