Red Hat Network Release Notes 5.0.0

Updated -

The following topics are covered in this document:

  • Major Features
  • Corrections

Major Features

The following are the major features of Red Hat Network 5.0.0.

Entitlement Model Changes

The entitlement model has been updated to accomodate virtual guests and hosts in RHN.

Software Channel Refactoring

Red Hat Network has merged its variants into two classes: Server and Client. Specifically, the AS and ES variants have been combined into Server channels, and the WS and Desktop variants have been combined into Client channels. This was done to simplify business processes and in preparation for the release of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.

This change affects all client systems, those connected directly to the central RHN Servers and systems served by RHN Satellite Servers. Systems and their associations with software channels will not be altered. Satellite administrators will not need to apply the new RHN Entitlement Certificate accompanying this release for this change to take effect. The new certificate will be applied as part of the satellite-sync process for connected Satellites. For disconnected Satellites, administrators will need to update the Satellite and apply the new RHN Entitlement Certificate accompanying this release for this change to take effect. Until this is done, the RHN Satellite Synchronization Tool cannot be used to import new channel data. Once finished, satellite-sync, rhn-satellite-activate, and all functions within the website will function normally.

RHN Register improvements

A new version of rhn_register is included as part of this release in preparation for the release of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5. The updated rhn_register automatically recognizes virtual guests, automatically subscribes your system to the proper software channels, and functions with the yum-base updated client that replaces up2date as part of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.

Configuration Management Overhaul

RHN has performed a major upgrade to all configuration management pages. These upgrades will not remove or change your existing configuration management infrastructure. They do, however, make configuraiton management through RHN much simpler and easy to use. This includes changes to the System Details Configuration page, the System Set Manager configuration pages, and the creation of a new Configuration tab.

Corrections

The following are the major corrections of this release:

2.1. rhncfg-* applications

  • The rhncfg-actions package no longer requires the up2date package, which will be deprecated upon the release of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.

2.2. Kickstart

  • It is now possible to remove the Sync to package profile option from a kickstart profile once it has been selected.
  • A bug that prevented bare metal kickstarts from honoring the Sync to Package Profile option has been corrected.
  • When a kickstart managed from the web interface fails, that system's System ⇒ System Details page now accurately reflects the status of the kickstart.

2.3. Internal Service Errors

  • A bug that caused an Internal Service Error to occur when creating a new user within an organization has been corrected.
  • A bug has been corrected that caused an Internal Service Error when systems tried to register while others were simultaneously placed into system groups.
  • Attempting to upload a configuration file that is either empty or too large no longer results in an Internal Service Error.

2.4. Web User Interface

  • It is now possible to select a list of systems subscribed to a child channel, press the Update button in the upper right of the screen, and then use the System Set Manager (by pressing the Manage button) to manage those systems.
  • Deleting an unpublished erratum from the Errata ⇒ Manage Errata ⇒ Unpublished subtab no longer fails with a blank screen.
  • There is now a Systems ⇒ Recently Registered page. This page displays the name, entitlement, and other information about each system registered within a given time period. You can search in time periods ranging from one day to one year.
  • Uploading a Satellite certificate via the web interface now properly activates the Satellite as expected.
  • Various CSS bugs that affected the appearance of RHN in Internet Explorer 7 have been corrected.
  • Page titles for the subtabs of the Your RHN ⇒ Subscription Management page are now identical to the titles in the left navigation bar.
  • Attempting to use the System Set Manager for systems that do not have a Management entitlement now results in an error page explaining the issue and providing a link that allows a user to purchase the necessary entitlements.
  • The Buy Now button no longer appears to an organization's sub-users. This is because sub-users are not permitted to make purchases for the organization.
  • A channel dump ISO was mis-labeled as ia64 (Itanium) when the ISO was actually for the amd64 ISO. This has been corrected.
  • Remote commands issued from the web interface that contain non-ASCII characters no longer fail when picked up by the client system.
  • When applying errata to a series of systems, the confirmation screen displayed a total errata count that was higher than the actual number of applied errata. This bug has been corrected.
  • It is now possible to select a time zone of GMT +10 for Melbourne, Australia from the Your RHN ⇒ Locale Preferences page.
  • The Your RHN Account is Ready email that is sent when a new user is created within an organization no longer contains the user's password in plain text.
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