Channel Availability; Tools, Repositories, And Practices - Red Hat NETWORK SATELLITE 5.1.0 - CHANNEL MANAGEMENT Manual

Chapter 2. Introduction to RHN Channels
with a custom channel so that systems registering with those keys are automatically
associated with the custom channel. For more information on using these applications, refer
to the respective chapter of the RHN Reference Guide for your entitlement level
(Management or Provisioning).
• Website subscription — Various specific child channels are available for subscription,
depending on the system's base channel. The system may be subscribed to the child channel
through the RHN website. If you have created your own base channels, you may also
reassign systems to these custom channels through the website. For more information on
subscribing to channels online, refer to the Red Hat Network Website chapter of the RHN
Reference Guide.

3. Channel Availability

There are many channels in Red Hat Network. Some are available to all users, some are
available to users in a particular organization, and some are available only if you have
purchased access to them. Channels fall into these main categories:
• Paid Service Channels — These channels are available if you who have purchased access to
them either directly or in conjunction with a particular Red Hat solution. Red Hat Enterprise
Linux is an example of a paid service channel.
• Custom Channels — You create these channels to manage custom packages. These
channels, also known as private channels, appear only to the organization who creates them;
they can never be accessed by anyone else.
This document focuses on the process of creating and maintaining custom channels with an
RHN Proxy Server or on an RHN Satellite Server.

4. Tools, Repositories, and Practices

Before creating and managing channels, note the differences between the various tools and
repositories at your disposal. This is especially important if you are deploying both an RHN
Satellite Server and RHN Proxy Server, as this increases the utilities and storage locations
available. Further, a Proxy-Satellite combination offers certain best practices for optimal
performance.
First, become familiar with these package management tools:
• RHN Package Manager - Use this to push custom packages into custom channels on your
RHN Proxy Server.
• RHN Push - Use this to push custom packages into custom channels on your RHN Satellite
Server.
4