Red Hat NETWORK 4.1.0 - User manual

Red Hat Network 4.1.0
Client Configuration Guide

Red Hat Network 4.1.0: Client Configuration Guide
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Table of Contents
1. Introduction....................................................................................................................1
2. Client Applications.........................................................................................................3
2.1. Deploying the Latest Red Hat Network Client RPMs ......................................3
2.2. Configuring the Client Applications .................................................................4
2.2.1. Registering with Activation Keys ......................................................5
2.2.2. Using the --configure Option .......................................................5
2.2.3. Updating the Configuration Files Manually ......................................8
2.2.4. Implementing Server Failover............................................................9
2.3. Configuring the Red Hat Network Alert Notification Tool with Satellite...10
3. SSL Infrastructure .......................................................................................................13
3.1. A Brief Introduction To SSL...........................................................................13
3.2. The RHN SSL Maintenance Tool.................................................................14
3.2.1. SSL Generation Explained...............................................................15
3.2.2. RHN SSL Maintenance Tool Options ...........................................16
3.2.3. Generating the Certificate Authority SSL Key Pair .........................21
3.2.4. Generating Web Server SSL Key Sets .............................................22
3.3. Deploying the CA SSL Public Certificate to Clients ......................................23
3.4. Configuring Client Systems ............................................................................23
4. Importing Custom GPG Keys.....................................................................................25
5. Using RHN Bootstrap ..................................................................................................27
5.1. Preparation ......................................................................................................27
5.2. Generation .......................................................................................................28
5.3. Script Use........................................................................................................29
5.4. RHN Bootstrap Options ................................................................................30
6. Manually Scripting the Configuration .......................................................................33
7. Implementing Kickstart ..............................................................................................35
A. Sample Bootstrap Script.............................................................................................37
Index..................................................................................................................................43

Chapter 1.
Introduction
This best practices guide is intended to help customers of RHN Satellite Server and RHN
Proxy Server configure their client systems more easily.
By default, all Red Hat Network client applications are configured to communicate with
central Red Hat Network Servers. When connecting clients to RHN Satellite Server or
RHN Proxy Server instead, many of these settings must be altered. Altering client settings
for a system or two may be relatively simple. A large enterprise environment, containing
hundreds or thousands of systems, will likely benefit from the mass reconfiguration steps
described here.
Due to the complexity of this undertaking, customers may utilize a pre-populated script
that automates many of the tasks necessary to access their Satellite or Proxy server; refer
to Chapter 5 Using RHN Bootstrap for details. Red Hat believes that understanding the
implications fo these changes is helpful and therefore describes the manual steps for re-
configuration in the opening chapters. Use your best judgement in determining the ideal
solution for your organization.
Although many of the commands provided within this guide can be applied as they ap-
pear, it is impossible to predict all potential network configurations adopted by customers.
Therefore, Red Hat encourages you to use these commands as references that must take
into account your organization’s individual settings.
Note
Unix client configuration information may be found in the RHN 4.0 Reference Guide in the
Unix Support chapter.

2 Chapter 1. Introduction

Chapter 2.
Client Applications
In order to utilize most enterprise-class features of Red Hat Network, such as registering
with a RHN Satellite, configuration of the latest client applications is required. Obtaining
these applications before the client has registered with Red Hat Network can be difficult.
This paradox is especially problematic for customers migrating large numbers of older
systems to Red Hat Network. This chapter identifies techniques to resolve this dilemma.
Important
Red Hat strongly recommends that clients connected to a RHN Proxy Server or RHN
Satellite Server be running the latest update of Red Hat Enterprise Linux to ensure proper
connectivity.
2.1. Deploying the Latest Red Hat Network Client RPMs
Red Hat Update Agent (up2date) and Red Hat Network Registration Client
(rhn_register) are prerequisites for using much of Red Hat Network’s enterprise
functionality. It is crucial to install them on client systems before attempting to use RHN
Proxy Server or RHN Satellite Server in your environment.
There are several sensible approaches to accomplish this update of the RHN client soft-
ware. One of which involves storing the RPMs in a location that is accessible by all client
systems and deploying the packages with the simplest command possible. In nearly all
cases, a manual deployment of up2date and rhn_register (if RHEL 2.1) do not need
to be performed. Those client tools should have no issues connecting to your RHN Satellite
or Proxy environment. These discussion below assumes that the "out of box" up2date and
rhn_register are not the latest and do not work for your environment.
Remember, only systems running Red Hat Enterprise Linux 2.1 must use the Red Hat
Network Registration Client to register with RHN. Systems running Red Hat Enterprise
Linux 3 and later can use the registration functionality built into the Red Hat Update
Agent.
This document presumes that the customer has installed at least one RHN Satellite Server
and/or RHN Proxy Server on their network. The example below demonstrates a simple ap-
proach of deploying up2date and rhn_register for the first time by an administrator as-
suming the machines don’t already have a working RHN. The administrator has populated
the /var/www/html/pub/ directory with a copy of the up2date and rhn_register
(for RHEL 2.1 systems) RPMs that his client systems need, and then has simply deployed

4 Chapter 2. Client Applications
those RPMs onto his client systems with a simple rpm -Uvh command. Run from a client,
this command installs the RPMs to that client, assuming the domain name, paths, and RPM
versions are correct:
rpm -Uvh \
http://your_proxy_or_sat.your_domain.com/pub/rhn_register-2.9.12-1.2.1AS.i386.rpm \
http://your_proxy_or_sat.your_domain.com/pub/rhn_register-gnome-2.9.12-1.2.1AS.i386.rpm \
http://your_proxy_or_sat.your_domain.com/pub/up2date-2.9.14-1.2.1AS.i386.rpm \
http://your_proxy_or_sat.your_domain.com/pub/up2date-gnome-2.9.14-1.2.1AS.i386.rpm
Note the inclusion of the associated gnome RPMs. Keep in mind, the architecture (in this
case, i386) may need to be altered depending on the systems to be served.
2.2. Configuring the Client Applications
Not every customer must connect securely to a RHN Satellite Server or RHN Proxy Server
within their organization. Not every customer needs to build and deploy a GPG key for cus-
tom packages. (Both of these topics are explained in detail later.) Every customer who uses
RHN Satellite Server or RHN Proxy Server must reconfigure the Red Hat Update Agent
(up2date) and possibly the Red Hat Network Registration Client (rhn_register) to
redirect it from Red Hat Network to their RHN Satellite Server or RHN Proxy Server.
Important
Although this is not configurable, note that the port used by the Red Hat Update Agent
is 443 for SSL (HTTPS) and 80 for non-SSL (HTTP). By default, up2date uses SSL
only. For this reason, users should ensure that their firewalls allow connections over
port 443. To bypass SSL, change the protocol for serverURL from https to http in
/etc/sysconfig/rhn/up2date. Similarly, to use RHN’s Monitoring feature and probes
requiring the Red Hat Network Monitoring Daemon, note that client systems must allow
connections on port 4545 (or port 22, if using sshd instead).
By default, the Red Hat Network Registration Client and the Red Hat Update Agent
refer to the main Red Hat Network Servers. Users must reconfigure client systems to refer
to their RHN Satellite Server or RHN Proxy Server.
Note that the latest versions of the Red Hat Update Agent can be configured to accommo-
date several RHN Servers, thereby providing failover protection in case the primary server
is inaccessible. Refer to Section 2.2.4 Implementing Server Failover for instructions on en-
abling this feature.
The next sections describe three methods of configuring the client systems to access
your RHN Satellite Server or RHN Proxy Server: using an Activation Key, up2date

Chapter 2. Client Applications 5
--configure, and manually updating the configuration files.( To see how virtually all
reconfiguration can be scripted, see Chapter 6 Manually Scripting the Configuration.)
2.2.1. Registering with Activation Keys
Red Hat recommends using activation keys for registering and configuring client systems
that access RHN Proxy Server or RHN Satellite Server. Activation keys can be used to
register, entitle, and subscribe systems in a batch. Refer to the Activation Keys section of
the Red Hat Update Agent chapter within the RHN Management Reference Guide for
instructions on use.
Registering with an activation key has four basic steps:
1. Generate an Activation Key as described in the Activation Keys section of the Red
Hat Update Agent chapter within the RHN Management Reference Guide
2. Import custom GPG keys.
3. Download and install the SSL Certificate RPM from the /pub/ directory of the RHN
Proxy Server or RHN Satellite Server. The command for this step could look some-
thing like this:
rpm -Uvh\
http://your-satellite.com/pub/rhn-org-trusted-ssl-cert-1.0-1.noarch.rpm
4. Register the system with your RHN Proxy Server or RHN Satellite Server. The com-
mand for this step could look something like:
rhnreg_ks --activationkey mykey --serverUrl https://your-satellite.com/XMLRPC
Alternatively, most of the above steps can be combined in a shell script that includes the
following lines:
wget -0 - http://your-satellite-DQDN/pub/bootstrap.sh | bash \
&& rhnreg_ks --activation-key my_key --serverUrl \
https://your-satellite-FQDN/XMLRPC
The bootstrap script, generated at installation and available for both RHN Satellite Server
and RHN Proxy Server, is such a script. The script and the RHN Bootstrap that generates
it are discussed in detail in Chapter 5 Using RHN Bootstrap.
Warning
Systems running Red Hat Enterprise Linux 2.1 and versions of Red Hat Linux prior to 8.0
may experience problems using Activation Keys to migrate SSL certificate settings from
rhn_register to up2date. Therefore, the SSL certificate information on those systems
must be set manually. All other settings, such as the server URL, transfer properly.

6 Chapter 2. Client Applications
2.2.2. Using the --configure Option
Both the Red Hat Network Registration Client and the Red Hat Update Agent that ship
with Red Hat Enterprise Linux provide interfaces for configuring various settings. For full
listings of these settings, refer to the chapters dedicated to the applications in the RHN
Management Reference Guide.
Each application offers a graphical user interface (GUI) for configuration that enables you
to change the settings required by RHN Proxy Server or RHN Satellite Server. The GUI
requires that the client system run the X Window System. The command to launch the GUI
configuration interface will look like:
application_filename --configure
To reconfigure the Red Hat Update Agent, issue the following command as root:
up2date --configure
You are presented with a dialog box offering various settings that may be
reconfigured. In the General tab, under Select a Red Hat Network
Server to use replace the default value with the fully qualified domain
name (FQDN) of the RHN Satellite Server or RHN Proxy Server, such as
https://your_proxy_or_sat.your_domain.com/XMLRPC. Retain the
/XMLRPC at the end. When finished, click OK.