Red Hat Satellite 5 to Satellite 6 Transition FAQ

• Introduction
• Is it an in-place upgrade or do I need to install Satellite 6 on a new server?
• Which versions of Satellite 5.x are supported for the transition?
• Which versions of RHEL will Satellite 5 and Satellite 6 support as client systems?
• How will customers transition from Satellite 5 to 6?
• Where do I get more information?

Introduction

Red Hat Satellite 6 (GA as of September 10, 2014) is the next major release of the Red Hat Satellite product family. Red Hat Satellite 5 will continue to be supported until its EOL (see Important Changes Coming to Red Hat Satellite 5). A fully supported transition path including documentation is available. This FAQ aims to answer questions related to transitioning from Red Hat Satellite 5 to Satellite 6.

Q: Is it an in-place upgrade or do I need to install Satellite 6 on a new server?

A: The underlying technologies between Satellite 5 and 6 are significantly different, so the in-place upgrade process (such as for versions 4.x->5.x or 5.x->5.y) does not apply for version 5->6. Satellite 6 needs to be installed on a new server as part of the side-by-side transition process. Hence, we call this a transition process and not an upgrade process.

Q: Which versions of Satellite 5.x are supported for the transition?

A: The transition path begins with Satellite 5.6. So for customers running a previous version of Satellite 5, they will first need to upgrade to version 5.6, 5.7 or 5.8.

• Upon future releases of Satellite 6.x (6.3, 6.4 etc.), Red Hat will also support those versions as a platform for moving to Satellite 6

NOTE: if you plan a more passive transition process the prior Satellite 5 version doesn't matter. A passive transition process is more of an adoption process, where legacy workloads remain on Satellite 5 and new workloads are created on Satellite 6, as a separate or parallel platform.

Q: Which versions of RHEL will Satellite 5 and Satellite 6 support as client systems?

A:

• README: Please be aware of Important Changes Coming to Red Hat Satellite 5
• For supported combinations of Red Hat Enterprise Linux as the underlying OS for Red Hat Satellite, please see this Knowledgebase article: "What is the supportability matrix for Red Hat Satellite on RHEL?"
• For Red Hat Enterprise Linux lifecycle support, refer to this page.

Q: How will customers transition from Satellite 5 to 6?

A:

1. Obtain 1-year Transition Subscriptions. [1]
2. Install Satellite 6, activate with a Manifest and sync RHEL content from CDN
   • Learn and understand the basics of the new Satellite 6 product, including new concepts, such as environments.
3. Decided on the passive or active transition strategy.
   • Passive: Legacy (existing) workloads remain with Red Hat Satellite 5. New workloads are managed by Satellite 6.
   • Active: Move workloads from Red Hat Satellite 5 to 6.
4. Test the use of the bootstrap script to move hosts. See Performing the Transition in the Red Hat Satellite Transition Guide for more information.
5. Validate and test the resulting Satellite 6 system for end to end functionality and use-cases of importance to the customer.

[1] This landing page provides more details on the overall process, as well as steps to request Transition Subscriptions: Transitioning from Red Hat Satellite 5 to Satellite 6

Q: Where do I get more information?

A: More information can be found here (more to come):

• Transitioning from Red Hat Satellite 5 to Satellite 6

• Red Hat Satellite 6 Documentation - Transition Guide

You can also contact Red Hat support.