Red Hat NETWORK SATELLITE 5.3.0 - CHANNEL MANAGEMENT User manual

Red Hat Network
Satellite 5.3.0
Reference Guide
Red Hat Network Satellite

Reference Guide
Red Hat Network Satellite 5.3.0 Reference Guide
Red Hat Network Satellite
Edition 2
Copyright © 2010 Red Hat, Inc.
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iii
Introduction to the Guide xi
1. More to Come ................................................................................................................ xi
1.1. Send in Your Feedback ....................................................................................... xii
1. Red Hat Network Overview 1
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. Security, Quality Assurance, and Red Hat Network ........................................................ 5
1.7. Before You Begin ......................................................................................................... 5
2. The rhn_register Client 7
2.1. Using rhn_register .................................................................................................. 7
2.1.1. Command-line version of rhn_register ......................................................... 13
3. Package Updater 15
3.1. Using the Package Updater ....................................................................................... 15
3.2. The Package Updater Applet ..................................................................................... 17
3.3. Updating Packages from the Command Line with yum .................................................. 18
3.3.1. yum Commands ............................................................................................... 18
4. Red Hat Update Agent 21
4.1. Starting the Red Hat Update Agent ............................................................................ 21
4.2. Registration ................................................................................................................ 24
4.2.1. Registering a User Account .............................................................................. 25
4.2.2. Activate ........................................................................................................... 27
4.2.3. Channels ......................................................................................................... 29
4.2.4. Packages Flagged to be Skipped ..................................................................... 31
4.2.5. Available Package Updates .............................................................................. 31
4.2.6. Retrieving Packages ........................................................................................ 33
4.2.7. Installing Packages .......................................................................................... 34
4.3. Command Line Version .............................................................................................. 36
4.3.1. Installing the Red Hat GPG key ........................................................................ 39
4.3.2. Manual Package Installation ............................................................................. 40
4.3.3. Synchronizing Your System Profile ................................................................... 40
4.3.4. Log File .......................................................................................................... 41
4.4. Configuration .............................................................................................................. 41
4.4.1. Using the Red Hat Update Agent Configuration Tool ...................................... 41
4.4.2. Command Line Version .................................................................................... 45
4.5. Registering with Activation Keys .................................................................................. 46
4.6. Registering a System to an Organization ..................................................................... 47
5. Red Hat Network Daemon 49
5.1. Configuring ................................................................................................................ 49
5.2. Viewing Status ........................................................................................................... 49
5.3. Disabling .................................................................................................................... 49
5.4. Troubleshooting .......................................................................................................... 49
6. Red Hat Network Alert Notification Tool 51
6.1. Configuring the Applet ................................................................................................ 51
6.2. Notification Icons ........................................................................................................ 53
6.3. Viewing Updates ........................................................................................................ 53

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6.4. Applying Updates ....................................................................................................... 54
6.5. Launching the RHN Website ....................................................................................... 54
7. Red Hat Network Website 55
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. Quick Search .................................................................................................. 59
7.1.5. Systems Selected ............................................................................................ 59
7.1.6. Lists ................................................................................................................ 60
7.2. Logging into the RHN Website .................................................................................... 60
7.3. Overview .................................................................................................................... 62
7.3.1. Your Account ................................................................................................... 63
7.3.2. Your Preferences ............................................................................................. 64
7.3.3. Locale Preferences .......................................................................................... 65
7.3.4. Subscription Management ................................................................................ 65
7.3.5. Organization Trusts .......................................................................................... 67
7.4. Systems ..................................................................................................................... 67
7.4.1. Overview — ........................................................................................... 67
7.4.2. Systems .......................................................................................................... 67
7.4.3. System Groups — .................................................................................. 84
7.4.4. System Set Manager — .......................................................................... 87
7.4.5. Advanced Search — ............................................................................... 93
7.4.6. Activation Keys — .................................................................................. 95
7.4.7. Stored Profiles — ................................................................................... 98
7.4.8. Custom System Info — ........................................................................... 98
7.4.9. Kickstart — ............................................................................................ 99
7.5. Errata ....................................................................................................................... 112
7.5.1. Relevant Errata .............................................................................................. 113
7.5.2. All Errata ....................................................................................................... 113
7.5.3. Advanced Search .......................................................................................... 115
7.6. Channels .................................................................................................................. 117
7.6.1. Software Channels ......................................................................................... 117
7.6.2. Package Search ............................................................................................ 122
7.6.3. Manage Software Channels ............................................................................ 123
7.7. Configuration ............................................................................................................ 124
7.7.1. Preparing Systems for Config Management ..................................................... 125
7.7.2. Overview ....................................................................................................... 125
7.7.3. Configuration Channels .................................................................................. 126
7.7.4. Configuration Files ......................................................................................... 127
7.7.5. Locally-Managed Files ................................................................................... 128
7.7.6. Systems ........................................................................................................ 130
7.8. Schedule .................................................................................................................. 131

v
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 — ..................................................................... 139
7.9.3. User List � All — ................................................................................... 139
7.10. Monitoring — ................................................................................................. 139
7.10.1. Probe Status — .................................................................................. 139
7.10.2. Notification — ..................................................................................... 141
7.10.3. Probe Suites ................................................................................................ 143
7.10.4. Scout Config Push — .......................................................................... 144
7.10.5. General Config — ............................................................................... 145
7.11. Admin ..................................................................................................................... 145
7.11.1. Admin � Organizations .................................................................................. 145
7.11.2. Admin � RHN Satellite Configuration .............................................................. 145
7.12. Help ....................................................................................................................... 146
7.12.1. Reference Guide .......................................................................................... 146
7.12.2. Satellite Installation Guide ............................................................................ 146
7.12.3. Proxy Guide ................................................................................................ 147
7.12.4. Client Configuration Guide ............................................................................ 147
7.12.5. Channel Management Guide ........................................................................ 147
7.12.6. Release Notes ............................................................................................. 147
7.12.7. API .............................................................................................................. 147
7.12.8. Search ........................................................................................................ 148
8. Monitoring 151
8.1. Prerequisites ............................................................................................................ 151
8.2. Red Hat Network Monitoring Daemon (rhnmd) ........................................................... 151
8.2.1. Probes requiring the daemon ......................................................................... 152
8.2.2. Installing the Red Hat Network Monitoring Daemon .......................................... 152
8.2.3. Configuring SSH ............................................................................................ 153
8.2.4. Installing the SSH key .................................................................................... 154
8.3. mysql package ........................................................................................................ 154
8.4. Notifications .............................................................................................................. 155
8.4.1. Creating Notification Methods ......................................................................... 155
8.4.2. Receiving Notifications ................................................................................... 155
8.4.3. Redirecting Notifications ................................................................................. 156
8.4.4. Filtering Notifications ...................................................................................... 157
8.4.5. Deleting Notification Methods ......................................................................... 157
8.5. Probes ..................................................................................................................... 157

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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 163
9.1. Recommended Models for Using Multiple Organizations ............................................ 163
9.1.1. Centrally-Managed Satellite for A Multi-Department Organization ...................... 163
9.1.2. Decentralized Management of Multiple Third Party Organizations ...................... 164
9.1.3. General Tips for Multi-Org Usage ................................................................... 165
9.2. Admin � Organizations .............................................................................................. 166
9.2.1. Admin � Organizations � Details ...................................................................... 167
9.3. Creating an Organization .......................................................................................... 168
9.4. Managing Entitlements .............................................................................................. 169
9.4.1. Admin � Subscriptions � Software Channel Entitlements .................................... 169
9.4.2. Admin � Subscriptions � System Entitlements ................................................... 170
9.5. Configuring Systems in an Organization .................................................................... 170
9.6. Organizational Trusts ................................................................................................ 171
9.6.1. Establishing an Organizational Trust ............................................................... 171
9.6.2. Sharing Content Channels between Organizations in a Trust ............................ 172
9.6.3. Migrating Systems from One Trusted Organization to Another ........................... 173
9.7. Admin � Users .......................................................................................................... 176
9.7.1. Admin � Organizations � Details � Users .......................................................... 176
10. Virtualization 177
10.1. Setting Up the Host System for Your Virtual Systems ................................................ 177
10.1.1. Create a Kickstart Profile for the Guest Systems ............................................ 177
10.1.2. Kickstart Your Host System .......................................................................... 178
10.2. Setting Up Your Virtual Systems .............................................................................. 182
10.2.1. Create a Kickstart Profile for the Guest Systems ............................................ 183
10.2.2. Provision Your Guest Systems ...................................................................... 184
10.3. Working With Your Virtual Systems .......................................................................... 185
10.3.1. Logging into Virtual Systems Directly via SSH ................................................ 185
10.3.2. Gaining Console Access Via the Host ........................................................... 185
10.3.3. Installing Software Via the Satellite Web Interface .......................................... 186
10.3.4. Installing Software Via Yum From the Virtual System ...................................... 186
10.3.5. Restarting Guests when Host Reboots .......................................................... 186
10.3.6. Deleting Virtual Systems ............................................................................... 187
11. Cobbler 189
11.1. Cobbler Requirements ............................................................................................. 189
11.1.1. Using cobbler check ............................................................................... 189
11.1.2. Configuring Cobbler with /etc/cobbler/settings .................................... 190
11.1.3. Cobbler and DHCP ...................................................................................... 190
11.1.4. Xinetd and TFTP .......................................................................................... 191
11.1.5. Configuring SELinux and IPTables for Cobbler Support ................................... 191
11.1.6. Syncing and Starting the Cobbler Service ...................................................... 192
11.2. Adding a Distribution to Cobbler .............................................................................. 193
11.3. Adding a Profile to Cobbler ..................................................................................... 193
11.4. Adding a System to Cobbler .................................................................................... 194
11.5. Cobbler Templates .................................................................................................. 194

vii
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 199
12.1. Introduction ............................................................................................................ 199
12.1.1. Supported UNIX Variants .............................................................................. 199
12.1.2. Prerequisites ................................................................................................ 199
12.1.3. Included Features ........................................................................................ 199
12.1.4. Differences in Functionality ........................................................................... 200
12.1.5. Excluded Features ....................................................................................... 200
12.2. Satellite Server Preparation/Configuration ................................................................ 200
12.3. Client System Preparation ....................................................................................... 202
12.3.1. Download and Install Additional Packages ..................................................... 203
12.3.2. Deploying Client SSL Certificates .................................................................. 206
12.3.3. Configuring the clients .................................................................................. 206
12.4. Registration and Updates ........................................................................................ 207
12.4.1. Registering Systems .................................................................................... 207
12.4.2. Obtaining Updates ....................................................................................... 208
12.5. Remote Commands ................................................................................................ 211
12.5.1. Enabling Commands .................................................................................... 211
12.5.2. Issuing Commands ...................................................................................... 212
A. Red Hat Network Registration Client 213
A.1. Configuring the Red Hat Network Registration Client .............................................. 213
A.2. Starting the Red Hat Network Registration Client .................................................... 215
A.3. Registering a User Account ...................................................................................... 218
A.4. Registering a System Profile ..................................................................................... 220
A.4.1. Hardware System Profile ............................................................................... 220
A.4.2. Software System Profile ................................................................................. 222
A.5. Finishing Registration ............................................................................................... 224
A.6. Entitling Your System ............................................................................................... 226
A.7. Text Mode RHN Registration Client ........................................................................... 227
B. Command Line Config Management Tools 229
B.1. Red Hat Network Actions Control .......................................................................... 229
B.1.1. General command line options ....................................................................... 229
B.2. Red Hat Network Configuration Client ................................................................... 230
B.2.1. Listing Config Files ........................................................................................ 230
B.2.2. Getting a Config File ..................................................................................... 231
B.2.3. Viewing Config Channels ............................................................................... 231
B.2.4. Differentiating between Config Files ................................................................ 231
B.2.5. Verifying Config Files ..................................................................................... 232
B.3. Red Hat Network Configuration Manager ............................................................... 232
B.3.1. Creating a Config Channel ............................................................................. 233
B.3.2. Adding Files to a Config Channel ................................................................... 233
B.3.3. Differentiating between Latest Config Files ...................................................... 234
B.3.4. Differentiating between Various Versions ......................................................... 235
B.3.5. Downloading All Files in a Channel ................................................................ 235
B.3.6. Getting the Contents of a File ........................................................................ 235
B.3.7. Listing All Files in a Channel .......................................................................... 236

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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. Uploading Multiple Files at Once .................................................................. 238
C. RHN API Access 239
C.1. Using the auth Class and Getting the Session ........................................................... 239
C.2. Obtaining the system_id ........................................................................................... 239
C.3. Determining the sid .................................................................................................. 239
C.4. Viewing the cid ........................................................................................................ 239
C.5. Getting the sgid ....................................................................................................... 239
C.6. Channel Labels ........................................................................................................ 240
C.7. Sample API Script .................................................................................................... 240
D. Probes 243
D.1. Probe Guidelines ..................................................................................................... 243
D.2. Apache 1.3.x and 2.0.x ............................................................................................ 244
D.2.1. Apache::Processes ........................................................................................ 244
D.2.2. Apache::Traffic .............................................................................................. 245
D.2.3. Apache::Uptime ............................................................................................. 245
D.3. BEA WebLogic 6.x and higher .................................................................................. 246
D.3.1. BEA WebLogic::Execute Queue ..................................................................... 246
D.3.2. BEA WebLogic::Heap Free ............................................................................ 247
D.3.3. BEA WebLogic::JDBC Connection Pool .......................................................... 247
D.3.4. BEA WebLogic::Server State ......................................................................... 248
D.3.5. BEA WebLogic::Servlet .................................................................................. 248
D.4. General ................................................................................................................... 249
D.4.1. General::Remote Program ............................................................................. 249
D.4.2. General::Remote Program with Data .............................................................. 249
D.4.3. General::SNMP Check ................................................................................... 250
D.4.4. General::TCP Check ...................................................................................... 251
D.4.5. General::UDP Check ..................................................................................... 251
D.4.6. General::Uptime (SNMP) ............................................................................... 251
D.5. Linux ....................................................................................................................... 252
D.5.1. Linux::CPU Usage ......................................................................................... 252
D.5.2. Linux::Disk IO Throughput ............................................................................. 252
D.5.3. Linux::Disk Usage ......................................................................................... 253
D.5.4. Linux::Inodes ................................................................................................. 253
D.5.5. Linux::Interface Traffic .................................................................................... 254
D.5.6. Linux::Load ................................................................................................... 254
D.5.7. Linux::Memory Usage .................................................................................... 255
D.5.8. Linux::Process Counts by State ...................................................................... 255
D.5.9. Linux::Process Count Total ............................................................................ 256
D.5.10. Linux::Process Health .................................................................................. 256
D.5.11. Linux::Process Running ................................................................................ 257
D.5.12. Linux::Swap Usage ...................................................................................... 258
D.5.13. Linux::TCP Connections by State ................................................................. 258
D.5.14. Linux::Users ................................................................................................ 259
D.5.15. Linux::Virtual Memory .................................................................................. 259
D.6. LogAgent ................................................................................................................. 260

ix
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. Network Services ..................................................................................................... 264
D.8.1. Network Services::DNS Lookup ...................................................................... 264
D.8.2. Network Services::FTP .................................................................................. 264
D.8.3. Network Services::IMAP Mail ......................................................................... 265
D.8.4. Network Services::Mail Transfer (SMTP) ......................................................... 265
D.8.5. Network Services::Ping .................................................................................. 265
D.8.6. Network Services::POP Mail .......................................................................... 266
D.8.7. Network Services::Remote Ping ..................................................................... 267
D.8.8. Network Services::RPCService ....................................................................... 267
D.8.9. Network Services::Secure Web Server (HTTPS) .............................................. 268
D.8.10. Network Services::SSH ................................................................................ 268
D.8.11. Network Services::Web Server (HTTP) .......................................................... 269
D.9. Oracle 8i, 9i, and 10g .............................................................................................. 270
D.9.1. Oracle::Active Sessions ................................................................................. 270
D.9.2. Oracle::Availability ......................................................................................... 271
D.9.3. Oracle::Blocking Sessions .............................................................................. 271
D.9.4. Oracle::Buffer Cache ..................................................................................... 271
D.9.5. Oracle::Client Connectivity ............................................................................. 272
D.9.6. Oracle::Data Dictionary Cache ....................................................................... 272
D.9.7. Oracle::Disk Sort Ratio .................................................................................. 273
D.9.8. Oracle::Idle Sessions ..................................................................................... 273
D.9.9. Oracle::Index Extents .................................................................................... 274
D.9.10. Oracle::Library Cache .................................................................................. 274
D.9.11. Oracle::Locks .............................................................................................. 275
D.9.12. Oracle::Redo Log ........................................................................................ 275
D.9.13. Oracle::Table Extents ................................................................................... 276
D.9.14. Oracle::Tablespace Usage ........................................................................... 276
D.9.15. Oracle::TNS Ping ........................................................................................ 277
D.10. RHN Satellite ......................................................................................................... 277
D.10.1. RHN Satellite::Disk Space ............................................................................ 277
D.10.2. RHN Satellite::Execution Time ...................................................................... 278
D.10.3. RHN Satellite::Interface Traffic ...................................................................... 278
D.10.4. RHN Satellite::Latency ................................................................................. 278
D.10.5. RHN Satellite::Load ..................................................................................... 279
D.10.6. RHN Satellite::Probe Count .......................................................................... 279
D.10.7. RHN Satellite::Process Counts ..................................................................... 279
D.10.8. RHN Satellite::Processes ............................................................................. 280
D.10.9. RHN Satellite::Process Health ...................................................................... 280
D.10.10. RHN Satellite::Process Running ................................................................. 281
D.10.11. RHN Satellite::Swap ................................................................................... 281
D.10.12. RHN Satellite::Users .................................................................................. 282
Glossary 283

Reference Guide
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E. Revision History 287
Index 289

xi
Introduction to the Guide
Welcome to the Red Hat Network Satellite 5.3.0 Reference Guide. The RHN Reference Guide guides
you through registering systems with Red Hat Network and using its many features.
Since Red Hat Network offers a variety of service levels, from the most basic Update module to the
most advanced Monitoring package, some content of this guide may be inapplicable to you. This is
particularly true of the RHN website, which displays selected categories, pages, and tabs depending
on the entitlement level of the account used to log in. Refer to Chapter 7, Red Hat Network Website to
determine what is available to you.
Depending on the version of Red Hat Enterprise Linux installed and the addition of new features,
the Red Hat Network Registration Client and the Red Hat Update Agent may differ from the
descriptions in this manual. Use Red Hat Network to update these applications before referring to the
latest version of this manual.
All versions of this manual are available in HTML and PDF formats at http://www.redhat.com/docs/
manuals/satellite/.
Warning
Systems running Red Hat Enterprise Linux 2.1 must use the Red Hat Network
Registration Client before starting the Red Hat Update Agent. Refer to Appendix A,
Red Hat Network Registration Client for instructions. Systems running Red Hat
Enterprise Linux 3, 4, and 5 or later register with the Red Hat Update Agent. Refer to
Chapter 4, Red Hat Update Agent for instructions.
For an overview of RHN Satellite offerings, please review the descriptions available at https://
www.redhat.com/systems_management/ and http://www.redhat.com/rhn/.
1. More to Come
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
Although this manual reflects the most current information possible, read the RHN
Release Notes for information that may not have been available prior to the finalization
of the documentation. The notes can be found on the RHN website and at http://
www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/satellite/.
The following RHN documentation has been translated for this RHN Satellite release: RHN Satellite
Reference Guide, RHN Satellite Installation Guide, RHN Client Configuration Guide, RHN Channel
Management Guide, and RHN Satellite Release Notes. Translated documentation is available at http://
www.redhat.com/docs/ under Red Hat Network Satellite.

Introduction to the Guide
xii
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).

Chapter 1.
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?
Have you ever spent hours or even days visiting different websites to see if you have the latest
packages installed on your system, only to have to do it again in a few months?
Those days are over with Red Hat Network (RHN). RHN provides the solution to all your system
software management needs.
Red Hat Network is an Internet solution for managing a single Red Hat Enterprise Linux system or a
network of Red Hat Enterprise Linux systems. All Security Alerts, Bug Fix Alerts, and Enhancement
Alerts (collectively known as Errata Alerts) can be downloaded directly from Red Hat or your own
custom collection. You can even schedule updates for delivery to your system immediately after
release.
The main components of Red Hat Network are as follows:
• the Red Hat Update Agent
• the Red Hat Network website, whether this is hosted by the central RHN Servers, an RHN Satellite,
or fed through an RHN Proxy Server
• Red Hat Network Daemon
• the Red Hat Network Registration Client - for systems running Red Hat Enterprise Linux 2.1 only.
The Red Hat Update Agent (up2date) provides your initial connection to Red Hat Network. Red
Hat Enterprise Linux 3 and newer systems use the Red Hat Update Agent to register with RHN.
Registration involves creating a unique RHN username and password, probing the hardware on your
system to create a Hardware Profile, and probing the software packages installed on your system
to create a Package Profile. This information is sent to RHN and RHN returns a unique System ID
to your system. Once registered, the Red Hat Update Agent enables channel subscription, package
installs, and management of System Profiles. See Chapter 4, Red Hat Update Agent for further
information.
The Red Hat Update Agent, as the base component of RHN, is designed to manage a single system.
It allows the system's superuser to view and apply Errata to the system. The RHN web interface
facilitates the management, monitoring, and provisioning of a large deployment of systems, including
the configuration of the Red Hat Update Agent for each system.
The Red Hat Network Daemon (rhnsd) runs in the background as a service and probes the Red Hat
Network for notifications and updates at set time intervals (see Chapter 5, Red Hat Network Daemon
for further information). This daemon is necessary in order to schedule updates or other actions
through the website.

Chapter 1. Red Hat Network Overview
2
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 uses the rhn_register application documented in Chapter 2, The
rhn_register Client, while Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3 and 4 have registration functionality built into
the Red Hat Update Agent.
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.
Tip
For a comparison chart of RHN service levels, refer to http://www.redhat.com/rhn/
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. Updated Subscription to Update can be purchased at
https://www.redhat.com/apps/commerce/rhn/.
With each Update subscription, you receive the following services:
• Download Software — For customers who have purchased subscriptions to Red Hat Network, ISO
images are available for immediate download.
• Priority Access during periods of high load — When Red Hat releases a large erratum, users
with Priority Access can be guaranteed that they will be able to access the updated packages
immediately.
• RHN Support Access — All paying customers of Red Hat Network receive web based support for
their RHN questions.
• Errata Notification, Multiple Systems — Subscriptions for multiple systems means Errata notification
for Errata to all of those systems. Note that only one email is distributed per each Erratum,
regardless of the number of systems affected.
• Errata Updates, Multiple Systems — Get quick updates for multiple systems with an easy button
click for each system.
1.2. Management
In addition to the features offered in the RHN Update subscription level, the RHN Management
subscription service allows you to manage your network of Red Hat Enterprise Linux systems, users,
and system groups through its System Set Manager interface.
RHN Management is based upon the concept of an organization. Each Management-level Red Hat
customer has the ability to establish users who have administration privileges to system groups. An
Organization Administrator has overall control over each Red Hat Network organization with the ability
to add and remove systems and users. When users other than the Satellite Administrator log into the
Red Hat Network website, they see only the systems they have permission to administer.
To create an account that can be used to entitle systems to RHN Management, go to https://
rhn.redhat.com/1 and click on the Create Login link under the Sign In fields. On the Create a Red
1 https://rhn.redhat.com/

Provisioning
3
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. With each Management subscription, you receive the functionality provided
to Update users, plus:
• Package Profile Comparison — Compare the package set on a system with the package sets of
similar systems with one click.
• Search Systems — Search through systems based on a number of criteria: packages, networking
information, even hardware asset tags.
• System Grouping — Web servers, database servers, workstations and other workload-focused
systems may be grouped so that each set can be administered in common ways.
• Multiple Administrators — Administrators may be given rights to particular system groups, easing
the burden of system management over very large organizations.
• System Set Manager — You may now apply actions to sets of systems instead of single systems,
work with members of a predefined system group, or work with an ad-hoc collection of systems.
Install a single software package to each, subscribe the systems to a new channel, or apply all
Errata to them with a single action.
• Batch Processing — Compiling a list of outdated packages for a thousand systems would take days
for a dedicated sysadmin. Red Hat Network Management service can do it for you in seconds.
1.3. Provisioning
As the highest management service level, RHN Provisioning encompasses all of the features offered
in the RHN Update and Management subscription levels. It is designed to allow you to deploy and
manage your network of Red Hat Enterprise Linux systems, users, and system groups.
Like Management, Provisioning is based upon an organization. It takes this concept a step further by
enabling customers with Provisioning entitlements to kickstart, reconfigure, track, and revert systems
on the fly.
In addition to all of the features mentioned in lower service levels, Provisioning provides:
• Kickstarting — Systems with Provisioning entitlements may be re-installed through RHN with a
whole host of options established in kickstart profiles. Options include everything from the type of
bootloader and time zone to packages included/excluded and IP address ranges allowed. Even
GPG and SSL keys can be pre-configured.
• Client Configuration — RHN Satellite Customers may use RHN to manage the configuration files
on Provisioning-entitled systems. Users can upload files to custom configurations channels on the
Satellite, verify local configuration files against those stored on the Satellite, and deploy files from
the Satellite.
• Snapshot Rollbacks — Provisioning-level users have the ability to revert the package profile and
RHN settings of systems. RHN Satellite customers can also roll back local configurations files. This
is possible because snapshots are captured whenever an action takes place on a system. These
snapshots identify groups, channels, packages, and configuration files.

Chapter 1. Red Hat Network Overview
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• 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. For instance, this feature allows you to identify the
cubicle in which each system is located and search through all registered systems according to their
cubicle.
1.4. Monitoring
Monitoring entitlements are available to RHN Satellite customers with Red Hat Enterprise Linux
systems.
Monitoring allows an organization to install probes that can immediately detect failures and identify
performance degradation before it becomes critical. Used properly, the Monitoring entitlement can
provide insight into the applications, services, and devices on each system.
Specifically, Monitoring provides:
• Probes — Dozens of probes can be run against each system. These range from simple ping
checks to custom remote programs designed to return valuable data.
• Notification — Alerts can be sent to email and pager addresses with contact methods identified
by you when a probe changes state. Each probe notification can be sent to a different method, or
address.
• Central Status — The results of all probes are summarized in a single Probe Status page, with the
systems affected broken down by state.
• Reporting — By selecting a probe and identifying the particular metric and a range of time, you
can generate graphs and event logs depicting precisely how the probe has performed. This can be
instrumental in predicting and preventing costly system failures.
• Probe Suites — Groups of probes may be assigned to a system or set of systems at once rather
than individually. This allows Administrators to be certain that similar systems are monitored in the
same way and saves time configuring individual probes.
• Notification Filters — Probe notifications may be redirected to another recipient, halted, or sent to
an additional recipient for a specified time based on probe criteria, notification method, scout or
organization.
1.5. Errata Notifications and Scheduled Package
Installations
You can configure Red Hat Network to send you email notifications of new and updated software
packages as soon as the packages are available through RHN. You receive one email per Erratum,
regardless of the number of affected systems. You can also schedule package installs or package
updates. The benefits include:
• Reduced time and effort required by system administrators to stay on top of the Red Hat Errata list
• Minimized security vulnerabilities in your network through the application of updates as soon as Red
Hat releases them

Security, Quality Assurance, and Red Hat Network
5
• Filtered list of package updates (packages not relevant to your network are not included)
• Reliable method of managing multiple systems with similar configurations
1.6. Security, Quality Assurance, and Red Hat Network
Red Hat Network provides significant benefits to your network, including security and quality
assurance. All transactions made between your systems and Red Hat Network are encrypted and all
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. The file is only readable
by the root user on the client system.
3. Red Hat signs all communications with an electronic signature using GPG. RPM can be used to
verify the authenticity of the package before it is installed.
4. Red Hat encrypts all transactions using a Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) connection.
5. The Red Hat Quality Assurance Team tests and verifies all packages before they are added to the
Red Hat Errata list and Red Hat Network.
1.7. Before You Begin
By default, all software packages necessary to access Red Hat Network are installed with Red
Hat Enterprise Linux distributions. However, if you chose not to install them during the installation
process, you must obtain the Red Hat Update Agent (up2date) and possibly the Red Hat
Network Registration Client (rhn_register). In Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3 and later, registration
functionality is built into the Red Hat Update Agent, while Red Hat Enterprise Linux 2.1 users will
need the Red Hat Network Registration Client.
Warning
The SSL certificate packaged with older versions of the Red Hat Update Agent and the
Red Hat Network Registration Client reached its end of life August 28, 2003. Users
attempting to connect using this certificate will receive SSL connection or certificate
verification errors. You may view and obtain the versions of these applications containing
new certificates at the RHN Client Software2 page. In the RHN website, click Help at the
top-right corner, Get RHN Software in the left navigation bar, and scroll down to examine
the packages and versions.
To determine the versions of the client applications installed, run the rpm -q command followed by
the package name. For instance, for the Red Hat Network Registration Client, type the following
command:

Chapter 1. Red Hat Network Overview
6
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
Perform this check for every package in Table 1.1, “Red Hat Network Packages” that is relevant
to your system. Remember, only Red Hat Enterprise Linux 2.1 users need Red Hat Network
Registration Client. If you prefer to use the command line versions, the two packages ending in
gnome are not required..
Package Name Description
rhn_register Provides the Red Hat Network Registration Client
program and the text mode interface
rhn_register-gnome Provides the GNOME interface (graphical version) for
the Red Hat Network Registration Client; runs if the X
Window System is available
up2date Provides the Red Hat Update Agent command line version
and the Red Hat Network Daemon
up2date-gnome Provides the GNOME interface (graphical version) for the
Red Hat Update Agent; runs if the X Window System is
available
Table 1.1. Red Hat Network Packages

Chapter 2.
7
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
up2date. For more information about pup, refer to Chapter 3, Package Updater.
The rhn_register application normally runs as part of the firstboot configuration process
just after installation. The first time a newly-installed Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 system is booted,
firstboot uses rhn_register to register your system with RHN.
2.1. Using rhn_register
If you should ever need to re-register your system at a later time (or you chose not to register during
firstboot), you can use rhn_register to do so. You can execute the command rhn_register
from the command line as root. If you have never registered, you can start rhn_register by
selecting Applications (the main menu on the panel) � System Tools � Package Updater. (You will
be asked to enter the root password.) The Package Updater, when run on a system that has not yet
been registered, triggers rhn_register if there is no /etc/sysconfig/rhn/systemid file on the
system.
If you have already registered before and /etc/sysconfig/rhn/systemid exists on the system,
rhn_register first asks if you are sure that you would like to register again. Doing so may create
a duplicate system profile in RHN Satellite. Consider using rhnreg_ks and activation keys to re-
register a system without creating a duplicate entry. Refer to Section 7.4.2.9.1.4, “System Details �
Details � Reactivation — ” for more information.
Figure 2.1. Verifying Registration
If you are certain you would like to re-register this way, select the Yes, Continue button.

Chapter 2. The rhn_register Client
8
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. Otherwise, press the Forward button to continue.