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  • 1.  Does Lin_tape drivers support RHEL 9.X?

    Posted Fri December 05, 2025 02:56 PM

    I tried to install the lin_tape drivers in RHEL 9.7 but am facing the error while compilation.



    ------------------------------
    Kambampati Sri Lasya
    ------------------------------


  • 2.  RE: Does Lin_tape drivers support RHEL 9.X?

    Posted Mon December 08, 2025 02:03 AM

    Hello Kambampati,

    the current release of lin_tape (3.0.71) does not support RHEL 9.7.

     Level      Date                   Description
---------------------------------------------------------------
3.0.71 08/15/2025   - Initial support for RHEL 9.6 (min. kernel 5.14.0-570.32.1)
                    - Initial support for RHEL 10 (min. kernel 6.12.0-55.25.1)
3.0.69  02/21/2025  - Initial support for RHEL 9.5 (min. kernel 5.14.0-503.22.1)


    ------------------------------
    Uwe Schreiber
    System Engineer / Solution Architect
    SVA System Vertrieb Alexander GmbH
    Wiesbaden
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 3.  RE: Does Lin_tape drivers support RHEL 9.X?

    Posted Tue December 09, 2025 02:34 AM
    Edited by Bjørn Nachtwey Tue December 09, 2025 03:00 AM

    Hi all,

    we had this discussion in our user group a couple of weeks ago and the attending guys from IBM Development gave an answer like this:
    Some RHEL versions are really "short living", like 9.5 (and 9.7 too).

    For Dev it's quite a reasonable effort to do the testing for each new RHEL version, especially as they have not really "early access" to the new RHEL versions.
    So they're going not to test each new RHEL version, (AFAIR) 9.7 will not be supported, but 9.8. So stay on 9.6, but do not update to 9.7.


    => I asked for an official statement, e.g. for discussions with the CISO why the SP server are not updated, but I was only directed to the "requirements" in the driver: As long as RHEL 9.{5,7} is not mentioned, it's not supported, so I should not do the upgrade.

    //edit: I was too quick, did not look on the error message, so after reboot and loading the kernel ...

    Well, I tried the "Quick & Dirty" approach [1] by replacing "9.7" with "9.6" in the /etc/*releases files ... WORKS (but NOT supported by IBM)

    best
    Bjørn

    [1] https://github.com/bnachtwey/IT-Stuff/blob/main/Storage/Tape/LinTape-on-RHEL.md

    ------------------------------
    Bjørn Nachtwey
    Master Solutions Architect
    Cristie Data GmbH
    Niedernberg
    +4960289795755
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 4.  RE: Does Lin_tape drivers support RHEL 9.X?

    Posted Thu December 11, 2025 04:15 AM
    We attempted to install lin_tape 3.0.71 on RHEL 9.6 with the SFMP feature enabled but encountered errors. When we installed without SFMP, the process completed successfully. 
    However, in our environment, each drive has two paths, and these paths need to be merged into a single logical path. Without SFMP, this requirement cannot be met. Please advise on how to resolve this issue or provide an alternative approach


    ------------------------------
    Kambampati Sri Lasya
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 5.  RE: Does Lin_tape drivers support RHEL 9.X?

    Posted Fri December 12, 2025 04:48 AM

    Hello Kambampati,

    What errors occur when using SFMP? Do the errors occur during the rpmbuild process, or only during the installation of the package created with rpmbuild?

    Is its failover required for st/sg devices?

    SFMP is only required for path failover for st/sg devices.

    Path failover based on IBM Special Devices also works without SFMP.



    ------------------------------
    Uwe Schreiber
    System Engineer / Solution Architect
    SVA System Vertrieb Alexander GmbH
    Wiesbaden
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 6.  RE: Does Lin_tape drivers support RHEL 9.X?

    Posted Mon December 15, 2025 12:40 AM
      |   view attached

    Hello Uwe Schreiber,

    Errors occur during the rpmbuild process. yes, failover require for st/sg devices.  PFA 

    Thanks,

    Lasya kambampati



    ------------------------------
    Kambampati Sri Lasya
    ------------------------------

    Attachment(s)

    txt
    lin_tape installation error.txt   16 KB 1 version
    Original Message


  • 7.  RE: Does Lin_tape drivers support RHEL 9.X?

    Posted Mon December 15, 2025 02:47 AM

    Hello Kambampati,

    SFMP for RHEL requires the usage of a driver version with join support.

    Unfortunately, IBM currently does not offer a lin_tape version for RHEL 9 or 10 that provides this join driver support.

    Within the readme file for the lin_tape driver you can find:

    ---- snip ---

        RHEL 10 - 6.12.0-55.25.1 (no join driver support)
    RHEL 9.6 - 5.14.0-570.32.1 (no join driver support)
    RHEL 9.5 - 5.14.0-503.22.1 (no join driver support)
    RHEL 9.4 - 5.14.0-427.22.1 (no join driver support)
    RHEL 9.3 - 5.14.0-362.13.1 (no join driver support)
    RHEL 9.2 - 5.14.0-284 (no join driver support)

    --- snap ---



    ------------------------------
    Uwe Schreiber
    System Engineer / Solution Architect
    SVA System Vertrieb Alexander GmbH
    Wiesbaden
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 8.  RE: Does Lin_tape drivers support RHEL 9.X?

    Posted 29 days ago

    Hello Kambampati,

    today i had a look into the "IBM Ideas" portal.

    I found idea "TL45-I-100" from 3rd of July 2025 where the "Join/SFMP support for RHEL9 / RHEL10" was requested.

    The current state for this request ist "Not under condireation".

    (https://ideas.ibm.com/ideas/TL45-I-100)



    ------------------------------
    Uwe Schreiber
    System Engineer / Solution Architect
    SVA System Vertrieb Alexander GmbH
    Wiesbaden
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


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