Chapter 10. Configuring System Purpose

System administrators use System Purpose to record the intended use of a Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 system by the organization. When you set a system’s purpose, the entitlement server receives information that helps auto-attach a subscription that satisfies the intended use of the system. This section describes how to configure System Purpose using Kickstart.

10.1. Overview

You can enter System Purpose data in the following ways:

  • During image creation.
  • During installation using the graphical user interface.
  • Using Kickstart automation scripts.
  • Using the syspurpose command-line tool.

You can configure the following components:

  • Role:

    • Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server
    • Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation
    • Red Hat Enterprise Linux Compute Node

  • Service Level Agreement:

    • Premium
    • Standard
    • Self-Support

  • Usage:

    • Production
    • Disaster Recovery
    • Development/Test

  • Addons:

    • Smart Managemen
    • Resilient Storage
    • High Availability

Benefits include:

  • In-depth system-level information for system administrators and business operations.
  • Reduced overhead when determining why a system was procured and its intended purpose.
  • Improved customer experience of Subscription Manager auto-attach as well as automated discovery and reconciliation of system usage.

Additional resources

10.2. Configuring System Purpose in a Kickstart file

Follow the steps in this procedure to use the syspurpose command to configure System Purpose in a Kickstart configuration file.

Note

While it is strongly recommended that you configure System Purpose, it is an optional feature of the Red Hat Enterprise Linux installation program. If you want to enable System Purpose after the installation completes, you can do so using the syspurpose command-line tool.

The following actions are available:

role

Set the intended role of the system. This action uses the following format: 

syspurpose --role=

The role assigned can be:

  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux Compute Node
sla

Set the intended sla of the system. This action uses the following format: 

syspurpose --sla=

The sla assigned can be:

  • Premium
  • Standard
  • Self-Support
usage

Set the intended usage of the system. This action uses the following format: 

syspurpose --usage=

The usage assigned can be:

  • Production
  • Disaster Recovery
  • Development/Test