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4.2. Connected Satellite

Red Hat Satellite provides different types of content to subscribed client hosts. Content types include packages, errata updates, kickstart trees, and installation images.
Satellite Server requires a source to provide this content. The content is configured by uploading a subscription manifest file to the Satellite. This file can be obtained through the Red Hat Customer Portal, or by contacting Red Hat Support. Manifests provide subscriptions to client hosts through the Red Hat Satellite rather than through Red Hat Network.
This chapter outlines the process of populating your Red Hat Satellite Server, whether it is a connected Red Hat Satellite Server or a disconnected Red Hat Satellite Server, with the content it requires so client hosts can be subscribed to it and receive updates.

4.2.1. Using Red Hat Content Providers

4.2.1.1. Setting up a Manifest

A subscription manifest can be obtained through the method below or by contacting Red Hat Support. The manifest is used to set up Red Hat content providers and contains repository information and subscriptions. It is used as a basis of dispensing subscriptions and Red Hat Network (RHN) content to client systems from Red Hat Satellite.
Prerequisites

You must meet the following conditions before continuing with this task:

  • A Customer Portal user name and password.
  • Sufficient subscriptions to add to the manifest.
These steps show how to obtain the subscription manifest from the Customer Portal:
  1. Log in to the Customer Portal.
  2. Click SubscriptionsSubscriptions ManagementSubscriptions Management Applications and then click Satellite.
  3. On the upper right corner of the Subscriptions Management Applications page, click Register a Satellite.
  4. Create a name to distinguish your Satellite from the other Satellite systems in your account.
  5. Select 6.0 from the drop-down menu as the Satellite Version. It is important to select the correct version as each version requires a certain subset of packages.
  6. Click Register.
  7. Click Attach a subscription, add the subscriptions required for Red Hat Satellite, and then click Attach Selected. See How to generate a certificate for more information.
  8. Click Download manifest to generate an archive in .zip format that contains the manifest for Red Hat Satellite.
Result:

A subscription manifest is created and downloaded for Red Hat Satellite.

4.2.1.2. Uploading a Subscription Manifest

This section describes how to upload a subscription manifest to an organization. Because subscription manifests are assigned to an organization, ensure you select an organization before you try to upload a subscription manifest. Failing to do so will cause a permission denied error (Error 403).

Procedure 4.1. To Upload Subscription Manifest:

  1. Log in to the Satellite server.
  2. Click Any ContextAny Organization and select the organization that you want to assign the subscription manifest to.
  3. Click ContentRed Hat Subscriptions and then click Manage Manifest at the upper right of the page.
  4. In the Subscription Manifest section, click Actions and under the Upload New Manifest subsection, click Browse.
  5. Select the manifest file to upload, and then click Upload.

4.2.1.3. Enabling Red Hat Repositories

The Red Hat Satellite manifest file provides access to Red Hat products and repositories. Because most products have several architectures and product versions, Red Hat Satellite Server allows the Satellite administrators to choose which repositories are required by their organizations. You need to enable the repositories in Red Hat Satellite Server to prepare them for synchronization.

Procedure 4.2. To Enable Red Hat Repositories:

  1. On the main menu, click ContentRed Hat Repositories and then click the tab for the type of content that you want to enable.
  2. Click the product name for which you want to add repositories. This expands the list of available repository sets.
  3. Click each repository set from which you want to select repositories, and select the check box for each required repository. The repository is automatically enabled.

    Important

    Ensure you enable the Satellite Tools repository. This repository provides the katello-agent and puppet-agent packages for clients registered to the Satellite Server.
The following is an example set of subscriptions that contain repositories with the latest packages for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6:
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 Server Kickstart x86_64 6Server Repository
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 Server RPMs x86_64 6Server Repository
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 Server - Satellite Tools RPMs x86_64 Repository

4.2.2. Using Products

4.2.2.1. Creating a Product

These steps show how to create a new product in Red Hat Satellite.

Procedure 4.3. Creating a Product

  1. Click ContentProducts.
  2. Click the + New Product link.
  3. Type in the name of the new product in the Name field.
  4. Type in label for the new product in the Label field.
  5. Select a GPG key from the GPG Key drop down menu.
  6. Select a synchronization plan from the Sync Plan drop down menu. Alternatively select the + New Sync Plan link to create a new synchronization plan.
  7. Type in a description of the new product in the Description field.
  8. Click the Save button to save your new product.
Result:

A new product is created.

4.2.2.2. Adding Repositories to a Product

These steps show how to add repositories to a product in Red Hat Satellite.

Procedure 4.4. Adding Repositories to a Product

  1. Click ContentProducts.
  2. Click the product you wish to add a repository to.
  3. Click the Repositories subtab.
  4. Click the Create Repository button.
  5. Type in the name of the new repository in the Name field.
  6. Type in a label for the new repository in the Label field.
  7. Select the type of the repository from the Type drop down menu.
  8. Type in the URL of the repository in the URL field.
  9. Choose whether to publish the repository via HTTP by clicking the Publish via HTTP check box.
  10. Select a GPG key for the repository from the GPG Key drop down menu.
  11. Click the Create button to save your new repository.
Result:

A new repository is added to your product.

4.2.2.3. Using Bulk Actions for Products

This section describes how to use bulk actions to synchronize or remove products in Red Hat Satellite. The procedure described here requires that at least one product be available.

Procedure 4.5. To Perform Tasks on Multiple Products:

  1. Click ContentProducts.
  2. Select the check box for the products you want to work with.
  3. Click Bulk Actions.
    • To synchronize all selected products, click the Product Sync tab and then click Sync Now.
    • To remove all selected products, click Remove Products and then click Remove.
Updating Synchronization Plans

You can also update the synchronization plans for multiple products at the same time.

  • To create a new synchronization plan, click Create Sync Plan.
  • To remove the synchronization plans from the selected products, click Unattach Sync Plan.
  • To update the synchronization plans for the selected products, click Update Sync Plan.

4.2.2.4. Using Repository Discovery

Repository discovery allows you to search a URL to discover repositories available there to include in a product.

Procedure 4.6. Using Repository Discovery

  1. Click the ContentProducts menu.
  2. Click the Repo Discovery button.
  3. Enter the URL where the repositories are located in the Yum Repo Discovery field.
  4. Click the Discover button.
  5. A list of the repositories at the URL is displayed under Results.
  6. Click the Discovered URLs check box for the repositories to be added to a product.
  7. Click the Create selected button.
  8. Choose whether to add the repositories to an existing product or create a new product.
    1. To add the repositories to an existing product:
      1. Select the Existing Product radio button.
      2. Select the required product from the drop down menu.
    2. To create a new product to add the repositories to:
      1. Select the New Product radio button.
      2. Enter the Name and Label for the new product and select a GPG Key from the drop down menu.
  9. Select the Serve via HTTP check box to serve the repository via HTTP.
  10. Edit the Name and Label for the Selected URLs.
  11. Click the Create button.
Result:

The repositories have been discovered and added to a product.

4.2.2.5. Removing a Product

This section describes how to remove products from Red Hat Satellite.

Procedure 4.7. To Remove a Product from Satellite:

  1. Click ContentProducts.
  2. Select the check box next to the products you want to remove.
  3. Click Bulk Actions and then click Remove Products.
  4. Click Remove to confirm that you want to remove the products.

4.2.3. Synchronizing Content

Synchronization is the act of coordinating updates between the Red Hat Satellite repositories and the source repositories being used. It is a required step after enabling repositories, in order to populate the Red Hat Satellite with content from the source repositories.
Constant, scheduled synchronization will result in:
  • Data integrity between packages
  • Updated packages, security fixes, and errata
Satellite's synchronization management capabilities allow organization administrators to create synchronization plans to configure how often a host should look for and install updates. Synchronization plans are then paired with the product repositories to come up with a synchronization schedule that will allow products to be updated at specific intervals that are convenient for the organization's network.

4.2.3.1. Synchronization Status

Important

The manual synchronization of repositories is required after enabling them. It is at this point that the local repository in the Satellite is populated by the required packages.
These steps show how to synchronize products in Red Hat Satellite.

Procedure 4.8. Synchronize Products

  1. Click ContentSync Status. Based on the subscriptions and repositories enabled, the list of product channels available for synchronization is displayed.
  2. Click the arrow next to the product name to see available content.
  3. Select the content you wish to synchronize.
  4. Click the Synchronize Now button to starting synchronizing. The status of the synchronization process will appear in the Result column. If synchronization is successful, Sync complete will appear in the Result column. If synchronization failed, Error syncing will appear.
Result:

A product is synchronized.

Note

Content synchronization can take a long time. The length of time required is dependent on the speed of disk drives, network connection speed, and the amount of content selected for synchronization.

4.2.3.2. Creating a Synchronization Plan

Regular, frequent synchronization is required to maintain data integrity between packages as well as making sure that packages are updated to the latest security fixes. Red Hat Satellite provides the ability to create scheduled synchronization plans that allow package updates at intervals convenient to the organization.

Procedure 4.9. To Create a Synchronization Plan:

  1. Click ContentSync Plans.
  2. Click the New Sync Plan link to create a new synchronization plan.
  3. Enter the Name, Description and other details for the plan.
  4. Click Save to create the synchronization plan.

4.2.3.3. Applying a Synchronization Schedule

After you have created a synchronization plan, you need to associate products with that plan to create a synchronization schedule. The following procedure describes how to create a synchronization schedule in Red Hat Satellite 6.

Procedure 4.10. To Create a Synchronization Schedule:

  1. Click ContentSync Plans and select the synchronization plan you want to implement.
  2. Click ProductsAdd in the synchronization plan main page.
  3. Select the check box of the product to associate with the synchronization plan.
  4. Click Add Selected.