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Upgrade Advisory for Satellite 5.6 customers running Satellites hosted on Red Hat Enterprise Linux version 5.

Rich Jerrido published on 2017-01-16T18:05:11+00:00, last updated 2017-01-24T18:56:02+00:00

Overview

Upgrade Advisory for Satellite 5.6 customers running Satellites hosted on Red Hat Enterprise Linux version 5.

Affected customers

  • Satellite 5.6 customers whose Satellite server whose underlying operating system is Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5

Unaffected customers

  • Satellite 5.7 customers.
  • Satellite 5.6 customers whose Satellite server whose underlying operating system is Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6

Details

As per the Red Hat Enterprise Linux Lifecycle, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 will be transitioning into the Extended Life Phase on 31 Mar 2017. This date is important for users of Satellite 5.6 whose Satellite server has an underlying operating system which is RHEL 5

  • As RHEL5 is in the Extended Life Phase, " Red Hat will provide limited ongoing technical support. No bug fixes, security fixes, hardware enablement or root-cause analysis will be available during this phase, and support will be provided on existing installations only."
  • Additionally, Layered Products, such as Satellite are not supported on a version of RHEL that is in the Extended Life Phase. The Satellite Life Cycle document states
Red Hat Satellite server may be dependent on
software that enables functionality or serves
as part of the underlying platform. This
software (e.g., Oracle, Red Hat Enterprise Linux)
may include asynchronous product support life cycles.
If such software has ended its standard production
life cycle (e.g., the end of Production
Phase 3 for Red Hat Enterprise Linux), customers may
be required to upgrade to a more recent version of Satellite.
For example, Red Hat Enterprise Linux Extended Life Phase and/or
Extended Lifecycle Support are not considered standard
production life cycle phases and will not be a
supported platform for either Satellite or Satellite Proxy.

What does this mean

As a Satellite 5.6 customer whose Satellite's operating system is RHEL5, it is expected that you migrate your Satellite to Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.

As part of the Satellite upgrade, if desired, you may change your database type if desired, as shown below:

Source Destination
Embedded Database
Sat 5.6 on RHEL5 w/ Embedded DB Sat 5.6 or Sat 5.7 on RHEL6 w/ Embedded DB
Sat 5.6 on RHEL5 w/ Embedded DB Sat 5.6 or Sat 5.7 on RHEL6 w/ External Postgres DB
Sat 5.6 on RHEL5 w/ Embedded DB Sat 5.6 or Sat 5.7 on RHEL6 w/ Managed DB
External (User Managed) Postgres Database
Sat 5.6 on RHEL5 w/ External Postgres DB Sat 5.6 or Sat 5.7 on RHEL6 w/ External Postgres DB
Sat 5.6 on RHEL5 w/ External Postgres DB Sat 5.6 or Sat 5.7 on RHEL6 w/ Embedded DB
Sat 5.6 on RHEL5 w/ External Postgres DB Sat 5.6 or Sat 5.7 on RHEL6 w/ Managed DB
Managed Postgres Database
Sat 5.6 on RHEL5 w/ Managed Postgres DB Sat 5.6 or Sat 5.7 on RHEL6 w/ Managed Postgres DB
Sat 5.6 on RHEL5 w/ Managed Postgres DB Sat 5.6 or Sat 5.7 on RHEL6 w/ Embedded Postgres DB
Sat 5.6 on RHEL5 w/ Managed Postgres DB Sat 5.6 or Sat 5.7 on RHEL6 w/ External Postgres DB
External (User Managed) Oracle Database
Sat 5.6 on RHEL5 w/ External Oracle DB Sat 5.6 or Sat 5.7 on RHEL6 w/ Embedded DB
Sat 5.6 on RHEL5 w/ External Oracle DB Sat 5.6 or Sat 5.7 on RHEL6 w/ External Postgres DB
Sat 5.6 on RHEL5 w/ External Oracle DB Sat 5.6 or Sat 5.7 on RHEL6 w/ Managed DB
Sat 5.6 on RHEL5 w/ External Oracle DB Sat 5.6 or Sat 5.7 on RHEL6 w/ External Oracle DB

How do I perform the upgrade

As Satellite 5 has a number of deployment scenarios, please consult the Red Hat Satellite Installation Guide for the most updated instructions.

As prerequisites to the upgrade of your existing Red Hat Satellite 5.6 running on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 to the latest version of Red Hat Satellite running on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 you'll need:

The rhn-upgrade package contains documentation how to upgrade your existing Red Hat Satellite 5 instance. /etc/sysconfig/rhn/satellite-upgrade/README file which contains general information about upgrade. Then proceed with /etc/sysconfig/rhn/satellite-upgrade/doc/preparations.txt which contains e.g. instructions how to backup your database before proceeding with actual upgrade process.

In general there are two possible upgrade scenarios depending on which database you are using:

  • If you are using Red Hat Satellite 5.6 with the embedded or external PostgreSQL database, follow /etc/sysconfig/rhn/satellite-upgrade/doc/satellite-and-os-upgrade-postgresql.txt.
  • If you are using Red Hat Satellite Managed Database in conjunction with Red Hat Satellite, follow the instructions in /etc/sysconfig/rhn/satellite-upgrade/doc/managed-db-and-os-upgrade.txt
  • If you are using Red Hat Satellite 5.6 with external Oracle database then follow instructions in /etc/sysconfig/rhn/satellite-upgrade/doc/satellite-and-os-upgrade-oracle.txt

Lastly, /etc/sysconfig/rhn/satellite-upgrade/doc/verification.txt contains information about steps how to verify that upgrade process of your Red Hat Satellite completed successfully.

What happens if I don't upgrade by 31 Mar 2017

If the Satellite server is not upgraded to a supported version of Red Hat Enterprise Linux prior to 31 Mar 2017, the following will happen:

  • The Satellite will no longer receive errata for itself (the operating system and Satellite server software)
  • The Satellite will continue to synchronize content for clients that it supports.

Need Assistance?

Feel free to reach out to Red Hat CEE by opening a support case if you need assistance getting upgraded.

English

Product

Red Hat Satellite

Category

Upgrade

About The Author

Rich Jerrido's picture Red Hat Guru 3050 points

Rich Jerrido

Rich Jerrido, Red Hat Product Manager, is a “doer-of-all-things Red Hat Satellite,” including training, integration, enablement, documentation, and helping to identify product requirements. He serves as a technology expert, frequently speaking in web seminars and at industry events. With mor...