Chapter 7. Troubleshooting

This chapter provides tips for determining the cause of and resolving the most common errors associated with RHN Satellite Server. If you need additional help, contact Red Hat Network support at https://rhn.redhat.com/help/contact.pxt. Log in using your Satellite-entitled account to see your full list of options.
In addition, you may package configuration information and logs from the Satellite and send them to Red Hat for further diagnosis. Refer to Section 7.6, “Satellite Debugging by Red Hat” for instructions.

7.1. Log Files

Virtually every troubleshooting step should start with a look at the associated log file or files. These provide invaluable information about the activity that has taken place on the device or within the application that can be used to monitor performance and ensure proper configuration. See Table 7.1, “Log Files” for the paths to all relevant log files:

Table 7.1. Log Files

Component/Task Log File Location
Apache Web server /var/log/httpd/ directory
RHN Satellite Server /var/log/rhn/ directory
RHN Satellite Server Installation Program /var/log/rhn_satellite_install.log
Database installation - Embedded Database /var/log/rhn/rhn-database-installation.log
Database population /var/log/rhn/populate_db.log
RHN Satellite Synchronization Tool /var/log/rhn/rhn_server_satellite.log
Monitoring infrastructure /home/nocpulse/var/ directory
Monitoring notifications /opt/notification/var/ directory
RHN DB Control - Embedded Database /var/log/rhn/rhn_database.log
RHN Task Engine (taskomatic) /var/log/messages
Red Hat Update Agent /var/log/up2date
XML-RPC transactions /var/log/rhn/rhn_server_xmlrpc.log