6.4.2.9. System Details

Click on the name of a system on any page and RHN displays the System Details page for that client. From here, you may modify the displayed information or remove the system altogether by clicking the delete system link on the top-right corner.

Note

The delete system link in the upper right of this screen refers to the system profile only. Deleting a host system profile will not destroy or remove the registration of guest systems. Deleting a guest system profile does not remove it from the list of guests for its host, nor does it stop or pause the guest. It does, however, remove your ability to manage it via RHN.
If you mistakenly delete a system profile from RHN, you may re-register the system.
The System Details page is further divided into the following tabs:
  • Details
  • Software
  • Configuration
  • Provisioning —
  • Monitoring —
  • Groups
  • Events
The following sections discuss these tabs and their sub-tabs in detail.
6.4.2.9.1. System Details ⇒ Details
This page is not accessible from any of the standard navigation bars. However, clicking on the name of a system anywhere in the web interface brings you to this page. The default tab displayed on this page is the Details ⇒ Overview sub-tab. Other tabs are available, depending on the current entitlement level of the system.
6.4.2.9.1.1. System Details ⇒ Details ⇒ Overview
This system summary page displays the system status message and the following key information about the system:
System Info
System Status Message
This message indicates the current state of your system in relation to RHN.

Note

If updates are available for any entitled system, the message Critical updates available appears. To apply these updates, click the update now link.
Hostname
The hostname as defined by the client system. This information is often found in /etc/hostname for Red Hat Enterprise Linux systems.
Virtualization
If the system is a virtual guest, the type of virtualization used to create the guest is displayed here.
UUID
If the system is a virtual guest, the UUID of the guest system is displayed here.
IP Address
The IP address of the client.
Kernel
The kernel that is installed and operating on the client system.
RHN system ID
A unique identifier generated each time a system registers with RHN.

Note

The system ID can be used to eliminate duplicate profiles from RHN. Compare the system ID listed on this page with the information stored on the client system in the /etc/sysconfig/rhn/systemid file. In that file, the system's current ID is listed under "system_id". The value starts after the characters "ID-" If the value stored in the file does not match the value listed in the profile, the profile is not the most recent one and may be removed.
Locked
Indicates whether a system has been locked.
Actions cannot be scheduled for locked systems through the web interface until the lock is removed manually. This does not include preventing auto-errata updates scheduled through the web interface. To prevent the application of auto-errata updates, de-select Auto Errata Update from the System Details ⇒ Details ⇒ Properties sub-tab.
Locking a system can help to prevent you from accidentally making any changes to a system until you are ready to do so. For example, the system may be a production system that you do not wish to receive updates or new packages until you decide to unlock it.

Important

Locking a system in the web interface will not prevent any actions that originate from the client system. For example, if a user logs into the client directly and runs up2date, up2date will install available errata whether or not the system is locked in the web interface.
Further, locking a system does not restrict the number of users who can access the system via the web interface. If you wish to restrict access to the system, associate that system with a System Group and assign it a System Group Administrator. Refer to Section 6.4.3, “System Groups — ” for more information about System Groups.
It is also possible to lock multiple systems via the System Set Manager. Refer to Section 6.4.4.11.4, “System Set Manager ⇒ Misc ⇒ Lock Systems — ” to learn how to do so.
— OSA status is also displayed for client systems registered to a Satellite that have a Provisioning entitlement and have enabled OSA.
Push enables Satellite customers to immediately initiate tasks on Provisioning-entitled system rather than wait for those systems to check in with RHN. Scheduling actions through push is identical to the process of scheduling any other action, except that the task begins immediately instead of waiting the set interval.
In addition to the configuration of the Satellite, each client system to receive pushed actions must have the osad package installed and its service started. Refer to the Enabling Push to Clients section of the RHN Satellite Server 5.0.0 Installation Guide for details.
Subscribed Channels
Base Channel
The first line indicates the base channel to which this client is subscribed. The base channel should match the operating system of the system.
Child Channels
The subsequent lines of text, which depend from the base channel, are child channels. Examples are the Red Hat Network Tools channel and the RHEL AS Extras channel.

Note

The final link under Subscribed Channels is the Alter Channel subscriptions link. Click on this link to select from the available base and child channels for this system. When finished making selections, click the Change Subscriptions button to confirm the changes.
System Events
Checked In
The date and time at which the system last checked in with RHN.
Registered
The date and time at which the system registered with RHN and created this profile.
Last Booted
The date and time at which the system was last started or restarted.

Note

Systems with a Management entitlement can be rebooted from this screen.
  • Select Schedule system reboot
  • Provide the earliest date and time at which the reboot may take place.
  • Click the Schedule Reboot button in the lower right.
When the client checks in after the scheduled start time, RHN will instruct the system to restart itself.
System Properties
Entitlements
A list of the base and add-on entitlements applied to this system. Virtual hosts should have the Virtualization or Virtualization Platform entitlement; guest systems should not.

Note

Base and add-on entitlements are inherited by guest systems from the host system. If you change the entitlements of the host, those of the guest change accordingly.
Notifications
Indicates the the notification options for this system. You can choose whether you wish to receive email notifying you of available errata updates for this system. In addition, you may choose to include Management-entitled systems in the daily summary email.
Auto Errata Update
Indicates whether this system is configured to accept updates automatically.
System Name
This editable name for the system profile is set to the system's hostname by default. It serves to distinguish this system profile from others.
Description
This information is automatically generated at registration. You can edit this to include any information you wish.
Location
If entered, this field displays the physical address of the system.
The final link on the page is Edit these properties. Clicking this link opens the System Details ⇒ Properties sub-tab. On this page, edit any text you choose, then click the Update Properties button to confirm.

Important

When you apply a virtualtization or virtualization platform entitlement to a system, RHN automatically schedules additional tasks in order to be certain your system is fully prepared.
  1. The system is subscribed to the RHEL Virtualization (v.5) child channel that is appropriate to that system's architecture.
  2. The system is subscribed to the Red Hat Network Tools for RHEL Server (v.5) child channel that is appropriate to that system's architecture.
  3. A package install is scheduled for the rhn-virtualization-host package. The installation takes place the next time the system checks in with RHN.
6.4.2.9.1.2. System Details ⇒ Details ⇒ Properties
This sub-tab allows you to alter the following basic properties of your system:
Profile Name
By default, this is the hostname of the system. You can however alter the profile name to anything that allows you to distinguish this profile from others.
Base Entitlement
Select a base channel for the system from the available base entitlements.
Add-on entitlements
If available, apply a Monitoring or Provisioning entitlement to the system.
Notifications
Toggle whether notifications about this system are sent and whether this system is included in the daily summary. (By default, all Management and Provisioning systems are included in the summary.) This setting keeps you abreast of all advisories pertaining to the system. Anytime an update is produced and released for the system, a notification is sent via email.
The daily summary reports system events that affect packages, such as scheduled Errata Updates, system reboots, or failures to check in. In addition to including the system here, you must choose to receive email notification sin the Your Preferences page of the Your RHN category.
Auto-errata update
If this box is checked, available errata are automatically applied to the system when it checks in. This action takes place without user intervention. Customers should note that Red Hat does not recommend the use of the auto-update feature for production systems because conflicts between packages and environments can cause system failures. The Red Hat Network Daemon must be enabled on the system for this feature to work.
Description
By default, this text box records the operating system, release, and architecture of the system when it first registers. You may edit this information to include anything you like.
The remaining fields record the physical address at which the system is stored. To confirm any changes to these fields, click the Update Properties button.

Note

Many of these properties can be set for multiple systems at once through the System Set Manager interface. Refer to Section 6.4.4, “System Set Manager — ” for details.
6.4.2.9.1.3. System Details ⇒ Details ⇒ Remote Command —
This sub-tab allows you to run a remote command on the system if the system possesses a Provisioning entitlement. Before doing so, you must first configure the system to accept such commands.
  • First, subscribe the system to the RHN Tools channel and use up2date to install the rhncfg, rhncfg-client, and rhncfg-actions packages. 
     up2date rhncfg rhncfg-client rhncfg-actions
  • Log into the system as root and add the following file to the local RHN configuration directory: allowed-actions/scripts/run.
    • Create the necessary directory on the target system: 
       mkdir -p /etc/sysconfig/rhn/allowed-actions/script
    • Create an empty run file in that directory to act as a flag to RHN signaling permission to allow remote commands: 
       touch /etc/sysconfig/rhn/allowed-actions/script/run
Once the setup is complete, refresh the page in order to view the text fields for remote commands. You may then identify a specific user, group, and timeout period, as well as the script itself on this page. Select a date and time to begin attempting the command, and click Schedule Remote Command.
6.4.2.9.1.4. System Details ⇒ Details ⇒ Reactivation —
An activation key specific to this System Profile. Reactivation keys, available only for systems that have a Provisioning entitlement, include this system's ID, history, groups, and channels. This key can then be used only once with the rhnreg_ks command line utility to re-register this system and regain all Red Hat Network settings. Refer to Section 2.5, “Registering with Activation Keys” for instructions. Unlike typical activation keys, which are not associated with a specific system ID, keys created here do not show up within the Activation Keys page.

Warning

When kickstarting a system with its existing RHN profile, the kickstart profile uses the system-specific activation key created here to re-register the system and return its other RHN settings. For this reason, you should not regenerate, delete, or use this key (with rhnreg_ks) while a profile-based kickstart is in progress. If you do, the kickstart will fail.
6.4.2.9.1.5. System Details ⇒ Details ⇒ Hardware
This sub-tab provides detailed information about the system, including networking, BIOS, storage, and other devices. This appears only if you selected to include the hardware profile for this machine during registration. If the hardware profile looks incomplete or outdated, click the Schedule Hardware Refresh button to schedule a Hardware Profile update for your system. The next time the RHN Daemon connects to RHN, it will update your System Profile with the latest list of hardware.
6.4.2.9.1.6. System Details ⇒ Details ⇒ Notes
This sub-tab provides a place to create notes about the system. To add a new note, click the create new note link, type a subject and details, and click the Create button. To modify a note, click on its subject in the list of notes, make your changes, and click the Update button. To remove a note, click on its subject in the list of notes and then click the delete note link.
6.4.2.9.1.7. System Details ⇒ Details ⇒ Custom Info —
This sub-tab, available for systems with a Provisioning entitlement, provides completely customizable information about the system. Unlike Notes, Custom Info is structured, formalized, and can be searched upon. Before you can provide custom information about a system, you must first have Custom Information Keys. This is done via the Custom System Info page, available from the left navigation bar. Refer to Section 6.4.8, “Custom System Info — ” for instructions.
Once you have created one or more Keys, you may assign a value for this system by select the create new value link. Click the name of the key in the resulting list and enter a value for it in the Description field, then click the Update Key button.
6.4.2.9.1.8. System Details ⇒ Details ⇒ Proxy
Activates an RHN Proxy Server. This tab is only available for Provisioning-entitled systems. Select a version of RHN Proxy Server and click the Activate Proxy button to begin the installation and activation process. For detailed information, refer to the RHN Proxy Server Guide and the Client Configuration Guide.
6.4.2.9.1.9. System Details ⇒ Details ⇒ Satellite
Displays the certificate of an active Red Hat Network. You can deactivate an old certificate here and upload a new one if necessary. This tab requires a Provisioning entitlement. For detailed information on activating a Satellite, refer to the RHN Satellite Installation Guide.