Page 1 Red Hat Network Satellite 5.3.0 Reference Guide Red Hat Network Satellite...
Page 2 Reference Guide Red Hat Network Satellite 5.3.0 Reference Guide Red Hat Network Satellite Edition 2 Copyright © 2010 Red Hat, Inc. The text of and illustrations in this document are licensed by Red Hat under a Creative Commons Attribution–Share Alike 3.0 Unported license ("CC-BY-SA"). An explanation of CC-BY-SA is available at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/.
Page 3: Table Of Contents
Introduction to the Guide 1. More to Come ........................ xi 1.1. Send in Your Feedback ..................xii 1. Red Hat Network Overview 1.1. Update ......................... 2 1.2. Management ........................ 2 1.3. Provisioning ......................... 3 1.4. Monitoring ........................4 1.5. Errata Notifications and Scheduled Package Installations ..........4 1.6.
Page 4 Reference Guide 6.4. Applying Updates ....................... 54 6.5. Launching the RHN Website ..................54 7. Red Hat Network Website 7.1. Navigation ........................55 7.1.1. Entitlement Views .................... 55 7.1.2. Categories and Pages ..................56 7.1.3. Errata Alert Icons .................... 59 7.1.4.
Page 5 7.8.1. Pending Actions ..................... 131 7.8.2. Failed Actions ....................132 7.8.3. Completed Actions ..................132 7.8.4. Archived Actions .................... 132 7.8.5. Actions List ....................132 7.9. Users — ......................133 7.9.1. User List Active — ................134 7.9.2. User List Deactivated —...
Page 6 Reference Guide 8.5.1. Managing Probes ................... 158 8.5.2. Establishing Thresholds ................. 158 8.5.3. Monitoring the RHN Server ................159 8.6. Troubleshooting ......................159 8.6.1. Examining Probes with rhn-catalog ............159 8.6.2. Viewing the output of rhn-runprobe ............. 160 9. Multiple Organizations 9.1.
Page 7 11.5.1. Using Templates ..................195 11.5.2. Kickstart Snippets ..................195 11.6. Using Koan ......................196 11.6.1. Using Koan to Provision Virtual Systems ............196 11.6.2. Using Koan to Re-install Running Systems ............ 196 12. UNIX Support Guide 12.1. Introduction ......................199 12.1.1.
Page 8 Reference Guide B.3.8. Listing All Config Channels ................236 B.3.9. Removing a File from a Channel ..............236 B.3.10. Deleting a Config Channel ................237 B.3.11. Determining the Number of File Revisions ............. 237 B.3.12. Updating a File in a Channel ................ 237 B.3.13.
Page 9 D.6.1. LogAgent::Log Pattern Match ................. 260 D.6.2. LogAgent::Log Size ..................261 D.7. MySQL 3.23 - 3.33 ....................262 D.7.1. MySQL::Database Accessibility ..............262 D.7.2. MySQL::Opened Tables ................. 262 D.7.3. MySQL::Open Tables ..................263 D.7.4. MySQL::Query Rate ..................263 D.7.5. MySQL::Threads Running ................263 D.8.
Page 10 Reference Guide E. Revision History Index...
Page 11: Introduction To The Guide
The Red Hat Network Reference Guide is constantly expanding as new Red Hat Network features and service plans are launched. HTML and PDF versions of this and other manuals are available within the Help section of the RHN Satellite website and at http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/satellite. Note...
Page 12: Send In Your Feedback
Introduction to the Guide 1.1. Send in Your Feedback If you would like to make suggestions about the Red Hat Network Satellite Reference Guide, please submit a report in Bugzilla (http://bugzilla.redhat.com/bugzilla/) against the component Documentation_Reference_Guide (Product: Red Hat Network Satellite, Version: 520).
Page 13: Red Hat Network Overview
Chapter 1. Red Hat Network Overview Have you ever read about a new version of a software package and wanted to install it but could not find it? Have you ever tried to find an RPM through an Internet search engine or an RPM repository and been linked to an unknown site? Have you ever tried to find an RPM but instead found only source files that you had to compile yourself?
Page 14: Update
Many Red Hat Network terms are used throughout this manual. As you read the Red Hat Network Reference Guide, refer to the Glossary as necessary for an explanation of common terms. http://www.redhat.com/rhn/ For a comparison chart of RHN service levels, refer to compare/. 1.1. Update The RHN Update service is ideal for a user with one Red Hat Enterprise Linux system or a small number of Red Hat Enterprise Linux systems.
Page 15: Provisioning
Provisioning Hat Login page, click Create a new Business Login. After creating a business account, you may add users within your organization to it. The Red Hat Network features available to you depend on the subscription level for each Red Hat Enterprise Linux system.
Page 16: Monitoring
Chapter 1. Red Hat Network Overview • Custom System Information — Provisioning customers may identify any type of information they choose about their registered systems. This differs from System Profile information, which is generated automatically, and the Notes, which are unrestricted, in that the Custom System Information allows you to develop specific keys of your choosing and assign searchable values for that key to each Provisioning-entitled system.
Page 17: Security, Quality Assurance, And Red Hat Network
RPM packages are signed with 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 18 Chapter 1. Red Hat Network Overview rpm -q rhn_register If the Red Hat Network Registration Client is installed, it will return something similar to: rhn_register-2.9.3-1 The version number might differ slightly. If you do not have the Red Hat Network Registration Client installed, the command will return: package rhn_register is not installed Table 1.1, “Red Hat Network Packages”...
Page 19: The Rhn_Register Client
Chapter 2. The rhn_register Client Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 features an application called rhn_register. This application works with the yum-based RHN Hosted and RHN Satellite client called Package Updater (or pup)that replaces Chapter 3, Package Updater. up2date. For more information about pup, refer to The rhn_register application normally runs as part of the firstboot configuration process just after installation.
Page 20 Chapter 2. The rhn_register Client Figure 2.2. Registering for Software Updates The Registering for Software Updates page summarizes the steps involved in the registration process. To learn more about the benefits of Hosted and Satellite, press the Why Should I Connect to RHN button.
Page 21 Using rhn_register Figure 2.3. Choose an Update Location The Choose an Update Location page allows you to select the source of your software updates - either from RHN Hosted or from RHN Satellite Server or Proxy Server. For Satellite or Proxy, the associated radio button and enter the URL of your Satellite or Proxy into the Red Hat Network Location field.
Page 22 Chapter 2. The rhn_register Client Figure 2.4. Enter Your Account Information The Enter Your Account Information page requires you to enter your RHN login information (if you already have one), or to create a new account if you do not. To create a new RHN account, press the Create a New Account button.
Page 23 Using rhn_register Figure 2.5. Create Your System Profile The Create Your System Profile page allows you to select a profile name for the system you are registering. The default name for any system is that system's hostname, although you may change it as you like.
Page 24 Chapter 2. The rhn_register Client Figure 2.6. Review System Subscription Details The Review System Subscription Details page displays the base and child channel information to which your system has been subscribed. Take a moment to review the channels, and then press Forward to continue.
Page 25: Command-Line Version Of Rhn_Register
Command-line version of rhn_register Figure 2.7. Finish Setting Up Software Updates The Finish Setting Up Software Updates page indicates that you have successfully registered a Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 system with RHN. From this point, you do not have to do anything to receive software updates.
Page 26 Chapter 2. The rhn_register Client Type rhn_register at a shell prompt. If you are on shell terminal window and want to run the non- graphical version, you must type rhn_register --nox to prevent opening the graphical client. Figure 2.8. rhn_register Command-line version The interface of the command-line version of rhn_register has the same configuration screens as the graphical desktop version.
Page 27: Package Updater
Chapter 3. Package Updater Depending on your version of Red Hat Enterprise Linux, systems registered to a Satellite can update client systems directly using various tools and applications installed on the system. For Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5, you can use the Package Updater (or pup) to keep systems updated. The Package Updater (pup) is the desktop update application for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.
Page 28 Chapter 3. Package Updater To view the update details of any package, highlight the package and click the arrow next to Update Details. When you are ready to update the packages, click Apply updates. The Updater will resolve any dependencies, and notify you when a package must be installed to meet a dependency for an updated package.
Page 29: The Package Updater Applet
The Package Updater Applet Click Import Key to accept the Key and continue with the update. When the update completes, you may be prompted to reboot your system for the changes to take effect. Figure 3.4. Reboot Prompt You can choose to reboot now or later, but it is recommended to click Reboot Now to start using the updated packages.
Page 30: Updating Packages From The Command Line With Yum
Chapter 3. Package Updater • Apply Updates — Download and Install all updated packages. • Quit — close the applet 3.3. Updating Packages from the Command Line with yum The foundation of the Package Updater is the Yum package manager, developed by Duke University to improve the installation of RPMs.
Page 31 yum Commands yum localinstall absolute path to filename Used when using yum to install a package located locally in the machine.
Page 33: Red Hat Update Agent
Chapter 4. Red Hat Update Agent The Red Hat Update Agent is your connection to Red Hat Network on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 It enables you to register your systems, create System Profiles, and alter the settings by which your organization and RHN interact.
Page 34 Chapter 4. Red Hat Update Agent • At a shell prompt (for example, an xterm or gnome-terminal), type the command up2date. If you choose the last option and start the application from a shell prompt, you can specify the options Table 4.1, “Graphical Update Agent Options”.
Page 35 Starting the Red Hat Update Agent should refer to the RHN Client Configuration Guide for registration steps. Also note that this dialog box is actually the General tab of the Red Hat Update Agent Configuration Tool. Refer to Section 4.4, “Configuration”...
Page 36: Registration
Chapter 4. Red Hat Update Agent 4.2. Registration Before you begin using Red Hat Network, you must create a username, password, and System Profile. Upon launch, the Red Hat Update Agent senses whether these tasks have been accomplished. If not, it guides you through the registration process. If you ever need to force the Red Hat Update Agent into registration mode, such as to re-register an existing system, you may do so by issuing the following command at a shell prompt: up2date --register...
Page 37: Registering A User Account
4.2.1. Registering a User Account Before you create a System Profile, you must create a user account. Red Hat recommends that you do so through the website at https://rhn.redhat.com/newlogin/, but you may also do so via Red Hat Update Agent (up2date).
Page 38 Chapter 4. Red Hat Update Agent Figure 4.4. Red Hat Login Screen New users must select the I don't have a Red Hat login. I need to create one. radio button and click the Forward button. Add details about yourself and your business to the screen shown in Figure 4.5, “Create a User Account”, and identify the methods by which you may be reached.
Page 39: Activate
Activate Note You must choose a unique username. If you enter one already in use, you will see an error message. Try different usernames until you find one that has not been used. Complete all fields marked by an asterisk (*). The address and email addresses are required so that Red Hat may communicate with you regarding your account.
Page 40 Chapter 4. Red Hat Update Agent • CPU model • CPU speed • Amount of RAM • PCI devices • Disk sizes • Mount points The software System Profile consists of a list of RPM packages for which you wish to receive notifications.
Page 41: Channels
Channels Figure 4.6. Activate Figure 4.7, “Sending System Profile to Red Hat Network” shows the progress bar displayed as the System Profile is sent. Figure 4.7. Sending System Profile to Red Hat Network 4.2.3. Channels Red Hat Update Agent next displays all package channels to which you have access. The channels you select from this screen must match the base operating system of the system you are registering.
Page 42 Chapter 4. Red Hat Update Agent Figure 4.8. Channels Red Hat Update Agent now compares the packages in your RPM database with those available from Figure 4.9, “Fetching package list” the Channel you selected. The progress bar shown in is displayed during this process.
Page 43: Packages Flagged To Be Skipped
Packages Flagged to be Skipped 4.2.4. Packages Flagged to be Skipped The next step in the initial update is the selection of files to be skipped. Any packages checked here will not be downloaded and updated by the Red Hat Update Agent. This screen is displayed whenever packages are available that are currently selected to be ignored.
Page 44 Chapter 4. Red Hat Update Agent Figure 4.11. Available Package Updates...
Page 45: Retrieving Packages
Retrieving Packages Figure 4.12. Example Errata Advisory 4.2.6. Retrieving Packages The Red Hat Update Agent tests the packages you selected to be certain that the requirements of each RPM are met. If any additional packages are required, Red Hat Update Agent displays an error message.
Page 46: Installing Packages
Chapter 4. Red Hat Update Agent Figure 4.13. Retrieving Packages 4.2.7. Installing Packages The packages must be installed after downloading them via the Red Hat Update Agent. If you chose not to install the packages via the Red Hat Update Agent, skip to Section 4.3.2, “Manual Package Installation”...
Page 47 Installing Packages Figure 4.14. Installing Packages When the Red Hat Update Agent has finished downloading the desired packages (and installing them Figure 4.15, “All Finished”. Click Finish to exit if you chose the install option), it displays the screen in the Red Hat Update Agent.
Page 48: Command Line Version
Chapter 4. Red Hat Update Agent Figure 4.15. All Finished 4.3. 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 49 Command Line Version Option Description Briefly describe the available options. -?, --usage List the available options and exit. -h, --help Force up2date to install this architecture of the package. --arch=architecture Not valid with --update, --list, or --dry-run. Specify from which channels to update using channel --channel=channel labels.
Page 50 Chapter 4. Red Hat Update Agent Option Description Update packages associated with this System Profile. -p, --packages Specify an HTTP proxy to use. --proxy=proxy URL Specify a password to use with an authenticated HTTP --proxyPassword=proxy proxy. password Specify a username to use with an authenticated HTTP --proxyUser=proxy user ID proxy.
Page 51: Installing The Red Hat Gpg Key
For older versions of RPM, such as the one that came with Red Hat Enterprise Linux 2.1, use the gpg command (as root): /usr/bin/gpg --import /usr/share/rhn/RPM-GPG-KEY https://www.redhat.com/security/team/ To download the Red Hat GPG key first, you may obtain it from key.html .
Page 52: Manual Package Installation
Chapter 4. Red Hat Update Agent AQIABgUCPtyYpQAKCRDurUz9SaVj2e97A/0b2s7OhhAMljNwMQS4I2UWVGbgtxdu D+yBcG/3mwL76MJVY7aX+NN/tT9yDGU+FSiQZZCL/4OFOHMvjpcDqfJY+zpTlBii ZMAPJWTs2bB+0QaXxUgWlwW84GVf2rA6RSbvMLTbDjTH8t7J1RGP9zAqu8SgraTA QbQdao6TNxVt+ohGBBMRAgAGBQI+3LjCAAoJECGRgM3bQqYOf5MAoIjiJDe+hDOj 9+jlR0qDs9lIi/C2AJ9SBBfd4A8hyR4z3lY7e0LzjWF51LkCDQQ7+9O3EAgA8tMs xdUmuTfA+X78fMXh7LCvrL4Hi28CqvNM+Au81XJjDLNawZvpVmFlMmd9h0Xb5Jt2 BZWLR13rcDUByNdw1EWhVAzCz6Bp9Z3MIDhcP00iIBctIHn7YP9fi5vV0G03iryT XE01mhWoBlC233wr3XHwsqxFfZzaCZqqNKTl0+PNfEAIzJRgtYiW8nzFTPpIR05E oRn6EvmQfayOF2uYDX9Sk//lOD7T7RLtKjM/hPW/9NoCGwwROaG+VUzVv4aelh1L dJGEjpFtdxcrOUMD8xbkuGMznu0mpDI+J2BUDh5n57yOyEMaGrQ0jfY1ZqdqDvZg osY1ZHa6KlmuCWNTnwADBQf/XYhCicp6iLetnPv6lYtyRfFRpnK98w3br+fThywC t81P2nKv8lio6OsRbksGc1gX8Zl6GoHQYfDe7hYsCHZPoWErobECFds5E9M7cmzV TTyNTvrELrs07jyuPb4Q+mHcsYPILGR3M+rnXKGjloz+05kOPRJaBEBzP6B8SZKy QNqEfTkTYU4Rbhkzz/UxUxZoRZ+tqVjNbPKFpRraiQrUDsZFbgksBCzkzd0YURvi CegO2K7JPKbZJo6eJA10qiBQvAx2EUijZfxIKqZeLx40EKMaL7Wa2CM/xmkQmCgg Hyu5bmLSMZ7cxFSWyXOst78dehCKv9WyPxHV3m4iANWFL4hGBBgRAgAGBQI7+9O3 AAoJEF5UgINlDViCKWcAoMCeYStWVKXJTytzHEL6Wl8rXr8WAKCHuapJIA4/eFsf 4ciWtjY8cO0v8Q== =yOVZ -----END PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK----- Save the text file and import it into your keyring using the method applicable to your version of RPM. 4.3.2.
Page 53: Log File
Log File up2date -p 4.3.4. Log File The Red Hat Update Agent keeps a log of all the actions that it performs on your system in the file /var/log/up2date. It uses the standard rotating log method. Thus, older logs are in /var/ log/up2date.1, /var/log/up2date.2, and /var/log/up2date.3.
Page 54 Chapter 4. Red Hat Update Agent Figure 4.16. 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. 4.4.1.2.
Page 55 Using the Red Hat Update Agent Configuration Tool Figure 4.17. Retrieval/Installation Settings Figure 4.17, “Retrieval/Installation The following package retrieval options can be selected (see Settings”): • Do not install packages after retrieval — download selected RPM packages to the desired directory and ignore the installation preferences •...
Page 56 Chapter 4. Red Hat Update Agent • Override version stored in System Profile — override the Red Hat Linux version in your System Profile • Package storage directory — change the directory where packages are downloaded; the default location is /var/spool/up2date/ 4.4.1.3.
Page 57: Command Line Version
['kernel*'] storageDir /var/spool/up2date adminAddress ['root@localhost'] noBootLoader 10. serverURL https://xmlrpc.rhn.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 58: Registering With Activation Keys
Chapter 4. Red Hat Update Agent connections over port 443. To bypass SSL, change the protocol for serverURL from https to http in the /etc/sysconfig/rhn/up2date configuration file. 4.5. Registering with Activation Keys In addition to the standard Red Hat Update Agent interface, up2date offers a utility aimed at batch processing system registrations: activation keys.
Page 59: Registering A System To An Organization
Registering a System to an Organization Section 7.4.6.2, “Using Multiple Activation Keys at Once — ” Refer to to understand how differences in activation keys are handled. The above command performs all the actions of the Red Hat Network Registration Client and the registration function of the Red Hat Update Agent.
Page 60 Chapter 4. Red Hat Update Agent Important The --orgid option (for RHEL 4 and 5) and the --orgpassword option (in RHEL 4) in the rhnreg_ks command are not related to the Organizations feature and should not be used in the context of registering systems to organizations. Section 7.11.1, “Admin Organizations”.
Page 61: Red Hat Network Daemon
Red Hat Network Satellite. 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 62 Chapter 5. Red Hat Network Daemon • the Red Hat Network Daemon is activated and running. You may ensure this by running the following 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 63: Red Hat Network Alert Notification Tool
Chapter 6. Red Hat Network Alert Notification Tool The Red Hat Network Alert Notification Tool is a notifier that appears on the desktop panel and alerts users when software package updates are available for their Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 systems.
Page 64 Chapter 6. Red Hat Network Alert Notification Tool Figure 6.2. HTTP Proxy Configuration If your network connection requires you to use an HTTP Proxy Server to make HTTP connections, on the Proxy Configuration screen, type your proxy server in the text field with the format HOST:PORT.
Page 65: Notification Icons
Notification Icons You can also configure the Red Hat Network Alert Notification Tool to ignore specific packages. To select these packages, click on the applet and select the Ignored Packages tab. 6.2. Notification Icons Table 6.1, “Red Hat The applet displays a different icon, depending on the status of the updates. Network Alert Notification Tool Icons”...
Page 66: Applying Updates
Chapter 6. Red Hat Network Alert Notification Tool Figure 6.3. Available Updates 6.4. Applying Updates If the system is registered with RHN and entitled to a service offering, you can apply the Errata Updates with the Red Hat Update Agent. To launch the Red Hat Update Agent, click on the applet, and then click on the Launch up2date button.
Page 67: Red Hat Network Website
Chapter 7. Red Hat Network Website You can use the Red Hat Network website to manage multiple Red Hat Enterprise Linux systems simultaneously, including viewing Errata Alerts, applying Errata Updates, and installing packages. This chapter seeks to identify all of categories, pages, and tabs within the website and explain how to use them.
Page 68: Categories And
Chapter 7. Red Hat Network Website Icon Entitlement Provisioning Monitoring Table 7.1. Entitlement Icons If no icon follows a category, page, or tab label within this chapter, the area described is available to all Red Hat Network users. If an icon does follow, the associated entitlement is needed. Remember that Provisioning inherits all of the functions of Management.
Page 69 Categories and Pages • System Set Manager — — Perform various actions on collective sets of systems, including scheduling errata updates, package management, listing and creating new groups, and managing channel entitlements. • Advanced Search — — Quickly search all of your systems by specific criteria, such as name, hardware, devices, system info, networking, packages, and location.
Page 70 Chapter 7. Red Hat Network Website • Configuration Files — List and create files from which systems receive configuration input • Systems — List the systems that have RHN-managed configuration files. • Schedule — Keep track of your scheduled actions. •...
Page 71: Errata Alert Icons
Errata Alert Icons • Satellite Configuration — Make general configuration changes to the Satellite, including Proxy settings, Certificate configuration, Bootstrap Script configuration, Organization changes, and Restart the Satellite Server. • Task Engine Status — configures the daemon that runs on the Satellite server itself and performs routine operations, such as database cleanup, Errata mailings, and other tasks that are performed in the background.
Page 72: Lists
7.2. Logging into the RHN Website Use a web browser to navigate to http://rhn.redhat.com. RHN displays the login page shown below unless one of two things is true: • You have recently logged into your account at http://www.redhat.com.
Page 73 Figure 7.4. RHN Website If you have not registered a system yet or do not have a redhat.com account, create a new account by following the Learn More link, then selecting Create Login on the resulting page. After creating a Chapter 4, Red Hat Update new user account, you must register a system before using RHN.
Page 74: Overview
Chapter 7. Red Hat Network Website Once you have accepted the agreements and pressed the Continue button, RHN displays the Overview page. 7.3. Overview After logging into the web interface of Red Hat Network, the first page to appear is Overview. This page contains important information about your systems, including summaries of system status, actions, and Errata Alerts.
Page 75: Your Account
Remember, if you change your Red Hat Network password (the one used to log into RHN and redhat.com), you will not see your new one as you type it for security reasons. Also for security, your password is represented by 12 asterisks no matter how many characters it actually contains. Replace the asterisks in the Password and Password Confirmation text fields with your new password.
Page 76: Your Preferences
Chapter 7. Red Hat Network Website 7.3.1.2. Change Email The email address listed in the Your Account page is the address to which Red Hat Network sends email notifications if you select to receive Errata Alerts or daily summaries for your systems on the Your Preferences page.
Page 77: Locale Preferences
Locale Preferences 7.3.3. Locale Preferences The Overview Locale Preferences page allows each user to tailor their RHN interface to the local time and their preferred language. Select the appropriate timezone from the Time Zone dropdown box, then click the Save Preferences button to apply the selection. When the language preference is set to Use Browser Settings, RHN uses the language preference from the user's browser (such as Firefox) to determine which language to use for the web interface.
Page 78 Chapter 7. Red Hat Network Website The two virtualization entitlements specifically apply to host systems. Guest systems that exist on unregistered hosts are treated the same as any physical system — each guest consumes a channel and a system entitlement. 7.3.4.1.
Page 79: Organization Trusts
Organization Trusts 7.3.5. Organization Trusts The Organization Trusts page displays the trusts established with your organization (that is, the organization with which you, the logged-in user, are associated). The page also lists Channels Shared: that is channels available to your organisation via others in the established trusts. You can filter the list of trusts by keyword using the Filter by Organization text box and clicking Go.
Page 80 Chapter 7. Red Hat Network Website • — Critical Errata available, update strongly recommended • — Updates available and recommended • — System is locked; Actions prohibited • — System is being kickstarted • — Updates have been scheduled • —...
Page 81 Systems 7.4.2.1. All The All page contains the default set of your systems. It displays every system you have permission to manage. A user has permission to manage a system if he is the only user in his organization, if he is an Satellite Administrator, or if the system is a member of a group to which he has admin rights.
Page 82 Chapter 7. Red Hat Network Website • The system is entitled, but the Red Hat Network Daemon has been disabled on the system. Refer to Chapter 5, Red Hat Network Daemon for instructions on restarting and troubleshooting. • The system is behind a firewall that does not allow connections over https (port 443). •...
Page 83 Systems • Monitoring — • Groups • Events The following sections discuss these tabs and their sub-tabs in detail. 7.4.2.9.1. System Details Details This page is not accessible from any of the standard navigation bars. However, clicking on the name of a system anywhere in the web interface brings you to this page.
Page 84 Chapter 7. Red Hat Network Website Registered The date and time at which the system registered with RHN and created this profile. Checked In The date and time at which the system last checked in with RHN. Last Booted The date and time at which the system was last started or restarted. Note Systems with a Management entitlement can be rebooted from this screen.
Page 85 Systems — OSA status is also displayed for client systems registered to a Satellite that have a Provisioning entitlement and have enabled OSA. Push enables Satellite customers to immediately initiate tasks on Provisioning-entitled system rather than wait for those systems to check in with RHN. Scheduling actions through push is identical to the process of scheduling any other action, except that the task begins immediately instead of waiting the set interval.
Page 86 Chapter 7. Red Hat Network Website The final link on the page is Edit these properties. Clicking this link opens the System Details Properties subtab. On this page, edit any text you choose, then click the Update Properties button to confirm.
Page 87 Systems 7.4.2.9.1.3. System Details Details Remote Command — This subtab allows you to run a remote command on the system if the system possesses a Provisioning entitlement. Before doing so, you must first configure the system to accept such commands. •...
Page 88 Chapter 7. Red Hat Network Website RHN settings. For this reason, you should not regenerate, delete, or use this key (with rhnreg_ks) while a profile-based kickstart is in progress. If you do, the kickstart will fail. 7.4.2.9.1.5. System Details Details Hardware This subtab provides detailed information about the system, including networking, BIOS, storage, and other devices.
Page 89 Systems 7.4.2.9.2.1. System Details Software Errata Section 7.1.3, “Errata This subtab contains a list of Errata Alerts applicable to the system. Refer to Alert Icons” for meanings of the icons on this tab. To apply updates, select them and click the Apply Errata button.
Page 90 Chapter 7. Red Hat Network Website packages with information from the database, such as MD5 sum, file size, permissions, owner, group and type. To verify a package or packages, select them, click the Verify Selected Packages button, and confirm this action. Once finished, you can view the results by selecting this action within the History subtab under Events.
Page 91 Systems software packages, various versions of configuration files may prove useful to a system at any given time. Remember, only the latest version can be deployed. 7.4.2.9.3.1. System Details Configuration Overview This subtab provides access to the configuration statistics of your system and to the most common tasks used to manage configuration files.
Page 92 Chapter 7. Red Hat Network Website 7.4.2.9.3.4. System Details Configuration Manage Configuration Channels This subtab allows you to subscribe to and rank configuration channels that may be associated with the system, lowest first. The List/Unsubscribe from Channels subtab contains a list of the system's configuration channel subscriptions.
Page 93 Systems and Finish button to begin the kickstart. You may first alter kickstart settings by clicking the Advanced Configuration button. Note You must first create a kickstart profile before it appears on this subtab. If you have not Section 7.4.9.3, “Create a New Kickstart Profile” created any profiles, refer to before scheduling a kickstart for a system.
Page 94 Chapter 7. Red Hat Network Website • group memberships • channel subscriptions • installed packages • configuration channel subscriptions • configuration files • snapshot tags When satisfied with the reversion, return to the Rollback subtab and click the Rollback to Snapshot button.
Page 95 Systems If you have System Group Administrator responsibilities assigned for your guest systems, it is possible that a user could see the message You do not have permission to access this system within the table. This is because it is possible to assign virtual guests on a single host to multiple System Group Administrators.
Page 96: System Groups
Chapter 7. Red Hat Network Website 7.4.2.9.5.4. System Details Events Displays past, current, and scheduled actions on the system. You may cancel pending events here. The following sections describe the Events sub-tabs and the features they offer. 7.4.2.9.5.4.1. System Details Events Pending Lists events that are scheduled but have not begun.
Page 97 System Groups — • Select — These checkboxes enable you to add systems in groups to the System Set Manager. To select groups, mark the appropriate checkboxes and click the Update button below the column. All systems in the selected groups are added to the System Set Manager. You can then use the System Set Manager to perform actions on them simultaneously.
Page 98 Chapter 7. Red Hat Network Website similar in both instances. Select the systems to be added or removed and click the Add Systems or Remove Systems button. 7.4.3.3. System Group Details — At the top of each System Group Details page are two links: work with group and delete group. Clicking delete group deletes the System Group and should be used with caution.
Page 99: System Set Manager
System Set Manager — 7.4.3.3.6. System Group Details Probes — List all probes assigned to systems in the system group. The State shows the status of the probe. Click the individual System for details on the probe and to make changes to the probe configuration. Click the Probe to generate a customizable report on the monitoring.
Page 100 Chapter 7. Red Hat Network Website 7.4.4.3. System Set Manager Errata — List of Errata Updates applicable to the current system set. Click the number in the Systems column to see to which systems in the System Set Manager the given Errata applies. To apply updates, select the Errata and click the Apply Errata button.
Page 101 System Set Manager — 7.4.4.6. System Set Manager Patches Tools to manage patches to Solaris clients. Patches may be installed or removed via the subtabs. 7.4.4.7. System Set Manager Patch Clusters Tools to manage patch clusters for Solaris clients. Patches may be installed or removed via the subtabs.
Page 102 Chapter 7. Red Hat Network Website To subscribe the selected systems to the available configuration files, select the checkbox for each desired file. When done, click Deploy Configuration and schedule the action. Note that the files deployed are of the latest version at the time of scheduling and do not account for versions that may appear before the action takes place.
Page 103 System Set Manager — schedule the action by clicking the Schedule package installs for no sooner than radio button and using the drop-down menus to configure date and time, then clicking Enable RHN Configuration Management. 7.4.4.11. System Set Manager Provisioning — Options for provisioning systems through the following subtabs: 7.4.4.11.1.
Page 104 Chapter 7. Red Hat Network Website 7.4.4.12.1. System Set Manager Misc System Profile Updates — Click Update Hardware Profile followed by the Confirm Refresh button to schedule a hardware profile update. Clicking Update Package Profile,followed by the Confirm Refresh button schedules a package profile update.
Page 105: Advanced Search
Advanced Search — • Include system in Daily Summary — This setting includes the selected systems in a daily summary of system events. (By default, all Management and Provisioning systems are included in the summary.) These system events are actions that affect packages, such as scheduled Errata Updates, system reboots, or failures to check in.
Page 106 Chapter 7. Red Hat Network Website • ID — An identifier that is unique to a system or system set. • Custom Info — Information about the system that is unique only to that system. • Snapshot Tag — The name assigned to a new or previous system snapshot •...
Page 107: Activation Keys
Activation Keys — • Hardware Devices — Systems can be searched by specific hardware details such as driver names and Device or Vendor IDs • Description — Device summary information, such as brand or model name/number (such as Intel 82801HBM/HEM) •...
Page 108 Chapter 7. Red Hat Network Website the separator used when including two or more activation keys at once. Refer to Section 7.4.6.2, “Using Multiple Activation Keys at Once — ” for details. 3. Provide the following information: • Description — User-defined description to identify the generated activation key. •...
Page 109 Activation Keys — Figure 7.6. Activation Keys After creating the unique key, it appears in the list of activation keys along with the number of times it has been used. Note that only Activation Key Administrators can see this list. At this point, you may associate child channels and groups with the key so that systems registered with it automatically subscribe to them.
Page 110: Stored Profiles
Chapter 7. Red Hat Network Website 7.4.6.2. Using Multiple Activation Keys at Once — Provisioning customers should note that multiple activation keys can be included at the command line or in a single kickstart profile. This allows you to aggregate the aspects of various keys without recreating a new key specific to the desired systems, simplifying the registration and kickstart processes while slowing the growth of your key list.
Page 111: Kickstart
Kickstart — Once the key exists, you may assign a value to it through the Custom Info tab of the System Details Section 7.4.2.9.1.7, “System Details Details Custom Info — ” page. Refer to for instructions. 7.4.8.1. rhn-custom-info In addition to the Satellite web interface for creating and listing custom information keys, there is a command-line tool called rhn-custom-info that performs the same actions at a shell prompt, for administrators who may not have access to the web interface.
Page 112 This installation method can support the use of a single kickstart file to install Red Hat Enterprise Linux on multiple machines, making it ideal for network and system administrators. The Red Hat Enterprise Linux System Administration Guide contains an in-depth discussion of kickstart and is available here: http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/enterprise/.
Page 113 Kickstart — 7.4.9.1.1. Kickstart Explained When a machine is to receive a network-based kickstart, the following events must occur in this order: 1. After being placed on the network and turned on, the machine's PXE logic broadcasts its MAC address and a request to be discovered. 2.
Page 114 Chapter 7. Red Hat Network Website 7.4.9.1.3. Building Bootable Kickstart ISOs While you can schedule a registered system to be kickstarted to a new operating system and package profile, it is also useful to be able to kickstart a system that is not registered with RHN, or does not yet have an operating system installed.
Page 115 Kickstart — To use this method, make sure your systems have network interface cards (NIC) that support PXE, install and configure a PXE server, ensure DHCP is running, and then place the appropriate files on an HTTP server for deployment. Once the kickstart profile has been created, use the URL from the Kickstart Details page, as for CD-ROM-based installs.
Page 116 6. On the third page, select a root password for the system. Be sure to follow the password recommendations from the Password Security section of the Red Hat Enterprise Linux Security Guide, available at http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/enterprise/. Depending on your base channel, your newly created kickstart profile may be subscribed to a channel that is missing required packages.
Page 117 Kickstart — 7.4.9.3.1. Kickstart Details Details — Figure 7.9. Kickstart Details The figure above shows the sub-tabs that are available from the Kickstart Details tab. From the Kickstart Details Details sub-tab, you can: • Rename the profile • Change the operating system it installs by clicking (Change) •...
Page 118 Chapter 7. Red Hat Network Website 7.4.9.3.2. Kickstart Details Operating System — From this page, you can make the following changes to the operating system that the kickstart profile installs: Change the base channel Select from the available base channels, such as Red Hat Enterprise Linux v.5 for 32-bit x86. Satellite administrators can see a list of all base channels that are currently synced to the Satellite.
Page 119 Kickstart — 7.4.9.3.4. Kickstart Details Advanced Options — From this page, you can toggle several installation options on and off by checking and unchecking the boxes to the left of the option. For most installations, the default options are correct. The Red Hat Enterprise Linux System Administration Guide discusses each of these options in detail.
Page 120 If you would like to know what package groups are available, and what packages they contain, refer to the RedHat/base/ file of your kickstart tree. Satellite customers will most likely locate this file here: /var/www/satellite/rhn/ kickstart/<kickstart label>/RedHat/base/comps.xml.
Page 121 Kickstart — Section 7.4.2.9.2.2, “System Details Software Packages” for more information about package profiles. 7.4.9.3.14. Activation Keys — Figure 7.12. Activation Keys The Activation Keys tab, which has no sub-tabs, allows you select Activation Keys to include as part of the kickstart profile. These keys, which must have been created previous to creating the kickstart profile, will be used when re-registering kickstarted systems.
Page 122 Chapter 7. Red Hat Network Website 7.4.9.3.16. Kickstart File — Figure 7.14. Kickstart File The Kickstart File tab, which has no sub-tabs, allows you to view or download the kickstart profile that has been generated from the options chosen in the previous tabs. 7.4.9.4.
Page 123 Kickstart — Important RHN Satellite users should note that channels imported with satellite-sync are made available automatically and do not require the creation of a separate installation tree. These trees are available to client systems that kickstart through the Satellite. While you may be able to access the files from a non-kickstarting client, this functionality is not supported and may be removed at any time in the future.
Page 124: Errata
Chapter 7. Red Hat Network Website 7.4.9.7. Kickstart File Preservation — Collects lists of files to be protected and re-deployed on systems during kickstart. For instance, if you have many custom configuration files located on a system to be kickstarted, enter them here as a list and associate that list with the kickstart profile to be used.
Page 125: Relevant Errata
Relevant Errata In addition to the pages described within this chapter, you may view Errata by product line from the following location: https://rhn.redhat.com/errata. 7.5.1. Relevant Errata Figure 7.15, “Errata List”, the Relevant Errata page displays a customized list of Errata As shown in Updates that applies to your registered systems.
Page 126 Chapter 7. Red Hat Network Website 7.5.2.1. Apply Errata Updates Errata Updates include a list of updated packages that are required to apply the Errata Update. To apply Errata Updates to a system, the system must be entitled. Apply all applicable Errata Updates to a system by clicking on Systems Systems in the top and left navigation bars.
Page 127: Advanced Search
Below Fixes, the specific Bugzilla entries resolved by this erratum are listed. Clicking on any summary text opens that Bugzilla entry at http://bugzilla.redhat.com. Note that you must have a Bugzilla account to view the entry. Security updates list the specific vulnerability as tracked by http://cve.mitre.org. This information is listed below the CVEs label.
Page 128 Chapter 7. Red Hat Network Website Figure 7.16. Erratum Search • All Fields — Search errata by synopsis, description, topic, or solution. • Erratum Advisory — The way Red Hat Security Response Team codifies Advisories, such as: RHBA-2007:0530 Searches can be by done year (such as 2007), by type of Advisory (RHBA for Bug fixes, RHEA for Enhancements, and RHSA for Security advisories), or full Advisory name, such as the example above.
Page 129: Channels
Channels CVE-2006-4535 You may also filter errata search results by the type of errata issued. Check or uncheck the boxes next to the type of advisory to search. • Bug Fix Advisory — Errata that contains fixes to issues that were reported by users or discovered during development or testing •...
Page 130 Chapter 7. Red Hat Network Website For example, administrators can standardize their desktop systems to Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.1 for x86, while managing servers on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4.5 for AMD64 and EM64T. Administrators can stay on their version for the duration of the EUS support lifecycle, assured of the behavior of their software version.
Page 131 Software Channels Figure 7.17. All Channels 7.6.1.4. Red Hat Channels The Red Hat Channels page displays the Red Hat channels and their available child channels. Versions of Red Hat Enterprise Linux synced directly from RHN Hosted, for example, are listed in this channel.
Page 132 Chapter 7. Red Hat Network Website 7.6.1.8. Retired Channels The Retired Channels page displays channels available to your organization that have reached their end-of-life dates. These channels do not receive updates. 7.6.1.9. Software Channel Details If you click on the name of a channel, the Software Channel Details page appears. This page is broken down into the following tabs: 7.6.1.9.1.
Page 133 Software Channels To search for a specific package or a subset of packages, use the package filter at the top of the list. Enter a substring to search all packages in the list for package names that contain the string. For example, typing ks in the filter might return: ksconfig, krb5-workstation, and links.
Page 134: Package Search
Chapter 7. Red Hat Network Website 7.6.2. Package Search Figure 7.18. Package Search The Package Search page allows you to search through packages using various criteria: • Free Form — a general keyword search for users that are unsure of the details of particular package and its contents.
Page 135: Manage Software Channels
Manage Software Channels summary:java and description:java Other supported field names for Documentation search include: • name — Search the package names for a particular keyword • version — Search for a particular package's version • filename — Search the package filenames for a particular keyword •...
Page 136: Configuration
Chapter 7. Red Hat Network Website To allow a user to alter the channel, select the checkbox next to the user's name and click the Update button. To allow all users to manage the channel, click the Select All button at the bottom of the list followed by the Update button.
Page 137: Preparing Systems For Config Management
Preparing Systems for Config Management to as an override channel) and a Sandbox channel. Both central and local configuration management are discussed in detail later in this chapter. 7.7.1. Preparing Systems for Config Management For a system to have its configuration managed through RHN, it must have the appropriate tools and config-enable file installed.
Page 138: Configuration Channels
Chapter 7. Red Hat Network Website 7.7.3. Configuration Channels As mentioned above, RHN manages both central and local configuration channels and files. Central configuration management allows you to deploy configuration files to multiple systems. Local configuration management allows you to specify overrides, or configuration files that are not changed by subscribing the system to a central channel.
Page 139: Configuration Files
Configuration Files Upload File To upload a file into the configuration channel, browse for the file on your local system, populate all fields, and click the Upload Configuration File button. The Filename/Path field is the absolute path where the file will be deployed. You can also indicate the ownership and permissions to be attached to the file when it is deployed.
Page 140: Locally-Managed Files
Chapter 7. Red Hat Network Website Note By default, the maximum file size for configuration files is 128KB. If you need to change that value, find and modify the following line in the /etc/rhn/default/rhn_web.conf file: web.maximum_config_file_size=128 You must also find and change the following line in the /etc/rhn/default/ rhn_server.conf file to the same value: maximum_config_file_size=128 Change the value in both files from 128 to the desired value in kilobytes.
Page 141 Locally-Managed Files In traditional file management, you would be required to upload and distribute each file separately, even if the distinction is nominal and the number of variations is in the hundreds or thousands. RHN addresses this by allowing the inclusion of macros, or variables, within the configuration files it manages for Provisioning-entitled systems.
Page 142: Systems
Chapter 7. Red Hat Network Website the custom information macro in a configuration file to have the value substituted on any system containing it. The macro would look like this: asset={@ rhn.system.custom_info(asset) @} Upon deployment of the file to a system containing a value for that key, the macro gets translated, resulting in a string similar to the following: asset=Example#456 To include a default value, for instance if one is required to prevent errors, you can append it to the...
Page 143: Schedule
Schedule Note You will still have to perform a few manual steps to enable configuration file deployment, but on-screen instructions are provided to assist with this step. 7.8. Schedule If you click the Schedule tab on the top navigation bar, the Schedule category and links appear. These pages enable you to track the actions taking place within your systems.
Page 144: Failed Actions
Chapter 7. Red Hat Network Website Figure 7.19. Schedule - Pending Actions 7.8.2. Failed Actions Actions that could not be completed. If the action returns an error, it is displayed here. 7.8.3. Completed Actions Actions that have succeeded. 7.8.4. Archived Actions Actions that you have selected to store for review.
Page 145: Users
Users — • Action — Type of action to perform such as Errata Update or Package Install. Clicking an action name takes you to its Action Details page. Refer to Section 7.8.5.1, “Action Details” for more information. • Earliest — The earliest day and time the action will be performed. •...
Page 146: User List Active
Chapter 7. Red Hat Network Website Once all fields are complete, select the Create Login button. RHN now sends an email to the specified address and redirects you to the Users User List page. If you wish to select permissions and options for the newly created user, select their name from the list.
Page 147 User List Active — Figure 7.20. User List 7.9.1.1. User List Active User Details — The User Details page allows Satellite Administrators to manage the permissions and activity of all users. Included in the User Details page is the ability to delete or deactivate users. Users may now be deactivated directly from the RHN web interface.
Page 148 Chapter 7. Red Hat Network Website Warning User deletion is irreversible; exercise it with caution. Consider disabling the user first in order to assess the effect deletion will have on your infrastructure. To deactivate a user: 1. Navigate to the user's User Details tab. 2.
Page 149 User List Active — • Configuration Administrator — This role enables the user to manage the configuration of systems in the organization using either the RHN Satellite web-based interface or the Red Hat Network Configuration Manager. • Monitoring Administrator — This role allows for the scheduling of probes and oversight of other Monitoring infrastructure.
Page 150 Chapter 7. Red Hat Network Website 7.9.1.1.4. User List Active User Details Channel Permissions — This tab lists all channels available to your organization. You may grant explicit channel subscription permission to this user for each of the channels listed by checking the box to the left of the channel and clicking the Update Permissions button.
Page 151: User List Deactivated
User List Deactivated — 7.9.1.1.6. User List Active User Details Addresses — This tab lists the addresses associated with the user's account. To update this information, click the appropriate Edit this address link, enter the relevant information, and click the Update button. 7.9.1.1.7.
Page 152 Chapter 7. Red Hat Network Website The Probe Status page displays the summary count of probes in the various states and provides a simple interface to find problematic probes quickly. Please note that the probe totals in the tabs at the top of the page may not match the numbers of probes displayed in the tables below.
Page 153: Notification
Notification — 7.10.1.3. Probe Status Unknown — The probes that cannot collect the metrics needed to determine probe state. Most but not all probes enter an unknown state when exceeding their timeout period. This may mean that the timeout period should be increased, or the connection cannot be established to the monitored system.
Page 154 Chapter 7. Red Hat Network Website 7.10.2.1. Notification Filters Notification filters allow you to create long-term rules that suspend, redirect, or automatically acknowledge standard notifications or send supplemental notifications. This can be helpful in managing verbose or frequent probe communication. 7.10.2.1.1.
Page 155: Probe Suites
Probe Suites Notification filters cannot be deleted. However, a filter may be canceled by setting the end date to some time in the past. (Note that the end date must be equal to or later than the start date, or the change fails.) Another method is to select a set of filters from the Active page and click the Expire Notification Filters button in the lower right.
Page 156: Scout Config Push
Chapter 7. Red Hat Network Website 1. From the Monitoring Probe Suites page, click on the title of the Probe Suite you wish to alter. 2. Select the Probes sub-tab. 3. Check the box next to the probe you wish to remove. 4.
Page 157: General Config
General Config — Clicking the name of the server opens its Red Hat Network Monitoring Daemon SSH Public Key. This allows you to copy and paste the SSH key to the systems that are monitored by the scout. This is required in order for the Red Hat Network Monitoring Daemon to connect to the Satellite.
Page 158: Help
Chapter 7. Red Hat Network Website 7.11.2.3. Admin Satellite Configuration Certificate The RHN Satellite Configuration Certificate page allows you to either upload a new Satellite certificate. To identify the certificate's path, click Browse, navigate to the file, and select it. To input its contents, open your certificate in a text editor, copy all lines, and paste them directly into the large text field at the bottom.
Page 159: Proxy Guide
Proxy Guide created for optimal use. Since these tasks extend beyond the basic installation, they are covered in detail in other guides, as well as this RHN Satellite Installation Guide. Detailed information regarding RHN Satellite server and its installation and initial configuration. 7.12.3.
Page 160: Search
Chapter 7. Red Hat Network Website questions about the Red Hat Network API. Finally, there is a Sample Scripts page that shows users example code using API calls. 7.12.8. Search The Documentation Search page features a robust search engine that indexes and searches RHN Satellite and RHN Proxy Server documentation.
Page 161 Search title:Virtualization and content:kickstart Other supported field names for Documentation search include: • url — Search the URL for a particular keyword • title — Search titles for a particular keyword • content — Search the body of the documentation for a particular keyword If there are several pages of search results, you can limit the amount of visible results shown on one page by clicking the Display quantity items per page drop-down menu, which offers between 10 and 500 results per page.
Page 163: Monitoring
Chapter 8. Monitoring The Red Hat Network Monitoring entitlement allows you to perform a whole host of actions designed to keep your systems running properly and efficiently. With it, you can keep close watch on system resources, network services, databases, and both standard and custom applications. Monitoring provides both real-time and historical state-change information, as well as specific metric data.
Page 164: Probes Requiring The Daemon
Chapter 8. Monitoring 8.2.1. Probes requiring the daemon An encrypted connection, either through the Red Hat Network Monitoring Daemon or sshd, is required on client systems for the following probes to run: • Linux::CPU Usage • Linux::Disk IO Throughput • Linux::Disk Usage •...
Page 165: Configuring Ssh
Configuring SSH The rhnmd package can be found in the RHN Tools channel for all Red Hat Enterprise Linux distributions. To install it: 1. Subscribe the systems to be monitored to the RHN Tools channel associated with the system. This can be done individually through the System Details Channels Software subtab or for multiple systems at once through the Channel Details Target Systems tab.
Page 166: Installing The Ssh Key
Chapter 8. Monitoring 8.2.4. Installing the SSH key Whether you use rhnmd or sshd, you must install the Red Hat Network Monitoring Daemon public SSH key on the systems to be monitored to complete the secure connection. To install it: 1.
Page 167: Notifications
These notifications come in the form of brief text messages sent to either email or pager addresses. Here is an example of an email notification: Subject: CRITICAL: [hostname]: Satellite: Users at 1 From: "Monitoring Satellite Notification" (rogerthat01@redhat.com) Date: Mon, 6 Dec 2004 13:42:28 -0800 To: user@organization.com This is RHN Monitoring Satellite notification 01dc8hqw.
Page 168: Redirecting Notifications
Chapter 8. Monitoring Probe: Satellite: Users Message: Users 6 (above critical threshold of 2) Notification #116 for Users Run from: RHN Monitoring Satellite As you can see, the longer email notifications contain virtually everything you would need to know about the associated probe. In addition to the probe command, run time, system monitored, and state, the message contains the Send ID, which is a unique character string representing the precise message and probe.
Page 169: Filtering Notifications
Filtering Notifications probe notifications by responding to a probe with ack suspend host or other redirect responses. These probes require you to change the notifications within the web interface of the Satellite. 8.4.4. Filtering Notifications Since notifications can be generated whenever a probe changes state, simple changes in your network can result in a flood of notifications.
Page 170: Managing Probes
Chapter 8. Monitoring 8.5.1. Managing Probes To add a probe to a system, the system must be entitled to Monitoring. Further, you must have access to the system itself, either as the system's root user, through the System Group Administrator role, or as the Satellite Administrator.
Page 171: Monitoring The Rhn Server
To thoroughly troubleshoot a probe, you must first obtain its probe ID. You may obtain this information by running rhn-catalog on the RHN Server as the nocpulse user. The output will resemble: 2 ServiceProbe on example1.redhat.com (199.168.36.245): test 2 3 ServiceProbe on example2.redhat.com (199.168.36.173): rhel2.1 test 4 ServiceProbe on example3.redhat.com (199.168.36.174): SSH...
Page 172: Viewing The Output Of Rhn-Runprobe
The --commandline option yields the command parameters set for the probe, while --dump retrieves everything else, including alert thresholds and notification intervals and methods. The command above will result in output similar to: 5 ServiceProbe on example4.redhat.com (199.168.36.175 linux:cpu usage Run as: Unix::CPU.pm --critical=90 --sshhost=199.168.36.175...
Page 173 Viewing the output of rhn-runprobe More specifically, you may provide the command parameters derived from rhn-catalog, like so: rhn-runprobe 5 --log=all=4 --sshuser=nocpulse --sshport=4545 This yields verbose output depicting the probe's attempted execution. Errors are clearly identified.
Page 175: Multiple Organizations
Chapter 9. Multiple Organizations RHN Satellite supports the creation and management of multiple organizations within one Satellite installation, allowing for the division of systems, content, and subscriptions across different organizations or specific groups. This chapter guides the user through basic setup tasks and explains the concepts of multiple organization creation and management within RHN Satellite.
Page 176: Decentralized Management Of Multiple Third Party Organizations
Chapter 9. Multiple Organizations Figure 9.1. Centralized Satellite Management for Multi-Department Organization 9.1.2. Decentralized Management of Multiple Third Party Organizations In this example, the Satellite is maintained by a central group, but each organization is treated separately without relations or ties to the other organizations on the Satellite. Each organization may be a customer of the group that manages the Satellite application itself.
Page 177: General Tips For Multi-Org Usage
Satellite are consuming, you will be unable to activate this new certificate when uploading it through the Satellite's web interface under Admin Satellite Configuration Certificate, http://rhn.redhat.com profile of the Satellite system under the Satellite tab, uploading it through the...
Page 178: Admin Organizations
Chapter 9. Multiple Organizations or by running the rhn-satellite-activate command. You will get an error stating that there are insufficient entitlements in the certificate. There are a few ways you can reduce Satellite entitlement usage in order to activate your new certificate.
Page 179: Admin Organizations Details
Admin Organizations Details across various organizations, as well as control an organization's access to systems management tasks. Figure 9.3. Admin The Organizations page contains a listing of organizations across the Satellite, with both User and System counts assigned to each organization. The Organizations page also features a Trusts Section 9.6, “Organizational Trusts”...
Page 180: Creating An Organization
Chapter 9. Multiple Organizations 9.3. Creating an Organization The Create New Organization page in the RHN Satellite web interface can be accessed by proceeding to Admin Organizations Create New Organization. Administrators can create new organizations and assign entitlements, groups, systems, and users to the group so that organizations can perform administrative tasks on their own without affecting other organizations.
Page 181: Managing Entitlements
Managing Entitlements Satellite Administrators should consider reserving the administrative Organization Administrator account for themselves to have the option of logging into this organization for various reasons. If your Satellite is configured for PAM authentication, avoid using PAM accounts for the administrative organization administrator account in new organizations. Instead, create a Satellite-local account for organization administrators and reserve PAM-authenticated accounts for Satellite logins with less elevated privileges in order to discourage users to frequently log into the Satellite with elevated privileges, as the...
Page 182: Admin Subscriptions System Entitlements
Chapter 9. Multiple Organizations Note Organization Administrators that create a custom channel can only use that channel within their organization unless an Organizational Trust is established between the organizations that want to share the channel. For more information about organizational trusts, refer to Section 9.6, “Organizational Trusts”.
Page 183: Organizational Trusts
Organizational Trusts There are two basic ways to register a system against a particular organization: 1. Registering Using Login and Password — If you provide a login and password created for a specified organization, the system will be registered to that organization. For example, if user-123 is a member of the Central IT organization on the Satellite, the following command on any system would register that system to the Central IT organization on your Satellite: rhnreg_ks --username=user-123 --password=foobaz...
Page 184: Sharing Content Channels Between Organizations In A Trust
Chapter 9. Multiple Organizations On the Trusts subtab, there is a listing of all the other trusts on the RHN Satellite. Here you may use the Filter by Organization text box to narrow down a long list of organizations to a specific subset. Figure 9.5.
Page 185: Migrating Systems From One Trusted Organization To Another
Migrating Systems from One Trusted Organization to Another 5. From the Channel Access Control section of the Details page, there are three choices for sharing in Organizational Sharing. • Private — Make the channel private so that it cannot be accessed by any organizations except the channel's owner.
Page 186 Chapter 9. Multiple Organizations 9.6.3.1. Using migrate-system-profile Using migrate-system-profile is straightforward. You need to ascertain the ID of the system to be migrated, the ID of the organization the system will migrate to, and the hostname or IP address of the Satellite server if you are running the command from another machine.
Page 187 Migrating Systems from One Trusted Organization to Another Figure 9.6. System History Note The Satellite Administrator can migrate a system from one trusted organization to any other in the trust. However, Organization Administrators can only migrate a system from their own organization to another in the trust. Satellite Administrators that need to migrate several systems at once can use the --csv option of migrate-system-profile to automate the process using a simple comma-separated list of systems to migrate.
Page 188: Admin Users
Chapter 9. Multiple Organizations 9.7. Admin Users The Users Across Satellite page contains a list of all users on the Satellite, throughout all organizations. Note You are only able to modify the details of organization users if you are logged in as that Organization Administrator.
Page 189: Virtualization
Chapter 10. Virtualization In order to manage and provision your client systems, you must first synchronize content from RHN's central servers to your Satellite. RHN recommends that you sync at least the following channels: • Red Hat Network Tools for RHEL Server (v. 5 for 32-bit x86) — rhn-tools-rhel-i386-server-5 •...
Page 190: Kickstart Your Host System
Chapter 10. Virtualization Note If you are changing the Virtualization Type of an existing kickstart profile, it may also modify the bootloader and partition options, potentially overwriting any user customizations. Be sure to review the Partitioning tab to verify these settings when changing the Virtualization Type.
Page 191 Kickstart Your Host System --serverUrl=http://your-satellite.example.com/XMLRPC \ --username=username --password=password Note If your host system is already registered to a different Red Hat Network server, add the --force option to the command above. 2. Next, open up the host system's profile in the Satellite web interface. Log into the web interface of your Satellite at https://your-satellite.example.com/.
Page 192 It is possible to use a flash-memory USB key to boot your system in order to kickstart it. Refer to the Red Hat Enterprise Linux System Administration Guide (available at http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/enterprise/) for tips on how to do this. Note that your host system's hardware must support boot via these devices.
Page 193 Kickstart Your Host System Note For some systems you may either need to add ksdevice=eth0 to the command above or disable one of two or more NICs in the system's BIOS to avoid confusion during the kickstart process. 4. The kickstart for your host system should begin. It should take around fifteen minutes to complete. Upon successful completion of this kickstart, you will have provisioned a host system for your virtual guest and registered it to you Satellite.
Page 194: Setting Up Your Virtual Systems
Chapter 10. Virtualization You will then need to edit the /etc/grub.conf configuration file to boot the new xen kernel by default. To do this, select the lines in grub.conf that pertain to the xen kernel from the beginning of the title line to the end of the initrd line, copy the lines, delete them, and paste them so they are the first kernel entry in grub.conf.
Page 195: Create A Kickstart Profile For The Guest Systems
Create a Kickstart Profile for the Guest Systems 10.2.1. Create a Kickstart Profile for the Guest Systems 1. Log on to the Satellite's web interface. Navigate to the Kickstart Overview screen by clicking on the Manage Kickstarts link in the Tasks widget in Overview, or by clicking on Systems in the top navigation bar Kickstart from the left navigation bar.
Page 196: Provision Your Guest Systems
Chapter 10. Virtualization Note As in the previous step, if the default download location is missing, you may not have successfully synced software channel content to your Satellite from Red Hat's servers. 5. For Step 3 of the kickstart profile creation process, choose a root password for the guest system you are provisioning, and click Next to finish creation of the profile.
Page 197: Working With Your Virtual Systems
Working With Your Virtual Systems You may receive the following message from the Kickstart Status page during the guest's kickstart: The install process on the guest system has not communicated to RHN in the past n minutes. This may be due to a hung install process, or it may just be due to a slow install because of hardware constraints.
Page 198: Installing Software Via The Satellite Web Interface
Chapter 10. Virtualization This should provide you with a list all of the guests you created on your Satellite, including their ID number. look for the guest, guest1, that we created earlier in this list. If, for example, this guest has been assigned an ID of 2, then: 2.
Page 199: Deleting Virtual Systems
Deleting Virtual Systems However, the rhn-virtualization-host service can restart guests automatically in the event of a host system reboot. To use this service, follow these steps: 1. Locate the guest's config file on the host in /etc/sysconfig/rhn/virt/. It will be named by UUID, but the correct file can be found by using the grep command to search for the guest name within the UUID files.
Page 200 Chapter 10. Virtualization Then delete the file indicated. For example: rm /etc/sysconfig/rhn/virt/14e5cfbf72342515236ad74b260c2f6b.xml 5. You have successfully deleted a guest system from your host system and from Satellite.
Page 201: Cobbler
Chapter 11. Cobbler RHN Satellite features the Cobbler server that allows administrators to centralize their system installation and provisioning infrastructure. Cobbler is an installation server that collects the various methods of performing unattended system installations, whether it be server, workstation, or guest systems in a full or para-virtualized setup.
Page 202: Configuring Cobbler With /Etc/Cobbler/Settings
Chapter 11. Cobbler • iptables — Will remind you that if you are running an IPTables firewall, that you have rules set to allow ports 69 (TFTP), 80 (HTTPD), 25150 and 25151 (Cobbler). Run the cobbler check command as root on your system to see what settings and services need to be enabled to properly run Cobbler on your boot server.
Page 203: Xinetd And Tftp
Xinetd and TFTP 3. Then DHCP server then directs the system to the Cobbler server at 192.168.2.1. 4. Finally, the DHCP server refers to the boot image file (in this case, at /var/lib/tftpboot/ pxelinux.0. 11.1.4. Xinetd and TFTP Xinetd is a daemon that manages a suite of services, including TFTP, the FTP server used for transferring the boot image to a PXE client.
Page 204: Syncing And Starting The Cobbler Service
Chapter 11. Cobbler If you have an existing firewall ruleset using IPTables, you need to add the following rules to open the requisite Cobbler-related ports. The following lists each of the requisite rules with their associated service. • For TFTP: /sbin/iptables -A INPUT -m state --state NEW -m tcp -p tcp --dport 69 -j ACCEPT /sbin/iptables -A INPUT -m state --state NEW -m udp -p udp --dport 69 -j ACCEPT •...
Page 205: Adding A Distribution To Cobbler
Adding a Distribution to Cobbler 11.2. Adding a Distribution to Cobbler If all Cobbler prerequisites have been met and Cobbler is now running, you can now begin adding a distribution to the Cobbler if you have the content on the Cobbler server. For information about creating and configuring kickstart distributions from the RHN Satellite interface, Section 7.4.9.6, “Kickstart Distributions —...
Page 206: Adding A System To Cobbler
Chapter 11. Cobbler 11.4. Adding a System to Cobbler Once the distributions and profiles for Cobbler have been created, you can next add systems to Cobbler. System records map a piece of hardware on a client with the cobbler profile assigned to run on it.
Page 207: Using Templates
Using Templates • While templates can become complex and involve loops, conditionals and other enhanced features and syntax, it can also be used simply to make kickstart files without such complexity. 11.5.1. Using Templates Kickstart templates can have static values for certain common items such as PXE image filenames, subnet addresses, and common paths such as /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/.
Page 208: Using Koan
Chapter 11. Cobbler $SNIPPET('my_partition') Wherever you invoke that function, the Cheetah parser will substitute the function with the snippet of code contained in the my_partition file. For more information about kickstart snippets, refer to the Cobbler project page at the following URL: https://fedorahosted.org/cobbler/wiki/KickstartSnippets 11.6.
Page 209 Using Koan to Re-install Running Systems To replace a running system and install a new one, run the following command on the system itself: koan --replace-self --server=hostname --profile=name This command, when executed on the running system to be replaced, will start the provisioning process and replace its own system using the profile in --profile=name on the Cobbler server specified in --server=hostname.
Page 211: Unix Support Guide
Chapter 12. UNIX Support Guide 12.1. Introduction This chapter documents the installation procedure for, and identifies differences in, Red Hat Network functionality when used to manage UNIX-based client systems. RHN offers UNIX support to help customers migrate from UNIX to Linux. Because of the limited scope of this task, the features offered for UNIX client management are not as comprehensive as those available for managing Red Hat Enterprise Linux systems.
Page 212: Differences In Functionality
Chapter 12. UNIX Support Guide • The rhn_check program, which checks in with the Satellite and performs any actions scheduled from the server • All Management-level functionality, such as system grouping, package profile comparison, and use of the System Set Manager to administer multiple systems at once •...
Page 213 Satellite Server Preparation/Configuration Enable UNIX support on the Satellite by checking the "Enable Solaris Support" box during the installation process, as pictured: Figure 12.1. Enabling UNIX Support During Satellite Installation 2. After the Satellite has been installed: Enable UNIX support by configuring the Satellite after it has been installed. To do so, select Satellite Tools in the top menubar, then select Satellite Configuration in the left navigation bar.
Page 214: Client System Preparation
Chapter 12. UNIX Support Guide Figure 12.2. Enabling UNIX Support After Satellite Installation Click the Update Configuration button to confirm the change. 3. Finally, you must create a base channel to which your client systems may subscribe. This is because RHN does not provide UNIX content; as a result, you cannot use satellite-sync to create the channel.
Page 215: Download And Install Additional Packages
Download and Install Additional Packages 4. Configure the client applications to connect to the RHN Satellite. Once finished, your systems will be ready to begin receiving RHN updates. The following three section explain these steps in detail. 12.3.1. Download and Install Additional Packages This section steps you through the process of downloading and installing third-party applications and the RHN applications from the Satellite onto the UNIX client.
Page 216 Chapter 12. UNIX Support Guide To verify if a package is installed on the client, use the pkginfo command. For example, to check for a package that contains "zlib" in the name, run the following command: # pkginfo | grep zlib Note Solaris package archive names differ from the name of the installed package.
Page 217 You may choose to use the -n of pkgadd, which runs the command in non-interactive mode. However, this may cause the installation of some packages to fail silently on Solaris Continue until each package is installed in the RHN-specific path: /opt/redhat/rhn/solaris/. 12.3.1.5. Include RHN Packages in the PATH In order to make the RHN packages available at each login, you may wish to add them to your PATH.
Page 218: Deploying Client Ssl Certificates
# man -M /opt/redhat/rhn/solaris/man <man page> Finally, add the Red Hat Libraries to your PATH as you did with libgcc, openssl and zlib. crle -c /var/ld/ld.config -l <current library paths>:/opt/redhat/rhn/solaris/lib 12.3.2. Deploying Client SSL Certificates To ensure secure data transfer, Red Hat strongly recommends the use of SSL. The RHN Satellite eases implementation of SSL by generating the necessary certificates during its installation.
Page 219: Registration And Updates
SSL certificate described in Certificates”, for example: sslCACert[comment]=The CA cert used to verify the ssl server sslCACert=/opt/redhat/rhn/solaris/usr/share/rhn/RHN-ORG-TRUSTED-SSL-CERT Your client systems are now ready for registration with Red Hat Network and management by your Satellite.
Page 220: Obtaining Updates
Chapter 12. UNIX Support Guide 5. Use rhnreg_ks along with the --activationkey option to register the client with the Satellite. The string of characters that make up the key may be copied directly from the Activation Keys list on the website. The resulting command will look something like the following: rhnreg_ks --activationkey=b25fef0966659314ef9156786bd9f3af 6.
Page 221 Obtaining Updates 12.4.2.1.1. solaris2mpm Section 12.1.4, “Differences in Functionality”, solaris2mpm is part of RHN As mentioned briefly in Push for Solaris. The content that is pushed to a Solaris channel on the Satellite must first be in .mpm format. A .mpm file is an archive containing a description of the package data and the package or patch itself. The solaris2mpm command must be run on the client, never the Satellite.
Page 222 RHN, automatically starts at boot time. On Solaris systems, rhnsddoes not start at boot time by default. It can be started from the command line in this way: rhnsd --foreground --interval=240 The default location for rhnsd is /opt/redhat/rhn/solaris/usr/sbin/rhnsd. Below are the available options for rhnsd on Solaris: Option...
Page 223: Remote Commands
Remote Commands up2date command. The most significant difference is the absence of all options regarding source Table 12.4, “Update Agent Command Line Arguments” files. Refer to for the precise list of options available for UNIX systems. The command line version of the Red Hat Update Agent accepts the following arguments on UNIX systems: Argument Description...
Page 224: Issuing Commands
/etc/sysconfig/rhn/allowed-actions/ directory specific to your UNIX variant. For instance, in Solaris, issue this command to create the directory: mkdir -p /opt/redhat/rhn/solaris/etc/sysconfig/rhn/allowed-actions/script To create the requisite file in Solaris, issue this command: touch /opt/redhat/rhn/solaris/etc/sysconfig/rhn/allowed-actions/script/run 12.5.2.
Page 225: Red Hat Network Registration Client
Appendix A. Red Hat Network Registration Client Before you begin using Red Hat Network, you must create a username, password, and System Profile. The Red Hat Network Registration Client walks you through this process. Warning Only systems running Red Hat Enterprise Linux 2.1 need to use the Red Hat Network Registration Client before starting the Red Hat Update Agent.
Page 226 0. enableProxyAuth No 1. noSSLServerURL http://xmlrpc.rhn.redhat.com/XMLRPC 2. oemInfoFile / etc/sysconfig/rhn/oeminfo 3. enableProxy No 4. networkSetup Yes 5. httpProxy 6. proxyUser 7. serverURL https://xmlrpc.rhn.redhat.com/XMLRPC 8. proxyPassword 9. debug No Enter number of item to edit <return to exit, q to quit without saving>: Enter the number of the item to modify and enter a new value for the option.
Page 227: Starting The Red Hat Network Registration Client
Starting the Red Hat Network Registration Client If you require a proxy username and password, set enableProxyAuth to Yes to enable username/ password authentication for the proxy, and set proxyUser and proxyPassword to the appropriate username and password for the proxy. To bypass SSL, change the protocol for serverURL from https to http in the /etc/sysconfig/ rhn/rhn_register file.
Page 228 Yes. If you overwrite an existing system registration, you can delete the unused profile via the website at https://rhn.redhat.com. Figure A.3. Warning: This System Already Registered The opening screen for the Red Hat Network Registration Client provides a brief overview of the Figure A.4, “Welcome...
Page 229 Starting the Red Hat Network Registration Client Figure A.4. Welcome Screen Figure A.5, “Red Hat Privacy Statement”). The Red Hat is committed to protecting your privacy (see information gathered during the Red Hat Network registration process is used to create a System Profile.
Page 230: Registering A User Account
Appendix A. Red Hat Network Registration Client Figure A.5. Red Hat Privacy Statement A.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. Figure A.7, “Create a Unique Username and Password”, you must choose In the screen shown in...
Page 231 Registering a User Account Figure A.6. Error: Username Already Exists Note If you are already a member of redhat.com, you can use the same user name and password. However, you must continue with the registration process to create your System Profile.
Page 232: Registering A System Profile
Appendix A. Red Hat Network Registration Client Figure A.7. Create a Unique Username and Password Most users can leave the Org Info section blank. If you have an existing organization account, work with your Satellite Administrator to ensure that your system is added to that account.This requires entering your organization's ID and password in the provided text fields.
Page 233 Hardware System Profile • IP address • CPU model • CPU speed • Amount of RAM • PCI devices • Disk sizes • Mount points Figure A.8, “System Profile The next step is choosing a profile name for your system as shown in Hardware”.
Page 234: Software System Profile
Appendix A. Red Hat Network Registration Client A.4.2. Software System Profile The software System Profile consists of a list of RPM packages for which you wish to receive notifications. The Red Hat Network Registration Client displays 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 235 Software System Profile Figure A.10. RPM Package Information A.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 updated by Red Hat Network. To exclude a package, uncheck the package from the list by clicking Figure A.11, “Choose which RPM Packages the checkbox beside the package name.
Page 236: Finishing Registration
Appendix A. Red Hat Network Registration Client Figure A.11. Choose which RPM Packages to Exclude from System Profile A.5. Finishing Registration Figure A.12, “Finished Collecting Information for System Profile”, the last step of As seen in registration is to confirm that you want to send your System Profile to the Red Hat Network. If you choose Cancel at this point, no information is sent.
Page 237 Finishing Registration Figure A.12. Finished Collecting Information for System Profile Figure A.13, “Send System Profile to Red Hat Network” shows the progress bar displayed while your profile is sent. This process may take some time depending on your connection speed. Figure A.13.
Page 238: Entitling Your System
Now that you have registered your system, it must be entitled before you can receive updated packages. In other words, you must subscribe it to a service level offering. http://rhn.redhat.com To entitle a system, go to and log in using the same username and password you just used in the Red Hat Network Registration Client.
Page 239: Text Mode Rhn Registration Client
Text Mode RHN Registration Client Note Removing a required entitlement (such as Provisioning) will not cancel a previously scheduled action (such as a kickstart). As you change the selected entitlements for your systems, the number of available entitlements is updated at the bottom of the screen. A.7.
Page 241: Command Line Config Management Tools
Appendix B. 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 a system's configuration files: the Red Hat Network Configuration Client and the Red Hat Network Configuration Manager. There is a complementary Red Hat Network Actions Control tool that is used to enable and disable configuration management on client systems.
Page 242: Red Hat Network Configuration Client
Appendix B. Command Line Config Management Tools Option Description --disable-mtime-upload Disable mtime upload --disable-all Disable all options --disable-run Disable script.run --report Report whether the modes are enabled or disabled -f, --force Force the operation without asking first -h, --help show help message and exit Table B.1.
Page 243: Getting A Config File
Getting a Config File B.2.2. Getting a Config File To download the most relevant configuration file for the machine, issue the command: rhncfg-client get /etc/example-config.txt You should see output resembling: Deploying /etc/example-config.txt You may then view the contents of the file with less or another pager. Note that the file is selected as the most relevant based upon the rank of the config channel containing it.
Page 244: Verifying Config Files
Appendix B. Command Line Config Management Tools [root@ root]# rhncfg-client diff --topdir /home/test/blah/ /usr/bin/diff: /home/test/blah/ etc/example-config.txt: No such file or directory /usr/bin/diff: /home/test/blah/var/spool/ aalib.rpm: No such file or directory B.2.5. Verifying Config Files To quickly determine if client configuration files are different than those associated with it via RHN, issue the command: rhncfg-client verify The output resembles the following:...
Page 245: Creating A Config Channel
Creating a Config Channel server.session_lifetime = 120 The Red Hat Network Configuration Manager offers these primary modes: add, create-channel, diff, diff-revisions, download-channel, get, list, list-channels, remove, remove-channel, revisions, update, and upload-channel. Each mode offers its own set of options, which can be seen by issuing the following command: rhncfg-manager mode --help Replace mode with the name of the mode to be inspected: rhncfg-manager diff-revisions --help...
Page 246: Differentiating Between Latest Config Files
Appendix B. Command Line Config Management Tools Pushing to channel example-channel Local file >/path/to/file -> remote file /new/path/to/ file.txt The following table lists the options available for rhncfg-manager add: Option Description -cCHANNEL --channel=CHANNEL Upload files in this config channel -dDEST_FILE --dest-file=DEST_FILE Upload the file as this path --delim-start=DELIM_START Start delimiter for variable interpolation...
Page 247: Differentiating Between Various Versions
Differentiating between Various Versions B.3.4. Differentiating between Various Versions To compare different versions of a file across channels and revisions, use the -r flag to indicate which revision of the file should be compared and the -n flag to identify the two channels to be Section B.3.11, “Determining the Number of File Revisions”...
Page 248: Listing All Files In A Channel
Appendix B. Command Line Config Management Tools rhncfg-manager get --channel=channel-label \ /tmp/dest_path/example-config.txt You should see the contents of the file as output. B.3.7. Listing All Files in a Channel To list all the files in a channel, issue the command: rhncfg-manager list channel-label You should see output resembling: Files in config channel `example-channel3': /tmp/dest_path/example-config.txt...
Page 249: Deleting A Config Channel
Deleting a Config Channel Red Hat Network username: rhn-user Password: Removing from config channel example-channel3 / tmp/dest_path/example-config.txt removed The following table lists the options available for rhncfg-manager remove: Option Description -cCHANNEL, --channel=CHANNEL Remove files from this config channel -tTOPDIR, --topdir=TOPDIR Make all files relative to this string -h, --help Show help message and exit...
Page 250: Uploading Multiple Files At Once
Appendix B. Command Line Config Management Tools The following table lists the options available for rhncfg-manager update: Option Description -cCHANNEL, --channel=CHANNEL Upload files in this config channel -dDEST_FILE, --dest-file=DEST_FILE Upload the file as this path -tTOPDIR, --topdir=TOPDIR Make all files relative to this string --delim-start=DELIM_START Start delimiter for variable interpolation --delim-end=DELIM_END...
Page 251: Rhn Api Access
RHN website, then clicking API in the left navigation bar. Or you may go directly to: https:// rhn.redhat.com/rpc/api/. Use this URL for your XMLRPC server and your browser. The RHN API is based upon XML-RPC, which allows distinct pieces of software on disparate systems to make remote procedure calls using XML over HTTP.
Page 252: Channel Labels
Appendix C. RHN API Access follows the "=" symbol, as part of a string that resembles the following: "details.pxt?sgid=334958". Note that the member parameter within the set_group_membership method requires only yes or no as input to make the association. C.6. Channel Labels The architecture of a channel is not always clear from the channel label.
Page 253 Sample API Script ############################################################################ Defining an XMLRPC session. ############################################################################ # Define the host first. This will be the FQDN of your satellite system. my $HOST = 'satellite.server.yourdomain.com'; # Now we create the client object that will be used throughout the session. my $client = new Frontier::Client(url =>...
Page 255: Probes
Appendix D. Probes Section 7.10, “Monitoring — ”, Monitoring-entitled systems can have probes As described in applied to them that constantly confirm their health and full operability. This appendix lists the available probes broken down by command group, such as Apache. Many probes that monitor internal system aspects (such as the Linux::Disk Usage probe) rather than external aspects (such as the Network Services::SSH probe) require the installation of the Red Hat Network Monitoring Daemon (rhnmd).
Page 256: Apache 1.3.X And 2.0.X
Appendix D. Probes Important Some probes have thresholds based on time. In order for such CRITICAL and WARNING thresholds to work as intended, their values cannot exceed the amount of time allotted to the timeout period. Otherwise, an UNKNOWN status is returned in all instances of extended latency, thereby nullifying the thresholds.
Page 257: Apache::traffic
Apache::Traffic D.2.2. Apache::Traffic The Apache::Traffic probe monitors the requests on an Apache Web server and collects the following metrics: • Current Requests — The number of requests being processed by the server at probe runtime. • Request Rate — The accesses to the server per second since the probe last ran. •...
Page 258: Bea Weblogic 6.X And Higher
Appendix D. Probes D.3. BEA WebLogic 6.x and higher The probes in this section (with the exception of JDBC Connection Pool) can be configured to monitor the properties of any BEA WebLogic 6.x and higher server (Administration or Managed) running on a given host, even in a clustered environment.
Page 259: Bea Weblogic::heap Free
BEA WebLogic::Heap Free Field Value Critical Maximum Queue Length Warning Maximum Queue Length Critical Maximum Request Rate Warning Maximum Request Rate Table D.4. BEA WebLogic::Execute Queue settings D.3.2. BEA WebLogic::Heap Free The BEA WebLogic::Heap Free probe collects the following metric: •...
Page 260: Bea Weblogic::server State
Appendix D. Probes Field Value JDBC Pool Name* MyJDBC Connection Pool Critical Maximum Connections Warning Maximum Connections Critical Maximum Connection Rate Warning Maximum Connection Rate Critical Maximum Waiters Warning Maximum Waiters Table D.6. BEA WebLogic::JDBC Connection Pool settings D.3.4. BEA WebLogic::Server State The BEA WebLogic::Server State probe monitors the current state of a BEA Weblogic Web server.
Page 261: General
General Field Value SNMP Port* SNMP Version* BEA Domain Admin Server BEA Server Name* myserver Servlet Name* Critical Maximum High Execution Time Warning Maximum High Execution Time Critical Maximum Execution Time Moving Average Warning Maximum Execution Time Moving Average Table D.8. BEA WebLogic::Servlet settings D.4.
Page 262: General::snmp Check
Appendix D. Probes <perldata> <hash> <item key="data">10</item> <item key="status_message">status message here</item> </hash> </perldata> The required value for data is the data point to be inserted in the database for time-series trending. The status_message is optional and can be whatever text string is desired with a maximum length of 1024 bytes.
Page 263: General::tcp Check
General::TCP Check D.4.4. General::TCP Check The General::TCP Check probe tests your TCP server by verifying that it can connect to a system via the specified port number. It collects the following metric: • Remote Service Latency — The time it takes in seconds for the TCP server to answer a connection request.
Page 264: Linux
Appendix D. Probes Requirements — SNMP must be running on the monitored system and access to the OID must be enabled to perform this probe. This probe's transport protocol is User Datagram Protocol (UDP). Field Value SNMP Community String* public SNMP Port* SNMP Version* Timeout*...
Page 265: Linux::disk Usage
Linux::Disk Usage Field Value Disk number or disk name* Timeout* Critical Maximum KB read/second Warning Maximum KB read/second Warning Minimum KB read/second Critical Minimum KB read/second Critical Maximum KB written/second Warning Maximum KB written/second Warning Minimum KB written/second Critical Minimum KB written/second Table D.16.
Page 266: Linux::interface Traffic
Appendix D. Probes Requirements — The Red Hat Network Monitoring Daemon (rhnmd) must be running on the monitored system to execute this probe. Field Value File system* Timeout* Critical Maximum Inodes Percent Used Warning Maximum Inodes Percent Used Table D.18. Linux::Inodes settings D.5.5.
Page 267: Linux::memory Usage
Linux::Memory Usage Field Value Warning CPU Load 1-minute average Critical CPU Load 5-minute average Warning CPU Load 5-minute average Critical CPU Load 15-minute average Warning CPU Load 15-minute average Table D.20. Linux::Load settings D.5.7. Linux::Memory Usage The Linux::Memory Usage probe monitors the memory on a system and collects the following metric: •...
Page 268: Linux::process Count Total
Appendix D. Probes Field Value Warning Maximum Blocked Processes Critical Maximum Defunct Processes Warning Maximum Defunct Processes Critical Maximum Stopped Processes Warning Maximum Stopped Processes Critical Maximum Sleeping Processes Warning Maximum Sleeping Processes Critical Maximum Child Processes Warning Maximum Child Processes Table D.22.
Page 269: Linux::process Running
Linux::Process Running Specify the process by its command name or process ID. (PID). Entering a PID overrides the entry of a command name. If no command name or PID is entered, the error Command not found is displayed and the probe will be set to a CRITICAL state. Requirements —...
Page 270: Linux::swap Usage
Appendix D. Probes Field Value Critical Maximum Number Running Critical Minimum Number Running Table D.25. Linux::Process Running settings D.5.12. Linux::Swap Usage The Linux::Swap Usage probe monitors the swap partitions running on a system and reports the following metric: • Swap Free — The percent of swap memory currently free. Requirements —...
Page 271: Linux::users
Linux::Users Field Value Remote IP address filter pattern list Remote port number filter Timeout* Critical Maximum Total Connections Warning Maximum Total Connections Critical Maximum TIME_WAIT Connections Warning Maximum TIME_WAIT Connections Critical Maximum CLOSE_WAIT Connections Warning Maximum CLOSE_WAIT Connections Critical Maximum FIN_WAIT Connections Warning Maximum FIN_WAIT Connections Critical Maximum ESTABLISHED Connections Warning Maximum ESTABLISHED Connections...
Page 272: Logagent
Appendix D. Probes Field Value Critical Minimum Virtual Memory Free Table D.29. Linux::Virtual Memory settings D.6. LogAgent The probes in this section monitor the log files on your systems. You can use them to query logs for certain expressions and track the sizes of files. For LogAgent probes to run, the nocpulse user must be granted read access to your log files.
Page 273: Logagent::log Size
LogAgent::Log Size Field Value Timeout* Critical Maximum Matches Warning Maximum Matches Warning Minimum Matches Critical Minimum Matches Critical Maximum Match Rate Warning Maximum Match Rate Warning Minimum Match Rate Critical Maximum Match Rate Table D.30. LogAgent::Log Pattern Match settings D.6.2. LogAgent::Log Size The LogAgent::Log Size probe monitors log file growth and collects the following metrics: •...
Page 274: Mysql 3.23 - 3.33
Appendix D. Probes Field Value Warning Maximum Line Rate Warning Minimum Line Rate Critical Minimum Line Rate Table D.31. LogAgent::Log Size settings D.7. MySQL 3.23 - 3.33 The probes in this section monitor aspects of the MySQL database using the mysqladmin binary. No specific user privileges are needed for these probes.
Page 275: Mysql::open Tables
MySQL::Open Tables D.7.3. MySQL::Open Tables The MySQL::Open Tables probe monitors the MySQL server and collects the following metric: • Open Tables — The number of tables open when the probe runs. Field Value Username Password MySQL Port* 3306 Timeout Critical Maximum Open Objects Warning Maximum Open Objects Warning Minimum Open Objects Critical Minimum Open Objects...
Page 276: Network Services
Appendix D. Probes Field Value Warning Maximum Threads Running Warning Minimum Threads Running Critical Minimum Threads Running Table D.36. MySQL::Threads Running settings D.8. Network Services The probes in this section monitor various services integral to a functioning network. When applying them, ensure that their timed thresholds do not exceed the amount of time allotted to the timeout period.
Page 277: Network Services::imap Mail
Network Services::IMAP Mail Field Value Timeout* Critical Maximum Remote Service Latency Warning Maximum Remote Service Latency Table D.38. Network Services::FTP settings D.8.3. Network Services::IMAP Mail The Network Services::IMAP Mail probe determines if it can connect to the IMAP 4 service on the system.
Page 278: Network Services::pop Mail
Appendix D. Probes • Round-Trip Average — The time it takes in milliseconds for the ICMP ECHO packet to travel to and from the monitored system. • Packet Loss — The percent of data lost in transit. Although optional, the IP Address field can be instrumental in collecting metrics for systems that have multiple IP addresses.
Page 279: Network Services::remote Ping
Network Services::Remote Ping D.8.7. Network Services::Remote Ping The Network Services::Remote Ping probe determines if the monitored system can ping a specified IP address. It also monitors the packet loss and compares the round trip average against the Warning and Critical threshold levels. The required Packets to send value allows you to control how many ICMP ECHO packets are sent to the address.
Page 280: Network Services::secure Web Server (Https)
Appendix D. Probes Field Value Protocol (TCP/UDP) Service Name* Timeout* Critical Maximum Remote Service Latency Warning Maximum Remote Service Latency Table D.44. Network Services::RPCService settings D.8.9. Network Services::Secure Web Server (HTTPS) The Network Services::Secure Web Server (HTTPS) probe determines the availability of the secure Web server and collects the following metric: •...
Page 281: Network Services::web Server (Http)
Network Services::Web Server (HTTP) Upon successfully contacting the SSH server and receiving a valid response, the probe displays the protocol and server version information. If the probe receives an invalid response, it displays the message returned from the server and generates a WARNING state. Field Value SSH Port*...
Page 282: Oracle 8I, 9I, And 10G
Appendix D. Probes D.9. Oracle 8i, 9i, and 10g The probes in this section may be applied to instances of the Oracle database matching the versions supported. Oracle probes require the configuration of the database and associations made by running the following command: $ORACLE_HOME/rdbms/admin/catalog.sql In addition, for these probes to function properly, the Oracle user configured in the probe must have...
Page 283: Oracle::availability
Oracle::Availability D.9.2. Oracle::Availability The Oracle::Availability probe determines the availability of the database from the RHN Satellite. Field Value Oracle SID* Oracle Username* Oracle Password* Oracle Port* 1521 Timeout* Table D.49. Oracle::Availability settings D.9.3. Oracle::Blocking Sessions The Oracle::Blocking Sessions probe monitors an Oracle instance and collects the following metric: •...
Page 284: Oracle::client Connectivity
Appendix D. Probes Field Value Oracle SID* Oracle Username* Oracle Password* Oracle Port 1521 Timeout* Warning Minimum Buffer Cache Hit Ratio Critical Minimum Buffer Cache Hit Ratio Table D.51. Oracle::Buffer Cache settings D.9.5. Oracle::Client Connectivity The Oracle::Client Connectivity probe determines if the database is up and capable of receiving connections from the monitored system.
Page 285: Oracle::disk Sort Ratio
Oracle::Disk Sort Ratio Field Value Oracle SID* Oracle Username* Oracle Password* Oracle Port* 1521 Timeout* Warning Minimum Data Dictionary Hit Ratio Critical Minimum Data Dictionary Hit Ratio Table D.53. Oracle::Data Dictionary Cache settings D.9.7. Oracle::Disk Sort Ratio The Oracle::Disk Sort Ratio probe monitors an Oracle database instance and collects the following metric: •...
Page 286: Oracle::index Extents
Appendix D. Probes Field Value Warning Maximum Idle Sessions Table D.55. Oracle::Idle Sessions settings D.9.9. Oracle::Index Extents The Oracle::Index Extents probe monitors an Oracle instance and collects the following metric: • Allocated Extents — The number of allocated extents for any index. •...
Page 287: Oracle::locks
Oracle::Locks Field Value Timeout* Critical Maximum Library Cache Miss Ratio Warning Maximum Library Cache Miss Ratio Table D.57. Oracle::Library Cache settings D.9.11. Oracle::Locks The Oracle::Locks probe monitors an Oracle database instance and collects the following metric: • Active Locks — The current number of active locks as determined by the value in the v$locks table. Database administrators should be aware of high numbers of locks present in a database instance.
Page 288: Oracle::table Extents
Appendix D. Probes Field Value Critical Maximum Redo Log Space Request Rate Warning Maximum Redo Log Space Request Rate Critical Maximum Redo Buffer Allocation Retry Rate Warning Maximum Redo Buffer Allocation Retry Rate Table D.59. Oracle::Redo Log settings D.9.13. Oracle::Table Extents The Oracle::Table Extents probe monitors an Oracle database instance and collects the following metrics: •...
Page 289: Oracle::tns Ping
Oracle::TNS Ping • Available Space Used — The percentage of available space in each tablespace that has been used. Tablespace is the shared pool of space in which a set of tables live. This probe alerts the user when the total amount of available space falls below the threshold. Tablespace is measured in bytes, so extents do not factor into it directly (though each extension removes available space from the shared pool).
Page 290: Rhn Satellite::execution Time
Appendix D. Probes • Space Available — The file size available to the current file system. Field Value Device Pathname* /dev/hda1 Critical Maximum File System Used Warning Maximum File System Used Critical Maximum Space Used Warning Maximum Space Used Critical Maximum Space Available Warning Maximum Space Available Table D.63.
Page 291: Rhn Satellite::load
RHN Satellite::Load a Satellite is overloaded (because it has too many probes with respect to their average execution time), the number goes up. Field Value Critical Maximum Probe Latency Average Warning Maximum Probe Latency Average Table D.66. RHN Satellite::Latency settings D.10.5.
Page 292: Rhn Satellite::processes
Appendix D. Probes • Stopped — The number of processes that have stopped before their executions could be completed. • Sleeping — A process that is in the Interruptible sleep state and that can later be reintroduced into memory, resuming execution where it left off. Field Value Critical Maximum Blocked Processes...
Page 293: Rhn Satellite::process Running
RHN Satellite::Process Running • Virtual Memory Used — The amount of virtual memory in kilobytes being used by the specified process, or the size of the process in real memory plus swap. Specify the process by its command name or process ID. (PID). Entering a PID overrides the entry of a command name.
Page 294: Rhn Satellite::users
Appendix D. Probes D.10.12. RHN Satellite::Users The RHN Satellite::Users probe monitors the number of users currently logged into a Satellite. A CRITICAL status results if the value exceeds the Critical threshold. A WARNING status results if the value exceeds the Warning threshold. Field Value Critical Maximum Users...
Page 295: Glossary
Bugzilla Bugzilla is an online application (http://www.redhat.com/bugzilla that allows users to communicate directly with the developers. From Bugzilla, users can submit bug reports and feature requests for Red Hat Enterprise Linux and related open source packages.
Page 296 The information includes the topics of the Errata, Bugzilla bug IDs, relevant releases/architectures, solutions including required RPMs, and MD5 checksums for verification. Errata are also available at http://www.redhat.com/errata/. Each RHN Errata Alert is based on the Red Hat Enterprise Linux Errata List.
Page 297 Red Hat Update Agent The RHN client application (up2date) that allows users to retrieve and install all updated packages for the client system on which the application is run. Use the Red Hat Update Agent Configuration Tool to configure its preferences, including whether to install the packages after they are downloaded.
Page 298 Glossary System Profile Hardware and software information about the client system. It is created during the registration process. The software information is a list of RPM packages and their versions installed on the client system. Errata Alert The System Profile is used to determine every relevant to each client system.
Page 299 Appendix E. Revision History Revision 1.0 Fri Feb 27 2009...
Page 301 Index Red Hat, 119 Shared, 119 Channels and Packages Channel List, 117 child channel, 117 account client applications deactivate, 64 obtaining, 5 action redirecting, 206 completed systems, 133 client systems details, 133 configuring, 206 failed systems, 133 registering, 207 in progress systems, 133 updating, 208 activation key, 95 Cobbler, 189...
Page 302 Index Errata notifications nocpulse, 252 automatic updates, 4 Process Count Total, 256 Errata Updates Process Counts by State, 255 applying, 114 Process Health, 256 searching, 115 Process Running, 257 viewing details, 114 Swap Usage, 258 viewing list of all errata, 113 TCP Connections by State, 258 viewing list of applicable errata, 113 Users, 259...
Page 303 Help, 146 Your Account, 63 navigation, 55 Your Preferences, 64 Network Services overview of website, 56 DNS Lookup, 264 FTP, 264 IMAP Mail, 265 package installation Mail Transfer (SMTP), 265 scheduled, 4 Ping, 265 package list POP Mail, 266 Updating on server, 40, 77 probes, 264 Package Updater (pup) Remote Ping, 267...
Page 304 Index Virtual Memory, 259 WebLogic LogAgent Execute Queue, 246 Log Pattern Match, 260 Heap Free, 247 Log Size, 261 JDBC Connection Pool, 247 MySQL Server State, 248 Database Accessibility, 262 Servlet, 248 Open Tables, 263 Probes Opened Tables, 262 Monitoring, 157 Query Rate, 263 probes Threads Running, 263...
Page 305 adding to panel, 51 starting, 21 applying Errata Updates, 54 synchronizing system profile, 40 configuring, 51 reference guide icons, 53 bug reporting, xii launching RHN website, 54 conventions, xi requirements, 51 introduction to the, xi with a proxy server, 52 registering Red Hat Network Configuration Client with activation keys, 46...
Page 306 Index complete description, 7 system groups joining and leaving, 83 system list, 67 System Profile, 220 Satellite Administrator, 136 Custom Information, 76 Schedule, 131 Notes, 76 Scheduled Actions Reactivation, 75 Action Details, 133 Updating hardware profile, 76 Actions List, 132 Updating package list, 40, 77 Archived Actions, 132 Updating Properties, 74...
Page 307 variables macros in configuration files, 128 WebLogic Execute Queue, 246 Heap Free, 247 JDBC Connection Pool, 247 probes, 246 Server State, 248 Servlet, 248 website, 55 activation keys, 95 All Errata, 113 Channel List, 117 Channels, 117 custom system information, 98 Errata, 112 Erratum Search, 115 Help, 146...

Red Hat NETWORK SATELLITE 5.3.0 Reference Manual

Quick Links

Troubleshooting

Need help?

Questions and answers

Related Manuals for Red Hat RED HAT NETWORK SATELLITE 5.3.0

Summary of Contents for Red Hat RED HAT NETWORK SATELLITE 5.3.0