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Red Hat NETWORK SATELLITE SERVER 3.7 Installation Manual

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RHN Satellite Server 3.7
Installation Guide

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Summary of Contents for Red Hat NETWORK SATELLITE SERVER 3.7

  • Page 1 RHN Satellite Server 3.7 Installation Guide...
  • Page 2 All other trademarks referenced herein 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 1. Introduction............................. 1 1.1. Red Hat Network ....................... 1 1.2. RHN Satellite Server......................1 1.3. Terms to Understand ......................2 1.4. How it Works ........................2 1.5. Summary of Steps ......................4 2. Requirements........................... 7 2.1. Software Requirements...................... 7 2.1.1.
  • Page 4 8. Maintenance ..........................49 8.1. Managing the Satellite Service ..................49 8.2. Updating the Satellite....................... 49 8.3. Backing Up the Satellite ....................50 8.4. Using RHN DB Control ....................50 8.4.1. DB Control Options ..................50 8.4.2. Backing up the Database................... 51 8.4.3.

  • Page 5: Introduction

    Chapter 1. Introduction RHN Satellite Server provides a solution to organizations requiring absolute control over and privacy of the maintenance and package deployment of their servers. It allows Red Hat Network customers the greatest exibility and power in keeping servers secure and updated. Two types of RHN Satellite Server are available: One with a stand-alone database on a separate ma- chine and one with an embedded database installed on the same machine as the Satellite.

  • Page 6: Terms To Understand

    Chapter 1. Introduction Security — an end-to-end secure connection is maintained from the client systems to the RHN • Satellite Server without connecting to the public Internet. Efficiency — packages are delivered significantly faster over a local area network. • Control —...
  • Page 7 Chapter 1. Introduction Database — for the Stand-Alone Database, this may be the organization’s existing database or, • preferably, a separate machine. RHN Satellite Server 3.7 supports Oracle 9i R2. For the Embedded Database, the database comes bundled with RHN Satellite Server and is installed on the same machine as the Satellite during the installation process.

  • Page 8: Summary Of Steps

    3. Your Red Hat contact creates a Satellite-entitled account on the RHN website and sends you the login information. 4. You log into the RHN website (rhn.redhat.com) and download the distribution ISOs for Red Hat Enterprise Linux AS and RHN Satellite Server 3.7. Remember, Monitoring requires Red Hat Enterprise Linux AS 3 or 4.
  • Page 9 Chapter 1. Introduction page. These Channel Content ISOs differ from the distribution ISOs previously mentioned in that they contain metadata necessary for parsing and serving packages by Satellite. 6. If installing a Stand-Alone Database, you prepare your database instance using the formula provided in Chapter 2 Requirements.
  • Page 10 Chapter 1. Introduction...

  • Page 11: Requirements

    Chapter 2. Requirements These requirements must be met before installation. 2.1. Software Requirements To perform an installation, the following software components must be available: Base operating system — RHN Satellite Server is supported with Red Hat Enterprise Linux AS 2.1 •...

  • Page 12: Red Hat Enterprise Linux As 3 Update 3 Packages

    Chapter 2. Requirements Development Tools • Legacy Software Development • Then after operating system installation, register the system with RHN and use the Red Hat Update Agent to install the outstanding packages with the following command: up2date newt-perl perl-DateManip perl-libxml-enno perl-Parse-Yapp / perl-Time-HiRes PyXML gd xorg-x11-deprecated-libs Once updated, delete the Red Hat Enterprise Linux AS 4 system profile from RHN, as it will be reregistered during Satellite installation.

  • Page 13: Red Hat Enterprise Linux As 2.1 Update 5 Packages

    Chapter 2. Requirements @ Server • @ Development Tools • @ Legacy Software Development • perl-CGI • perl-Time-HiRes • 2.1.3. Red Hat Enterprise Linux AS 2.1 Update 5 Packages To install RHN Satellite Server on Red Hat Enterprise Linux AS 2.1 Update 5, first obtain the required packages in one of the following ways.

  • Page 14: Database Requirements

    Chapter 2. Requirements Stand-Alone Database Embedded Database 3 GB storage for base install of Red Hat 3 GB storage for base install of Red Hat Enterprise Linux AS Enterprise Linux AS 6 GB storage per channel, in the 6 GB storage per channel, in the directory by default but directory by default but /var/satellite...

  • Page 15: Additional Requirements

    Chapter 2. Requirements istrator (DBA) will be necessary to assess sizing issues. The following formula should be used to determine the required size of your database: 192 KB per client system • 64 MB per channel • For instance, an RHN Satellite Server containing 10 channels serving 10,000 systems would require 1.92 GB for its clients and 640 MB for its channels.
  • Page 16 Firewall Rules • The RHN Satellite Server solution can be firewalled from the Internet, but it must be able to issue outbound connections to rhn.redhat.com and xmlrpc.rhn.redhat.com on ports 80 and 443. Synchronized System Times • There is great time sensitivity when connecting to a Web server running SSL (Secure Sockets Layer);...
  • Page 17 Chapter 2. Requirements to client systems, as described in Section 8.10 Enabling Push to Clients, you must allow inbound connections on port 5222. Finally, if the Satellite will also push to an RHN Proxy Server, you must also allow inbound connections on port 5269. No system components should be directly, publicly available.
  • Page 18 Chapter 2. Requirements...

  • Page 19: Example Topologies

    Chapter 3. Example Topologies The RHN Satellite Server can be configured in multiple ways. Select one method depending on the following factors: The total number of client systems to be served by the RHN Satellite Server. • The maximum number of clients expected to connect concurrently to the RHN Satellite Server. •...

  • Page 20: Satellite-Proxy Vertically Tiered Topology

    Chapter 3. Example Topologies Figure 3-2. Multiple Satellite Horizontally Tiered Topology 3.3. Satellite-Proxy Vertically Tiered Topology An alternative method to balance load is to install RHN Proxy Servers below a RHN Satellite Server that connect to the Satellite for RPMs from Red Hat Network and custom packages created locally. In essence, the Proxies act as clients of the Satelllite.

  • Page 21: Installation

    Chapter 4. Installation This chapter describes the initial installation of the RHN Satellite Server. It presumes the prerequisites listed in Chapter 2 Requirements have been met. If you are instead upgrading to a newer version of RHN Satellite Server, contact your Red Hat representative for assistance. 4.1.
  • Page 22 Chapter 4. Installation 5. Ensure the RHN Entitlement Certificate has been loaded onto the Satellite. It can be named anything and located in any directory. The installation program will ask you for its contents or location. Also, make sure your account has been granted the necessary entitlements to conduct the installation.
  • Page 23 Chapter 4. Installation Figure 4-2. Administrator Email Address 8. The Administrator Email Address page requires an email address to receive administrative correspondence. Ideally, this address serves multiple people in your organization to ensure de- livery. Keep in mind, this address will receive all mail generated by the Satellite, including sometimes large quantities of error-related tracebacks.
  • Page 24 Chapter 4. Installation 9. The Database Configuration page collects information required for the Satellite with Stand- Alone Database to connect to its database. If this is Satelllite with Embedded Database, skip to the Database Schema page description. For Satellite with Stand-Alone Database, consult your database administrator for the appropriate values.
  • Page 25 Chapter 4. Installation Figure 4-6. RHN Configuration 12. The RHN Configuration page enables you to change the way the Satellite communicates with Red Hat Network. You may alter the Satellite’s hostname and the location, or mountpoint of the package repository. Typically, the defaults will do. If you intend to monitor systems with this Satellite, select both the Enable monitoring backend and Enable monitoring scout check- boxes.
  • Page 26 Chapter 4. Installation Figure 4-7. Monitoring Configuration 13. The Monitoring Configuration page captures email routing information used in monitoring. This is required only if you intend to receive alert notifications from probes. If you do, provide the mail server (exchanger) and domain to be used. Note that sendmail must be configured to handle email redirects of notifications.
  • Page 27 Chapter 4. Installation To skip this step, such as for Satellites that will operate in disconnected mode, click either the continue link or button. If you do not register the Satellite, the RHN Satellite Synchronization Tool cannot be used to populate software channels. Contact your Red Hat representative to obtain the packages and updates manually.
  • Page 28 Chapter 4. Installation Figure 4-10. Satellite Synchronization 16. The Satellite Synchronization page allows you to initially populate your Satellite with software channel metadata. This is possible during installation only if you chose to register your Satellite with RHN. To synchronize, select the Perform Satellite Sync checkbox and click Continue. After the installation, you will still need to populate the channels with packages.
  • Page 29 Chapter 4. Installation Figure 4-11. SSL Certificate 17. The SSL Certificate page collects information necessary to create the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) certificate used by the Satellite and its client machines. In addition, you may manage your SSL infrastructure using the RHN SSL Maintenance Tool. Refer to the SSL Certificates chapter of the RHN Client Configuration Guide for instructions.
  • Page 30 Chapter 4. Installation Figure 4-12. Bootstrap Script 18. The Bootstrap Script page allows you to create a script for redirecting client systems from the central RHN Servers to the Satellite. This script, to be placed in the directory of the Satellite, significantly reduces the effort /var/www/html/pub/bootstrap/ involved in reconfiguring all systems, which by default obtain packages from the central RHN Servers.
  • Page 31 Chapter 4. Installation Figure 4-13. Installation Complete 19. The Installation Complete page marks the end of the initial Satellite installation and configu- ration. Click Complete to reboot the system and create the Satellite Administrator account. The Satellite Restart page appears. Figure 4-14.

  • Page 32: Sendmail Configuration

    Chapter 4. Installation Figure 4-15. Satellite Administrator 21. The Satellite Administrator page enables you to create the Organization Administrator account on the Satellite. This master account can conduct any task available to all other user levels, as well as create other user accounts. As always, ensure this information exists on the backups of login information described in Chapter 2 Requirements.

  • Page 33: Mysql Installation

    Chapter 4. Installation 4.3. Sendmail Configuration If your RHN Satellite Server will serve Monitoring-entitled systems and you wish to acknowledge via email the alert notifications you receive, you must configure sendmail to properly handle incoming mail. This is required by the email redirect feature, which allows you to stop notifying users about a Monitoring-related event with a single reply.
  • Page 34 Chapter 4. Installation Two extra packages will also get downloaded in the transaction. These are needed for the package to be installed and run successfully. Once finished, your Satellite may be mysql-server used to schedule MySQL probes.

  • Page 35: Entitlements

    Chapter 5. Entitlements The RHN Satellite Server, like RHN itself, provides all services to customers through the setting of entitlements. For RHN, entitlements are purchased by customers as needed; however, for RHN Satellite Server, entitlements are contractually agreed-upon beforehand, and they are set at installation time.

  • Page 36: Uploading The Rhn Entitlement Certificate

    If your RHN Satellite Server is connected to the Internet, you have the option of uploading your new RHN Entitlement Certificate through the RHN website. To do this: 1. Log into https://rhn.redhat.com with your organization’s Satellite-entitled account. 2. Click Systems in the top navigation bar and then the name of the RHN Satellite Server. You may also find the Satellite through the Satellite line item within the Channels category.

  • Page 37: Activating The Satellite

    Chapter 5. Entitlements Option Description For testing only - Provides an alternative system ID --systemid=/PATH/TO/SYSTEMID by path and file. The system default is used if not specified. For testing only - Disable SSL. --no-ssl Table 5-1. RHN Entitlement Certificate Options To use these options, insert the option and the appropriate value, if needed, after the command.
  • Page 38 Chapter 5. Entitlements...

  • Page 39: Importing And Synchronizing

    Chapter 6. Importing and Synchronizing After installing the RHN Satellite Server, you must provide it the packages and channels to be served. This chapter explains how to import that data and keep it up-to-date. 6.1. RHN Satellite Synchronization Tool With the Satellite installation, Red Hat Network provides an application designed specifically to im- port and synchronize data - the RHN Satellite Synchronization Tool.
  • Page 40 Chapter 6. Importing and Synchronizing Option Description Option Description Display this list of options and exit. --help Include alternate database connect string: --db=DB username/password@SID. Import/sync from local media mounted to the --mount-point=MOUNT_POINT Satellite. To be used in closed environments (such as those created during disconnected installs).

  • Page 41: Import/Sync Cache Refresh

    Chapter 6. Importing and Synchronizing Option Description Use an alternative SSL CA certificate by including the --ca-cert=CA_CERT full path and filename. For debugging only - Include path to alternative --systemid=SYSTEM_ID digital system ID. For debugging only - Include path to alternative --systemid=SYSTEM_ID digital system ID.

  • Page 42: Prerequisites

    Chapter 6. Importing and Synchronizing Important To populate custom channels correctly, you must first populate at least one Red Hat base channel. The RHN Satellite Synchronization Tool creates the necessary directory structures and permis- sions; without these, the custom channel tools will not work properly. For this reason, you should use these instructions to set up your base channel(s) and then refer to the RHN Channel Management Guide for steps to establish custom channels.

  • Page 43: Running The Import

    Chapter 6. Importing and Synchronizing 6.2.3. Running the Import package provides the program for managing all rhns-satellite-tools satellite-sync package, channel, and errata imports and synchronizations. The following process assumes in the previous step the user has copied all data to /var/rhn-sat-import Note The trailing backslash (...

  • Page 44: Synchronizing

    Chapter 6. Importing and Synchronizing After running the preceding sample command, the population of the channel should be complete. All of the packages should have been moved out of the repository; this can be verified with the com- mand . If all RPMs have been installed and cd /var/rhn-sat-import/;...

  • Page 45: Synchronizing Errata And Packages Via Local Media

    Chapter 6. Importing and Synchronizing 6.3.2. Synchronizing Errata and Packages via Local Media For customers who cannot connect their Satellite directly to RHN, Red Hat recommends downloading Channel Content ISOs to a separate, Internet-connected system and then transferred to the Satellite. Refer to Section 6.2.2 Preparing for Import for instructions on downloading the ISOs.
  • Page 46 Chapter 6. Importing and Synchronizing...

  • Page 47: Troubleshooting

    This chapter provides tips for determining the cause of and resolving the most common errors asso- ciated with RHN Satellite Server. If you need additional help, contact Red Hat Network support at https://rhn.redhat.com/help/contact.pxt. Log in using your Satellite-entitled account to see your full list of options.

  • Page 48: Host Not Found/Could Not Determine Fqdn

    If the administrator isn’t getting email from the RHN Satellite Server, confirm the correct email ad- dresses have been set for traceback_mail /etc/rhn/rhn.conf If the traceback mail is marked from dev-null@rhn.redhat.com and you would like the address to be valid for your organization, include the option and appropriate value in web.default_mail_from /etc/rhn/rhn.conf...

  • Page 49: Connection Errors

    Chapter 7. Troubleshooting the Web server stating "Could not determine the server’s fully qualified domain name" upon failing to start. This problem typically originates from the file. You may confirm this by examining /etc/hosts , which defines the methods and the order by which domain names are re- /etc/nsswitch.conf solved.

  • Page 50: Caching Issues

    Chapter 7. Troubleshooting Ensure the RHN Satellite Server is using Network Time Protocol (NTP) and set to the appropriate • time zone. This also applies to all client systems and the separate database machine in RHN Satellite Server with Stand-Alone Database. Confirm the correct •...
  • Page 51 Chapter 7. Troubleshooting Once finished, email the new file from the directory to your Red Hat representative for imme- /tmp/ diate diagnosis.
  • Page 52 Chapter 7. Troubleshooting...

  • Page 53: Maintenance

    For RHN Satellite Server systems that may not be connected to the Internet, the packages themselves may be retrieved using a customer account at https://rhn.redhat.com. Then, they can be applied man- ually by the customer according to instructions in the Errata Advisory.

  • Page 54: Backing Up The Satellite

    /etc/httpd/ • /var/www/rhns/ • /var/www/html/pub/ - custom RPMs • /var/satellite/redhat/1/ - pertains only to RHN Satellite Server 1.1.x. • /etc/pxtdb.conf If possible, back up , as well. In case of failure, this will save lengthy down- /var/satellite/ load time. Since (specifically...

  • Page 55: Backing Up The Database

    Chapter 8. Maintenance 8.4.1. DB Control Options RHN DB Control offers many command line options. To use them, as oracle insert the option and the appropriate value, if needed, after the command. db-control Option Description Lists these options with additional help db-control details.

  • Page 56: Verifying The Backup

    Chapter 8. Maintenance Once the backup is complete, return to root user mode and restart the database and related services with these commands in this order: service rhn-database start service taskomatic start service httpd start You should then copy that backup to another system using rsync or another file-transfer utility. Red Hat strongly recommends scheduling the backup process automatically using cron jobs.

  • Page 57: Establishing Redundant Satellites With Stand-Alone Db

    Chapter 8. Maintenance 8.5. Cloning the Satellite with Embedded DB You may limit outages caused by hardware or other failures by cloning the Satellite with Embedded Database in entirety. The secondary Satellite machine can be prepared for use if the primary fails. To clone the Satellite, conduct these tasks: 1.

  • Page 58: Conducting Satellite-Specific Tasks

    Chapter 8. Maintenance If you generated a new SSL certificate during secondary Satellite installation to include a new Common Name value, instead copy the RPMs from the secondary to the primary Satellite and redistribute the client-side certificate. If you also created another bootstrap script, you may use this to install the certificate on client systems.

  • Page 59: Deleting Users

    Chapter 8. Maintenance Figure 8-1. Internal Tools To refresh the view of channels that have been updated but do not yet reflect those modifications on the Satellite website, click the Update Errata cache now link on this page. 8.7.1.1. Maintaining the RHN Task Engine The default display shows the status of the RHN Task Engine.

  • Page 60: Automating Synchronization

    Chapter 8. Maintenance 8.7.2. Deleting Users Because of the isolated environment in which RHN Satellite Servers operate, Satellite customers have been granted the ability to delete users. To access this functionality, click Users in the top navigation bar of the RHN website. In the resulting User List, click the name of the user to be removed. This takes you to the User Details page.

  • Page 61: Implementing Pam Authentication

    Chapter 8. Maintenance 8.8. Automating Synchronization Manually synchronizing the RHN Satellite Server repository with Red Hat Network can be an ar- duous task. In addition, staff levels tend to be highest at peak usage times. For this reason, Red Hat encourages you to automate synchronization in late evening or early morning to better balance load and ensure quick synchronization.

  • Page 62: Enabling Push To Clients

    Chapter 8. Maintenance Please note that changing the password on the RHN website will change only the local password on the RHN Satellite Server, which may not be used at all if PAM is enabled for that user. In the above example, for instance, the Kerberos password will not be changed.

  • Page 63: Sample Rhn Satellite Server Configuration File

    #/etc/rhn/rhn.conf example for an RHN Satellite #---------------------------------------------- # Destination of all tracebacks, such as crash information, etc. traceback_mail = test@pobox.com, test@redhat.com # Location of RPMs (Red Hat and custom) served by the RHN Satellite mount_point = /var/satellite # Corporate gateway (hostname:PORT): server.satellite.http_proxy = corporate_gateway.example.com:8080...
  • Page 64 Appendix A. Sample RHN Satellite Server Configuration File...

  • Page 65: Index

    Index installation task list, 4 advantages, 1 log files, 43 automating Satellite synchronization, 57 backing up the RHN Satellite Server, 50 maintenance, 49 caching issues, 46 cloning satellite, 53 components, 2 Red Hat Network connection errors, 45 introduction, 1 redundant satellite satellite redundancy, 53 requirements, 7 db-control use, 50...
  • Page 66 satellite-debug, 46 satellite-sync, 39, 40 --step=channel-families, 39 --step=channels, 39 --step=rpms, 39 Satelllite Sync Tool cache refresh, 37 options, 35 steps, 35 summary of steps, 4 synchronizing keeping channel data is sync, 40 terms to understand, 2 tool use, 54 topologies, 15 multiple satellites horizontally tiered, 15 satellite and proxies vertically tiered, 16 single satellite, 15...

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