[asterisk-bugs] [Zaptel 0011661]: ztcfg default behavior + races in zaptel drivers + unsuspecting admins cause kernel crashes

[noreply at bugs.digium.com]

A NOTE has been added to this issue. 
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http://bugs.digium.com/view.php?id=11661 
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Reported By:                sim
Assigned To:                
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Project:                    Zaptel
Issue ID:                   11661
Category:                   Core-General
Reproducibility:            always
Severity:                   minor
Priority:                   normal
Status:                     new
Zaptel Version:             1.4.7.1 
SVN Branch (only for SVN checkouts, not tarball releases): N/A  
SVN Revision (number only!):  
Disclaimer on File?:        N/A 
Request Review:              
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Date Submitted:             12-31-2007 18:29 CST
Last Modified:              01-02-2008 14:03 CST
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Summary:                    ztcfg default behavior  + races in zaptel drivers +
unsuspecting admins cause kernel crashes
Description: 
I have witnessed more than 5 different people accidentally run "ztcfg" on
production systems in an attempt to try to poke at zaptel to find the
source of an issue.  One runs through "zttool", "ztdiag", "zttest", etc.,
and usually "ztcfg" if they do not know better, expecting it to behave
similar to "ifconfig".  This _should_ just reset the PRIs (in a perfect
world), but instead it tends to cause a kernel Oops in zt_init_tone_state
due to races in zaptel when channels are active.

I bet this has been causing people to kill their Asterisk servers around
the globe for many years now, and I think this is serious enough to warrant
an interface change.  I propose we either change "ztcfg" to require an
argument before applying any changes, or we make it do something similar to
checking for Asterisk running first, and not apply configuration if so
unless an override argument is specified.

If agreed, I can easily write and submit a patch -- just let me know.
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 sim - 01-02-08 14:03  
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I completely agree -- the Zaptel races need to be fixed.  HOWEVER, even if
they were fixed, I think we should still change ztcfg.  With a
perfectly-operating Zaptel core, ztcfg's current operation will still
result in people accidentally bouncing their PRIs.  Agreed?

I can file another bug for the actual Zaptel crashing issues, though I
think I already saw some which may be describing the same issue.  I also
don't have any spare Zaptel hardware at this time, so I can't set up a test
lab.  I might have access to a spare card in a few weeks, but not at the
moment... 

Issue History 
Date Modified   Username       Field                    Change               
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01-02-08 14:03  sim            Note Added: 0076224                          
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