Chapter 2. Installing Red Hat Satellite Server

This chapter describes how to obtain the required packages to install Red Satellite Server, whether you are connected to the network or not. You can then use the installation program, katello-installer, to install and configure the Satellite Server. Several configuration options are available; these are described in Section 2.3, “Optional Configuration Options”.

2.1. Obtaining the Required Packages

There are two ways to obtain the packages required to install a Satellite Server:
  • Download the packages directly from the Red Hat Content Delivery Network (CDN).
  • Download an ISO image of the packages required from an external computer.
Both methods are described in this section. However, for hosts that have network connectivity, Red Hat recommends downloading the packages directly from the CDN. Using ISO images is only recommended for hosts in a disconnected environment because ISO images may not contain the latest updates.

2.1.1. Downloading from a Connected Network

This section describes how to use Subscription Manager to download the required packages for Red Hat Satellite Server from the repository.

Procedure 2.1. To Download Satellite Server on a Certificate-managed System:

  1. List all the available subscriptions to find the correct Red Hat Satellite and Red Hat Enterprise Linux product to allocate to your system: 
    # subscription-manager list --available --all
    This command displays output similar to the following: 
    +-------------------------------------------+
    Available Subscriptions
+-------------------------------------------+

Subscription Name: Red Hat Satellite Subscription
Provides:          Red Hat
                   Red Hat Satellite Capsule 6
                   Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
                   Red Hat Satellite 6
SKU:               SKU123456
Pool ID:           e1730d1f4eaa448397bfd30c8c7f3d334bd8b
Available:         6
Suggested:         1
Service Level:     Self-Support
Service Type:      L1-L3
Multi-Entitlement: No
Ends:              01/01/2022
System Type:       Physical

    Note

    The SKU and Pool ID depend on the Red Hat Satellite product type that corresponds to your system version and product type. Take note of the pool IDs for Red Hat Satellite 6.1, Red Hat Enterprise Linux and Red Hat Software collections that correspond to your system version and product type.
  2. Attach a subscription to the registered system: 
    # subscription-manager subscribe --pool=Red_Hat_Satellite_Pool_Id \
&& subscription-manager subscribe --pool=Red_Hat_Enterprise_Linux_Pool_Id \
&& subscription-manager subscribe \
--pool=Red_Hat_Enterprise_Linux_Software_Collections_Pool_Id
  3. Disable all existing repositories: 
    # subscription-manager repos --disable "*"
  4. Enable the Red Hat Satellite and Red Hat Enterprise Linux and Red Hat Software Collections repositories. Ensure the Red Hat Enterprise Linux repository matches the specific version you are using.
    For Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6: 
    # subscription-manager repos --enable rhel-6-server-rpms \
--enable rhel-server-rhscl-6-rpms \
--enable rhel-6-server-satellite-6.1-rpms
    For Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7: 
    # subscription-manager repos --enable rhel-7-server-rpms \
--enable rhel-server-rhscl-7-rpms \
--enable rhel-7-server-satellite-6.1-rpms

    Note

    The commands above are based on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 and 7. If you are using a different version of Red Hat Enterprise Linux, change the repository based on your specific version.
  5. If required, to verify what repositories have been enabled, use the yum repolist enabled command. For example, on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7: 
    # yum repolist enabled
Loaded plugins: product-id, subscription-manager
repo id                                        repo name                                                                   status
!rhel-7-server-rpms/x86_64                     Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 Server (RPMs)                                    9,889
!rhel-7-server-satellite-6.1-rpms/x86_64       Red Hat Satellite 6.1 (for RHEL 7 Server) (RPMs)                              545
!rhel-server-rhscl-7-rpms/x86_64               Red Hat Software Collections RPMs for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 Server     4,279
repolist: 14,713
  6. Install the katello package: 
    # yum install katello

Important

The required packages are now installed. Proceed to Section 2.2, “Running the Installation and Configuration Program” to run the installation and configuration program.

2.1.2. Downloading from a Disconnected Network

Note

When the intended host for the Red Hat Satellite server is in a disconnected environment, it is possible to install the Satellite Server by using an ISO image. This method is not recommended for any other situation as ISO images may not contain the latest updates to Satellite; therefore, by installing Red Hat Satellite with an ISO Image you may be installing older versions of Satellite. Older versions may be missing bug fixes and functionality.
Prerequisites

Before installing, you must have a repository configured with Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.6 and later or Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.0 and later. For more information on how to update a disconnected system, in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 see Upgrading the System Off-line with ISO and Yum in Deployment guide, and for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 see Upgrading the System Off-line with ISO and Yum in System Administrator's Guide.

A copy of the repositories used in the installation are stored in the /opt/ directory. Ensure you have a minimum of 2GB of space for this file system and directory.
ISO installations require imported Red Hat GPG keys before installation. Run the following command as root before running the installation script: 
# rpm --import /etc/pki/rpm-gpg/RPM-GPG-KEY-redhat-release
The following procedure details how to install Satellite Server on a host through ISO.
  1. Download the ISO image from the Red Hat Customer Portal.
  2. As the root user, mount the ISO image to a directory: 
    # mkdir /media/iso
# mount -o loop iso_filename /media/iso
  3. Change to the /media/iso directory.
  4. Run the installer script in the mounted directory: 
    # ./install_packages

Important

The required packages are now installed. Proceed to Section 2.2, “Running the Installation and Configuration Program”.