Subscription Management questions

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Sorry for what probably sounds like a newbie question ....

I inherited the role of administering a new Satellite server and find the Redhat model of subscriptions and entitlements very confusing.

The environment we've got is Satellite 5.x something managing a bunch of production servers. A new environment getting set up will be running RHEL 7.2 or RHEL 7.3, and the Satellite server there will be running Satellite 6.2. Some of the production servers were registered with RHN and many others are registered to the Satellite server.

I'm managing the new Satellite server and it doesn't appear to have any subscriptions available on it. This Satellite has a transition license until the other one gets shut down.

On the Redhat portal it looks like our production Satellite has 10 subscriptions available for "Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server, Premium (1-2 sockets) (Unlimited guests)" and 130 available for "Smart Management". From my poking around in the Redhat portal it looks like these subscriptions can be moved to the new Satellite.

I'm not clear which subscription is appropriate to use in which case. For a few servers when we registered them on the Redhat portal directly, there didn't seem to be any issue subscribing to the various subscriptions we needed. When I register directly to the Satellite server no subscriptions channels are available.

The majority of our servers are general function servers (i.e. not running a special Redhat product beyond the operating system). Is the "Smart Management" subscription the right subscription to use in that case?

What are the steps to transfer subscriptions from one Satellite to another and how does the Satellite receiving the new subscriptions become aware of the new subscriptions? Is that the role of creating and downloading the manifest from the Redhat portal? If that's the case, would you first transfer the subscriptions to the new Satellite, create a new manifest and then import it into the new Satellite? Or can this subscription transfer just happen through the Redhat portal - i.e. the Satellite checks into the portal and the portal tells it it's got some new subscriptions added to it?

Thanks in advance for your help,

Paul

Responses

Hello

There appears to be some overlap with your earlier questions Question regarding appropriate Subscriptions to use so let me know if something is still not clear.

Re: it doesn't appear to have any subscriptions available on it

Once you have loaded a manifest containing subscriptions you will be able to enable the corresponding repositories. See:

Uploading a Manifest to Your Satellite Server in the Installation Guide or the more comprehensive Managing Subscriptions in the Content Management Guide.

Then see, "Selecting Red Hat Repositories to Synchronize" in the Importing Red Hat Content chapter of the Content Management Guide.

Re: When I register directly to the Satellite server no subscriptions channels are available.

Once repositories are enabled and synchronized, you will be able to attach them on a host that is registered to the Satellite. See Registration.

Re: "Smart Management" subscription

I'll ask a colleague for advice.

Re: What are the steps to transfer subscriptions from one Satellite to another

I think that was answered in Question regarding appropriate Subscriptions to use ?

Hello, I was told Smart Management is to enable managing a host from Satellite, but it does not include the entitlements to the software repositories. Give support a call if you need more details.

These Red Hat Knowledgebase links might be useful:

This one applies to Satellite 5: How to use the Smart Management add-on subscription with RHN or Red Hat Satellite or RHSM?.

This one applies to Satellite 6: Smart Management & Satellite 6.

Stephen - thanks for your help. I think I'm finally starting to get the hang of how Satellite management works. We had some licenses expire in the meantime, so I couldn't do much for a few days. The licensing did come through yesterday, and I've got a question about that, but will open a separate thread so this one can be closed. Paul

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