Red Hat Training

A Red Hat training course is available for Red Hat Satellite

Chapter 4. Updating Satellite Server, Capsule Server, and Content Hosts

Use this chapter to update your existing Red Hat Satellite environment to a new minor version of Red Hat Satellite, for example, from 6.3.0 to 6.3.1. For more information, see Chapter 4, Updating Satellite Server, Capsule Server, and Content Hosts.

This chapter includes update procedures for Satellite Server, Capsule Server, and Content Hosts.

Updating Between Minor Versions of Satellite

Updating is the process of migrating Satellite Server, Capsule Server, and Content Hosts to a new minor version. Updates typically patch security vulnerabilities and correct minor issues discovered after code is released. Generally speaking, updates require little time and are non-disruptive to your operating environment.

Before updating, check the Red Hat Satellite Release Notes for potential conflicts and backup your Satellite Server and all Capsule Servers. For more information, see Backing Up and Restoring Satellite Server and Capsule Server in Administering Red Hat Satellite.

Follow these procedures to update between minor versions, for example, from 6.3.0 to 6.3.1.

4.1. Updating Satellite Server

Prerequisites

  • Ensure that you have synchronized Satellite Server repositories for Satellite, Capsule, and Satellite Tools.
  • Ensure each external Capsule and Content Host can be updated by promoting the updated repositories to all relevant Content Views.
  • If you have made changes to configuration files, manually or using a tool such as Hiera, they will be overwritten when the installation script is run during upgrading or updating. You can use the --noop option with the satellite-installer script to test for changes. For more information, see the Red Hat Knowledgebase solution How to use the noop option to check for changes in Satellite config files during an upgrade.

Updating Satellite Server to the Next Minor Version

To Update Satellite Server:

  1. Ensure the Satellite Maintenance repository is enabled: 

    # subscription-manager repos --enable \
rhel-7-server-satellite-maintenance-6-rpms

  2. Ensure foreman-maintain is installed and up to date: 

    # yum install rubygem-foreman_maintain

  3. Check the available versions to confirm the next minor version is listed: 

    # foreman-maintain upgrade list-versions

  4. Use the health check option to determine if the system is ready for upgrade. On first use of this command, foreman-maintain prompts you to enter the hammer admin user credentials and saves them in the /etc/foreman-maintain/foreman-maintain-hammer.yml file. 

    # foreman-maintain upgrade check --target-version 6.3.z

    Review the results and address any highlighted error conditions before performing the upgrade.

  5. Because of the lengthy update time, use a utility such as screen to suspend and reattach a communication session. You can then check the upgrade progress without staying connected to the command shell continuously. For more information about using the screen command, see How do I use the screen command? article in the Red Hat Knowledge Base.

    If you lose connection to the command shell where the upgrade command is running, you can see the logged messages in the /var/log/foreman-installer/satellite.log file to check if the process completed successfully.

  6. Perform the upgrade: 

    # foreman-maintain upgrade run --target-version 6.3.z

  7. Check to see if any of the kernel packages were updated since you last rebooted the system: 

    # rpm -qa --last | grep kernel

  8. If a kernel update occurred since you last rebooted the system, reboot the system: 

    # reboot

4.2. Updating Capsule Server

Updating Capsule Servers to the Next Minor Version

To Update a Capsule Server:

  1. Check that only the correct repositories are enabled:

    1. List the enabled repositories: 

      # subscription-manager repos --list-enabled

    2. Ensure that you only have the following repositories enabled: 

      rhel-7-server-rpms
rhel-7-server-satellite-capsule-6.3-rpms
rhel-server-rhscl-7-rpms
rhel-7-server-satellite-tools-6.3-rpms

      If required, see the Configuring Repositories section of the Red Hat Satellite Installation Guide for more information on disabling and enabling repositories. The rhel-7-server-satellite-tools-6.3-rpms repository provides Katello Agent. If required, see the Installing the katello Agent section of the Red Hat Satellite Installation Guide for more information. The Red Hat Software Collections repository is optional, it is required for the Remote Execution feature.

  2. Stop Katello services: 

    # katello-service stop

  3. Update all packages: 

    # yum update

    If a kernel update occurs, make a note to reboot after the upgrade is complete. Do not reboot at this point.

  4. Perform the update by running the installer script with the --upgrade option. 

    # satellite-installer --scenario capsule --upgrade

  5. If a kernel update occurred during the yum update step, reboot the system: 

    # reboot

  6. If you did not reboot the system in the previous step, restart goferd: 

    # systemctl restart goferd

4.3. Updating Content Hosts

Updating Content Hosts to the Next Minor Version

To Update a Content Host, enter the following commands:

  1. Update all packages: 

    # yum update

  2. If a kernel update occurs, reboot the system: 

    # reboot

  3. If you did not reboot the system in the previous step, restart goferd: 

    # systemctl restart goferd