Page 1 Red Hat Network 3.1 Provisioning Reference Guide...
Page 2 All other trademarks and copyrights referred to are the property of their respective owners. The GPG ﬁngerprint of the security@redhat.com key is: CA 20 86 86 2B D6 9D FC 65 F6 EC C4 21 91 80 CD DB 42 A6 0E...
Page 3: Table Of Contents
Table of Contents Introduction............................i 1. Document Conventions......................i 2. More to Come ........................iv 2.1. Send in Your Feedback ..................iv 1. What is Red Hat Network? ......................1 1.1. Demo..........................2 1.2. Update ..........................2 1.3. Management........................2 1.4.
Page 4 4.4.6. Advanced Search....................60 4.4.7. Activation Keys....................60 4.4.8. Stored Proﬁles....................61 4.4.9. Custom System Info..................61 4.4.10. Kickstart......................61 4.5. Errata..........................65 4.5.1. Relevant Errata....................65 4.5.2. All Errata......................65 4.5.3. Advanced Search....................67 4.6. Channels........................... 67 4.6.1. Software Channels .................... 67 4.6.2.
Page 5 A.2.8. Listing All Conﬁg Channels ................101 A.2.9. Removing a File from a Channel ..............102 A.2.10. Deleting a Conﬁg Channel................102 A.2.11. Determining the Number of File Revisions ..........102 A.2.12. Updating a File in a Channel................ 102 A.2.13. Uploading Multiple Files at Once..............103 B.
Page 7: Introduction
Refer to Chapter 2 Red Hat Update Agent for instructions. For an overview of Red Hat Network offerings, please review the descriptions available at http://www.redhat.com/software/rhn/ . 1. Document Conventions When you read this manual, certain words are represented in different fonts, typefaces, sizes, and weights.
Page 8 Introduction application This style indicates that the program is an end-user application (as opposed to system software). For example: Use Mozilla to browse the Web. [key] A key on the keyboard is shown in this style. For example: To use [Tab] completion, type in a character and then press the [Tab] key. Your terminal displays the list of ﬁles in the directory that start with that letter.
Page 9 Introduction [stephen@maturin stephen]$ leopard login: user input Text that the user has to type, either on the command line, or into a text box on a GUI screen, is displayed in this style. In the following example, text is displayed in this style: To boot your system into the text based installation program, you must type in the text com- mand at the prompt.
Page 10: More To Come
2.1. Send in Your Feedback If you would like to make suggestions about the Red Hat Network Provisioning Reference Guide, please mention this guide’s identiﬁer: RHNpro(EN)-3.1-Print-RHI (2004-01-22T17:21) You can send mail to: < > rhn-feedback@redhat.com...
Page 11: What Is Red Hat Network
Linux 8.0 systems will even use the Red Hat Update Agent to be registered to RHN. See Chapter 2 Red Hat Update Agent for further information. You can use either of the two Red Hat Network user interfaces: https://rhn.redhat.com • The Red Hat Update Agent •...
Page 12: Demo
Many Red Hat Network terms are used throughout this manual. As you read the Red Hat Network Provisioning Reference Guide, refer to the Glossary as necessary for an explanation of common terms. For a comparison chart of RHN service levels, refer to https://rhn.redhat.com/preview/. 1.1. Demo The RHN Demo service level is the complimentary service level.
Page 13: Management
To create an account that can be used to entitle systems to RHN Management, go to https://rhn.redhat.com/ and click on the Create Account link under the Sign In ﬁelds. On the Sign Up for Red Hat Network page, click Create a new corporate account. After creating a corporate account, you may add users within your organization to it.
Page 14: Errata Notiﬁcations And Scheduled Package Installations
Red Hat’s GNU Privacy Guard (GPG) signature to ensure authenticity. Red Hat Network incorporates the following security measures: 1. Your System Proﬁle available at http://rhn.redhat.com is accessible only with an RHN-veriﬁed username and password. 2. A Digital Certiﬁcate is written to the client system after registration and is used to authenticate the system during each transaction between the client and Red Hat Network.
Page 15 (or from a Red Hat FTP mirror available at http://www.redhat.com/mirrors.html). Always check the Red Hat Errata page, available at http://www.redhat.com/errata/, for package updates. If you install an older version of these packages, you can retrieve the latest versions using Red Hat Network. The ﬁrst...
Page 16 Chapter 1. What is Red Hat Network?
Page 17: Red Hat Update Agent
Chapter 2. Red Hat Update Agent The Red Hat Update Agent is your connection to the Red Hat Network. It enables you to register your systems, create System Proﬁles, and alter the settings by which your organization and RHN interact. Once registered, your systems can use the Red Hat Update Agent to retrieve the latest software packages from Red Hat.
Page 18 Chapter 2. Red Hat Update Agent If you choose the last option and start the application from a shell prompt, you can specify the options in Table 2-1 to the Red Hat Update Agent. To view these options, type the command up2date --help For example, use the following command to specify the directory in which to download the updated...
Page 19: Registration
Chapter 2. Red Hat Update Agent Figure 2-1. Conﬁgure Proxy Server The second dialog box to appear will prompt you to install the Red Hat GPG key, as shown in Figure 2-2. This key is used to verify the packages you download for security purposes. Click Yes to install the key, and you will not see this message again.
Page 20 Network registration process is used to create a System Proﬁle, which is essential to receiving update notiﬁcations about your system. If after reading the statement you have any questions about how your information is being used, please contact us at < >. When satisﬁed, click feedback@redhat.com Forward.
Page 21: Registering A User Account
Red Hat software packages. Note If you are already a member of redhat.com, you can use the same username and password. However, you will still need to continue with the registration process to create your System Proﬁle. Your username and password have the following restrictions: Must be at least four characters long •...
Page 22 Chapter 2. Red Hat Update Agent Cannot contain any line feeds • Cannot contain the characters &, +, %, or ’ • Figure 2-5. Create a User Account You must choose a unique username. If you enter one already in use, you will see an error message (see Figure 2-6).
Page 23 Unlike other details, your company name can be changed only through redhat.com. To make this change, go to http://www.redhat.com/ and click the Account link near the top-right corner. Sign in if you are not already logged in, and then click the Account Details link. In the Edit Account Details page, replace your company name in the appropriate ﬁeld and click the Finish button at the bottom.
Page 24: Registering A System Proﬁle
Chapter 2. Red Hat Update Agent Figure 2-7. Register a User Account Once satsﬁed with the information supplied, click Forward to continue. 2.2.2. Registering a System Proﬁle Now that you have a user account, you can create a System Proﬁle that consists of hardware and software information about your Red Hat Linux system.
Page 25 Chapter 2. Red Hat Update Agent Disk sizes • Mount points • The next step is choosing a proﬁle name for your system as shown in Figure 2-8. The default value is the hostname for the system. You may modify this to be a more descriptive string, such as Email Server for Support Team, if you ﬁnd it more helpful.
Page 26 Chapter 2. Red Hat Update Agent you use an older version of a package and deselect it from the list, it will not be replaced with a newer version. This RPM list can be modiﬁed through the Red Hat Network Web interface or by using the Red Hat Update Agent.
Page 27 Chapter 2. Red Hat Update Agent 2.2.2.2.2. Choosing RPM Packages to Exclude from the System Proﬁle By default, all RPM packages in your RPM database are included in your System Proﬁle to be updated by Red Hat Network. To exclude a package, uncheck the package from the list by clicking the check- box beside the package name.
Page 28: Setup And Use
Chapter 2. Red Hat Update Agent Figure 2-12. Finished Collecting Information for System Proﬁle Figure 2-13 shows the progress bar you will see while your proﬁle is being sent. This process may take some time depending on your connection speed. Figure 2-13.
Page 29: Choosing A Channel
Chapter 2. Red Hat Update Agent 2.3.1. Choosing a Channel The ﬁrst step is to select the channel from which you want the updated packages to be retrieved. After you send your System Proﬁle, the Channels screen (Figure 2-14) appears. Select the appropriate base channel and click Forward to continue.
Page 30 Chapter 2. Red Hat Update Agent While you see this dialog box, the Red Hat Update Agent uses your unique Digital Certiﬁcate ) to determine if there are any updated packages available for /etc/sysconfig/rhn/systemid your system. If there are no updated packages available for your system, the dialog box in Figure 2-16 appears.
Page 31 Chapter 2. Red Hat Update Agent Figure 2-18. View Advisory The Available Package Updates screen is the next to appear. If your system is not up-to-date, your customized list of available updated packages is displayed as shown in Figure 2-19.
Page 32 Chapter 2. Red Hat Update Agent Figure 2-19. List of Available Updates By default, no packages are selected for download. To select a package for download (and installation, if you chose that option), click its checkbox. To select all the packages listed, click the checkbox next to Select all packages.
Page 33: Installing Updated Packages
Chapter 2. Red Hat Update Agent Figure 2-21. Retrieval Finished 2.3.3. Installing Updated Packages After downloading the packages through the Red Hat Update Agent, they must be installed. If you chose not to have the packages installed via the Red Hat Update Agent, skip to Section 2.3.5.2 Manual Package Installation for further instructions.
Page 34: Update Agent Finished
Chapter 2. Red Hat Update Agent Figure 2-22. Installation Finished 2.3.4. Update Agent Finished When the Red Hat Update Agent has ﬁnished downloading the desired packages (and installing them if you chose the install option), you will see the screen in Figure 2-23. Click Finish to exit the Red Hat Update Agent.
Page 35: Command Line Version
Chapter 2. Red Hat Update Agent Figure 2-23. Update Agent Finished 2.3.5. Command Line Version If you are not running X, you can still run the Red Hat Update Agent from a virtual console or remote terminal. If you are running X but want to use the command line version, you can force it not to display the graphical interface with the following command: up2date --nox The command line version of the Red Hat Update Agent allows you to perform advanced functions...
Page 36 Chapter 2. Red Hat Update Agent Argument Description Download packages only; do not install them. This argument --download temporarily overrides the conﬁguration option Do not install packages after retrieval. Use this option if you prefer to install the packages manually. Specify an alternate RPM database to use temporarily.
Page 37 1. Cut and paste the following into a ﬁle and save it as or download it from redhat2.asc https://www.redhat.com/solutions/security/news/publickey/#key. Type bits/keyID Date User ID 1024D/DB42A60E 1999-09-23 Red Hat Software, Inc. (security@redhat.com) 2048g/961630A2 1999-09-23 -----BEGIN PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK----- Version: GnuPG v1.0.0 (GNU/Linux) Comment: For info see http://www.gnupg.org...
Page 38 Chapter 2. Red Hat Update Agent mQGiBDfqVDgRBADBKr3Bl6PO8BQ0H8sJoD6p9U7Yyl7pjtZqioviPwXP+DCWd4u8 HQzcxAZ57m8ssA1LK1Fx93coJhDzM130+p5BG9mYSWShLabR3N1KXdXQYYcowTOM GxdwYRGr1Spw8QydLhjVfU1VSl4xt6bupPbWJbyjkg5Z3P7BlUOUJmrx3wCgobNV EDGaWYJcch5z5B1of/41G8kEAKii6q7Gu/vhXXnLS6m15oNnPVybyngiw/23dKjS ZVG7rKANEK2mxg1VB+vc/uUc4k49UxJJfCZg1gu1sPFV3GSa+Y/7jsiLktQvCiLP lncQt1dV+ENmHR5BdIDPWDzKBVbgWnSDnqQ6KrZ7T6AlZ74VMpjGxxkWU6vV2xsW XCLPA/9P/vtImA8CZN3jxGgtK5GGtDNJ/cMhhuv5tnfwFg4b/VGo2Jr8mhLUqoIb E6zeGAmZbUpdckDco8D5fiFmqTf5+++pCEpJLJkkzel/32N2w4qzPrcRMCiBURES PjCLd4Y5rPoU8E4kOHc/4BuHN903tiCsCPloCrWsQZ7UdxfQ5LQiUmVkIEhhdCwg SW5jIDxzZWN1cml0eUByZWRoYXQuY29tPohVBBMRAgAVBQI36lQ4AwsKAwMVAwID FgIBAheAAAoJECGRgM3bQqYOsBQAnRVtg7B25Hm11PHcpa8FpeddKiq2AJ9aO8sB XmLDmPOEFI75mpTrKYHF6rkCDQQ36lRyEAgAokgI2xJ+3bZsk8jRA8ORIX8DH05U lMH27qFYzLbT6npXwXYIOtVn0K2/iMDj+oEB1Aa2au4OnddYaLWp06v3d+XyS0t+ 5ab2ZfIQzdh7wCwxqRkzR+/H5TLYbMG+hvtTdylfqIX0WEfoOXMtWEGSVwyUsnM3 Jy3LOi48rQQSCKtCAUdV20FoIGWhwnb/gHU1BnmES6UdQujFBE6EANqPhp0coYoI hHJ2oIO8ujQItvvNaU88j/s/izQv5e7MXOgVSjKe/WX3s2JtB/tW7utpy12wh1J+ JsFdbLV/t8CozUTpJgx5mVA3RKlxjTA+On+1IEUWioB+iVfT7Ov/0kcAzwADBQf9 E4SKCWRand8K0XloMYgmipxMhJNnWDMLkokvbMNTUoNpSfRoQJ9EheXDxwMpTPwK ti/PYrrL2J11P2ed0x7zm8v3gLrY0cue1iSba+8glY+p31ZPOr5ogaJw7ZARgoS8 BwjyRymXQp+8Dete0TELKOL2/itDOPGHW07SsVWOR6cmX4VlRRcWB5KejaNvdrE5 4XFtOd04NMgWI63uqZc4zkRa+kwEZtmbz3tHSdRCCE+Y7YVP6IUf/w6YPQFQriWY FiA6fD10eB+BlIUqIw80VgjsBKmCwvKkn4jg8kibXgj4/TzQSx77uYokw1EqQ2wk OZoaEtcubsNMquuLCMWijYhGBBgRAgAGBQI36lRyAAoJECGRgM3bQqYOhyYAnj7h VDY/FJAGqmtZpwVp9IlitW5tAJ4xQApr/jNFZCTksnI+4O1765F7tA== =3AHZ -----END PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK----- 2. At the shell prompt, import the key with the following command: gpg --import redhat2.asc The resulting message tells you that the key was processed.
Page 39: Conﬁguration
Chapter 2. Red Hat Update Agent After running this command, your RHN System Proﬁle will reﬂect the latest software versions in- stalled on your system. 2.3.5.4. Log File The Red Hat Update Agent keeps a log of all the actions that it performs on your system in the ﬁle .
Page 40 Chapter 2. Red Hat Update Agent Figure 2-24. General Settings In addition, RHN Proxy and Satellite customers have the option of selecting Red Hat Network Servers here. These customers should refer to the RHN Client Conﬁguration Guide for detailed instructions. 2.4.1.2.
Page 41 Chapter 2. Red Hat Update Agent Figure 2-25. Retrieval/Installation Settings The following package retrieval options can be selected (see Figure 2-25): Do not install packages after retrieval — download selected RPM packages to desired directory • and ignore the installation preferences Do not upgrade packages when local conﬁguration ﬁle has been modiﬁed —...
Page 42: Command Line Version
Chapter 2. Red Hat Update Agent To deﬁne a set of packages to be excluded according to the package name, enter a character string including wild cards (*) in the Add new text ﬁeld under in the Package Names to Skip section. A wild card at the end of the character string means all packages beginning with the character string will be excluded from the list.
Page 43: Registering With Activation Keys
Chapter 2. Red Hat Update Agent pkgSkipList [’kernel*’] storageDir /var/spool/up2date adminAddress [’root@localhost’] noBootLoader 10. serverURL https://www.rhns.redhat.com/XMLRPC 11. fileSkipList 12. sslCACert /usr/share/rhn/RHNS-CA-CERT 13. noReplaceConfig 14. useNoSSLForPackage No 15. systemIdPath /etc/sysconfig/rhn/systemid 16. enableProxyAuth 17. retrieveSource 18. versionOverride 19. headerFetchCount 20. networkRetries 21. enableProxy 22.
Page 44 Chapter 2. Red Hat Update Agent Note Systems running versions of Red Hat Linux older than 8.0 need version 2.7.20 or higher of the package. It is highly recommended you obtain the latest version before using activa- rhn_register tion keys. Before using an activation key, you must ﬁrst generate one through the RHN website.
Page 45: Red Hat Network Alert Notiﬁcation Tool
Chapter 3. Red Hat Network Alert Notiﬁcation Tool The Red Hat Network Alert Notiﬁcation Tool is a notiﬁer that appears on the panel and alerts users when software package updates are available for their systems. The list of updates is retrieved from the RHN Servers.
Page 46: Notiﬁcation Icons
Chapter 3. Red Hat Network Alert Notiﬁcation Tool Figure 3-2. HTTP Proxy Conﬁguration If your network connection requires you to use an HTTP Proxy Server to make HTTP connec- tions, on the Proxy Conﬁguration screen, type your proxy server in the text ﬁeld with the for- mat HOST:PORT.
Page 47: Viewing Updates
Chapter 3. Red Hat Network Alert Notiﬁcation Tool If you see the icon, it is highly recommended that you apply the updates. Refer to Section 3.4 Applying Updates for information on applying updates. If you have scheduled updates to be installed, you can watch the applet icon to determine when updates are applied.
Page 48 Chapter 3. Red Hat Network Alert Notiﬁcation Tool...
Page 49: Red Hat Network Website
In a Web browser, go to http://rhn.redhat.com. The page shown in Figure 4-1 will be displayed. Figure 4-1. RHN Website If you have not registered a system yet or do not have a redhat.com account, create a new account by clicking Create Account. After creating a new user account, you must register your system before using RHN.
Page 50 Chapter 4. Red Hat Network Website Your RHN — Obtain a quick overview of your account. It notiﬁes you if your systems need • attention, provides a quick link to go directly to them, and displays the most recent Errata Alerts for your account.
Page 51: Errata Alert Icons
Chapter 4. Red Hat Network Website Schedule — Keep track of your scheduled actions. • Pending Actions — List scheduled actions that have not been completed. • Failed Actions — List scheduled actions that have failed. • Completed Actions — List scheduled actions that have been completed. Completed actions can •...
Page 52: Your Rhn
Chapter 4. Red Hat Network Website 4.3. Your RHN After logging into the website of Red Hat Network, the ﬁrst category to appear is Your RHN dis- playing as its ﬁrst page Your RHN. This page contains important information about your systems, including summaries of system status, actions, and Errata Alerts.
Page 53: Your Account
Chapter 4. Red Hat Network Website Ungrouped Systems — Each registered system must be a member of at least one system group. • The number of ungrouped systems refers to systems that are not yet members of any system group. Inactive Systems —...
Page 54: Your Preferences
Chapter 4. Red Hat Network Website 4.3.2. Your Preferences The Your Preferences page allows you to conﬁgure Red Hat Network options, including: Email Notiﬁcations — Determine whether you want to receive email every time an Errata Alert is • applicable to one or more systems in your RHN account. Important This setting also enables Management and Provisioning customers to receive a daily summary of system events.
Page 55 Chapter 4. Red Hat Network Website 4.3.5.2. Quick Start Guide The Quick Start Guide page contains a brief overview of Red Hat Network and its many features. If you are unfamiliar with RHN, it is recommended you read this guide in its entirety. Topics covered include registering your systems, applying Errata Updates, using one-click updates, and troubleshoot- ing.
Page 56: Systems
Chapter 4. Red Hat Network Website 4.3.5.9. Get RHN Software The RHN Software page provides direct links to the Red Hat Update Agent and Red Hat Network Registration Client for every supported distribution. In addition, it describes how to resolve expired SSL certiﬁcates.
Page 57 Chapter 4. Red Hat Network Website — Updates have been scheduled • — System not checking in properly (for 24 hours or more) • — System not entitled to any update service • Errata — Total number of Errata Alerts applicable to the system. •...
Page 58 Chapter 4. Red Hat Network Website Figure 4-3. System List Links in the left navigation bar below Systems enable you to select and view predeﬁned sets of your systems. All of the options described above can be applied within these pages. 4.4.2.1.
Page 59 Chapter 4. Red Hat Network Website 4.4.2.5. Inactive The Inactive page displays the registered systems that have not checked into RHN for 24 hours or more. When the Red Hat Update Agent connects to RHN to see if there are any updates available or if any actions have been scheduled, this is considered a checkin.
Page 60 Chapter 4. Red Hat Network Website Include system in daily summary report calculations — This setting includes the system • in a daily summary of system events. (By default, all Management and Provisioning systems are included in the summary.) These are actions affecting packages, such as scheduled Errata Updates, and system reboots or failures to check in.
Page 61 Chapter 4. Red Hat Network Website identiﬁes only the latest action related to an Errata. For instance, if an action fails and you resched- ule it, this column will show the status of the Errata as Pending only (with no mention of the previous failure).
Page 62 Chapter 4. Red Hat Network Website Details page. To modify the child channels associated with this system, use the checkboxes next to the channels and click the Change Subscriptions button. You will receive a success message or be notiﬁed of any errors. To change the system’s base channel, select the new one from the pulldown menu and click the Modify Base Channel button.
Page 63 Chapter 4. Red Hat Network Website ﬁg Channels interface within the Channels category. Refer to Section 4.6.6 Manage Conﬁg Channels for instructions. When satisﬁed, click Update. Local Overrides — View and manage the default conﬁguration ﬁles for the system. If no ﬁles •...
Page 64: System Groups
Chapter 4. Red Hat Network Website Continue, ﬁnish choosing from the options available on the subsequent screen and click the Schedule Kickstart button. Caution It is imperative the kickstart proﬁle selected match the installation ﬁles supplied. For instance, it is possible a given IP address could be associated with a Red Hat Enterprise Linux 2.1 kickstart proﬁle, but you insert an IP address kickstart CD-ROM built for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3.
Page 65 Chapter 4. Red Hat Network Website Figure 4-4. System Group List The System Groups list contains several columns for each group: Select — Enables you to add groups to the System Set Manager. To select groups, mark the • appropriate checkboxes and click the Update button below the column. Selected groups are added to the System Set Manager.
Page 66: System Set Manager
Chapter 4. Red Hat Network Website Use in SSM — Clicking the Use Group button in this column loads the group from that row and • launches the System Set Manager immediately. Refer to Section 4.4.4 System Set Manager for more information.
Page 67 Chapter 4. Red Hat Network Website 4.4.4. System Set Manager The System Set Manager allows you to perform many actions possible individually through the System Details page on multiple systems at once, including: Apply Errata updates • Upgrade packages to the most recent versions available •...
Page 68 Chapter 4. Red Hat Network Website Channels — Options to manage channel associations. • Channel Subscriptions — To subscribe or unsubscribe the selected systems in any of the chan- • nels, toggle the appropriate radio buttons and click the Alter Subscriptions button. Conﬁg Channels —...
Page 69: System Entitlements
Chapter 4. Red Hat Network Website preferences may also be applied to systems individually through the Properties subtab of the System Details page. Refer to Section 4.4.2.6 System Details for instructions. Receive Notiﬁcations of Updates/Errata — This setting keeps you abreast of all advisories •...
Page 70: Advanced Search
Chapter 4. Red Hat Network Website Warning Changing a system’s entitlement is an irreversible action. You may be unable to change the entitle- ment levels of some systems. For more information, refer to the RHN entitlement policy linked from the System Entitlements page. In addition, you may entitle all newly registered systems to the Managements service level at once by clicking the Auto-Entitle Newest Servers Now link at the bottom of the page.
Page 71: Stored Proﬁles
Chapter 4. Red Hat Network Website Entitlement — The service level for the key, either Management or Provisioning. All systems • will be subscribed at this level with the key. Universal default — Whether or not this key should be considered the primary activation •...
Page 72 Chapter 4. Red Hat Network Website Satellite Server must be kickstarted using an external installation tree. Refer to Section 4.4.10.5 Distributions for instructions on setting up installation trees. To develop a new kickstart proﬁle, click create new kickstart in the upper-right corner of the page. On the resulting page, enter a name and label for the proﬁle, select whether it should immediately be considered active, and click the Select Kickstart Options button.
Page 73 Chapter 4. Red Hat Network Website another, in which case the kickstart associated with the smallest of the enclosing ranges will be presented. Enter the range and click the Update IP ranges button. At this point, the kickstart proﬁle should be completely conﬁgured and ready for use. Refer to the following pages for instructions on supplementing and aggregating kickstart proﬁles.
Page 74 Chapter 4. Red Hat Network Website select the matching distribution from the Base Channel and Installer Generation dropdown menus and click the Create button. 4.4.10.6. Building Bootable Kickstart ISOs Copy the contents of from the ﬁrst CD-ROM of the target distribution. Then edit the /isolinux ﬁle to default to ’ks’.
Page 75: Errata
Chapter 4. Red Hat Network Website 4.5. Errata If you click the Errata tab on the top navigation bar, the Errata category and links appear. The pages in the Errata category allow you to track and manage Errata Updates. If you want to receive an email when Errata Alerts are issued for your system, go to Your RHN => Your Preferences and select Receive email notiﬁcations.
Page 76: All Errata
Chapter 4. Red Hat Network Website 4.5.2. All Errata The All Errata page displays a list of all Errata Alerts released by Red Hat. It works much the same as the Relevant Errata page in that clicking either the Advisory or the number of systems affected takes you to related tabs of the Errata Details page.
Page 77: Advanced Search
Chapter 4. Red Hat Network Website 4.5.2.2. Errata Details If you click on the Advisory of an Errata Alert in the Relevant or All pages, its Errata Details page appears. This page is further divided into three tabs: The Details tab provides the Errata Report issued by Red Hat. It describes the problem and solution •...
Page 78 Chapter 4. Red Hat Network Website A system can be subscribed to multiple child channels of its base channel. Only packages included in a system’s subscribed channels can be installed or updated on that system. Some customers, such as those using RHN Satellite and Proxy, have channel management authority. This authority, granted by RHN as a separate role to certain customers, gives them the ability to create and manage their own custom channels.
Page 79 Chapter 4. Red Hat Network Website channels offered by Red Hat Network, regardless of whether you have systems associated with them. 4.6.1.3. Software Channel Details If you click on the name of a channel, the Software Channel Details page will appear. This page contains the following tabs: Details —...
Page 80: Channel Entitlements
URL from the location bar, and paste it into the curl or wget command. Once downloaded, either burn the images to CD-Rs or CD-RWs or copy them to the machine for direct installation. Refer to http://www.redhat.com/download/howto_download.html for additional download instructions and steps to burn images to discs. Refer to the operating system’s respective installation guide for instructions on installing from CD-ROM or hard drive, available at http://www.redhat.com/docs/.
Page 81: Rpm Search
Chapter 4. Red Hat Network Website 4.6.4. RPM Search The RPM Search page allows you to search through packages using various criteria. You may search by name or name and summary, within relevant or all channels, or within speciﬁc architectures. Type your keyword, select the criterion to search by, and click the Search button.
Page 82: Manage Conﬁg Channels
Chapter 4. Red Hat Network Website 4.6.5.2. Package Download If you do not want to schedule a package installation, you can download the packages immediately. If you download the packages, you must install them manually. To download packages through the Systems category, refer to Section 4.4.2.6 System Details. To download individual RPMs and SRPMs through the Channels category, follow these steps: 1.
Page 83 Chapter 4. Red Hat Network Website system at any given time. For this reason, RHN offers a variety of ways to manage your systems’ conﬁguration. Keep in mind, for a system to have its conﬁguration managed through RHN, it must have the appro- priate tools and conﬁg-enable ﬁle installed.
Page 84: Schedule
Chapter 4. Red Hat Network Website Files — Conﬁguration ﬁles associated with this channel. Use the subtabs to view, upload, and create • ﬁles. List — Displays the ﬁles associated with the conﬁguration channel. If a ﬁle exists, click its name •...
Page 85: Pending Actions
Chapter 4. Red Hat Network Website scheduled RHN task that is to be performed on one or more client systems. For example, an action can be scheduled to apply all Errata Updates to a system. Red Hat Network keeps track of the following action types: 1.
Page 86: Failed Actions
Chapter 4. Red Hat Network Website 4.7.2. Failed Actions The Failed Actions page displays actions that have failed to succeed. If the action returns an error, it will be displayed. 4.7.3. Completed Actions The Completed Actions page displays actions that have succeeded. 4.7.4.
Page 87: Users
Chapter 4. Red Hat Network Website Failed Systems — List of systems on which the action has been attempted and failed. Clicking a • system name takes you to its System Details page. Refer to Section 4.4.2.6 System Details for more information.
Page 88 Be careful when creating users, because no interface exists for their deletion. Unless you are an RHN Satellite Server customer, you must contact rhn-support@redhat.com to have users removed. RHN Satellite Server customers may use the button on the User Details page.
Page 89 Chapter 4. Red Hat Network Website RHN List Page Size — Maximum number of items that will appear in a list on a single page. • If more items are in the list, clicking the Next button will display the next group of items. This preference applies to the user’s view of system lists, Errata lists, package lists, and so on.
Page 90 Chapter 4. Red Hat Network Website...
Page 91: Red Hat Network Daemon
Red Hat Network. Make certain: your client is conﬁgured correctly. • your system can communicate with RHN via SSL (port 443). You may test this by running the • following command from a shell prompt: telnet xmlrpc.rhn.redhat.com 443...
Page 92 Chapter 5. Red Hat Network Daemon the Red Hat Network Daemon is activated and running. You may ensure this by running the follow- • ing commands: chkconfig --level 345 rhnsd on service rhnsd start If these are correct and your systems still indicate they are not checking in, please contact our technical support team.
Page 93: Red Hat Network Registration Client
Chapter 6. Red Hat Network Registration Client Before you begin using Red Hat Network, you need to create a username, password, and System Proﬁle. The Red Hat Network Registration Client walks you through this process. Warning Only systems running Red Hat Linux 6.2 through 7.3 and Red Hat Enterprise Linux 2.1 need to use this separate Red Hat Network Registration Client before starting the Red Hat Update Agent.
Page 94 To start the command line version, use the command: rhn_register --nox --configure It has more conﬁguration options than the graphical version. You will be presented with a list of options and their current values: enableProxyAuth noSSLServerURL http://www.rhns.redhat.com/XMLRPC oemInfoFile /etc/sysconfig/rhn/oeminfo enableProxy networkSetup httpProxy...
Page 95: Starting The Red Hat Network Registration Client
System Proﬁle — be sure this is what you want to do before you choose Yes. If you overwrite an existing system registration, you can delete the unused proﬁle via the website at https://rhn.redhat.com.
Page 96 Red Hat Network registration process is used to create a System Proﬁle. The System Proﬁle is essential if you wish to receive update notiﬁcations about your system. If you have any questions about how your information is being used, please contact us at < >. feedback@redhat.com...
Page 97: Registering A User Account
Chapter 6. Red Hat Network Registration Client Figure 6-5. Red Hat Privacy Statement 6.3. Registering a User Account Before you can create a System Proﬁle, you must create a user account. The only required information in this section is a unique username, password, and a valid email address. In the screen shown in Figure 6-7, you must choose a username and password.
Page 98 Chapter 6. Red Hat Network Registration Client Note If you are already a member of redhat.com, you can use the same user name and password. How- ever, you will still need to continue with the registration process to create your System Proﬁle.
Page 99: Registering A System Proﬁle
Chapter 6. Red Hat Network Registration Client the system will be added to the organization’s Red Hat Network account. Your Organization Admin- istrator can then create your user account through the Users category of the RHN website. Refer to Section 4.8.1.1 Create User for instructions. Click Next to continue.
Page 100: Software System Proﬁle
Chapter 6. Red Hat Network Registration Client Figure 6-8. System Proﬁle - Hardware 6.4.2. Software System Proﬁle The software System Proﬁle consists of a list of RPM packages for which you wish to receive notiﬁ- cations. The Red Hat Network Registration Client shows you a list of all RPM packages listed in the RPM database on your system and then allows you to customize the list by deselecting packages.
Page 101 Chapter 6. Red Hat Network Registration Client Figure 6-10. RPM Package Information 6.4.2.2. Choosing RPM Packages to Exclude from the System Proﬁle By default, all RPM packages in your RPM database are included in your System Proﬁle to be up- dated by Red Hat Network.
Page 102: Finishing Registration
Chapter 6. Red Hat Network Registration Client Figure 6-11. Choose which RPM Packages to Exclude from System Proﬁle 6.5. Finishing Registration As seen in Figure 6-12, the last step of registration is to conﬁrm that you want to send your System Proﬁle to the Red Hat Network.
Page 103 Chapter 6. Red Hat Network Registration Client Figure 6-12. Finished Collecting Information for System Proﬁle Figure 6-13 shows the progress bar you will see while your proﬁle is being sent. This process may take some time depending on your connection speed. Figure 6-13.
Page 104: Entitling Your System
Demo entitlement after creating an account by registering a system for RHN or creating a redhat.com account. To entitle a system, go to http://rhn.redhat.com and log in using the same username and password you just used in the Red Hat Network Registration Client. Click Systems on the top navigation bar and then Systems Entitlements in the left navigation bar.
Page 105 Chapter 6. Red Hat Network Registration Client 6.7. Text Mode RHN Registration Client If you are not running the X Window System, the Red Hat Network Registration Client starts in text mode. You can force the Red Hat Network Registration Client to run in text mode with the command: rhn_register --nox The screens for the text mode Red Hat Network Registration Client are almost identical to the screens for the graphical Red Hat Network Registration Client.
Page 106 Chapter 6. Red Hat Network Registration Client...
Page 107: Command Line Conﬁg Management Tools
Appendix A. Command Line Conﬁg Management Tools In addition to the options provided in the RHN website, Red Hat Network offers two command line tools for managing conﬁguration ﬁles: the Red Hat Network Conﬁguration Client and the Red Hat Network Conﬁguration Manager. If you don’t yet have these these tools installed, they can be found within the RHN Provisioning child channel for your operating system.
Page 108: Differentiating Between Conﬁg Files
Appendix A. Command Line Conﬁg Management Tools Config channels: Label Name ----- ---- config-channel-17 config chan 2 config-channel-14 config chan 1 A.1.4. Differentiating between Conﬁg Files To obtain a difference between the conﬁg ﬁles deployed on the system and those for it stored by RHN, issue the command: rhncfg-client diff You should see output resembling:...
Page 109: Creating A Conﬁg Channel
Appendix A. Command Line Conﬁg Management Tools When the Red Hat Network Conﬁguration Manager is run as root, it attempts to pull in needed conﬁguration values from the Red Hat Update Agent. When run as something other than root, you may have to make conﬁguration changes within the ﬁle.
Page 110: Differentiating Between Latest Conﬁg Files
Appendix A. Command Line Conﬁg Management Tools A.2.2.1. Add Options The following options are applicable to the add mode: Option Description Display this list of options and exits. --help Required - Use this conﬁg channel. --channel=CHANNEL_LABEL Conﬂicts with --topdir - Identify the destination path --dest-file=DEST_FILE and ﬁlename of a single ﬁle.
Page 111: Downloading All Files In A Channel
Appendix A. Command Line Conﬁg Management Tools You should see output resembling: --- /tmp/dest_path/foo.txt 2004-01-13 14:36:41 config channel: blah2 revision: 1 --- /tmp/dest_path/foo.txt 2004-01-13 14:42:42 config channel: blah3 revision: 1 @@ -1 +1,20 @@ -foo +blaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah +-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- +Version: GnuPG v1.0.6 (GNU/Linux) +Comment: For info see http://www.gnupg.org +iD8DBQA9ZY6vse4XmfJPGwgRAsHcAJ9ud9dabUcdscdcqB8AZP7e0Fua0NmKsdhQCeOWHX +VsDTfen2NWdwwPaTM+S+Cow=...
Page 112: Removing A File From A Channel
Appendix A. Command Line Conﬁg Management Tools A.2.8. Listing All Conﬁg Channels To list all of your organization’s conﬁguration channels, issue the command: rhncfg-manager list-channels You should see output resembling: Available config channels: blah blah2 blah3 config-channel-14 config-channel-17 Note that this does not list local_override or server_import channels. A.2.9.
Page 113: Updating A File In A Channel
Appendix A. Command Line Conﬁg Management Tools A.2.12. Updating a File in a Channel To create a new revision of a ﬁle in a channel (or add the ﬁrst revision to that channel if none existed before for the given path), issue the command: rhncfg-manager update --channel=channel-label --dest-file=/path/to/file.txt...
Page 114 Appendix A. Command Line Conﬁg Management Tools...
Page 115: Rhn Api Access
(API) available. This interface can be found by clicking Help at the top-right corner of the RHN website, then clicking API in the left navigation bar. Or you may go directly to: https://rhn.redhat.com/rpc/api/. You should use this URL for your XMLRPC server, as well as your browser.
Page 116: Viewing The Cid
Appendix B. RHN API Access B.4. Viewing the cid Like servers, channels have their own IDs. This value, the cid, is a required parameter for some meth- ods, including set_base_channel and set_child_channels. Also like the sid, the cid can be obtained through the RHN website.
Page 117 Appendix B. RHN API Access ############################################################################ System calls. ############################################################################ # This next call returns a list of systems available to the user. # syntax of this call is described at: http://$HOST/rpc/api/system/list_user_systems/ # In the code snippet below, we dump data about our systems, and we # capture the ID of the first system we find for future operations.
Page 118 Appendix B. RHN API Access...
Page 119: Glossary
An Errata Alert that pertains to a bug ﬁx. Bugzilla Bugzilla is an online application (http://www.redhat.com/bugzilla) that allows users to commu- nicate directly with the developers. From Bugzilla, users can submit bug reports and feature requests for Red Hat Linux and related open source packages.
Page 120 Red Hat Linux. The information includes the topics of the Errata, Bugzilla bug IDs, relevant releases/architectures, solutions including required RPMs, and MD5 checksums for ver- iﬁcation. Errata are also available at http://www.redhat.com/errata/. Each RHN Errata Alert is based on the Red Hat Linux Errata List.
Page 121 Glossary team tests new packages they are placed on the Red Hat Public File Server and on the Red Hat Network Server and an Errata is generated. Errata Alert RHN Errata Alert that updated packages based on Red Hat Errata are available for one or more systems within an organization.
Page 122 Glossary Registered System A system that is registered with Red Hat Network. Also known as a client system. Red Hat Network Daemon The RHN client daemon ( ) that periodically polls Red Hat Network for updates and noti- rhnsd ﬁcations. Red Hat Network Registration Client The RHN client application ( ) that collects information about the client system,...
Page 123 Glossary Security Alert An Errata Alert that pertains to system security. Service Level A Red Hat Network subscription service. Different service levels offer different features of RHN. There are three paid service levels currently available: RHN Update, RHN Management, and RHN Provisioning.
Page 124 Glossary...
Page 125: Index
Index Conﬁguration Channel List Channel Details, 73 File Details, 74 conﬁguration ﬁles account manage, 73 deactivate, 43 quota, 73 action Conﬁguration Management completed systems, 76 command line tools, 97 details, 76 conventions failed systems, 76 document, i in progress systems, 76 custom information activation key, 60 about systems, 50...
Page 126 hardware proﬁle Quality Assurance, 4 Updating on server, 50 Quick Search Help Desk, 44 explanation of, 41 introduction, i, 1 reactivating ISO images systems, 50 all, 70 Red Hat Network Alert Notiﬁcation Tool download, 70 adding to panel, 35 relevant, 70 applying Errata Updates, 37 conﬁguring, 35 icons, 36...
Page 127 status, 46 Systems Selected Schedule, 74 explanation of, 41 Scheduled Actions Action Details, 76 Actions List, 76 Archived Actions, 76 unsubscribe to channel, 67 Completed Actions, 76 up2date Failed Actions, 76 (See Red Hat Update Agent) Pending Actions, 75 Update, 2 Secure Sockets Layer, 4 user account, 11, 87 Security, 4...
Page 128 System Search, 60 Systems, 46 Systems Overview, 46 Users, 77 Your Account, 43 Your RHN, 42 Your RHN, 42 Account Deactivation, 43 Addresses, 43 Buy Now, 44 Email, 43 Help, 44 Purchase History, 44 Your Account, 43 Your Preferences, 44...

Red Hat NETWORK 3.1 - PROVISIONING Reference Manual

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