Stored Profiles; Custom System Info; Kickstart - Red Hat NETWORK 3.4 - PROVISIONING Reference Manual

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4.4.8. Stored Profiles
RHN Provisioning customers can create package profiles through the Profiles subtab of the Packages
tab within the System Details page. Those profiles end up here, on the Stored Profiles page, where
they may be edited and even deleted.
To edit a profile, click its name in the list, alter its name and description, and click the Update Profile.
To view software associated with the profile, click the Packages subtab. To remove the profile entirely,
click delete stored profile at the upper-right corner of the page.

4.4.9. Custom System Info

RHN Provisioning customers may include completely customizable information about systems. Un-
like notes, the information here is more formal and can be searched upon. For instance, you may
decide to identify the cubicle in which each system is located. To do this, you must create a cubicle
key within the Custom System Info page.
Click create new key at the upper-right corner of the page. Enter a descriptive label and description,
such as "Cubicle" and "Precise location of each system," and click the Create Key. The key will then
show up in the custom info keys list.
Once the key exists, you may assign a value to it through the Custom Info tab of the System Details
page. Refer to Section 4.4.2.6 System Details for instructions.

4.4.10. Kickstart

To satisfy the provisioning needs of customers, RHN provides this interface for developing kickstart
profiles by which new systems may be built. This enables systems to be installed to particular speci-
fications automatically.
Warning
Since RHN Proxy Servers direct files from the central RHN Servers, and those servers do not dis-
tribute the files necessary for kickstart, systems connected to a Proxy not being served by an RHN
Satellite Server must be kickstarted using an external installation tree. Refer to Section 4.4.10.8
Distributions for instructions on setting up installation trees.
4.4.10.1. Kickstart Prerequisites
Although Red Hat Network has taken great pains to ease the provisioning of systems, some prepara-
tion is still required for your infrastructure to handle kickstarts. For instance, before creating kickstart
profiles, you should have:
Installed and have running a DHCP server.
•
Installed and have running a TFTP server.
•
Configured DHCP to assign required networking parameters and the bootloader program location.
•
Specified within the bootloader configuration file the kernel to be used and appropriate kernel op-
•
tions.
For a decription of the innerworkings of the kickstart process, refer to Section 4.4.10.2 Kickstart
Explained.
Chapter 4. Red Hat Network Website