Red Hat NETWORK 4.0.5 - CHANNEL MANAGEMENTT GUIDE User Manual

Red Hat Network 4.0.5

Channel Management Guide

Red Hat Network 4.0.5: Channel Management Guide

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Table of Contents

1. Introduction....................................................................................................................1

2. Introduction to RHN Channels.....................................................................................3

2.1. Base Channels and Child Channels ..................................................................3

2.2. Subscribing to Channels ...................................................................................3

2.3. Channel Availability .........................................................................................4

2.4. Tools, Repositories, and Practices ....................................................................4

3. Building Custom Packages............................................................................................7

3.1. Building packages for Red Hat Network ..........................................................7

3.1.1. RPM Benefits .....................................................................................7

3.1.2. RHN RPM Guidelines .......................................................................8

3.2. Digital Signatures for RHN Packages.............................................................10

3.2.1. Generating a GnuPG Keypair ..........................................................10

3.2.2. Signing packages .............................................................................12

4. Custom Channel and Package Management.............................................................13

4.1. Channel Management Privileges ....................................................................13

4.2. Manage Software Channels ............................................................................14

4.3. Managed Software Channel Details................................................................14

4.4. Manage Software Packages ............................................................................16

4.5. Creating a Software Channel ..........................................................................17

4.6. Assigning Packages to Software Channels .....................................................18

4.7. Cloning Software Channels ............................................................................18

4.8. Deleting Software Channels ...........................................................................19

5. Custom Errata Management ......................................................................................21

5.1. Manage Errata .................................................................................................21

5.1.1. Published Errata ...............................................................................21

5.1.2. Unpublished Errata ..........................................................................21

5.2. Managed Errata Details...................................................................................22

5.3. Creating and Editing Errata ............................................................................22

5.4. Assigning Packages to Errata..........................................................................23

5.5. Cloning Errata .................................................................................................24

6. Uploading and Maintaining Custom Packages .........................................................25

6.1. Uploading Packages to RHN Proxy Server ....................................................25

6.1.1. Configuring and Using the RHN Package Manager .....................26

6.2. Uploading Packages to RHN Satellite Server.................................................29

6.2.1. Configuring the RHN Push Application .........................................29

6.2.2. Using the RHN Push application ....................................................32

Index..................................................................................................................................35

Chapter 1.

Introduction

This document discusses issues surrounding the deployment and maintenance of
customized software channels for RHN Proxy Server and RHN Satellite Server. It is used
after the RHN Satellite Server or RHN Proxy Server is installed and configured. Refer to
the Red Hat Network 4.0.5 Satellite Installation Guide and the Red Hat Network 4.0 Proxy
Installation Guide for details, as well as the Red Hat Network Client Configuration Guide.

In some instances, this document refers to actions that are performed on the Red Hat Net­work Web servers. For RHN Proxy Server customers, this refers to the central Red Hat
Network Servers at https://rhn.redhat.com. For Satellite customers, this refers to the RHN
Satellite Server at your site.

2 Chapter 1. Introduction

Chapter 2.

Introduction to RHN Channels

A Red Hat Network channel is a collection of software packages. Channels help you seg­regate packages by sensible rules: a channel may contain packages from a specific Red
Hat distribution, for instance. A channel may contain packages for an application or family
of applications. Users may also define channels for their own particular needs; a company
may create a channel that contains packages for all of the organization’s laptops, for exam­ple.

2.1. Base Channels and Child Channels

There are two types of channels: base channels and child channels. A base channel consists
of packages based on a specific architecture and Red Hat Enterprise Linux release. A child
channel is a channel associated with a base channel that contains extra packages.

A system must be subscribed to only one base channel. A system can be subscribed to
multiple child channels of its base channel. A subscribed system can only install or update
packages available through its Red Hat Network channels.

When a system is registered with Red Hat Network, it is assigned to the base channel that
corresponds to the system’s version of Red Hat Enterprise Linux. Once a system is regis­tered, its default base channel may be changed to a private base channel on a per-system
basis via the RHN website. Alternately, you can have activation keys associated with a
custom channel so that systems registering with those keys are automatically associated
with the custom channel.

On the Red Hat Network website, the Channels page (located under the Channels tab on
the top navigation bar) provides a list of all base channels and their child channels. Clicking
on the name of a channel displays the Channel Details page, which provides a list of all
of the packages in that channel, its errata, and any associated systems.

2.2. Subscribing to Channels

Subscribe systems to channels in the following ways:

• Registration through activation keys — Because of the simplicity and speed of activa-

tion keys, this is the preferred method for registering systems as clients of either RHN
Proxy Server or RHN Satellite Server. Systems registered using an activation key are
subscribed to all channels associated with that activation key. For more information on
activation keys, consult the Red Hat Network Client Configuration Guide and the Red
Hat Network Reference Guide.

4 Chapter 2. Introduction to RHN Channels

• Install registration — When a system is initially registered through either the Red Hat

Update Agent or the Red Hat Network Registration Client, it is automatically as-

signed to the base channel that corresponds to the version of Red Hat Enterprise Linux
on the system. Once a system is registered, its default base channel may be changed to
a private base channel on a per-system basis via the RHN website. Alternately, you can
have activation keys associated with a custom channel so that systems registering with
those keys are automatically associated with the custom channel. For more information
on using these applications, refer to the respective chapter of the RHN Reference Guide
for your entitlement level (Management or Provisioning).

• Website subscription — Various specific child channels are available for subscription,

depending on the system’s base channel. The system may be subscribed to the child
channel through the RHN website. If you have created your own base channels, you may
also reassign systems to these custom channels through the website. For more informa­tion on subscribing to channels online, refer to the Red Hat Network Website chapter of
the RHN Reference Guide.

2.3. Channel Availability

There are many channels in Red Hat Network. Some are available to all users, some are
available to users in a particular organization, and some are available only if you have
purchased access to them. Channels fall into these main categories:

• Paid Service Channels — These channels are available if you who have purchased access

to them either directly or in conjunction with a particular Red Hat solution. Red Hat
Enterprise Linux is an example of a paid service channel.

• Custom Channels — You create these channels to manage custom packages. These chan-

nels, also known as private channels, appear only to the organization who creates them;
they can never be accessed by anyone else.

This document focuses on the process of creating and maintaining custom channels with
an RHN Proxy Server or on an RHN Satellite Server.

2.4. Tools, Repositories, and Practices

Before creating and managing channels, note the differences between the various tools
and repositories at your disposal. This is especially important if you are deploying both
an RHN Satellite Server and RHN Proxy Server, as this increases the utilities and storage
locations available. Further, a Proxy-Satellite combination offers certain best practices for
optimal performance.

First, become familiar with these package management tools:

Chapter 2. Introduction to RHN Channels 5

• RHN Package Manager - Use this to push custom packages into custom channels on

your RHN Proxy Server.

• RHN Push - Use this to push custom packages into custom channels on your RHN

Satellite Server.

• RHN Satellite Synchronization Tool - Use this to import and synchronize standard

packages from Red Hat Network to your RHN Satellite Server with Red Hat Network.
This is done via the Internet or CD-ROM.

Each of these tools has a corresponding package repository. Both RHN Package Manager
and RHN Push require the creation of a temporary staging directory for placement of
custom packages that are uploaded to the Proxy or Satellite. You need to delete these
staging directories after use.

Tip

Red Hat recommends archiving your custom packages externally from Red Hat Network.

If you are using both RHN Proxy Server and RHN Satellite Server, use only RHN Push and
RHN Satellite Synchronization Tool. The Proxy-Satellite combination requires custom

packages and channels be uploaded to the Satellite only. From there, the Proxy obtains the
packages and distributes them to client systems.

6 Chapter 2. Introduction to RHN Channels

Chapter 3.

Building Custom Packages

There are many things that might go wrong when building software packages. This is espe­cially true when these packages must be delivered and installed through Red Hat Network.
This chapter provides an overview of how to build packages for successful delivery via Red
Hat Network. Topics covered include why to use RPM, how to build packages for RHN,
and how to properly sign packages.

3.1. Building packages for Red Hat Network

Red Hat Network uses the RPM Package Manager (RPM) technology to determine what
software additions and updates are applicable to each client system. Packages retrieved
from Red Hat Network are usually in RPM format. Entire ISO images, however, are avail­able through the Software tab of the Red Hat Network website, but are not available in
RHN Satellite Server installations. If your Satellite has Solaris support enabled, you can
use RHN Push to upload Solaris packages to custom channels used by Solaris clients.

RPM is a tool that provides users with a simple method for installing, uninstalling, upgrad­ing, and verifying software packages. It also allows software developers to package the
source code and compiled versions of a program for end users and developers.

3.1.1. RPM Benefits

RPM provides the following advantages:

Easy Upgrades

Using RPM, you upgrade individual components of a system without completely re­installing. When Red Hat releases a new version of Red Hat Enterprise Linux, users
do not have to reinstall in order to upgrade. RPM allows intelligent, fully-automated,
in-place upgrades of your system. Configuration files in packages are preserved across
upgrades so users do not lose customizations. There are no special upgrade files
needed to update a package because the same RPM file is used to install and upgrade
the package.

Package Querying

RPM provides querying options that allows you to search through your entire RPM
database for all packages or just for certain files. You can also easily find out what
package a file belongs to and from where the package came. The files contained in the
package are in a compressed archive, with a custom binary header containing useful

8 Chapter 3. Building Custom Packages

information about the package and its contents. RPM queries the headers quickly and
easily.

System Verification

Another feature is the ability to verify packages. If you are worried a file related to
a package was deleted, you can verify the package to check the status of the files it
provides. The verification notifies you of any anomalies. If errors do exist, you can re­install the files easily. Modified configuration files are preserved during reinstallation.

Pristine Sources

A crucial design goal of RPM is to allow the use of pristine software sources, as
distributed by the original authors of the software. With RPM, the pristine sources can
be packaged, along with any patches that were used, plus complete build instructions.
This is an important advantage for several reasons. For instance, if a new version
of a program is released, you do not necessarily have to start from scratch to make it
compile. You can look at the patch to see what you might need to do. All the compiled­in defaults and changes made to get the software to build properly are easily visible
using this technique.

Keeping sources pristine may seem important only to developers, but it results in
higher quality software for end users, as well.

3.1.2. RHN RPM Guidelines

The strength of RPM lies in its ability to define dependencies and identify conflicts accu­rately. Red Hat Network relies on this aspect of RPM. Red Hat Network offers an auto­mated environment, which means that no manual intervention can take place during the
installation of a package. Therefore, when building RPMs for distribution through Red Hat
Network, it is imperative to follow these rules:

1. Learn RPM. It is crucial to have a fundamental understanding of the important fea­tures of RPM to build packages properly. For more information about RPM, start
with the following resources:

• http://www.rpm.org/RPM-HOWTO/

• http://www.redhat.com/docs/books/max-rpm/

• http://www.rpm.org/mailing_list/

• http://fedora.redhat.com/participate/developers-guide/ch-rpm-building.html

2. When building an RPM for a child channel, build the package on a fresh install of
Red Hat Enterprise Linux of the same version as the child’s base channel. Be sure to
apply all updates from Red Hat Network first.