Red Hat NETWORK - USER REFERENCE GUIDE 2.1, ADVANCED 2.1 User Reference Manual

Red Hat Network

User Reference Guide 2.1

ISBN: N/A

Red Hat, Inc.

2600 Meridian Parkway
Durham, NC 27713 USA
[phone] (Voice)
[phone] (FAX)
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© 2001 Red Hat, Inc.
RHNurg(EN)-2.1-Print-RHI (2001-05-14T16:00-0400)

Copyright © 2001 by Red Hat, Inc. This material may be distributedonly subject tothe terms and con­ditions set forth in the Open Publication License, V1.0 or later (the latest version is presently available
at http://www.opencontent.org/openpub/).

Distribution of substantively modified versions of this document is prohibited without the explicit per­mission of the copyright holder.

Distribution of the work or derivative of the work in any standard (paper) book form for commercial
purposes is prohibited unless prior permission is obtained from the copyright holder.

Red Hat, Red Hat Network, the Red Hat "Shadow Man" logo, RPM, Maximum RPM, the RPM logo,
Linux Library, PowerTools, Linux Undercover, RHmember, RHmember More, Rough Cuts, Rawhide
and all RedHat-basedtrademarks and logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of Red Hat, Inc.
in the United States and other countries.

Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds.
Motif and UNIX are registered trademarks of The Open Group.
Compaq and the names of Compaq products referenced herein are either trademarks and/or service

marks or registered trademarks and/or service marks of Compaq.
Itanium is a registered trademark of Intel Corporation.
Netscape is a registered trademark of Netscape Communications Corporation in the United States and

other countries.
Windows is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation.
SSH and Secure Shell are trademarks of SSH Communications Security, Inc.
FireWire is a trademark of Apple Computer Corporation.
All other trademarks and copyrights referred to are the property of their respective owners.
Printed in Canada, Ireland, and Japan

ii

Contents

Red Hat Network

Introduction................................................................................... v

Document Conventions.................................................................... v

More to Come .............................................................................. viii

Chapter 1 What is Red Hat Network?.................................... 11

1.1 Software Manager................................................................ 12

1.2 Automatic Notifications........................................................... 12

1.3 Security, Quality Assurance, and Red Hat Network .......................... 13

1.4 Before You Begin ................................................................. 13

Chapter 2 Red Hat Network Registration Client................... 15

2.1 Configuring the Red Hat Network Registration Client ........................ 15

2.2 Starting the Red Hat Network Registration Client............................. 16

2.3 Registering a User Account ..................................................... 18

2.4 Registering a System Profile .................................................... 21

2.5 Finishing Registration ............................................................ 25

2.6 Text Mode RHN Registration Client............................................. 27

Chapter 3 Red Hat Update Agent Configuration Tool ......... 29

3.1 Configuring the Red Hat Update Agent ........................................ 29

3.2 General Settings.................................................................. 29

3.3 Retrieval/Installation Settings ................................................... 30

3.4 Package Exceptions Settings ................................................... 32

3.5 Command Line Version of Red Hat Update Agent Configuration Tool...... 33

Chapter 4 Red Hat Update Agent........................................... 35

4.1 Starting the Red Hat Update Agent ............................................ 35

4.2 Choosing Packages to Update.................................................. 37

4.3 Installing Updated Packages.................................................... 40

iii

4.4 Update Agent Finished........................................................... 41

4.5 Command Line Version of Red Hat Update Agent............................ 42

4.6 Manual Package Installation..................................................... 46

4.7 Syncronizing Your System Profile............................................... 46

4.8 Log File ............................................................................ 47

Chapter 5 Software Manager .................................................. 49

5.1 Logging into Software Manager................................................. 49

5.2 Viewing Your Notifications ....................................................... 50

5.3 Adding a System Profile ......................................................... 51

5.4 Viewing Your Network Group.................................................... 52

5.5 Viewing Individual System Pages............................................... 55

5.6 Customizing Preferences........................................................ 56

5.7 Searching Errata.................................................................. 58

5.8 Viewing Online Help.............................................................. 59

Chapter 6 Red Hat Network Daemon..................................... 61

Chapter 7 Using Red Hat Network with Red Hat Linux 6.2.63

Chapter 8 Frequently Asked Questions................................ 65

iv

Section 0.1:Document Conventions v

Introduction

Welcome to the Red Hat Network User Reference Guide 2.1.
The Red Hat Network User Reference Guide will guide you through registering your system for Red

Hat Network and using its many features. Depending on which version of Red Hat Linux you have
installed, the Red Hat Network Registration Client and the Red Hat Update Agent might be
different than the ones described in this manual as new features are added. All version of this manual
are available at http://www.redhat.com/support/manuals/. Once you use Red Hat Network to update
these applications, you can use the latest version of this manual.

This version of the manual covers version 2.5.4-1 of the Red Hat Update Agent and version 1.3.2-1 of
the Red Hat Network Registration Client.

For a more detailed, technical overview of Red Hat Network, please refer to the Red Hat Network
Technical Paper available at http://www.redhat.com/products/network/.

Document Conventions

When you read this manual, you’ll see that certain words are represented in different fonts, typefaces,
sizes and weights. This highlighting is systematic; different words are represented in the same style to
indicate their inclusion in a specific category. The types of words that are represented this way include
the following:

command

Linux commands (and other operating system commands, when used) are represented this way.
This style should indicate to you that you can type in the word or phrase on the command line
and press

[Enter] to invoke a command. Sometimes a command contains words that would be

displayed in a different style on their own (e.g., filenames). In these cases, they are considered
to be part of the command, so the entire phrase will be displayed as a command. For example:

Use the cat testfile command to view the contents of a file, named testfile, in the
current working directory.

filename

Filenames, directory names, paths and RPM package names are represented this way. This style
should indicate that a particular file or directory exists by that name on your Red Hat Linux
system. Examples:

The .bashrc file in your home directory contains bash shell definitions and aliases for your
own use.

The /etc/fstab file contains information about different system devices and filesystems.

vi Introduction

The /usr/share/doc directory contains documentation for various programs.
Install the webalizer RPM if you want to use a Webserver log file analysis program.

application

This style should indicate to you that the program named is an end-user application (as opposed
to system software). For example:

Use Netscape Navigator to browse the Web.

[key]

A key on the keyboard is shown in this style. For example:
To use

[Tab]

completion, type in a character and then press the [Tab] key. Your terminal will

display the list of files in the directory that start with that letter.

[key]-[combination]

A combination of keystrokes is represented in this way. For example:
The

[Ctrl]-[Alt]-[Backspace] key combination will restart the X Window System.

text found on a GUI interface

A title, word or phrase found on a GUI interface screen or window will be shown in this style.
When you see text shown in this style, it is being used to identify a particular GUI screen or an
element on a GUI screen (e.g., text associated with a checkbox or field). Examples:

On the GNOME

Control Center screen, you can customize your GNOME window manager.

Select the

Require Password checkbox if you’d like your screensaver to require a password

before stopping.

top level of a menu on a GUI screen or window

When you see a word in this style, it indicates that the word is the top level of a pulldown menu.
If you click on the word on the GUI screen, the rest of the menu should appear. For example:

Under

Settings on a GNOME terminal, you’ll see the following menu items:

Preferences,

Reset Terminal, Reset and Clear, and Color selector.

If you need to type in a sequence of commands from a GUI menu, they’ll be shown like the
following example:

Click on

Programs=>Applications=>Emacs to start the Emacs text editor.

button on a GUI screen or window

This style indicates that the text will be found on a clickable button on a GUI screen. For ex­ample:

Section 0.1:Document Conventions vii

Click on the Back button to return to the Web page you last viewed.

computer output

When you see text in this style, it indicates text displayed by the computer on the command
line. You’ll see responses to commands you typed in, error messages and interactive prompts
for your input during scripts or programs shown this way. For example:

Use the ls to display the contents of a directory:

$ls
Desktop axhome logs paulwesterberg.gif
Mail backupfiles mail reports

The output returned in response to the command (in this case, the contents of the directory) is
shown in this style.

prompt

A prompt, which is a computer’s way of signifying that it is ready for you to input something,
will be shown in this style. Examples:

$
#
[stephen@maturin stephen]$
leopard login:

user input

Text that the user has to type, either on the command line, or into a text box on a GUI screen, is
displayed in this style. In the following example, text is displayed in this style:

To boot your system into the text based installation program, you will need to type in the text
command at the boot: prompt.

Another example, with the word root displayed as something the user needs to type in:
If you need to log in as root when you first log into your system, and you are using the graphical

login screen, at the Login prompt, type root. At the Password prompt, type in the root
password.

glossary entry

A word that appears in the glossary will be shown in the body of the document in this style. For
example:

The lpd daemon handles printing requests.

viii Introduction

In this case, the style of the word daemon should indicate to you that a definition of the term is
available in the glossary.

Additionally, we use several differentstrategies to draw your attention to certain pieces of information.
In order of how critical the information is to your system, these items will be marked as a note, a
caution or a warning. For example:

Note

Remember that Linux is case sensitive. In other words, a rose is not a ROSE
is not a rOsE.

CAUTION

Don’t do routine tasks as root — use a regular user account unless you need
to use the root account to administer your system.

WARNING

If you choose not to partition manually, a server-class installation will
remove all existing partitions on all installed hard drives. Don’t choose
this installation class unless you’re sure you have no data you need to
save.

More to Come

TheRed Hat Network User Reference Guide is constantly expanding as new Red Hat Network features
and service plans are launched.

Send in Your Feedback

If you’d like to make suggestions about the Red Hat Network User Reference Guide, please mention
this guide’s identifier:

RHNurg(EN)-2.1-Print-RHI (2001-05-14T16:00-0400)
You can send mail to:

Section 0.2:More to Come ix

[e-mail]

x Introduction

What is Red Hat Network? 11

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?

Haveyou 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?

Haveyou everspent hours or evendays visiting different websites to see if you havethe 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 Red Hat Linux system or a network of Red
Hat Linux systems. All Security Alerts, Bug Fix Alerts, and Enhancement Alerts (collective known
as Errata Alerts) can be downloaded directly from Red Hat. You can even have updates automatically
delivered directly to your system as soon as they are released.

The three main components of Red Hat Network are as follows:

• The Red Hat Network Registration Client

• The Red Hat Network user interface

• 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,

Red Hat

Network Registration Client

for further information).

You can use either of the two Red Hat Network user interfaces:

• web interface available at http://www.redhat.com/network/

• The Red Hat Update Agent
Both the Web interface and theRed Hat Update Agentallow you to view all Errata Alerts included in

the Red Hat Errata list. Only packages relevantto your system are shown. Red Hat Network can also
be configured to verify packages once downloaded, ignore update notifications for certain packages,
and view package details before downloading them.

12 Chapter 1:What is Red Hat Network?

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 Software Manager

Red Hat Network is the core infrastructure — the environment around which all the services are cen­tered. The first subscription service offered through Red Hat Network is Software Manager. Addi­tionalservice offerings will be availablein the near future. Registering a system with Red Hat Network
is free as well as one subscription to Software Manager. With each Software Manager subscription,
you receive

• Errata Alerts — learn when Security Alerts, Bug Fix Alerts, and Enhancement Alerts are issued
for all the systems in your network

• Automatic email notifications — receive an email notification when an Errata Alert is issued for
your system

• RPM Updates — automatic delivery of packages with optional automatic installation

• Red Hat Update Agent — use the Red Hat Update Agent to download the lastest software
packages for your system with optional installation of packages

• Download List — use the Software Manager Web interface to create a download list of packages
from all the systems in your network and download all the packages at one time

For information on purchasing Software Manager subscription, refer to http://www.redhat.com/net­work/purchase/.

1.2 Automatic Notifications

During registration, you can configure Red Hat Network to send you email notifications 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

• Provide a reliable method of managing multiple systems with similar configurations

Section 1.4:Before You Begin 13

1.3 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. Your System Profile available at http://www.redhat.com/network/ is only accessible with the
correct user name and password.

2. A DigitalCertificate stored on the clientsystem in thefile /etc/sysconfig/rhn/systemid
after registration is used to authenticate the system during each transaction between the client and
Red Hat Network.

3. All notifications and information messages are signed by Red Hat with an electronic 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 Teambefore they are added
to the Red Hat errata list and Red Hat Network.

1.4 Before You Begin

Red Hat Network is available for Red Hat Linux 6.2 and higher. For instructions on configuring Red
Hat Linux 6.2 for Red Hat Network, refer to Chapter 7, Using Red Hat Network with Red Hat Linux

6.2.

By default, all the software packages you need to use Red Hat Network are installed with Red Hat
Linux 7 and higher. However, if you chose not to install them during the installation process or per­formed an upgrade from Red Hat Linux 6.2 or lower, you might not have the Red Hat Network

Registration Client or the Red Hat Update Agent installed. To verify that the Red Hat Network
Registration Client is installed, type the following command:

rpm -q rhn_register

If the Red Hat Network Registration Client is installed, it will return something similar to

rhn_register-1.0-7

The version number might differ slightly if you have a newer version installed.
If you do not have Red Hat Network Registration Client installed, the command will return

14 Chapter 1:What is Red Hat Network?

package rhn_register is not installed

Perform this check for every package in Table 1–1, Red Hat Network Packages. If you do not want to
use the graphical versions, you do not have to install the two packages ending in gnome.

Table 1–1 Red Hat Network Packages

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

If the packages are not installed, they can be found on the Red Hat Linux 7 or higher CD-ROM1 in the
RedHat/RPMS directory or downloaded from the Red Hat FTP site available at ftp://ftp.redhat.com
(or from a Red Hat FTP mirror available at http://www.redhat.com/mirrors.html). Always check the
Red Hat errata page, available at http://www.redhat.com/errata/, for package updates. If you install
an older version of these packages, you can retreive the latest versions using Red Hat Network. The
first time that you request the RPM Updates for your system, they will be included.

Section 2.1:Configuring the Red Hat Network Registration Client 15

2 Red Hat Network Registration Client

Before you begin using Red Hat Network, you need to create a user name, password, and System
Profile. The Red Hat Network Registration Client will walk you through this process.

2.1 Configuring the Red Hat Network Registration

Client

WARNING

Mostusers do not need to configurethe Red Hat Network Registration
Clientbeforeregistering their systems. Do not attempt to use this option

unless you are required to.

To start the configuration tool, use the command:

rhn_register --configure

You will be presented with a list of options and their current values:

0. noSSLServerURL http://www.rhns.redhat.com/XMLRPC

1. enableProxy No

2. httpProxy

3. serverURL https://www.rhns.redhat.com/XMLRPC

4. debug No

Enter number of item to edit <return to exit, q to quit without saving>:

Enter the number of the item that you want to modify, and enter a new value for the option. When
you finish changing your configuration, press

[Enter] to save your changes and exit. Press [q] and then

[Enter] to quit without saving your changes.

The most common options configured are numbers 1 and 2 to enable a proxy server. To enable a
proxy server, change the value for enableProxy to Yes and the value of httpProxy to the name
of the proxy server and port number in the format HOST:PORT.For example, to use the proxy server
squid.mysite.org on port 3128, you would change the value to squid.mysite.org:3128.

16 Chapter 2:Red Hat Network Registration Client

2.2 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 password before proceeding. To start

the Red Hat Network Registration Client in Red Hat Linux 6.2 or higher, use one of the following
methods:

1. On the GNOME desktop, go to the

Main Menu Button (on the Panel) => Programs => System

=> Red Hat Network

2. On the KDE desktop, go to the

Main Menu Button (on the Panel) => Red Hat => System => Red

Hat Network

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_register at a virtual
console or remote terminal. Please refer to Section 2.6, Text Mode RHN Registration Client for
further details.

CAUTION

You must use Python 1.5.2-24 or 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

Section 2.2:Starting the Red Hat Network Registration Client 17

continue with the registration process. If you click Cancel, the registration process will end and no
information will be sent.

Figure 2–2 Welcome Screen

Red Hat is committed to protecting your privacy (see Figure 2–3, Red Hat Privacy Statement). The
information gathered during the Red Hat Network Registration process is used to create a System
Profile. The System Profile is essential if you wish to receive update notifications about your system.
If you have any questions about how your information is being used, please contact us at feed-
[e-mail].

18 Chapter 2:Red Hat Network Registration Client

Figure 2–3 Red Hat Privacy Statement

2.3 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 user name and password and a valid email address.

In the screen shown in Figure 2–6, Create a Unique User Name and Password, you must choose a
user name and password. Once logged into Red Hat Network, you can to modify your preferences,
view your existing System Profile, or obtain the lastest Red Hat software packages. You must choose
a unique user name. If you enter one already in use, you will see an error message (see Figure 2–4,
Error: Username AlreadyExists) until you havesuccessfully chosen a uniqueuser name and password
combination.

Section 2.3:Registering a User Account 19

Figure 2–4 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 will still need to continue with the registration
process to create your System Profile.

Your user name and password have the following restrictions:

• Must be at least four characters long

• Are case-insentitive

• Can not contain any spaces

• Can not contain any tabs

• Can not contain any line feeds

• Can not contain the characters &, +, %, or ’

If you have already registered your system and try to register it again, the dialog box shown in Figure
2–5, Warning: This System Already Registered will appear. If you continue, it will overwrite your ex-
isting systemid file (/etc/sysconfig/rhn/systemid) and you will create a different System
Profile. You will no longer be able to use your previous System Profile — be sure this is what you
want to do before you choose

Yes.

20 Chapter 2:Red Hat Network Registration Client

Figure 2–5 Warning: This System Already Registered

If you have already registered a machine and created a System Profile, you can add a new machine to
your System Profile. Run the Red Hat Network Registration Client on the new machine you wish
to add and enter your existing Red Hat Network user name and password. The new machine will be
added to your existing System Profile, and you can log into Red Hat Network with your user name
and password to view all your systems simultaneously.

You can register one free system with Red Hat Network Software Manager. To register more than
one system, you must purchase additional Software Manager subscriptions. Refer Section 5.4.4, As-
sign Service Levels for more information about purchasing additional subscriptions.. Once again, it
is important to use your existing user name and password combination when registering an additional
system. If you do not, you will not be able to login with one user name and password to view all your
systems.

Section 2.4:Registering a System Profile 21

Figure 2–6 Create a Unique User Name and Password

You can also choose whether to receive email notifications about updates relevant to your system by
selecting the box next titled

I want to receive email notification for updates to my System Profiles.

When selected, the

Email address:

text area will no longer be shaded and you can enter the email
address where notifications will be sent. The email address can be changed at any time. Email notifi­cations are only available for systems subscribed to the Software Manager service.

Click

Next to continue.

2.4 Registering a System Profile

Now that you have a user account, you can create a System Profile that consists of hardware and
software information about your Red Hat Linux system. The software System Profile information is
used by Red Hat Network to determine what software update notifications you receive.

2.4.1 Hardware System Profile

After creating a user name and password for your Red Hat Network account, the Red Hat Network
Registration Client probes your system for the following information:

• Red Hat Linux version