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Chapter 2. Automatic Synchronization

Manually synchronizing the RHN Satellite Server repository with Red Hat Network can be an arduous task. Synchronization can be automated so that it occurs in non-peak times, such as the late evening or early morning to better balance load and ensure faster synchronization. Synchronization should occur randomly for best performance. The most effective way to automate synchronization is using cron.

Procedure 2.1. Automating Synchronization

  1. Switch to the root user, and open the crontab in a text editor: 
    crontab -e

    Note

    The crontab will open in vi by default. To change this behavior, change the EDITOR variable to the name of the text editor you prefer.
  2. In the crontab, use the first five fields (minute, hour, day, month, and weekday) to schedule the synchronization. To create a random synchronization time, use the following entry: 
    0 1 * * * perl -le 'sleep rand 9000' && satellite-sync --email >/dev/null 2>1
    This crontab entry will run the synchronization job randomly between 01:00 and 03:30. It will discard stdout and stderr from cron to prevent duplicating the messages from satellite-sync. Other options can be included as needed.
  3. To save the crontab, simply exit from the text editor. The new cron rules will be put in to place immediately.