Red Hat NETWORK - USER 1.2 Product information sheet

Red Hat Network
User Reference Guide 1.2

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RHN User Reference Guide(EN)-1.1-Print-RHI (2000-10-05T10:31-0400)
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ii

Contents
Red Hat Network
Chapter 1 What is Red Hat Network? .................................... 5
1.1 Automatic Notifications........................................................... 6
1.2 Security, Quality Assurance, and Red Hat Network .......................... 7
Chapter 2 Registration............................................................. 9
2.1 Starting the Red Hat Network Registration Client............................. 9
2.2 Registering a User Account ..................................................... 12
2.3 Registering a System Profile.................................................... 16
2.4 Finishing Registration............................................................ 20
2.5 Text Mode RHN Registration Client............................................. 22
Chapter 3 Red Hat Update Agent Configuration.................. 25
3.1 Configuring the Red Hat Update Agent ........................................ 25
3.2 Retrieval/Installation Settings ................................................... 25
3.3 Package Exceptions Settings ................................................... 27
Chapter 4 Red Hat Update Agent........................................... 29
4.1 Starting the Red Hat Update Agent ............................................ 29
4.2 Choosing Packages to Update.................................................. 31
4.3 Installing Updated Packages .................................................... 34
4.4 Update Agent Finished........................................................... 36
4.5 Command Line Mode Red Hat Update Agent................................. 37
Chapter 5 Red Hat Network Web Application....................... 39
5.1 Logging into Red Hat Network Web Application .............................. 39
5.2 Viewing Your Notifications ....................................................... 40
5.3 Adding a System Profile ......................................................... 40
5.4 Viewing Your Network Group.................................................... 42
5.5 Viewing Individual System Pages............................................... 44
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5.6 Downloading Updated Packages ............................................... 45
5.7 Customizing Preferences........................................................ 46
5.8 Searching Errata.................................................................. 48
5.9 Viewing Online Help.............................................................. 49
5.10 Navigation......................................................................... 50
Chapter 6 Red Hat Network Daemon..................................... 53
Chapter 7 Frequently Asked Questions................................ 55
iv

What is Red Hat Network? 5
1 What is Red Hat Network?
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 a site that you have never heard of?
Have you ever tried to find an RPM but instead you are only able to find the source
files that you have 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.
Launched in September 2000 with Red Hat Linux 7.0, Red Hat Network (RHN) is an
Internetsolutionfor managing a RedHat Linux system or anetworkofRedHat Linux
systems. All security patches, bug fixes, and software package enhancements can be
downloaded directly from Red Hat using the Red Hat Update Agent standalone
applicationorthroughaWebbrowserusingthe RedHatNetworkWebApplication.
The three main components of Red Hat Network are as follows:
• The Red Hat Network Registration Client
• The Red Hat Network user interface
• The Red Hat Network Daemon
The Red Hat Network Registration Client allows you to create a unique RHN user
name and password and probes the hardware and software on your system to create a
System Profile. The System Profile is sent to RHN and RHN returns a unique System
ID to your system (see Chapter 2, Registration for further information).
You can use either of the two Red Hat Network user interfaces:

6 Chapter 1:What is Red Hat Network?
• The Red Hat Network Web Application
• The Red Hat Update Agent
Both the Red Hat Network Web Application and the Red Hat Update Agent al-
low you to view all security alerts, bug fixes, and package enhancements included
in the Red Hat errata list. Only packages relevant to your system are shown. The
Red Hat Network Web Application and Red Hat Update Agent can also be con-
figured to verify packages once downloaded. Red Hat Update Agent allows for a
few basic configuration options such as choosing to ignore update notifications for
certain packages. The Red Hat Network Web Application includes more features
such as viewing up to five systems simultaneously, viewing package details before
downloading them, and adding a system to your group without using the Red Hat
Network Registration Client.
Red Hat Update Agent is a standalone application that runs locally on your system.
All the software dependencies it requires are shipped with Red Hat Linux 7. The
Red Hat Network Web Application runs inside a SSL-enabled Web browser such
as Netscape and does not have software dependencies.
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 6, Red Hat Network Daemon for further information).
1.1 Automatic Notifications
During registration, you can configure Red Hat Network to send you email notifica-
tions of new and updated software packages. Automated notifications of the latest
updates
• Reduce the time and effort required by system administrators to stay on top of the
Red Hat errata list
• Minimize security vulnerabilities in your network by providing the patches as
soon as Red Hat releases them
• Filter out package updates not relevant to your network

Section 1.2:Security, Quality Assurance, and Red Hat Network 7
• Provide a reliable method of managing multiple systems with similar configura-
tions
1.2 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 you 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. The Red Hat Network Web Application is only accessible with the correct user
name and password.
2. A Digital Certificate stored on the client system in the file /etc/syscon-
fig/rhn/systemid after registration is used to authenticate the system dur-
ing each transaction between the client and Red Hat Network.
3. All notifications and information messages are signed by Red Hat with an elec-
tronic signature using GPG. The rpm utility can be used to verify the authenticity
of the package before it is installed.
4. All transactions are encrypted using a Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) connection.
5. All packages are tested and verified by the Red Hat Quality Assurance Team
before they are added to the Red Hat errata list and Red Hat Network.

8 Chapter 1:What is Red Hat Network?

Section 2.1:Starting the Red Hat Network Registration Client 9
2 Registration
Before you begin using Red Hat Network, you need to create a user name, pass-
word, and System Profile. The Red Hat Network Registration Client will walk
you through this process.
2.1 Starting the Red Hat Network Registration Client
You must be root to register a system with RHN. If you start the Red Hat Network
Registration Client as a standard user, you will be prompted to enter the root pass-
word before proceeding. To start the Red Hat Network Registration Client in Red
Hat Linux 7, use one of the following methods:
1. On the GNOME desktop, go to the Main Menu Button (on the Panel) => Programs
=> System => RHN Registration
2. On the KDE desktop, go to the Main Menu Button (on the Panel) => Red Hat =>
System => RHN Registration
3. Type the command rhn_register at a shell prompt (for example an xterm or
gnome-terminal)
4. If you are not running the X Window System, type the command rhn_reg-
ister at a virtual console or remote terminal. Please refer to Section 2.5, Text
Mode RHN Registration Client for further details.

10 Chapter 2:Registration
CAUTION
You must use Python 1.5.2-24or later with Secure Sockets
Layer (SSL) support. If not, the information you transfer
will not be encrypted. If you have an earlier version of
Python, you will see the message shown in Figure 2–1,
Use Python 1.5.2-24 or later. To determine the version
of Python on your system, use the command rpm -q
python. It is strongly recommended you use Python
1.5.2-24 or later.
Figure 2–1 Use Python 1.5.2-24 or later
The opening screen for the Red Hat Network Registration Client gives you a brief
overview of the services available and the steps required to register (see Figure 2–2,
Welcome Screen). Click Next to continue with the registration process. If you click
Cancel, the registration process will end and no information will be sent.