15.3. Attaching and Removing Subscriptions

Assigning a subscription to a system gives the system the ability to install and update any Red Hat product in that subscription. A subscription is a list of all of the products, in all variations, that were purchased at one time, and it defines both the products and the number of times that subscription can be used. When one of those licenses is associated with a system, that subscription is attached to the system.

15.3.1. Attaching and Removing Subscriptions through the GUI

15.3.1.1. Attaching a Subscription

  1. Launch Subscription Manager. For example: 
    [root@server ~]# subscription-manager-gui
  2. Open the All Available Subscriptions tab.
  3. Optionally, set the date range and click the Filters button to set the filters to use to search for available subscriptions.
    Subscriptions can be filtered by their active date and by their name. The checkboxes provide more fine-grained filtering:
    • match my system shows only subscriptions which match the system architecture.
    • match my installed products shows subscriptions which work with currently installed products on the system.
    • have no overlap with existing subscriptions excludes subscriptions with duplicate products. If a subscription is already attached to the system for a specific product or if multiple subscriptions supply the same product, then the subscription service filters those subscriptions and shows only the best fit.
    • contain the text searches for strings, such as the product name, within the subscription or pool.
    After setting the date and filters, click the Update button to apply them.
  4. Select one of the available subscriptions.
  5. Click the Subscribe button.

15.3.1.2. Removing Subscriptions

  1. Launch Subscription Manager. For example: 
    [root@server ~]# subscription-manager-gui
  2. Open the My Subscriptions tab.
    All of the active subscriptions to which the system is currently attached are listed. (The products available through the subscription may or may not be installed.)
  3. Select the subscription to remove.
  4. Click the Unsubscribe button in the bottom right of the window.

15.3.2. Attaching and Removing Subscriptions through the Command Line

15.3.2.1. Attaching Subscriptions

Attaching subscriptions to a system requires specifying the individual product or subscription to attach, using the --pool option. 
[root@server1 ~]# subscription-manager subscribe --pool=XYZ01234567
The options for the subscribe command are listed in Table 15.3, “subscribe Options”.
The ID of the subscription pool for the purchased product must be specified. The pool ID is listed with the product subscription information, which is available from running the list command: 
[root@server1 ~]# subscription-manager list --available

+-------------------------------------------+
    Available Subscriptions
+-------------------------------------------+
ProductName:            RHEL for Physical Servers
ProductId:              MKT-rhel-server
PoolId:                 ff8080812bc382e3012bc3845ca000cb
Quantity:               10
Expires:                2011-09-20
Alternatively,the best-fitting subscriptions, as identified by the subscription service, can be attached to the system by using the --auto option (which is analogous to the --autosubscribe option with the register command). 
[root@server1 ~]# subscription-manager subscribe --auto

Table 15.3. subscribe Options

Options Description Required
--pool=pool-id Gives the ID for the subscription to attach to the system. Required, unless --auto is used
--auto Automatically attaches the system to the best-match subscription or subscriptions. Optional
--quantity=number Attaches multiple counts of a subscription to the system. This is used to cover subscriptions that define a count limit, like using two 2-socket server subscriptions to cover a 4-socket machine. Optional
--servicelevel=None|Standard|Premium Sets the service level to use for subscriptions on that machine. This is only used with the --auto option. Optional

15.3.2.2. Removing Subscriptions from the Command Line

A system can be attached to multiple subscriptions and products. Similarly, a single subscription or all subscriptions can be removed from the system.
Running the unsubscribe command with the --all option removes every product subscription and subscription pool that is currently attached to the system. 
[root@server1 ~]# subscription-manager unsubscribe --all
It is also possible to remove a single product subscription. Each product has an identifying X.509 certificate installed with it. The product subscription to remove is identified in the unsubscribe command by referencing the ID number of that X.509 certificate.
  1. Get the serial number for the product certificate, if you are removing a single product subscription. The serial number can be obtained from the subscription#.pem file (for example, 392729555585697907.pem) or by using the list command. For example: 
    [root@server1 ~]# subscription-manager list --consumed

+-------------------------------------------+
    Consumed Product Subscriptions
+-------------------------------------------+


ProductName:         High availability (cluster suite)
ContractNumber:      0
SerialNumber:        11287514358600162
Active:              True
Begins:              2010-09-18
Expires:             2011-11-18
  2. Run the subscription-manager tool with the --serial option to specify the certificate. 
    [root@server1 ~]# subscription-manager unsubscribe --serial=11287514358600162