Registering With Activation Keys - Red Hat NETWORK SATELLITE 5.3.0 Reference Manual

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. Each unique key can be used to register Red
Hat Enterprise Linux systems, entitle them to an RHN service level, and subscribe them to specific
channels and system groups, all in one action. This automation bypasses entitlement and registration
via Red Hat Network Registration Client and Red Hat Update Agent.
Alternatively, both the Red Hat Network Registration Client and Red Hat Update Agent offer the
activation keys utility rhnreg_ks as part of their packages.
Note
Systems running Red Hat Enterprise Linux 2.1 need version 2.9.3-1 or higher of the
rhn_register package. It is highly recommended that you obtain the latest version
before using activation keys.
Before using an activation key you must first generate one through the RHN website. Refer to
Section 7.4.6, "Activation Keys —
To use an activation key, run the following command as root from a shell prompt on the system to be
registered:
rhnreg_ks --activationkey=7202f3b7d218cf59b764f9f6e9fa281b
The precise value of the activation key varies.
Systems running Red Hat Enterprise Linux 2.1 substitute the --serialnumber option for the --
activationkey option:
rhnreg_ks --serialnumber=7202f3b7d218cf59b764f9f6e9fa281b
In addition, Provisioning-entitled systems may use multiple activation keys at once, either at the
command line or within kickstart profiles. This allows Administrators to include a variety of values
without creating a special key for the desired results. To do this, specify the keys separated by
commas, like this:
rhnreg_ks --activationkey=7202f3b7d218cf59b764f9f6e9fa281b,\ 39f41081f0329c20798876f37cb9p6a3
Note
The trailing backslash (\) in this command example is a continuation character; it may
safely be omitted.
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for precise steps.