New Release: Linux Kernel 5.3

Linux kernel 5.3 (available here) has been released. Here are the highlights from a Linux on Z perspective:

• Secure Boot for SCSI IPL
  Ensure that only signed code is loaded during IPL. Check
    /sys/firmware/ipl/has_secure whether support is available, and
     /sys/firmware/ipl/secure     whether the Linux instance was booted securely.
  Use new zipl option secure to enable. Requires additional configuration on HMC/SE load panel.
• Thin provisioning Base Support for DASD
  With DASD devices configured for thin provisioning on the storage server, not all disk space is allocated in the storage server when the disk is empty - disk space gets allocated only if in use.
  Use dasdfmt -M quick or dasdfmt --mode quick to format the first two tracks only, speeding up the formatting process significantly.
  
• CPU-MF Counters for IBM z15
  Adds Measurement Facility (MF) counters for ECC. Access using lscpumf command:
     $ lscpumf -c|fgrep ECC_
     r50        ECC_FUNCTION_COUNT
     r51        ECC_CYCLES_COUNT
     r52        ECC_BLOCKED_FUNCTION_COUNT
     r53        ECC_BLOCKED_CYCLES_COUNT
• Crypto Passthrough Interrupt Support
  Receive crypto adapter interrupts in KVM guests immediately, improving performance.