Chapter 3. Supportability
Chapter 3. Supportability The Supportability tests, also known as cloud/supportable , checks if the image is run in a Red Hat supportable environment and includes at least a minimal install of RHEL. Additionally, the test checks if the image consists of Red Hat kernel and user space software, and has support for Red Hat updates and fixes. The test includes the following subtests. 3.1. Log versions subtest The log versions subtest checks whether it can find the RHEL version and the kernel version that are installed on the host under test. Success criteria The test successfully detects both the RHEL version and the kernel version. 3.2. Kernel subtest The kernel subtest checks the kernel module running on the test environment. The version of the kernel can be either the original General Availability (GA) version or any subsequent kernel update released for the RHEL major and minor releases. The kernel subtest also ensures that the kernel is not tainted when running in the environment. Success criteria The running kernel is a Red Hat kernel. The running kernel is released by Red Hat for use with the RHEL version. The running kernel is not tainted. The running kernel has not been modified. Additional resources Red Hat Enterprise Linux Life Cycle Red Hat Enterprise Linux Release Dates Why is the kernel "tainted" and how are the taint values deciphered? 3.3. Kernel modules subtest The kernel modules subtest verifies that loaded kernel modules are released by Red Hat, either as part of the kernel's package or added through a Red Hat Driver Update. The kernel module subtest also ensures that kernel modules do not identify as Technology Preview. Success criteria The kernel modules are released by Red Hat and supported. Additional resources What does a "Technology Preview" feature mean? 3.4. Hardware Health subtest The Hardware Health subtest checks the system's health by testing if the hardware is supported, meets the requirements, and has any known hardware vulnerabilities. The subtest does the following: Checks that the Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) kernel does not identify hardware as unsupported. When the kernel identifies unsupported hardware, it will display an unsupported hardware message in the system logs and/or trigger an unsupported kernel taint. This subtest prevents customers from possible production risks which may arise from running Red Hat products on unsupported configurations and environments. In hypervisor, partitioning, cloud instances, and other virtual machine situations, the kernel may trigger an unsupported hardware message or taint based on the hardware data presented to RHEL by the virtual machine (VM). Checks that the system under test (SUT) meets the minimum hardware requirements. RHEL 8 and 9 : Minimum system RAM should be 1.5GB, per CPU logical core count. Checks if the kernel has reported any known hardware vulnerabilities, if those vulnerabilities have mitigations and if those mitigations have resolved the vulnerability. Many mitigations are automatic to ensure that customers do not need to take active steps to resolve vulnerabilities. In some cases this is not possible; where most of these remaining cases require changes to the configuration of the system BIOS/firmware which may not be modifiable by customers in all situations. Confirms the system does not have any offline CPUs. Confirms if Simultaneous Multithreading (SMT) is available, enabled, and active in the system. Failing any of these tests will result in a WARN from the test suite and should be verified by the partner to have correct and intended behavior. Success criteria The kernel does not have the UNSUPPORTEDHARDWARE taint bit set. The kernel does not report an unsupported hardware system message. The kernel should not report any vulnerabilities with mitigations as vulnerable. The kernel does not report the logic core to installed memory ratio as out of range. The kernel does not report CPUs in an offline state. Additional resources Minimum required memory Hardware support available in RHEL 8 but removed from RHEL 9 . 3.5. Hypervisor/Partitioning subtest The Hypervisor/Partitioning subtest confirms that the host architecture displayed in the RHEL image is supported by RHEL, the CCSP program, and the kernel. Currently, the CCSP image certification is supported for the following existing and upcoming RHEL versions and corresponding architectures: RHEL 8 and 9 : x86_64, ppc64le, IBM Z Success criteria The PASS scenarios for RHEL 8 and 9 are x86_64 on RHEL KVM, Nutanix, VMware, and HyperV. It also includes ppc64le on BareMetal, PowerVM, and RHV for Power. 3.6. Filesystem Layout subtest The Filesystem Layout confirms that the type and minimum size of an image follow the guidelines for each RHEL release. This ensures that the image has a reasonable amount of space required to operate effectively, run applications, and install upgrades for customer use. Success criteria RHEL 8 and 9 : The root file system is a 10 GB in size or larger XFS or ext4 partition. If the boot filesystem is not inside the root filesystem, it is a 1 GB XFS or ext4 partition. 3.7. Installed RPMs subtest The installed RPMs subtest verifies that RPM packages installed on the system are released by Red Hat and not modified. Modified packages may introduce risks and impact the supportability of the customer's environment. You might install non-Red Hat packages if necessary, but you must add them to your product's documentation, and they must not modify or conflict with any Red Hat packages. Red Hat will review the output of this test if you install non-Red Hat packages. Success criteria The installed Red Hat RPMs are not modified. The installed non-Red Hat RPMs are necessary and documented. The installed non-Red Hat RPMs do not conflict with Red Hat RPMs or software. For example, you may develop custom packages to manage CPU affinity of interrupt requests (IRQs) for network interfaces. However, such packages might conflict with Red Hat's tuned package, which already provides similar functionality for performance tuning. Additional resources Production Support Scope of Coverage 3.8. Software repositories subtest Software repositories confirm that relevant Red Hat repositories are configured, and GPG keys are already imported on the image to avoid potential significant risks from unsupported content. Red Hat provides core software packages/content in Red Hat official software repositories (included with attached subscriptions) which, are signed with GPG keys to ensure the authenticity of the distributed files. Software provided as part of these repositories is fully supported and reliable for customer production environments. Repositories published but not supported by Red Hat, such as EPEL or the RHEL Supplementary and Optional , and non-Red Hat repositories may be configured if they are necessary to enable the cloud environment. However, such repositories must be properly described and approved. Success criteria Supported Red Hat repositories are configured. GPG keys for Red Hat repositories are already imported in the image. The valid repositories are Red Hat Update Infrastructure and Red Hat Satellite. RHEL 8 and AppStream repos must be enabled. Red Hat repositories configured on the image match the image content. Non-Red Hat repositories, if required, for proper operation of the cloud are configured and described. Note To verify Red Hat repositories, Partners must configure their base URL with either one of these keywords: satellite , redhat.com , or rhui . Additional resources For more information, see Production Support Scope of Coverage . 3.9. Containers RHEL supports customers who intend to adopt and use containers in the hybrid cloud. The software/container test verifies: If the Red Hat container tools are installed. If they are not installed and are not part of the minimal RHEL installation, the test will confirm that the tool can be installed from the RHEL registry and can download and execute containers. If the containers on the RHEL cloud image are either provided by Red Hat or are Red Hat certified Partner containers. If you need to use any other container for your cloud operation, you must mention them in your documentation. Success criteria All installed containers are either provided or certified by Red Hat. The podman tool is either already installed or can be installed during the test run. Installation is supported on RHEL 8 and 9 image. The podman tool can download and run a sample Red Hat container. The registry.redhat.io registry is either already enabled or enabled after podman is installed on the RHEL image. 3.10. Insights subtest The Insights subtest verifies the insights-client rpm on RHEL 8 and 9. Success criteria The insights-client rpm is installed on RHEL 8 and RHEL 9. 3.11. Software modules test The RHEL modularity feature is a collection of packages available on the system. The software modules test validates modules available on a RHEL 8 or RHEL 9 system. Success criteria The test fails if there are non-Red Hat software modules.