How do Match Prod to Test Server Rhel revisions level, Yum or other

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Yum/Classic, how to I get a Prod server to match rhel OS versions installed on a TEST server to match.

Matching installed Rhel product versions from Prod to a Test server that is newer by 6 months,
both are 6.7 and the same kernel 2.6.32-573.12.1.el6.x86_64

Not sure how to do using the Classic or by using Yum

MR
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Responses

LK Active Contributor 240 points
5 May 2016 5:17 PM

Probably the safest/easiest thing to do if you want to ensure exact package match you should download the 6.7 source DVD and use it as your base repository for both installations. There is really nothing that ties a package version to a minor release other than by virtue of being included on the DVD.

LK Active Contributor 240 points
5 May 2016 5:19 PM

If you've been syncing patches from RHN you likely have patches/packages that are already 'newer' than what was 'officially' part of the RHEL 6.7 release.

MR Community Member 50 points
5 May 2016 5:27 PM

Hi Lesley,

I am new to this Company, This will be my first upgrade. My Test server has been running for 6 months with out any updates installed or upgraded. I need to match the Prod server to the Test servers Revisions. The Kernels are the same. My servers are in the rhn Classic Subscription Management Server. No automatic Syncing going on that I know of. Do I use yum history and load transaction or do I use the Classic setup. In Classic there is No "" Compare Package Profiles / Manage Package Profiles "" under the Software TAB.

LK Active Contributor 240 points
5 May 2016 6:17 PM

I would think you could configure the RHEL 6.7 DVD as a repository. You could then run 'yum downgrade *' on your test machine which, if anything has been upgraded, will bring it down to what was provided with RHEL 6.7. After that you might also do a 'yum update' to make sure all of the other packages are at the latest available with RHEL 6.7. You could list out the packages on your test machine with 'rpm -qa > packages.list'. On your prod server you could list out packages and compare the two lists. Remove packages from your prod server that don't exist on your test server and install ones that do. There's probably a more efficient way to do this but this should meet your requirements. Or, if this is a virtual environment (but I'm assuming it's not), just clone your test system.

LK Active Contributor 240 points
9 May 2016 12:44 PM

Was this information helpful or did you find another method?

MR Community Member 50 points
9 May 2016 2:17 PM

I'm still not sure what to do to make my Prod server match my Test server. I'm surprised there is not a document way to do this. I am searching the WWW trying to find a safe way.

DK Community Member 68 points
10 May 2016 12:29 AM

Couldn't you use yum-plugin-downloadonly for this one? Using Test as a station?

https://access.redhat.com/solutions/45956

MR Community Member 50 points
8 June 2016 6:37 PM

Hi David, sorry it did not help. I just want my Prod server to match my Test server, is know know utilities for this ? both have network access to the redhat/classic manager

IG Active Contributor 142 points
18 June 2016 9:30 PM

There is a simple way:

  1. At the beginning of the month (once a month), run /usr/bin/spacewalk-clone-by-date for a cloned Red Hat Channel.

  2. Subscribe all your servers (test, prod, and whatever else you need) to this cloned Channel.

  3. Run yum updates on all servers during the month and wait for the next cycle of package updates, as per your company's policy and schedules.

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